View Poll Results: What's your income level?
<$25,000
16
18.18%
$25,001-$50,000
21
23.86%
$50,001-$75,000
22
25.00%
$75,001-$100,000
6
6.82%
$100,001-$150,000
10
11.36%
$150,000+
13
14.77%
Voters: 88. You may not vote on this poll
What is your income level?
#81
Elite Member
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Redwood City, CA
Posts: 1,784
Total Cats: 42
(Also specific gravity is a measure of density, so like all planets with atmospheres, the specific gravity of the Jovian atmosphere is not a constant- it varies with altitude. You'd think that the writers of editorial cartoons would have a better grasp of basic physics.)
#82
Boost Pope
iTrader: (8)
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Posts: 33,456
Total Cats: 6,874
Yes. And while I understand why you (as the owner of a business with receipts in excess of $1m) might choose to retain an accountant.
But you misunderstand my point. I am presupposing, based on the cartoon which I referenced, that there is a large segment of the population which files their own taxes, or would do so were it not perceived to be "complex." And my point is that if I, as a 1099'er, have a tax return package which is extremely simple and straightforward to prepare, then an "ordinary" person with a W-2 should be able to do it in their sleep. You don't even have to know anything about the atmosphere of Jupiter.
Given that it did this year's return on a rainy Saturday while sipping rum & cokes in my pajamas, I'd have to say "none." As in "If I hadn't been preparing my tax return, I'd have been doing something unproductive with that time such as playing videogames."
Also, see above, wherein we do not question whether or not it is a productive use of time for an individual (or family) to prepare their own return, but rather whether having elected to do so, said task is difficult relative to computing the atmospheric properties of various celestial bodies.
I just don't find it all that taxing, if you'll excuse the pun. The instruction booklets for the various forms are all written in fairly clear and straightforward language, and it just seems very intuitive.
Obviously I don't have employees or bank accounts in the Cayman Islands, so my return is probably simpler than yours, however the majority of Americans (those with W-2s) have returns which are far simpler again than mine.
No arguments there. It's tangential to the point I was making, but I don't disagree.
Nope. Right up there with mis-use of the apostrophe and the various retconned explanations of how performance on the Kessel Run is measured.
But you misunderstand my point. I am presupposing, based on the cartoon which I referenced, that there is a large segment of the population which files their own taxes, or would do so were it not perceived to be "complex." And my point is that if I, as a 1099'er, have a tax return package which is extremely simple and straightforward to prepare, then an "ordinary" person with a W-2 should be able to do it in their sleep. You don't even have to know anything about the atmosphere of Jupiter.
Also, see above, wherein we do not question whether or not it is a productive use of time for an individual (or family) to prepare their own return, but rather whether having elected to do so, said task is difficult relative to computing the atmospheric properties of various celestial bodies.
How about the time spent learning about the deductions, reviewing tax court decisions and getting up to speed on year to year changes?
Obviously I don't have employees or bank accounts in the Cayman Islands, so my return is probably simpler than yours, however the majority of Americans (those with W-2s) have returns which are far simpler again than mine.
My second beef is that the tax code is a playground for Congress. They can reward cronies and supporters with tax breaks and it really doesn't rise to the level of scrutiny involved in passing a law. It's just squirelled away.
Nope. Right up there with mis-use of the apostrophe and the various retconned explanations of how performance on the Kessel Run is measured.
#85
But you misunderstand my point. I am presupposing, based on the cartoon which I referenced, that there is a large segment of the population which files their own taxes, or would do so were it not perceived to be "complex." And my point is that if I, as a 1099'er, have a tax return package which is extremely simple and straightforward to prepare, then an "ordinary" person with a W-2 should be able to do it in their sleep. You don't even have to know anything about the atmosphere of Jupiter.
And there are a few regular-folks things like HSA's for which the instructions are ambiguous, at best.
Take, for example,"qualified dividends." If you have a portion of a stock dividend that is "qualified," that portion is taxed at a lower rate than normal income - the unqualified portion is taxed as normal income. However, qualification tax rate is other-income dependent. So, if you're a good investor with a lot of interest income but precious little other income, and you are in the 10-15% income bracket, you pay a 0% tax on the qualified dividends.
However, if you'd been doing this a long time, you might not have checked for tax-code changes - and the 0% thing is a change for 2008-2012, so you would have paid regular income rates on tax-free money. The IRS doesn't feel compelled to tell you that you've overpaid. This happened to my FIL, who is otherwise a pretty smart guy.
Maybe not the best example, but I get why people get weird about doing their taxes.
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