Posted on 02/06/2010 4:27:06 PM PST by fujimoh
The company that I work for changed service organizations for payroll. When I got my W-2 I found out that the city I live in taxes ALL tax deferred income which is not what the State of Ohio does. It pissed me off and when I called them, the city, they laughed at me. YES laughed at me! I told them that I was going to move and they laughed harder …
So, last Saturday I found an old farm house in a small Ohio – population 3,100 – no city tax! I contacted all government offices (Post Office, IRS, Driver's License) to report my change of address, took out an insurance policy on the house, signed the papers on the 1st of February and it is tootie-fanootie, down-the-road, and finished business!
I called the city Tuesday morning to inquire about my tax account and they were oh so pleasant with me – for the simple fact that I have a high paying job. I told them that I would be sending my tax return on Wednesday morning and they said that they would notate my account. I said, ‘While you are notating my account, notate that I have a change of address.’ When I gave them the street address, they asked where that was and I told them the town. DEAD SILENCE! I broke the silence telling them that they should not have ever touched my 401k money! Total satisfaction for me!
What I found interesting is that many of the people that I work with that live here did not know this. The city has been bombarded with calls about taxing 401k money and I bet you ten bucks that they know EXACTLY who has been spreading the word. Two people have followed my lead and have been looking for another residence, but in the meantime, they have changed their address with the city so that they are no longer taxed. The only problem is that they really don’t live at the residence reported so that they can be charged with tax evasion. I hope that they find a new place soon.
It may have cost me considerably more to move than to pay the tax to the city, but I figure it is the principal. It's TAX DEFERRED income!
As of late, the city is competing with small business and charging for services such as to unlock your car. The business are in an uproar. They are about to tax for every service and I suspect inquiries to your various city accounts are going to cost $10 a pop. What I see as a huge problem is that they took stimulus money to redo a road in the downtown that did not need correcting. They erected monstrosities of walk zones and flashing lights and pricey light posts. In all, they took $12 million to do a road and a small bridge and the JOBS are over with for these projects!
In a small city with a population of 15,000 that really only has a small college taking $12 MILLION DOLLARS does not have the means to pay back this money. I predict that they will double their city taxes for 2011 since they are doing so incrementally by charging fees. There is currently a HUGE drug problem in this city and these idiots don't realize that by raising taxes, they will keep the drug problem and lose the quality residents.
The koolaid has not worn off of many of the residents here and when they do it will be too late. You can already see the deterioration around town; their property will be worthless.
Thank you all for letting me vent my frustration and small victory.
I am pretty sure what they did is illegal.
Ok, so dying to know - WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
Not that I would want to send them a nasty email or anything.
The ultimate solution for places with an affordable housing "problem".
Marietta, Ohio is the city wasting our money.
Too bad the Federal Govt is planning to seize your 401K and turn it into another wealth transfer scheme. What your city did on a small scale, the federal govt is proposing to do on a nationwide scale.
Reagan was all so correct, ‘Whatever you tax more you get less of it’. Idiot lunatics in govt. never learn!
Glad you were able to stick it to them.
Starve the beast!
1.7% on all this? Unreal!
*************************
INCOME WHICH IS TAXABLE
Gross wages, commissions, income from prizes, awards, gaming, wagering, lotteries or schemes of chance, net profits of a business, 401K plans, deferred compensation, bonuses, vacation pay, rental income, income from sales made, work done, services performed in the City of Marietta, Ohio.
http://www.mariettaoh.net/government/tax
bump
401k money is protected by federal law. There should be no one taking tax during the deferal period. I suspect that a huge stink could have been made about this. Your company should have stood on some toes!
Cities and municipalities are getting really greedy. My son lives in Alexandria, Va. and has to pay a property tax on his car. Seventy five dollars a year.
It's not company's money, and the company needs to keep good relations with the city, even if the city government is full of crooks and thieves.
Wow. A city that taxes you on your income? That’s worse than here in libtardia Wisconsin, a long-time Tax Hell.
We have horrible property taxes (real estate).
I have never heard of another city doing what your’s did.
Like a previous poster said, it doesn’t even sound legal, especially taxing 401k money.
Glad you left them in the dust.
It’s actually 1.9% for 2009; I haven’t checked for 2010. They didn’t update their website
The company that I work for is in WV. They used to use a warehouse there but when they did an audit and found out how much they were getting screwed, they emptied the warehouse, cancelled the contract and moved on.
It doesn’t matter who the money belongs to. Municipalities do not have the authority to tax 401k money. If your company doesn’t have the guts to call the taxing entity on the carpet shame on them. I bet money they (city govt) doesn’t tax income on annuities that are in the accumulation phase say like that held by NY Life. They would get smacked down like a gnat!
West Virginia tried to do the same thing. They tried to tax money in the accumulation phase of an annuity without changing statute to say what they said it said. You know how those bureaucrats can mangle the meaning of words. All the “little men” who tried to get this scam through were taken to the woodshed in no uncertain terms. I don’t know why any taxing entity would get away with this type of scam.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.