[Grumpy Old Man]

Too fucking much when I look at what Zoolander does with it.

[NickyC]

Feds I'm right at 25%, I'm an independent contractor so I pay all my own taxes including medicare etc.

Unfortunately, and much to the surprise of myself and my accountant last month, my tax burden was EXACTLY the same as the prior year (before the much heralded Trump tax cuts) percentage wise.

Oh well.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Feds I'm right at 25%, I'm an independent contractor so I pay all my own taxes including medicare etc.

Unfortunately, and much to the surprise of myself and my accountant last month, my tax burden was EXACTLY the same as the prior year (before the much heralded Trump tax cuts) percentage wise.

Oh well.

Death and taxes.....I'm drinking rum right now.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by Grumpy Old Man

Death and taxes.....I'm drinking rum right now.

Yep, I just laughed it off because it wasn't a surprise at all.

However, my account told me some horror stories of people expecting big refunds this year and they actually wound up OWING money. Folks who traditionally used business expenses for write offs etc. that no longer exist.

Told me one guy was expecting $6k back, found out he owed $10k. I think Trump is going to lose a ton of votes in 2020 due to this, the tax laws did NOT benefit the middle class.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Yep, I just laughed it off because it wasn't a surprise at all.

However, my account told me some horror stories of people expecting big refunds this year and they actually wound up OWING money. Folks who traditionally used business expenses for write offs etc. that no longer exist.

Told me one guy was expecting $6k back, found out he owed $10k. I think Trump is going to lose a ton of votes in 2020 due to this, the tax laws did NOT benefit the middle class.

I honestly don't know what the answer is. My wife and I have been fortunate, we have both made really good livings. Her better than me and I'm good with that. But by the time we pay federal and provincial income tax, property tax, HST on every single thing we buy, health car supplement, user fees and all the hidden tax one level of government or another gets about 60% of our gross income. I'm ok paying for healthcare, education, community safety and infrastructure but for the love of christ the taxes never go down, they just go up and service always gets worse.

Time for another rum.

[qba335i]

Originally Posted by se15679875

I don't doubt that. The coasts are sort of a double whammy because compensation is less (slightly) and cost of living is significantly more.

High 100s is probably on the low end for physicians in general - maybe 15 or 20 years ago but physician compensation has generally kept up with inflation. A pediatrician, psychiatrist, or infectious disease physician working in academia might be around mid 100s. Your typical internal medicine physician employed by a hospital will probably be in the $220-$240 range, whereas specialists in private practice usually clear $275-300.

I have some friends in radiology working in academia who make around $340k while those who work non-academic jobs might expect to make 1.25-1.5x the income for twice the work.

I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't have an awesome gig, but being a physician definitely encompasses a lot of delayed gratification. I'm in a good spot in life now. I just turned 39 but I feel like I've just passed the break even point in terms of wealth accumulation relative to a scenario in which I had taken a high 5 figure or low six figure job straight out of college.

I'm just trying to bank (and invest) as much money as I can now while I'm still relatively young.

+1

Anything related to healthcare is still pretty profitable. Half of my close family are doctors and they are doing pretty well if willing to put in the hours.

I also have a few friends in medical sales and they make 500k+ for basically having lunches/dinners with doctors. Pretty easy job (especially for attractive and outgoing girls) once you have a network.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Feds I'm right at 25%, I'm an independent contractor so I pay all my own taxes including medicare etc.

Unfortunately, and much to the surprise of myself and my accountant last month, my tax burden was EXACTLY the same as the prior year (before the much heralded Trump tax cuts) percentage wise.

Oh well.

I am also self employed / independent contractor. You didn't see a benefit from 199A?

Originally Posted by NickyC

Yep, I just laughed it off because it wasn't a surprise at all.

However, my account told me some horror stories of people expecting big refunds this year and they actually wound up OWING money. Folks who traditionally used business expenses for write offs etc. that no longer exist.

Told me one guy was expecting $6k back, found out he owed $10k. I think Trump is going to lose a ton of votes in 2020 due to this, the tax laws did NOT benefit the middle class.

What types of business expense write offs was he referring to?

[Grumpy Old Man]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I am also self employed / independent contractor. You didn't see a benefit from 199A?



What types of business expense write offs was he referring to?

In Canada, big companies that are close to the Liberals write off hookers when they are entertaining the children of Libiayan dictators.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I am also self employed / independent contractor. You didn't see a benefit from 199A?



What types of business expense write offs was he referring to?

Nope, unfortunately I saw zero. My accountant ran the numbers three times, he was very surprised.

