It’s that time of the year again
Starting to prepare my income tax declaration.
Most if not all of you go through the same every year, right?
Well, let us take a look at how the thing goes, shall we?
Every month 36% of my income is retained as down payment for income tax, retirement fund (although the best predictions show there will be no retirement fund by the time I get to retire, for the state will be broke way before that), and social security (although we’re loosing most of our social security privileges).
Of course that still leaves me with some 64% of my hard earned money.
Or does it? Health services and products have 5% VAT. Unprocessed basic food 12% VAT. Pretty much everything else has a 21% VAT. Add to that extra taxes on fuel, vehicles, housing (home owners must pay municipal taxes), sanitation and a few other things: it all sums up to about 25% more of my income being handed over to the state in indirect taxes.
Luckily I get to keep 39% of the fruit of my labour, heh?
No wait… some of my expenses are mandatory, like car insurance. These expenses build up to almost 3% of my income.
I’m not quite sure, but I recon this should be pretty much the same feeling as when a streetwalker hands the money over to her pimp protector!
8 comments:
Belize has just gone through a change in their tax laws, however, they are still only requiring the monthly business tax reporting and payment once a month at the local village council office. Thankfully they haven't gone to an annual return.
Ah, but don't get me started on the new 10% GST tax. That's short for the Government Sucks Tax
Reminds me of the "hours in a day" poster we had at a big company back in the UK, sleep for 9 hours, you eat for 1.5 hours, on the toilet for 30 minutes etc etc by the end there was no time left - much the same as the good old dinero.
D,
I think it was Benjamin Disraeli (Brit Prime Minister in mid 1800s) who said the only two things in this life we could rely on were death and taxes. Mmmm, maybe it was Benjamin Franklin... either way I'm convinced it was said by someone named Benjamin a long time ago. Being a marxist I'd like to add revolution to the list but hey, that's just me and it doesnt' help your current predicament. Okay, death and taxes it is then.
Yikes, that is a pretty big "pound of flesh."
What I leanred in the last two years running my own busienss is how much the gov takes from businesses, it makes the personal cut look paltry.
Taxes over there sound real high, D.
We're still have growing pains with VAT here which is 16%. It's supposed to replace the General Consumption Tax, which is 33 1/3%.
Most folks here have dodged taxes for years here.
We have to wait and see now where our taxes will go.
Portugese system seems pretty similiar to the Polish one. Rates are slightly different (we have 7, 16 and 22% for VAT) but the rest... ehh...
Self employed people in the US pay both their share of the social security tax and the government's share. If you work for someone else, one half is picked up by the employer. It sucks huge because, as you said by the time we retire that fund will be gone.
Even if you sell coconuts by the sie of the road you have to get a Hawaii excise license and collect 4% for the state. It's a tax on goods and services--everything, they say, "except the cackle out of the rooster."
Thanks for reminding me about taxes, DC!!!!
tax season sux! :)
Post a Comment