Conquer Club

karel wrote:just be happy that at least someone is trying to help people with no coverage,just be thankful for that.unlike the other party who could care less about americans... the party of NO.....fucking worthless republicans

The Democrats are paying for health insurance? That's news to me.

we as tax payers are paying for health care,and have no problem paying for it

thegreekdog wrote:I guess I would say that I complain because my taxes are high, and I think out of proprtion to my income, assets, etc. And some people complain that rich people don't do their part, and I don't think that's true either. And I think this index bears my thoughts out, at least with respect to businesses. I think a lot of times US companies get a bad rap with respect to taxes and the like, especially with respect to other countries.

Well yeah it's pretty silly to claim that US companies have too low taxes.

Corporate taxes should really never be that high. It inhibits bussiness and leads to companies either moving or trying to save on expenses (like waste-disposal cost). Income tax is a much handier way to get money because people generally don't move and most of the money is not going to investment and funding and stuff like that so there is little negative effect (if the taxes are reasonable that is).


And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

karel wrote:we as tax payers are paying for health care,and have no problem paying for it

By "we" are you including just yourself? Because maybe you just want to say "I have no problem..."

I have no problem paying for healthcare for individuals who cannot afford healthcare.

I do have a problem paying taxes for a government system to require companies to provide health insurance to individuals who cannot afford health insurance.

The second one is what we have as of a couple weeks ago.

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Because I would not relish working 70 hours a week and pay 52% of my money to the government, no matter the services I receive.

This further illustrates the divide between Americans and non-Americans.

I think he said 52% of anything above 50k... so you'd pay only about 25% if you made 100k.

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Is that 52% the total tax rate, or just federal (national)income tax? We have federal income tax, Social security tax, medicare tax, and then various state and local taxes. THese are our income taxes, not including sales, property etc.

john9blue wrote:I think he said 52% of anything above 50k... so you'd pay only about 25% if you made 100k.

It's a bit more complicated than that (it starts off with 33,5% and 42%..) . And it's the total tax rate, and we have a VAT of 19% too. Yeah, it's quite expensive, but still I don't think I would enjoy living in the USA better.

sherkaner wrote:

john9blue wrote:I think he said 52% of anything above 50k... so you'd pay only about 25% if you made 100k.

It's a bit more complicated than that (it starts off with 33,5% and 42%..) . And it's the total tax rate, and we have a VAT of 19% too. Yeah, it's quite expensive, but still I don't think I would enjoy living in the USA better.

I'm not saying I wouldn't enjoy living somewhere in Europe. But I would not enjoy the tax rates.

jbrettlip wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Is that 52% the total tax rate, or just federal (national)income tax? We have federal income tax, Social security tax, medicare tax, and then various state and local taxes. THese are our income taxes, not including sales, property etc.

It's the national income tax. But we don't have social security and medicare taxes and such. So it's basically all that the gov gets plus sales taxes.

Snorri1234 wrote:

jbrettlip wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Is that 52% the total tax rate, or just federal (national)income tax? We have federal income tax, Social security tax, medicare tax, and then various state and local taxes. THese are our income taxes, not including sales, property etc.

It's the national income tax. But we don't have social security and medicare taxes and such. So it's basically all that the gov gets plus sales taxes.

My effective income tax rate right now is about 21% (effective meaning after deductions and credits; the rate includes federal income tax, state income tax, and Philadelphia income tax). Sadly I have no idea what my Medicare and social security taxes are because I don't file returns for those; I just have them taken out of each paycheck.

The sales tax rate in Philadelphia is 8%, in Pennsylvania it's 6%.

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Because I would not relish working 70 hours a week and pay 52% of my money to the government, no matter the services I receive.

This further illustrates the divide between Americans and non-Americans.

you mean the difference between more free peeps and less free peeps

Phatscotty wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:And you pay too much taxes? puhlease, try paying 52% incometax on anything you make over 54k.

I would move. Seriously.

Why? It's not like you can't live comfortably regardless. There's plenty of stuff you get for it like funding for education through university, cheap healthcare and a bunch of other stuff. Seriously, if I finish my education within 6 years (which is possible) I am basically debtfree when I start working.

Because I would not relish working 70 hours a week and pay 52% of my money to the government, no matter the services I receive.

