Hey Taxman - Tell Me

Suppose you are a family of 4 earning $100,000.00 annually and your wife is a stay at home mom? How much money would you save if you were to get a divorce, give custody of the 2 kids to your wife and pay her $2,160.00 monthly alimony. Then just live together?
His taxable income would be $74,080.00 filing single less deductions and exemptions.
Her taxable income would be $25,920.00 filing Head of Household less deductions and exemptions.
Her income would be less than 133% of the Federal Poverty Level allowing for her and the 2 kids 100% subsidies for health insurance under Obamacare. Then there is EIC, Food Stamps and all the other entitlements available for the poor.


Just how much money is this married couple leaving on the table?

Just so you know - I am not a family of 4 - Just my wife and myself.

 

I don't know a lot about taxes. My accountant does fortunately. But anyone that would throw their marriage vows down the toilet for the sake of a little cash, has a few more problems than just how much they pay in taxes annually. I'm not a Right-winger so I have more important priorities than money.

 

What do YOU know about marriage vows? You don't believe in true marriage equality anyway and you just said you don't know a lot about taxes. So try talking about something you DO know a little about. How about telling us what you were thinking when you watched a girl get raped. Fortunately, I've never experienced such a thing or else I would have done something to prevent it. Please tell us your firsthand experience of such an event. At least it's SOMETHING you know about.

 

Somebody is looking for a little sexual stimulation. Moving on....

 

Is that why you watched?

 

I didn't ask you to describe the scene. I asked you to tell us what you were thinking during the rape. Perhaps you could tell us about any conflicting emotions you had, any psychological trauma you experienced, etc. Please, do go on....

 

Very interesting question!

First off, I agree with Joe that money shouldn't be a primary consideration when making Life's decisions.

However, Joe feels folks with money shouldn't worry about how much the Government confiscates because, "...if you really need anything, the Government will provide it".

I feel that a "real man" takes responsibility for those close to him. He gives to Government and charity, but never takes. Unfortunately, Liberal/Progressives have overstepped Government's Constitutional mandate and need to be reigned in.

I read (somewhere) that the average annual welfare support is $68,000. You add Obamacare subsidies to that and the family's disposable income likely doubles, but not to worry...

If you listen to Nancy Pelosi, Government taxation and spending "creates jobs and lowers the deficit". If you follow that "logic", we can simply print money to pay everyone's salary and we'll have 100% employment with a Zero (0) deficit...(WooHoo!!!)

Nuttier still, she contrasts extended unemployment payments to their own $700 Billion bailout program to fix the banking crisis...that they created!

She says the $700 Billion bailout had no effect on jobs and went entirely to the deficit. Whereas, Obama says it SAVED "Millions of jobs" and has been paid back in full (with interest). Somebody's not telling the truth.

This lady is NUTS!!


She eliminates the middle-class Bush tax cuts, then says she will obstruct any tax bill that doesn't pass "HER" middle class tax cut...she's such an embarrassment!

 

What about the young couple looking at marriage? The FPL for a single person is $11,490. Full medical insurance subsidy @ $15,281.

Both as single have a combined 100% subsidy income threshold of $30,562.
If they were to get married - the FPL for a family of 2 is $15,510. Full medical insurance subsidy @ $20,628.

As single each would receive some type of subsidy up to an income threshold of $45,960 or 91,920 boh combined.
Married counted as a family of 2 the subsidy threshold is only $62,040.

 

They could make an additional $4,000.00 a month if they swap their kids with a neighbor under the foster care program. How far do you want to take this?

 

c jay brought up a good point in another thread...is this a "subsidy" (aka. a check) or a tax deduction? I thought it was a direct reduction of the amount of the insurance regardless of tax liability. c jay (if I understand correctly) says it may just be a tax deduction.

 

Obamacare Subsidy Calculator

It only shows Silver plan premiums and doesn't show deductibles...but I guess it's better than nothing.

http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

 

It's still unclear to me how this whole "subsidy" thing works. The NPR article below seems to be a fairly balanced description of the law. However, sometimes it calls the subsidy a "Tax Subsidy" while other times it's called an "Insurance Subsidy".

As near as I can tell, it's money received solely for the purpose of offsetting the cost of insurance premiums. In other words, if you don't use up all your subsidy, you don't get the remainder back in a check. It also seems to be independent of whether or not the recipient actually has a tax liability. In other words, it's not a tax deduction.

