• w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    This is the problem. My partner doesn’t want to work OT because he thinks it will cost him more in taxes. I explain why that’s not exactly true, but I can tell he’s not interested. Financial Literacy in the US is abysmal.

    • sloppychops@lemmy.ca
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      22 hours ago

      This is not a US specific issue, tbh. I’ve heard this weird belief repeated by all sorts of people.

      • bountygiver [any]@lemmy.ml
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        15 hours ago

        it is a misinformation many people in power wants to keep because it lets republicans sell their policies to not tax the rich and bosses to not raise their employee’s salaries.

      • dan@upvote.au
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        16 hours ago

        I’ve heard it in Australia too, which has the same tax bracket system as the USA. I think the fact that this stuff isn’t taught in school is a major issue.

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        19 hours ago

        You’re absolutely right. I cant speak for anyone else, as I don’t live there but I highly doubt the US is an exception.

        Rather than being mad at each other, I want to make sure we hold the right people accountable! Governments, corporations, billionaires etc.

        It’s a form of oppression.

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        19 hours ago

        Nah. He’s not an idiot. But he is impatient. He doesn’t handle paperwork or anything involving patience well. (ADHD)

        I also think taxes in the US are intentionally over complicated and confusing. I don’t struggle with things like that but I can empathize with people who do.

        • InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          Strictly speaking the taxes in the US are not that complicated, but the credits, deductions and what not are. Still Tomato Tomato.

        • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          17 hours ago

          have you considered asking him why he even thinks that in the first place? You’ve literally put him into a spot where he’s too stupid to even care about whether or not that response is logical or makes sense.

          If he just doesn’t want to work overtime that’s fine, a lot of people don’t, why would he justify it with stupid tax logic that he evidently must know is stupid? Seems like cope to me.

          You cannot simultaneously “be smart” and then “be stupid” you are either stupid about something, or not. It’s one of the two. I’m sure he’s a pretty generally smart guy, most people are, but either it’s an excuse he uses because he doesnt want to work overtime, or he’s literally uneducated (and therefore stupid) about taxes, and chooses not to be educated about it, even though it would be financially beneficial to him, because that’s literally how money works. (which would also make him pretty objectively stupid in that case) again, he may not care at all, but then why wouldn’t he just be upfront about not caring?

      • alkbch@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        There’s not enough information provided to reach this conclusion.

          • alkbch@lemmy.ml
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            1 day ago

            No, there is not. There are many tax credits one is no longer eligible for after a certain threshold. There are various programs one is no longer eligible for after a certain threshold.

            • jj4211@lemmy.world
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              21 hours ago

              Most of the likely credits tend to phase out gracefully. So it’s true that we can’t be certain, based on my experience of when people are afraid of making too much money, it’s almost always because they think a higher tax bracket applies flatly across their income not due to nuanced understanding of tax credit and welfare benefits.

              • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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                19 hours ago

                This is true for many people I’ve talked to, but he does understand, on a basic level, how the brackets work. When it comes to the calculation parts, I think he gets frustrated with all the rules.

                But it’s okay! I’m good at stuff like that and he can build pretty much anything. We all have our strengths. :)

    • arrow74@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      Oddly enough it kinda does. OT can make you pay out more taxes on that one check since withholdings are calculated by check. Basically the government/payroll system thinks you’re going to be making that every week so more taxes will be taken out.

      In reality this only effects the size of your tax bill or return at the end of the year.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        That’s what people see and exactly why they think they got kicked up a whole tax bracket.

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          21 hours ago

          The whole notion of “kicked up a tax bracket” is also a misleading thing. Only a piece of your income goes into the “new bracket”, all pay under the new bracket is taxed as they would have been used to.

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        20 hours ago

        Exactly, and it also depends on what withholding you have requested.

      • underwire212@lemm.ee
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        19 hours ago

        We all have our weaknesses and faults. No need to dismiss every relationship due to imperfections.

      • w3dd1e@lemm.ee
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        20 hours ago

        Nah. He’s not a bad person or a dummy. He just gets frustrated by bureaucracy and doesn’t have the patience I have.

        • recall519@lemm.ee
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          15 hours ago

          It’s not the fear of bureaucracy that is concerning, it’s the lack of interest to listen to your sound advice on a relatively simple topic.