CA man just did his taxes... apples to apples comparison

a lot of talk about the recent tax reforms has been brought up in the msm. as we approach the deadline for taxes no doubt these stories will increase. both sides are offering their benefiting anecdotes per usual. the left quotes a person saying "OMG! for the first time in my life i owe!, these reforms are costing me money!" the right will do an editorial of a tax payer saying "Wow! im getting money back, usually i owe"

yet there is no thorough and unbiased investigation into these tax payers and what they are paying in 2018 vs 2017

enter me....

i am a single never married male in southern California. i am an hourly employee, my current rate of pay is $15 an hour. my rate of pay has stayed the same since the middle of 2016. so all of 2017 and all of 2018 i was making the same per hour... $15. and there were no changes between 2017 and 2018 to my filing status, my deductions (i don't itimize), my tax breaks... all was keep the same except the income i earned and the taxes i paid on it.

in 2017 i paid total taxes of $3,900

in 2018 i paid $4,652 in taxes

according to left msm ive payed $752 more in taxes, the tax reforms hurt me. no one can argure $4,652>$3,900. i obviously owe more in taxes this year.

now the right msm will run a similar story where a person has a reversal of fortune to me. this person is paying less this year than they did the year before. so this person has benefited from the tax reform.

what's missing here people???? what both sides of the msm fail to mention and will not mention because it likely hurts their narative.. that is how much did you make last year compared to this year? and how much in taxes did you pay last year versus this year? and most importantly, what has changed last year versus this year?

apples to apples. you won't find either the right or left doing it.

finally my tax info, as i stated earlier.

in 2017 i made a total of $31,296 i paid $3,900 in taxes... 12.46% of my total income was taken away due to federal, state, and local taxes.

in 2018 i made $37,889. i paid $4,652 in taxes... keeping in mind my only change from '17 to '18 was the income i earned, i worked a lot more in 2018. all the other filing variables stayed the same. i paid 12.28% in taxes.

i am paying less in taxes overall this year. nothing has changed from last Year to this year on my end, other then me making more money. im happy to pay less in taxes" even if it's a miniscule amount

a reply to: jgarc028

Thou question payments to thy King? Guards!

If you cared at all about taxes you wouldn't live in california.

At 15 dollars an hour you could move anywhere in the country and get a job that equals your pay, but would probably drop your living costs by 50+ percent.

Around here you could work at burger king(they start at 15 dollars). apartments are around 800 and you can buy a house for 150k.

I'm assuming that's no where near what california costs.

I only paid more because I turned in an IRA to pay for a horrible ACA related bill. Next year if I have no medical expenses I will pay much less. I live pretty frugal real estate and property tax wise.

Fortunately I have a tax person that showed me the difference.

The sad thing is that post ACA the percentage of medical bill expenses stayed the same. Even post Trump. Thanks Republican congress that could have changed that!

a reply to: MisterSpock

your missing the point of the post, I'm not glorifying or demonizing CA. im merely trying to demonstrate
how we alll need to understand how taxes truly affect us and not take the msm word for it

originally posted by: jgarc028
a reply to: MisterSpock

your missing the point of the post, I'm not glorifying or demonizing CA. im merely trying to demonstrate
how we alll need to understand how taxes truly affect us and not take the msm word for it

Do you have a breakdown of where your increase in taxes came from?

Is it from the state or federal level?

Trump can't control any state increases. While I haven't looked, I'd find it safe to assume that california state taxes increased year over year. If that's the case, what bearing does that have in your circumstance with regard to federal tax cuts.

originally posted by: Fools
I only paid more because I turned in an IRA to pay for a horrible ACA related bill. Next year if I have no medical expenses I will pay much less. I live pretty frugal real estate and property tax wise.

Fortunately I have a tax person that showed me the difference.

The sad thing is that post ACA the percentage of medical bill expenses stayed the same. Even post Trump. Thanks Republican congress that could have changed that!

im talking strictly what you paid in 2017 vs2018

So, in essence, there was not much difference for you either way with the tax cut, you might have saved a little bit but not a lot. Now that people I know have been doing their taxes I see that many of them have benefitted, but not really by that much. Their refunds are smaller, but their paychecks were a little bigger. Compensating for raises, they just did a little better overall, they got back a decent amount, but less than the year before, but paid in less, so most say they did a little better with Trump's change.

originally posted by: rickymouse
So, in essence, there was not much difference for you either way with the tax cut, you might have saved a little bit but not a lot. Now that people I know have been doing their taxes I see that many of them have benefitted, but not really by that much. Their refunds are smaller, but their paychecks were a little bigger. Compensating for raises, they just did a little better overall, they got back a decent amount, but less than the year before, but paid in less, so most say they did a little better with Trump's change.

