Hi Deri,

    Having just done my taxes my breakdown for 2002 looks like

     after deductions my Federal tax rate was - 4.36% or 1868.00 on a
taxable Income of 24,078.00 This is not the income amount its the part I owe
taxes on - this is the amount due after decuctions - such as interest on
house, credit for child etc.
     after deductions I paid the state of Virginia 1478.19

     I paid 2324.21 to Fairfax for property tax on my house -
     I paid 142.00  Virginia and Fairfax for car tax and county sticker.
     The going Virginia rate on food and purchase items is 4.5%  which using
a figure of 500 a month would be about 270.00

     that equal s - 6082.40  roughly paid out. I can hardly wait to see the
amount when Amber isn't a deduction anymore and since I didn't have Alex all
year I wasn't able to deduct her for 2002

                                          Trisha - no wonder I need 3 jobs
to survive!!!





> On Thursday 01 May 2003 4:44 pm, you wrote:
> > What gets me is how the feds expected the local governments to implement
> > security measures and pay for it when local budgets are strained to the
> > max.  *shakes head*
> >
> > I'm apalled by stories I hear from friends who are disabled and living
> on
> > SS or other fixed income.  They do without much-needed meds, adaptive
> > equipment, aides, etc. because they can't afford them and the local
> > services are fraying at the edges.  A local non-profit  pharmacy that
> > issues free scripts to the poor is in the danger of closing down because
> of
> > the lack of funding and a downward trend in donations.  There have been
> a
> > lot of layoffs in the local area and so people are hurting, badly.
> However
> > much I loathed Clinton's personal messes, I think we were better off
> under
> > the Dems than the Republicans, as far as ADA rights and the economy is
> > concerned.
> >
> > Kat
> >
>
> There's the nub. If you are concerned with re-distributing wealth from
> those
> who can afford it to those who can't (which is what the schemes you
> mention
> above entail), it means living under a higher burden of taxation than you
> currently enjoy.
>
> As a Welshman living in the UK I must admit I don't understand why there
> is a
> difference between attitudes to State and Federal taxation. In the UK (at
> my
> pay level) I pay about 42.5% in Direct Taxation,  17.5% in Indirect Tax
> (on
> most Goods & Services), and Local Tax is paid based on my house value. In
> addition there is hefty "Excise Duty" on 'luxuries' - petrol, booze & fags
> -
> various sundry taxes & "Licence Fees":-
>
>         Road Tax Licence
>         TV Licence (paid in full to the BBC)
>         Betting Tax
>
> As you can see most taxation is levied at national level, part of this is
> paid
> back to Local Authorities based on population demographics.
>
> The UK is by no means highly taxed (compared to other N Europe countries)
> and
> personally I am more in favour of moving the ratio towards Direct taxation
> rather than Indirect, and paying higher taxes - although I'm unfortunately
> in
> the minority.
>
> What's the tax levels like in the US.
>
> Cheers
>
> Deri