Posted on 05/23/2010 9:26:06 AM PDT by Leisler
Hard work is good for you. It is better for the government.
Here is the scenario: A musical composer applied for a job with a theatrical production company to write the music and lyrics for a new stage production. The arrangement was, lyrics and music and all artistic rights in return for a compensation package of $100,000. The composer agreed, thinking this would give him an opportunity to purchase that very special collector’s automobile he had been dreaming about for years and is now available for $95,000.
At the end of his contract the production company was happy with the composer’s work and wrote the promised check to the composer's financial manager. Upon the manager's presentation of the composer's paycheck, the composer became very angry and retorted “They promised me $100,000 and this check is for only $49,560 what happened to the rest of the money.”
The financial manager replied, “The rest of the money went for taxes. Your government has determined they are entitled to share in the fruits of your labors. You were paid $100,000 and that placed you in the federal 28% tax bracket so that left you with $72,000. Then we had to withhold federal self-employment FICA taxes of 12.4% and medicare taxes of 5.8% and those taxes totaled another 18.2% or $18,200 so that left you with $53,800. And, the State of Arizona’s share of your labors is another 4.24% or $4,240 so that left you with $49,560. Here’s your check, go spend it wisely.”
Well, there goes my dream of the special collector’s car so I guess I will have to settle for a new Cadillac that I can purchase in these troubled times for $45,000 and I will have nearly $5,000 left over which will be enough for my wife and me to drive from Phoenix to San Diego in our brand-new car and purchase a cruise on the Mexican Riviera. Wine, dine and sunshine. Life is good.
Off to the Cadillac dealer and after selecting the model and options and negotiating the price to $45,000 the composer said “I’ll take it. Hooray!”
The dealer handed the bill to the composer for $49,503. The composer shouted “What? We agreed on $45,000. There goes my cruise” The Cadillac dealer said “Arizona is entitled to share in the fruits of your labors and their share of your purchase is State, County and City sales taxes of 8.3%, or $3,735 and Registration and License fees of $768 for a total Arizona share of $4,503 and the dealer charges $50 as a documentation fee bringing the total purchase price to $49,553. Here is a check for $7.00 as change for the $49,560 check you gave us. Go spend it wisely.”
This might be a true story. Somewhere in this vast country a similar scenario has happened.
Now, let’s look at the big picture. A man worked and earned $100,000 and governments took $50,440 right off the top leaving the worker with $49,560 to spend. When he spent it, governments grabbed another $4,503 in additional taxes. This is a total of $54,947 (or 55%) of this worker’s earnings. Plus, do not forget, to have $4.500 left over to pay the state governments their share of his purchase, the worker had to earn $9,000 BEFORE income taxes. Should you wish to purchase a $45,000 automobile, you must earn $100,000 to do so.
Your governments tax you when you earn money and tax you when you spend money. And, if you do not spend it, they will tax your estate when you die. When the George Bush tax cuts expire next year and the Death Tax returns to 55%, your government will have taxed the first 50% when you earned it, and then grab the remaining 50% when you die.
And the Obama Democrats want more!
It never occurs to the government to stop spending.
That’s the way I see it.
So who is working for whom exactly?
He should have bought a hybrid so he can get $8,000 of other peoples money thrown in
Government has never seen a tax increase they didn’t like.
They forgot:
Car Taxes
Gas Taxes
Property Taxes
Capital Gains Taxes
Etc.
By the time you’re done, the Government can easily take 60%+.
We’re only half-enslaved. Single Hubba.
My husband got a sign on bonus at his new job that started in January.
The government take was: 52.9% (fed, state, local, SS et al)
You were paid $100,000 and that placed you in the federal 28% tax bracket so that left you with $72,000.That is not correct.
Just forwarded this to my two kids, both of whom will very soon be receiving their first paychecks from their first “real” jobs (just out of college).
Government Greed is greater than Wall Street “greed”.
Wall Street is working for the greedy gubbermint.
We all are. What is wrong with that picture? We all know. We just need to agree how to solve the problem of government greed.
I make more money than I ever thought possible when I was a kid. The son of legal immigrants from Ireland (Pops as a tenant farmer before he came to the US at 31 years of age), I grew up in a two family home in a working class section of Boston. Pops worked hard (railroad, post office, landscaping, painting houses) to give us the kind of opportunity he never had. 12 years of Catholic school followed by an engineering degree and a MBA from Harvard and I do pretty well, providing for my family and for my mother who still lives in the old neighborhood in Boston. I escaped Taxachussets 15 years ago for New Hampshire and never looked back.. Now I look at how much I pay in taxes each year and wonder who the other family is that I am supporting. Could they send a thank you note? Maybe a holiday card in December???
/mark
IMHO the taxpayers are there to be shorn, not shaved but the majority disagreed with me.
What is the correct figure?
And the “financial adviser” is yet to be paid.
Goverments own us coming and going ... Welcome to the semi-slave state of Ameica.
At what point does taxation become slavery?
America has not abolished slavery. America has merely changed the manner in which it is administered. Welcome to the USSA . . . comrade.
At just past 10%. Even God demands no more that a tithe.
And that isn’t all of it. Just remember all corporate income taxes are paid for, and always will be, by the consumer.
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