The nature of taxes is such that you will almost always pay more. If anything, the .gov atleast wants to keep up with inflation(unlike wages).

My property taxes have gone up atleast 5 percent each year. They "give" a little in some places and then just take more someplace else(fuel, sales, property, state vs fed, etc).

a reply to: rickymouse

exactly.. .

a reply to: MisterSpock

i agree with you... but in what country have you been living in?

originally posted by: jgarc028
a reply to: MisterSpock

i agree with you... but in what country have you been living in?

Recently?

The one with a half way decent president that is still hampered by the stupidity of state level lifers that want to suck people dry.

Our state has had huge surpluses for years, still raise taxes though.

a reply to: jgarc028

its called a tax for a reason

a reply to: MisterSpock

i feel the same way as well, i hate the direction our state is headed. however im not blaming Donald trump on our high taxes or cost of living

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: jgarc028
a reply to: MisterSpock

your missing the point of the post, I'm not glorifying or demonizing CA. im merely trying to demonstrate
how we alll need to understand how taxes truly affect us and not take the msm word for it

Do you have a breakdown of where your increase in taxes came from?

Is it from the state or federal level?

Trump can't control any state increases. While I haven't looked, I'd find it safe to assume that california state taxes increased year over year. If that's the case, what bearing does that have in your circumstance with regard to federal tax cuts.

California residents used to be able to deduct their state taxes on their federal return.

A nice little way for the state to get more federal money.

The new tax law stopped that.

Now I, as a resident of Montana, do not have to subsidize the state of California.

So yea... California residents now have to play by the same rules as most of the other states.

Thus the increase... although to OP never mentioned how much more they took home in 2018 since their monthly Federal payment went down.

I paid about 1.4% less in taxes this year versus the previous, that is federal only. While pulling in a good bit more on my paycheck each 2 week period.

originally posted by: Lumenari

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: jgarc028
a reply to: MisterSpock

your missing the point of the post, I'm not glorifying or demonizing CA. im merely trying to demonstrate
how we alll need to understand how taxes truly affect us and not take the msm word for it

Do you have a breakdown of where your increase in taxes came from?

Is it from the state or federal level?

Trump can't control any state increases. While I haven't looked, I'd find it safe to assume that california state taxes increased year over year. If that's the case, what bearing does that have in your circumstance with regard to federal tax cuts.

California residents used to be able to deduct their state taxes on their federal return.

A nice little way for the state to get more federal money.

The new tax law stopped that.

Now I, as a resident of Montana, do not have to subsidize the state of California.

So yea... California residents now have to play by the same rules as most of the other states.

Thus the increase... although to OP never mentioned how much more they took home in 2018 since their monthly Federal payment went down.

i said my annual income minus my total taxes. i should have said i owed about $100 last year and this year i owe $200

originally posted by: Lumenari

originally posted by: MisterSpock

originally posted by: jgarc028
a reply to: MisterSpock

your missing the point of the post, I'm not glorifying or demonizing CA. im merely trying to demonstrate
how we alll need to understand how taxes truly affect us and not take the msm word for it

Do you have a breakdown of where your increase in taxes came from?

Is it from the state or federal level?

Trump can't control any state increases. While I haven't looked, I'd find it safe to assume that california state taxes increased year over year. If that's the case, what bearing does that have in your circumstance with regard to federal tax cuts.

California residents used to be able to deduct their state taxes on their federal return.

A nice little way for the state to get more federal money.

The new tax law stopped that.

Now I, as a resident of Montana, do not have to subsidize the state of California.

So yea... California residents now have to play by the same rules as most of the other states.

Thus the increase... although to OP never mentioned how much more they took home in 2018 since their monthly Federal payment went down.

i said my annual income minus my total taxes. i should have said i owed about $100 last year and this year i owe $200