Tapsearch Com EditorThe tax man, whoa
February 16th 2007 03:38
Did my federal taxes yesterday. Few quick points.
Regarding "tax cuts for the rich," conservatives have often made the point that most tax cut money doesn't go to the poor because the poor don't pay taxes. Regarding income inequality, they've often pointed out that income figures mislead -- people who don't make much money are often right out of college, or unemployed by choice.
My own experience is evidence they're right on both points.
I graduated in June. Before that I had a work-study job at school, and I worked at Kmart over spring break. I had a paid newspaper internship over the summer and got a job in DC from September through the end of the year.
All told, I didn't make that much, at least in the context of someone living for a whole year. In the eyes of the government, I'm pretty poor, though I never went without a meal and always had secure housing. I went to a good college and haven't been without a job since graduating. In other words, in the eyes of reality, I'm one of the richest people ever to walk the planet. I don't know how to quantify this, but I'd bet my material situation beats far more than 99 percent of homo sapiens through history.
Knock off the standard deduction, my exemption and tuition, and I only paid taxes on about $3,000.
That's $281 in taxes. I'll be getting a buncha money back from the government.
Not that I want to pay more, but there's no case that low-income earners have too much tax burden relative to the rich. And some low-income earners, like me, aren't really so low-income.
Regarding "tax cuts for the rich," conservatives have often made the point that most tax cut money doesn't go to the poor because the poor don't pay taxes. Regarding income inequality, they've often pointed out that income figures mislead -- people who don't make much money are often right out of college, or unemployed by choice.
My own experience is evidence they're right on both points.
I graduated in June. Before that I had a work-study job at school, and I worked at Kmart over spring break. I had a paid newspaper internship over the summer and got a job in DC from September through the end of the year.
All told, I didn't make that much, at least in the context of someone living for a whole year. In the eyes of the government, I'm pretty poor, though I never went without a meal and always had secure housing. I went to a good college and haven't been without a job since graduating. In other words, in the eyes of reality, I'm one of the richest people ever to walk the planet. I don't know how to quantify this, but I'd bet my material situation beats far more than 99 percent of homo sapiens through history.
Knock off the standard deduction, my exemption and tuition, and I only paid taxes on about $3,000.
That's $281 in taxes. I'll be getting a buncha money back from the government.
Not that I want to pay more, but there's no case that low-income earners have too much tax burden relative to the rich. And some low-income earners, like me, aren't really so low-income.
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