This further illustrates the divide between Americans and non-Americans.

you mean the difference between more free peeps and less free peeps

No, that's not what I mean. I mean the American way of thinking versus the way of thinking of people in other countries.

My effective tax rate is 0% atm, wooh! Well not on purchases, only income.....

Titanic wrote:My effective tax rate is 0% atm, wooh! Well not on purchases, only income.....

which explains your stances on tax policy!

Snorri, what is the level of income you have to earn before you start paying tax?That 33% can't be on Euro 1.

jbrettlip wrote:

Titanic wrote:My effective tax rate is 0% atm, wooh! Well not on purchases, only income.....

which explains your stances on tax policy!

Snorri, what is the level of income you have to earn before you start paying tax?That 33% can't be on Euro 1.

5000 euros.

Snorri1234 wrote:

jbrettlip wrote:

Titanic wrote:My effective tax rate is 0% atm, wooh! Well not on purchases, only income.....

which explains your stances on tax policy!

Snorri, what is the level of income you have to earn before you start paying tax?That 33% can't be on Euro 1.

5000 euros.

Wait, so you pay a 33% tax rate on income of 5,000 euros? That's insane.

thegreekdog wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:

jbrettlip wrote:

Titanic wrote:My effective tax rate is 0% atm, wooh! Well not on purchases, only income.....

which explains your stances on tax policy!

Snorri, what is the level of income you have to earn before you start paying tax?That 33% can't be on Euro 1.

5000 euros.

Wait, so you pay a 33% tax rate on income of 5,000 euros? That's insane.

No, the 33% only kicks in after the 5k. The first 5k is tax free no matter what your overall income is. In the UK it starts at 20% after around £5,400.

Still... how far does 10,000 euros get you? Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with average starting salaries. How much, on average, does a barrister make?

* See that? I used the English term for lawyer.

thegreekdog wrote:Still... how far does 10,000 euros get you? Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with average starting salaries. How much, on average, does a barrister make?

* See that? I used the English term for lawyer.

Aren't barristers a specialist sort of lawyer?

The average barrister/lawyer in the private sector is going to be on a very good wage, at a complete guess I'll say starting at £80,000 once qualified with a couple years experience with it going up to hundreds of thousands or even millions for corporate or celebrity lawyers.

Can't say how much €10,000 would get you in Europe, but the £5,000 limit is not going to get you anywhere and you could only get that working part time due to the minimum wage. I'd say to provide the basics for livings in small flat for yourself is going to be somewhere around £12,000, maybe slightly less, but if you are on low income you get loads of help from government services to help you with the low income.

thegreekdog wrote:Still... how far does 10,000 euros get you? Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with average starting salaries. How much, on average, does a barrister make?

* See that? I used the English term for lawyer.

The lowest starting salary for someone with a decent higher education (probably something like community college in the US) is about 15k a year. After incometaxes.

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:Still... how far does 10,000 euros get you? Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with average starting salaries. How much, on average, does a barrister make?

* See that? I used the English term for lawyer.

The lowest starting salary for someone with a decent higher education (probably something like community college in the US) is about 15k a year. After incometaxes.

I'd say it's a bit higher, even, depends on the exact field, of course, but 15k after taxes is on the very low end of what any person with some sort of qualifications (either academic or trained) can expect to earn. In any case, I could get by comfortably on that amount.
Average income before taxes for lawyers (all kinds) is 82k€ in Germany, unless I'm totally off they're left (on average) with 63k€ after all taxes and dues.

MeDeFe wrote:

Snorri1234 wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:Still... how far does 10,000 euros get you? Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with average starting salaries. How much, on average, does a barrister make?

* See that? I used the English term for lawyer.

The lowest starting salary for someone with a decent higher education (probably something like community college in the US) is about 15k a year. After incometaxes.

I'd say it's a bit higher, even, depends on the exact field, of course, but 15k after taxes is on the very low end of what any person with some sort of qualifications (either academic or trained) can expect to earn. In any case, I could get by comfortably on that amount.
Average income before taxes for lawyers (all kinds) is 82k€ in Germany, unless I'm totally off they're left (on average) with 63k€ after all taxes and dues.

Well it's the starter salary for like, people who got an artdegree of the non-academic kind.