The write offs he was referring to were mileage and travel for his job. If I remember correctly, the problem is that he's a W2 and was paid mileage and travel by his employer in his regular pay check. By losing the deductions, it was all taxed as regular income so he got smoked both ways. The accountant advised him to work with his employer going forward, and to be paid straight pay for his expenses going forward outside of his regular paycheck.

I'm not sure I got that all correct, but my accountant mentioned clearly that very few people were happy with the way things were going tax wise this year. I'm in Missouri, which is solid red country, and people are not happy about this at all.

[1MOREMOD]

We did taxes this week. We were able to deduct 8500 less than last year despite the 24k standard deduction. Pretty much nothing else was deducible. We owe 5500 on surface which looks bad overall but on further inspection my percentage of tax to pay was 1 percent less this year than last. What happened was less was taken out all year but my federal burden was down that 1 percent so saved me money.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Nope, unfortunately I saw zero. My accountant ran the numbers three times, he was very surprised.

The write offs he was referring to were mileage and travel for his job. If I remember correctly, the problem is that he's a W2 and was paid mileage and travel by his employer in his regular pay check. By losing the deductions, it was all taxed as regular income so he got smoked both ways. The accountant advised him to work with his employer going forward, and to be paid straight pay for his expenses going forward outside of his regular paycheck.

I'm not sure I got that all correct, but my accountant mentioned clearly that very few people were happy with the way things were going tax wise this year. I'm in Missouri, which is solid red country, and people are not happy about this at all.

Well hopefully the reason you didn’t see a benefit from 199A is because you made too much money and it got phased out...

With respect to the mileage for the W2 guy, my understanding is that the only way he should have been able to deduct it previously is if he wasn’t reimbursed. Now he can’t deduct it whether reimbursed or not. So perhaps he was taking a deduction he shouldn’t have previously. He also shouldn’t be taxed on employer expense reimbursements. He should go back to his employer this year and get it corrected. If he didn’t get reimbursed, then yes he lost a deduction.

I do think self employed people who used to underpay their self-employment tax by paying themselves a salary (subject to self employment tax) and treating any earnings above the salary (not subject to self employment tax) as a distribution may be losing that “strategy” (which was really never allowed anyway even if people got away with it). I’ve always (grudgingly) paid the full amount due so not feeling too bad for anyone that got stuck paying their full share now, but expect they will be unhappy.

There was a lot of reporting that refunds were lower this year early on. Aside from being entirely the wrong way to think about taxes, that has now reversed and they are slightly higher this year. So the reporting about it stopped. I think there is a lot of anecdotal story reporting that influence opinions. It worked out well for us and expect it should for most people.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Yep, I just laughed it off because it wasn't a surprise at all.

However, my account told me some horror stories of people expecting big refunds this year and they actually wound up OWING money. Folks who traditionally used business expenses for write offs etc. that no longer exist.

Told me one guy was expecting $6k back, found out he owed $10k. I think Trump is going to lose a ton of votes in 2020 due to this, the tax laws did NOT benefit the middle class.

So basically, you didn't get a tax cut at all?

Curious if that other guy who ended up owing got a cut. I'd rather get a cut and owe obviously.

[JimVonBaden]

Meh, people should talk to their accountant at the beginning of the year so they ave a real understanding of what they can deduct, and what they should pay monthly. Your own fault if you pretend like nothing changed.

BTW, my take home went up $200 a month due to the tax cut, and it should be about same as last year for how much I pay.

Counting on tax refunds to get by is just ignorant.

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

So basically, you didn't get a tax cut at all?

Curious if that other guy who ended up owing got a cut. I'd rather get a cut and owe obviously.

Zero, my overall rate was basically 25%. Exact same as last year on roughly the same income.

[Mingwan]

Can’t get taxed on income if you don’t have one to begin with. Ha! Loser ass gov’t. Eat my shit.

[Darth One]

I punched everything into a tax program and it said my tax rate was 455 R4PE.

Slightly confused... :

[roastbeef]

paid about $3k less overall, got about $5k less back than what i usually do... didn't really get a break anywhere. lost some write-offs.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by Run Silent

I'm assuming this isn't directed at me, correct?

Did I quote you?

[1MOREMOD]

That doesnt work here I never quote unless its an accident

[gatorfast]

I think doing away with the personal exemptions was a big mistake. Sure the standard deduction was raised considerably, but for someone like me who still itemizes even with the raised standard deduction I am now losing out on an additional $4k/family member tax shelter.

Many people will still benefit from the new code with the increased standard deduction along with the decrease in marginal bracket rates, but it would still be nice to have the personal exemption back.

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

That doesnt work here I never quote unless its an accident

You also don't use punctuation, grammar, and rarely indulge us with complete sentences.

But yes, by all means, let's focus on the fact that you rarely quote someone.

[1MOREMOD]

Exactly. I'm a real idiot.