What did you do for Spring Break? So for those students who actually had a spring break (or teachers) what did you do? I spent my time organizing my taxes. SIGH. What a waste of a perfectly good week.
No refund? That's no fun. My younger sister thought she was only get $500 back... She was doing her taxes manually by pen and paper... Turns out she wasn't including the personal exemption of $3500... After I redid them for her she got back $1200... Turns out thats why she had been owing so much every year, lol... I'm still amazed at how much people don't know about taxes. I'm also amazed at how many people go to tax places to get them done... I understand if you have more complicated returns. However, if you are 19 and worked one job, didn't go to school or anything and just had 1 w-2, why are you paying to have your taxes done? Go do them yourself for free, lol... On a more pleasant note... We finally settled on a wedding date (I think) and a venue. So yay! Now we just have to figure out how to pay for the thing... I can't believe how expensive weddings are.
You could always do the Vegas thing and then have a party afterwards for your family and friends ! :ducks:
Thats a great idea except I'm anti Vegas wedding, lol... I'll tell ya though we found a great place here in Seattle. It's pretty much all inclusive. We will be able to do it for under 10k so I guess I should be happy. Especially since the average cost of a wedding is something like $27k... We're going to have it next April which is off season so we're saving major bucks there... Now to just find a way to play for that Carribian honeymoon, lol.
The reason I didn't get any money back is because all my income falls under the consultant and sole-proprietor tax-laws. Oh joy for 40% tax bracket....
It could be worse. In the UK, 40% is the income tax on everybody earning anything >£35,000, if I'm not mistaken.
that's about what... 52K USD? I could understand that... But for a student who's made about 700.00 to have a higher tax bracket than someone who makes half a million...well...that's just wrong.
The problem when you are self employed isn't so much what tax bracket you are in... Technically you can be in a lower tax bracket and there are some tricks to lower your tax liability... What hurts the most is the SE taxes that you have to pay. Where your employer usually plays 1/2 of your tax and you pay the other, when you are SE you don't have the employer paying the other half. It is more a matter of knowing what options you can take advantage of and what you can't. I almost wish I knew you better because I could have probably lowered your liability and essentially wiped out most of what you owed. Then again, I don't know all the facts, so maybe I am wrong. 52k USD really isn't that much. Even the US doesn't tax someone in the 40% tax bracket. That would be brutal.
See, thing is, I can't fathom 40% on $52,000--probably because that's roughly the income of my family and that would absolutely kill us. Yes, I know I just shared some kind of personal information on the internet. I'll probably have the good sense to make it go away in a few days, anyway.
I totally agree with you there. 40% on $52,000 is just brutal. My combined income with my fiance is more than that and we don't even have that much taken out. I think the only way to get by would be working 2 jobs each, lol. The only other problem that the government doesn't consider is location and cost of living. If I make $40,000, its going to go a lot further is someplace like Kentucky than it is in Seattle, WA. However, that's a whole different can of worms.
But remember that the UK government taxes at that high rate because they also have additional expenses we don't pay for, like government paid health care.
Well......I didn't have spring break off...But during that time I played sc4 and played a little Golf.
err..i worked in fishponds on Moloka'i, helped out at their youth center..went to Maui.. most productive holiday i've had in a long time :d