Why do I say so? Well, just look at the two examples for family income below. "If all this sounds too good to be true, remember that nothing in life is free and change isn't easy. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, when coverage takes effect in the exchanges, virtually everyone in the country will be required by law to have health insurance or face fines. The mandate is meant to get everybody paying into the insurance pool. Obama's law is called the Affordable Care Act, but some people in the new markets might experience sticker shock over their premiums. Smokers will face a financial penalty. Younger, well-to-do people who haven't seen the need for health insurance may not be eligible for income-based assistance with their premiums. Many people, even if they get government help, will find that health insurance still doesn't come cheaply. Monthly premiums will be less than the mortgage or rent, but maybe more than a car loan. The coverage, however, will be more robust than most individual plans currently sold. Consider a hypothetical family of four making USD 60,000 and headed by a 40-year-old. They'll be eligible for a government tax credit of USD 7,193 toward their annual premium of USD 12,130. But they'd still have to pay USD 4,937, about 8 percent of their income, or about USD 410 a month. A lower-income family would get a better deal from the government's sliding-scale subsidies. Consider a similar four-person family making USD 35,000. They'd get a USD 10,742 tax credit toward the USD 12,130 annual premium. They'd have to pay USD 1,388, about 4 percent of their income, or about USD 115 a month. The figures come from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation's online Health Reform Subsidy Calculator. But while the government assistance is called a tax credit and computed through the income tax system, the money doesn't come to you in a refund. It goes directly to insurers." From: http://news.yahoo.com/consumer-alert-health-care-markets-way-131508179--finance.html Middle Class in the US: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_middle_class
Do you know how much your income tax is? If you live in China, I bet you don't :) More info on: Taxes on the average worker http://miranda.sourceoecd.org/vl=1758641/cl=12/nw=1/rpsv/factbook2009/10/04/02/index.htm http://miranda.sourceoecd.org/vl=1758641/cl=12/nw=1/rpsv/factbook2009/10/04/02/10-04-02-g1.htm How Much Americans Actually Pay in Taxes http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/how-much-americans-actually-pay-in-taxes/
If you pay income taxes in the US, how much do you really know about taxes? I knew something about income taxes since I have been filing my own for more than 20 years. But, I wish I knew more. (The more you know, the less you need to pay Uncle Sam, legally.) "The current structure of tax brackets has rates that start at 10 percent of income at the low end and rise to 35 percent for the highest earners. In the middle are brackets of 15, 25, 28, and 33 percent. That top bracket doesn't mean the rich pay 35 percent of their adjusted gross income in taxes. Deductions and other factors lower their effective rate to 23 percent of income, the Tax Foundation reckons." From http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0415/Taxes-and-the-rich-How-much-do-they-pay-now So, I thought as long as I am only paying 25% for my "top earning $," I am fine with it. By "top earning $," I mean the last $100 I make, in contrast to the first $100 I make. When I used TurboTax for the first time last year, I realized something was wrong but I was too busy (working) to figure it out. This is my second year of using TurboTax, so I played with it to find out how much taxes I was actually paying for my "top earning $" in 2011. I was quite surprised. The rest is for freelancers, because it does not apply to your income from an institute. Yes, I am still only paying 25% federal income tax for my last $100. BUT, there are other taxes, such as state tax, which I knew, and self-employment tax, which I also knew. So, I was paying $34 in all the taxes for the last $100 I made by editing word by word for a total of 1,400 words. What have I learned from playing with TurboTax? I WILL WORK LESS this year. The less I work, the less money I make, and the less taxes I need to pay. Uncle Sam, do you hear me clearly?
Are you poor? The US federal poverty level for a two-person household is $14,710 this year (higher for Alaska and Hawaii). http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110621/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_overhaul_glitch http://www.cms.gov/MedicaidEligibility/downloads/POV10Combo.pdf
标签: income
