2018 NY tax return Results...

[JVM225]

You and 49 high school friends decide to get together for dinner and cocktails. You pick a venue and determine the cost is going to be $100 a head. The total bill will be 5k for the group.
One guy says he should pay less because he drives a more expensive car, another raises his hand and wants his portion reduced because he decided to send his kid to a more expensive school, one of the girls jumps in and says she shouldn’t have to pay anything because she lets her loser brother live with her, and a fourth stands up and demands to pay less because she just moved to a more expensive house.
What would you say to those four people?
Would you go back to a gathering with them again the next year?

 

[boatman37]

You guys in NY sound like our local gov't. Our boro owns the electric dept and we pay .17/KWh. We have about a 1600 sq ft brick home with newer windows, blown in insulation and it is just myself and my wife. We don't have anything crazy running. 1 TV, central AC, etc. Our furnace, water heater and dryer are gas and our average bill in the summer is about $350. In the winter it's about $150. I bought a rental property years ago and they wouldn't turn the electric on until I paid the previous owners electric bill ($227). I refused and called the PUC (PA public utilities commission). I told them this and they said it was illegal for them to do that. They asked who my electric provider was and I told them and they said they had no authority over them and they could do what they wanted so I had to pay it.
The reason for the high electric rates are because our police dept contract is outrageous. I have heard a few people say out police have the best contract in the state. We have a population of about 8000 and no real major crime. Our highest paid officer made $170,000 last year and just about all of them (about 9) all made over $100,000. And they don't handle any major crimes. Any non natural deaths (suicide, vehicle accidents, etc) are all handled by the state police. We also had a guy barricaded in his house and they called my step-sons dept to come and handle it. Anyway, they raised electric rates to cover the police payroll. We elected a new state representative that promised to rectify this if elected. His research found that what they are doing is illegal and it was audited but they do not track or have any records of any funds spent from the electric fund. So far nothing has been done or has changed. It has been all over the news and local TV. Businesses have left the area or choose neighboring townships because of the electric. A few that left had said it was solely due to the electric rates and if they hadn't they would have had to close down.

Sorry...rant over....lol. But it sounds familiar

 

[mnm99]

I can't explain this any better... (This is not my pay)
Say I made $100,000 in 2017 and they took out $30,000 in federal taxes from my paycheck and my tax bill was $30,500. I would owe $500.
Say I made $110,000 in 2018 and they take out $25,000 in federal taxes from my paycheck and my tax bill was 32,500. I would owe $7,500.
Yes my tax bill would be more at $110,00, but not $2500 and I had to give back what they gave me all year and some.

 

[Woody]

I can't explain this any better... (This is not my pay)
Say I made $100,000 in 2017 and they took out $30,000 in federal taxes from my paycheck and my tax bill was $30,500. I would owe $500.
Say I made $110,000 in 2018 and they take out $25,000 in federal taxes from my paycheck and my tax bill was 32,500. I would owe $7,500.
Yes my tax bill would be more at $110,00, but not $2500 and I had to give back what they gave me all year and some.

Actually if you taxable income was 110,000 this year, using the brackets/rates, that $10,000 jump would amount to $2,400, that's 24% bracket. You'd have to thank Trump because last year that 10,000 jump was in the 28% bracket and would have added $2,800.

When I look at all your posts/numbers I don't think they got much additional tax out of you. You know they withheld 3,100 less this year than last, subtract that from the check you're going write. If the 4,000 increase was in the 35% bracket, subtract another 1,400, you said you owed 780 at the end last year, subtract that. That would be an increase of 2,001 more they got from you this year compared to last. The biggest problem you had appears to be withholding.

You ought to figure your effective rate like Jaybeaux is asking in his survey, you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[mnm99]

Actually if you taxable income was 110,000 this year, using the brackets/rates, that $10,000 jump would amount to $2,400, that's 24% bracket. You'd have to thank Trump because last year that 10,000 jump was in the 28% bracket and would have added $2,800.

When I look at all your posts/numbers I don't think they got much additional tax out of you. You know they withheld 3,100 less this year than last, subtract that from the check you're going write. If the 4,000 increase was in the 35% bracket, subtract another 1,400, you said you owed 780 at the end last year, subtract that. That would be an increase of 2,001 more they got from you this year compared to last. The biggest problem you had appears to be withholding.

You ought to figure your effective rate like Jaybeaux is asking in his survey, you might be pleasantly surprised.

No...That's not my pay. It was an example. Nevermind... Bottom line is The extra money I got in my check all year I'm giving back AND SOME...more than last year even adding the extra money I made. That's all guys. I tried to explain it, but that didn't work.

 

[Golfman25]

I can't explain this any better... (This is not my pay)
Say I made $100,000 in 2017 and they took out $30,000 in federal taxes from my paycheck and my tax bill was $30,500. I would owe $500.
Say I made $110,000 in 2018 and they take out $25,000 in federal taxes from my paycheck and my tax bill was 32,500. I would owe $7,500.
Yes my tax bill would be more at $110,00, but not $2500 and I had to give back what they gave me all year and some.

We get that you withheld less. But so what. It doesn't matter. $30,500/100,000 is a 30.5% effective tax rate. $32,500/110,000 is a 29.5% effective tax rate. You're better off by $1050.

 

[mnm99]

IT WAS AN EXAMPLE...Not correct numbers. I'm not posting my return, just a..Oh forget it. Sorry I started this thread. Bottom line is I paid more taxes this year!!!