I guess it's sometimes called a "Tax Subsidy" because the Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare premiums are a tax.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...ordable-care-act-pays-for-insurance-subsidies

 

It's a Tax Credit with the payment of the credit assigned to your insurance provider. The US Gov't is basically giving you a interest free loan in the amount equal to your projected tax credit based your 2014 estimated income. Any differences in that credit due to under or over-estimating your 2014 income is settled when you file your 2014 Tax return in 2015.

 

It's listed as a tax credit. A direct payment to the provider makes sense, however can a tax credit exceed a person's total tax liability? If so, it seems like a cleaver way to slide money around "off book" without any budgetary approval. It would simply show as less revenues. Are there plan limits if you are "subsidized". If not, can I get a gold plan on someone else's dime even if my share goes from $40.00 to $90.00 per month on a $400.00 to $900.00 a month plan. (Note: "me" and figures listed are totally hypothetical.)

 

What about someone with little or no taxable income? ...do they have to pay full price for healthcare? That's the part I don't quite understand.

 

Here's my situation...

I'm 55, live in Colorado, and single. I qualify for early retirement at $48,000/year. If I retire, I can continue my company healthcare plan for 12 months...after that, I'll have to fend for myself. Using the Kaiser-Permanente ACA Calculator in Post #11 (above), my income would still exceed 400% of the poverty level so I would not qualify for a subsidy.

According to the Calculator, my annual bill for a generic Silver plan would be $5243/year...or over 10% of my income. There's also the deductible to consider.

Deductibles increases with age to age 65 (when Medicare kicks in) so my deductible would likely be closer to the higher end of the Silver plans...I'm guessing about $4000.



That doesn't even take into account all the co-pays for things like office visits, drugs, xrays, etc.

Talk about Sticker Shock!!!

Unless (God forbid) I have a catastrophic illness, I'll pay all that money for nothing. If I were buying something like insurance for long term assisted living, I could live with it...but that's not part of Obamacare. If I do get sick, how will I know if the Obamacare Eugenicists won't just look at my voter registration card and pull the plug?

 

I get the feeling an awful lot of people (Democrats and Republicans alike) are going to be hiding income and assets with a renewed vigor.

Or just walk away from America altogether...



Of course...this could all be avoided and all our revenue problems solved with the FAIR TAX (www.fairtax.org)

 

Negotiate a one time lump sum distribution that reduces your monthly pension benefit to amount that qualifies you for the healthcare tax credit. $48,000.00 is only 18% above the subsidy threshold.

Just like the Earned Income Tax Credit the Healthcare Tax Credit is not capped by your actual income tax liability. If your state elected the option of expanding Medicaid those with little or no income will receive coverage there.

As for pulling the plug based on voter registration - ain't gonna happen. Pulling the plug on Conservatives or Republicans isn't a very effective way of gaining votes.

I have looked on the internet for income that is exempt (not considered) in the subsidy calculation and haven't been able to find this information. The bill was over 2000 pages - I'm sure some sources of income are not considered. What about sudden windfalls such as a gain from selling your home? Suppose you fall on financial hardtimes a have to take an early distribution from an IRA or 401K?

Another trap is the 50% premium surcharge for tobacco use. You can't apply the Tax Credit towards this.

 

My comment about voter registration cards was (hopefully) tongue-in-cheek.

However, I sincerely believe there will be some level of cost/benefit consideration when determining the extent of late stage healthcare. As costs rise and budgets squeezed, I'm concerned this determination could be a moving target for those without an independent healthcare advocate.

100 years ago, when the 16th Amendment was passed (authorizing the Federal Income Tax) the top tax rate for the average wage earner (up to $95,000 in today's money) was just one percent (1%). That was the advertised rate when the Amendment was put forth for ratification.

Where is that tax rate today? Answer: 28%...and Liberal/Progressives feel that rate is still too low.

Just because advocates of the ACA (Obamacare) say one thing today, where's the guarantee that it will be true tomorrow? That's a valid concern of many people.

 

This is like pouring sand on the crank of a poorly running engine in hopes of fixing it. The program is barely out the door and the age only political game of blame shifting has already begun. Americans do vote their pocket book and the backlash will be huge. I don't think either political party will walk away unscathed. This could be the catalyst for punching the reset button on the government. Every 80 years, almost like clock work we reinvent ourselves as a nation. In the 1780's we went from subjects of a king to free citizens of a sovereign state. 80 years later in the 1860's United States went from plural to singular. People no longer thought of themselves as Virginians or Kentuckians but as Americans. 80 years later in the 1940's a massive federal government was in play and we started thinking in national instead of regional terms, an oh, we became a "super power". I wonder what the 2020's have in store.