So here I am, getting my bonus (not the best bonus ever but hey) and thinking “I was going to get a juicy cheque”…then I look and I did a double take! Holy fucking cow batman! I don’t mind telling you (strangers) that I lost $700 in taxes! A full 3rd of my income for this payment! Taxable income was $2094 (after deductions) and $700.53 in tax…
…I need to move to another gods damn country!
It’s sad that I made $900 ($1800 was my bonus, half going to my RRSP) more on this pay cheque and only got another $250!
This is rather depressing. Maybe I should decline my next pay raise!
CuriousCanuck as far as I know my gas tax covers roads and medicare (and I spend $100 a week in gas).
I’m not against taxes per se, only that we’re one of the highest taxed country in the world and what the hell do we have to show for it? I can’t even take public transit and believe me, if I could I would.
After this whole terrorism thing blows over in the US, I just might want to move over there! Hey Americans! What’s the taxes like over there for a young guy making about $22K converted?
Maybe Japan is better…good thing I’m still a dual citizen
So out of pocket from tax is only about $4K?? Shit that’s better than making $32K CAN and getting 19K in pocket.
I’m also in the worst tax bracket possible…no wife, no kids, no rent, and some RRSPs that I can’t maximize on because I can’t afford to pay devote 18% of my pay for RRSPs to save 5%.
How much is medical insurance? I haven’t been in a hospital since birth so I hate paying for something I’ve never used…yet.
I feel your pain. I was expecting a check this week to be about double my normal check because of a bonus. I opened up my direct deposit receipt this morning and the equivalent of the last two weeks in salary were gone in tax. I felt like I’d been kicked. I knew that the funds were going to be taxed but I didn’t realize they were going to be taxed at the rate of a third. I blame my company to an extent. Even though they aren’t required to give me a bonus, it would have been nice, since they knew this kind of a tax hit would happen, if they’d have helped us deflect some of it by, say, breaking the bonus payment up over a couple of paychecks. What was supposed to be a satisfying time for all of us has instead become the foundation of more than one major bitch session.
What makes it worse is that I got a separate cash award on this check which was supposed to be on my last check, but since my boss didn’t get around to requesting it the incentive ended up here driving the taxation even higher.
Well, the money you guys are talking about being “gone” isn’t really gone, the government just helped itself to a little no-interest loan by withholding more on your bonus than it does on regular wages. At the end of the year you’ll still pay tax on the bonus just like it were regular wages, so there’s ultimately no extra tax on the bonus.
I’m not really sure what the policy behind withholding extra on bonuses is, and I sure have felt the sting myself. I’ve also done the whole “working only during the summer but getting withheld from like I worked at that job all year” thing, which sucks just as much. However, if you’d’ve gotten your grubby paws on the money you probably wouldn’t have it come this time next year, and now you will (bright side!) (barring the complete collapse of the U.S. federal government, that is).
I pay $14 a month for my company’s medical insuance, and $8 for dental.
When I was between jobs and had to get my own insuance, I signed up for complete coverage from Blue Cross Blue Shield for $80 month. I probably could have gotten it a bit lower, but only needed it for two months and didn’t feel like shopping around.
Your health and “pre-existing conditions” have a huge effect on how much you’ll pay for private insurance, and since you’ve never been in the hospital, you should be able to get a pretty good rate.
Sheesh! Well, I pay for medical and dental ($0.81 a paycheck) and I only get 90% dental coverage.
$22 US a month (about $30 CAN) for complete coverage (at my age, and I don’t smoke either) is a whole lot better than paying taxes that I really don’t get back.
Taxman, I assume you’re an accountant? Any tricks on getting more tax money back? Like I said, I’m in the worst bracket with no dependands or deductions except for a little RRSP. Should I get hitched just for the tax break?
I figure I only regain about $50-65 a month back in tax returns so I really do pay $300-ish in tax, per cheque. It really sucks being young, fairly well paid and have no kids. My returns last year were a joke (Taxes paid, about $9400, my return…$800).
I know we all bitch about taxes but is it really this bad in the states?
I don’t think you’re getting taxed more specifically because it’s a bonus. The reason you get taxed more is because you get taxed on each pay cheque as if you get that pay cheque every week/fortnight or whatever your pay period is.
So for the pay period that you recieve your bonus it appears that you’re getting a huge annual salary when you aren’t really. You are taxed accordingly, and then get the money back come tax time when it becomes apparent that you weren’t on such a huge salary after all.
There’s a simply remedy: if you don’t earn any income, you won’t pay any taxes.
I always hear complaints about paying taxes with some amusement. One of my fondest dreams is that I might earn enough to owe millions of dollars in taxes; I’d pay it happily.
I bought a lottery ticket where you scratch off some gunk trying to get three of a kind to win. I won! $9,000.00 US dollars. I go to redeem my windfall and get a check for $5,600.00. I was robbed by the US taxman. As for health insurance, I pay $860.00 a month for our family of four. Being self-employed, the government allows me to deduct 50% of the cost from my adjusted gross income. What a crock.
Linguini, have you looked into Medical Savings Account plans? I pay $485 a month for family of 3. The entire amount is tax-free.
I knew self-employment taxes were high, but I didn’t know how high. Even after itemizing deductions (mortgage, student loan), deducting for two dependent children, and filing Head of Household, I still paid something in the 20%~25/% range. Dangit.
