# Question about taxes and collecting unemployment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209 "2013-07-11T07:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209/21 "2013-07-14T01:48:25Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Not to mention that owing money to the IRS and not paying is about the only way you can be thrown in prison for being a debtor. … > Plus, there is always bankruptcy options for a lot of private debt. Does that also erase IRS debt? > A. Cite? I mean, you can get slammed if you lie and hide assets, but not for simply not paying if you don’t have the $$. Generally, Bankruptcy does not relieve Tax obligations. YMMV, ianal. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209/22 "2013-07-14T02:28:44Z")
The 2400 exemption was in 2009 because of ARRA. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209/23 "2013-07-14T14:06:22Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > Not so. You have personal and other exemptions that wipe out the first 10k 15k of income (dont have my tax info at hand to give exact figures). Point taken but you are splitting hairs here… by the same standard a certain amount of wages are not fully taxable either. For that matter… a certain amount of wages or other earned income results in a negative income tax…let’s not forget that! 😃 I see that someone else has posted the year and amount that was exempt from Federal tax… thanks!! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209/24 "2013-07-14T14:46:42Z")
Curiosity from a heavily taxed UK citizen. How much can a single American man earn in a year before he has to pay any tax? over here I can earn £8,105 ($12,200) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209/25 "2013-07-14T18:14:44Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Curiosity from a heavily taxed UK citizen. How much can a single American man earn in a year before he has to pay any tax? over here I can earn £8,105 ($12,200) A little less than that, it varies by year, call it $10000. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209/26 "2013-07-14T18:25:14Z")
The minimum wage here is £6.19 so for a 40 hour week that’s £12,875 ($19,400) Remember that everything is more expensive here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-taxes-and-collecting-unemployment/663209.md?page=1)