 

[Woody]

No...That's not my pay. It was an example. Nevermind... Bottom line is The extra money I got in my check all year I'm giving back AND SOME...more than last year even adding the extra money I made. That's all guys. I tried to explain it, but that didn't work.

I know that was an example. I understand your point. The reason I'm interested in this is because of your claim your being screwed by Trump to the tune of 6-7,000 bucks. Your not.

In this past year I don't know how many times, in writing, on the air, and online, I've seen the recommendation that everyone should take a look at their withholding because of the new withholding tables. I've also seen helpful references to online withholding calculators to help do it.

I'm interested in the effects of the new tax policies we all have to go by. That's what these threads are about, your withholding problems are yours.

 

[Boat Guy]

This is really a sad commentary on financial logic.... I used to believe every citizen deserved the right to vote... I'm reevaluating my position... Trump has earned his share of heat, but when he gets things right, he shouldn't be faulted by blind incompetency.

Some of you will understand....

 

[Golfman25]

IT WAS AN EXAMPLE...Not correct numbers. I'm not posting my return, just a..Oh forget it. Sorry I started this thread. Bottom line is I paid more taxes this year!!!

Whatever. The guy in the example is better off. Do the percentages for yourself and know the facts or just be pissed off at the tax reform.

 

[Jaybeaux]

Because we have a progressive tax scale, it is sometimes difficult to compare changes like the one that went in to effect for 2018. Here is a chart that I built in Excel that shows taxable income on the X-axis (bottom/horizontal) and Tax Paid on the Y-axis (left hand side/vertical). Using this we can compute some things.

1. For the same taxable income in 2017 and 2018, you have a lower tax liability in 2018.

2. Drawing a horizontal line from the blue, 2017 graph to the orange, 2018 graph, represents the amount of increased taxable income a person can have while paying the same amount in tax. This would be a way for those that are limited by the $10,000 SALT could possibly estimate if the new tax law is going to help or hurt them.

Example: At the $150,000 taxable income level, in 2017, your tax liability was $34,842 (I'm reading the data behind the graph). In 2018, that same level of tax liability occurs at a taxable income of approximately $166,000 (interpreting from the graph). That's a $16,000 dollar increase. So my conclusion from this is that you can lose up to $16,000 of SALT deductions and break even with the new tax law due to the change in brackets and their tax rates.

 

[JVM225]

No...That's not my pay. It was an example. Nevermind... Bottom line is The extra money I got in my check all year I'm giving back AND SOME...more than last year even adding the extra money I made. That's all guys. I tried to explain it, but that didn't work.

How about if you look at it this way:
Remove or cap your salt deduction for your 2017 1040. You’re tax liability for 2017 would have been higher.
You’re paying more now because of the SALT cap, but not as much as you would if that cap were in place and the fed tax rate had stayed the same.
Like the rest of us here in NY and in other high tax states, your beef is with the state and local government being so expensive and inefficient.

 

[PMC]

I suspect even with the reduced tax liability, the SALT cap will hurt us some. I'll find out in the next few days.

 

[SloBurn]

Here in NJ, I do not own a home and pay no property taxes. Salary unchanged, same tax situation- basically unchanged. My taxes went UP by about $1200 on $100K income as compared to 2017.

 

[mnm99]

How about if you look at it this way:
Remove or cap your salt deduction for your 2017 1040. You’re tax liability for 2017 would have been higher.
You’re paying more now because of the SALT cap, but not as much as you would if that cap were in place and the fed tax rate had stayed the same.
Like the rest of us here in NY and in other high tax states, your beef is with the state and local government being so expensive and inefficient.

Okay your right, But who put the SALT cap? Exactly..

 

[Golfman25]

Here in NJ, I do not own a home and pay no property taxes. Salary unchanged, same tax situation- basically unchanged. My taxes went UP by about $1200 on $100K income as compared to 2017.

I wonder why -- do you know? That doesn't compute. Should have gone down a pct or two. Something must be different.

 

[KevinC]

Okay your right, But who put the SALT cap? Exactly..

I am all about fair to the extent I think it should be a straight flat tax.

So maybe we should be complaining about why our taxes are above the SALT limit. We all know we are overtaxed here in NY. The SALT limit just puts it in our face.

I blame the NY politicians who think we are all their personal ATMs for their give aways. I don't blame the feds for leveling it out and making this fair for all... Yes it sucks for us but now we should be looking locally to reduce waste and our taxes. Unfortunately I see the opposite happening here.

Perhaps someday in the future I will benefit from this if I choose to relocate.

-Kevin

 

[Blueone]

What part of talking about taxes did you guys think was going to be fun?

 

[bobeast]

The important number is your effective tax rate compared year over year. That's the only way you can tell if you got a break or not. I'm not sure how useful withholding or refund amounts are. I suspect it will take a year or two under the new laws for everyone to get their withholding worked out.

Some employers (or taxpayers) may have miscalculated the effect of the new law with respect to withholding. What they got back or what they owe at the end of the year is a function of their tax rate in relation to what was withheld. Neither is particularly relevant.

I can see those who got more back crowing that they got a tax break, or those who owe more complaining that their taxes went up. Neither is necessarily accurate.

 

[CNYBoater]

Also in NY. We are still waiting for statement for mortgage interest, my wife's student loan interest, etc. Not in a hurry to file though. While my weekly paycheck only had a $3/wk change in taxes going into 2018, my wife's compensation package is supper wonky. Never really know how much she's going to make, or when it will come in since she's commissioned employee. Last year it resulted in not enough coming out of her comm checks, so this year she increased her withholding. Fingers crossed and hoping it won't be a massive tax bill again.