LC: Bonus Whores (US vs non-US players)

[jack frost]

They can gross tax me 100% if they want but I persoanlly don't end up paying where near 50% in taxes per year.

Quote" Payroll taxes of 7.65% (double this to 15.3% because employer is doubling this),"

I have never heard of this but I will take your word on it. How can your employer tax you? What exactly is a payroll tax and whom is this going to? "payroll taxes"

[BT2]

yo Jack Frost,

what percentage of your poker winnings do you give to Uncle Sam?

[bilbo-san]

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80k in winnings here is probably worth 60k there, even with taxes taken out.

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That might be so, its certainly cheaper to live in the US, but do you really only pay 25% tax? ANyhow, we get free healthcare, low crime, gun control and less fat kids (I love the US but I hate fat children and the US is full of them)

Anyhow, I read that to avoid US taxes you have to give up US citizenship even if you move abroad, who would want to do that for the love of poker I wonder!

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No, we pay far more than 25%, its just not all called federal income tax. We have real-estate taxes, state income taxes, social security tax (~9% right there) on your wages, sales tax, etc...etc, gas taxes, alcohol tax, cigarette taxes, (basically most vices are taxed in some way). Also, as your income goes up so does your income tax rate. We are nickel and dimed to death with taxes.

"Govt. do take a bite, don't she?"

Extra credit if you can name the movie.

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LOL @ U.S. Citizens thinking their taxes are high. Just lol.

All those "non-income" taxes you mention are everywhere else in the world. Ask a German what "Value-Added Tax" means (hint: it adds very little value at a steep price to almost everything).

Or ask a skandinavian why a beer costs $10 (it isn't the cost of Barley).

And nearly every state in the world has a progressive income tax where your rate goes up as your income goes up, as you put it above. That's the definition of a progressive income tax. Why would you think this is unique to the US? The big difference is that in many European countries, the cap on this rate is nowhere near the U.S.' laughably-low rate. The highest income bracket in Germany is 54%. Yes, FIFTY-four.

Americans pay very low taxes compared to europeans, but complain about it twice as much.

[CaptVimes]

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80k in winnings here is probably worth 60k there, even with taxes taken out.

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That might be so, its certainly cheaper to live in the US, but do you really only pay 25% tax? ANyhow, we get free healthcare, low crime, gun control and less fat kids (I love the US but I hate fat children and the US is full of them)

Anyhow, I read that to avoid US taxes you have to give up US citizenship even if you move abroad, who would want to do that for the love of poker I wonder!

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No, we pay far more than 25%, its just not all called federal income tax. We have real-estate taxes, state income taxes, social security tax (~9% right there) on your wages, sales tax, etc...etc, gas taxes, alcohol tax, cigarette taxes, (basically most vices are taxed in some way). Also, as your income goes up so does your income tax rate. We are nickel and dimed to death with taxes.

"Govt. do take a bite, don't she?"

Extra credit if you can name the movie.

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL @ U.S. Citizens thinking their taxes are high. Just lol.

All those "non-income" taxes you mention are everywhere else in the world. Ask a German what "Value-Added Tax" means (hint: it adds very little value at a steep price to almost everything).

Or ask a skandinavian why a beer costs $10 (it isn't the cost of Barley).

And nearly every state in the world has a progressive income tax where your rate goes up as your income goes up, as you put it above. That's the definition of a progressive income tax. Why would you think this is unique to the US? The big difference is that in many European countries, the cap on this rate is nowhere near the U.S.' laughably-low rate. The highest income bracket in Germany is 54%. Yes, FIFTY-four.

Americans pay very low taxes compared to europeans, but complain about it twice as much.

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Not saying we pay high taxes, just saying it's more than 25%. I know Europeans pay way more than what we do. VAT is like our sales tax, correct? Basically a tax on everything you purchase? What the percentage normally charged for this?

[Kos13]

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gun control

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Thank you for reminding me why it's nice to live in the U.S.

[Specialwon]

VAT is UK speak for sales tax, which is anywhere between 15 and 25% plus all of the special taxes for fuel (we're paying like $2 a litre for fuel, or $8.50 for one of your gallons, most of which is tax) plus cig and booze tax. Actually its more like $8 for a beer in scandinavia. I wish peeps wouldnt exaggerate!

But, we get a lot of benefits for that money, nobody seems to be really sick poor like you hear about in the US, despite the tax burden.

[Tevac]

In general, Europe is on average higher taxed than the U.S. Thats for sure. On the other hand you see less poor people on the streets than in the US (at least New York, Chicago and Atlanta, where I was a lot). So, if you might have a long bad session in poker, it could still help to live here :-)

And yes, VAT is just sales tax. In Germany you pay 7% on groceries and other "daily stuff" as well as 19% on all the nice rest. Income tax goes up to around 50% (progressive), but on average it is more in the range of 30-40% for most income brackets (plus health insurance etc).

A big difference is fuel taxes that in Germany make up to 80% of the retail price. Here it is used to bridge the public pension gap, but thats a different story in total.

On the other hand given that the U.S. accounts for around 50% of global defense spending each year alone, there are arguments that your defense bill is some kind of fuel tax in itself, because with your defense systems you ensure (or try to) cheap access to oil for the western world (there was in article in the Economist about it some time ago, so dont blame just me for it:-).

Let me know, if you need more details about the German tax system ...

[jack frost]

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yo Jack Frost,

what percentage of your poker winnings do you give to Uncle Sam?

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0% I am not a pro like Pokerboy and many others here so I can claim a gambling loss upto the amount I win. I will have plenty of horse racing stubs and scratch off tickets to cover my winnings. I already have a few thousand in lottery tickets and I will start getting some horse racing stubs closer to the end of the year.

[BT2]

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yo Jack Frost,

what percentage of your poker winnings do you give to Uncle Sam?

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0% I am not a pro like Pokerboy and many others here so I can claim a gambling loss upto the amount I win. I will have plenty of horse racing stubs and scratch off tickets to cover my winnings. I already have a few thousand in lottery tickets and I will start getting some horse racing stubs closer to the end of the year.

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are you kidding me? you will spend all of your poker $ on the lottery just so you will not have to pay taxes?

[CaptVimes]

If he's smart he just collects stubs and tickets. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Note they don't have a name on them.