BINXGOOK IS PISSED!!!
 

O.k. so I went down to my local ISP yesterday to pay my phone/cable/internet bill. I've got one of those package thingy's. So my package is priced at 89.99/mo. and I went to pay this amount. Lady tells me I owe 115.00??

I asked why and she said thats the price of the plan I have??? I told her it was not and she checked into it. Turns out the difference in the 89.99 and the 115.00 is all FUCKING TAXES/FEES!!!!! 25.00 dollars in taxes on 90 bucks. Maybe its just me but jesus christ that seems like alot of taxes to be paying. I asked her what the taxes/fees were for and it was the same ol' run around...a fee for this ....a fee for that...1.95 for this |shocking|
Like I said maybe its just me but it seems like gang rape of my checkbook |angry|

is that the first time you had to pay the bill for the package? there is a reason why the prices for those packages are so low... gotta read the fine print ;)

I figure the government is getting about 50% of what I make in taxes. Could be worse, I could live in one of those other countries.

Hotels are notorious for this. A $200 room ends up costing almost $260 around here. One hotel I know of charges a parking fee (even if you don't have a car), resort fee, room tax, per call, etc. Even the Phone Company around here does that. They quote you the bare minimum price, and you get $7 in tax for that $10 line, E911 fees, PSC Regulatory fees, etc.

The worst thing is, if you ask them up front what the total cost will be, they can never tell you.

You need a new accountant then. My effective tax rate has been <10% including tax preparation costs for years. That includes property tax, but excludes sales tax.

How are you paying so little? Income tax is 30% right off the top.

I was including sales tax and fuel tax and all the other taxes in my guessament.

Yes, I just switched to these guys about a month ago so this was the first payment I had made to them

I spend an hour every quarter, and a few hours in October on the phone with my accountant to make sure that I do things in the most tax advantaged way possible.

I do have 2 corporations and one LLC (soon to add another LLC) that things get assigned to based on the 'work'. Its not too bad since everything is handled in a few quickbooks files from a paperwork standpoint. This year, in November he told me what I was going to owe in April, I accellerated some purchases that I hadn't intended to make until Feb and wiped out a considerable amount of tax. Not that I still have the money, it was used to buy equipment, but, better to buy the equipment than to send it to Uncle Sam.

Most of what I do is done based on tax consequences. I figure the more that I can keep and use to grow my business, the quicker I can grow. Sometimes my accountant gets mad because I'll do things because they need to be done, and if I had structured it a little differently it would have made his life easier. :)

One day, maybe I'll have enough money that I won't care as much about each dime.

You sound far better at doing accounting type things then I am. At least I have far better design skills then you. :P

Actually I suck at financial stuff, it just puts me to sleep hearing about it.

Also I didn't have any tax right offs, still working on this, see the above sentence, but now I have a mortgage and hurricane loss which seems to be helping… I guess.

I used to write accounting software in a past life. I regret not taking business courses, so, everything I have learned has been through experience or paying accountants to teach me. :) A lot of it is seat-of-the-pants, make it work then figure out a better way to do it.

Everyone has better design skills than I do.

I know a guy that was making a lot of money, I told him how he should at least try and shelter it, but, he didn't want the burden of the extra paperwork, so, he pays his %. He probably earns 5x what I do, and I would bet that he probably brings home maybe 2x what I do. In a few years though, I believe the investments I have made in theory and concept should allow me to eclipse him in net worth and take-home pay. The irony is that in 2001 I made an investment and committment to a particular fiscal lifestyle which made me 'poor' and now he doesn't talk to me because I'm not 'wealthy'.

I would rather not have a mortgage, but, it is the cheapest money I'll ever see, and barring any substantial income shift, I have much better uses of my money than the tax adjusted 1.7% interest I pay on the home loan. Spousal unit also refuses to let me pull cash out of the equity for expansion, so, I just work harder. One day, it will pay off.

Too bad that Photoshop doesn't do financial, I'd probably get to keep more of my money.

lol :D

Maybe after the merge with Dreamweaver they will merge with an accounting software...

A local guy used Photoshop to make checks and cash them at the local bank. Maybe that's what Cleo means.

The end of the world as we know it is near

O% taxes and retirement features 3 hots and a cot

taxes <=== |haha

Wish I had to pay only what you do... I pay much more for my adsl alone...

RE "Wish I had to pay only what you do" - Who the hell do you buy from ? When I read the first post I wondered why binxgook paid so much (my phone/cable/broadband is about half that). I assumed that binxgook buys an enormous number of extra channels for his TV (sports porn movies etc) whereas I only take the basic package (I gave up the porn and movies years ago, never had the time to watch, and I rarely watch sport on TV). But you pay more than that just for connection ?