U.S. Taxes: A Fee for Civilization

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In the United States, the deadline for filing tax returns for last year is approaching, the last day is April 15. According to US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell, "Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society." How much does American civilization cost? Irina Fievre found out.

In the United States, all tax collections are handled by the IRS. The declaration can be filled out on the website or you can hire a "tax consultant", whose services will cost $ 75-300, but who will explain all the intricacies of tax legislation. There are 3 main types of taxes in America. The first is the income tax, which collects both the state (federal) and the states.

Progressive scale of taxation

This year, further changes were made to the federal tax, and now its rate ranges from 10% to 37%, depending on income. This tax can be individual (levied on individual citizens, regardless of marital status), and "family" (at the rate for married couples). In the second case, the general declaration is submitted, and the total income of the husband and wife is taken into account. Only "individuals" who monthly earn up to $ 9525 can count on the minimum 10%. Or families with a total income of up to $ 19,050.

There is no such rate as in Russia (tax on personal income - 13%) in the United States. The closest 12% are paid by Americans with incomes from $ 9,526 to $ 38,700 and spouses with a total income of $ 19,051 to $ 77,400.

The federal income tax is the same for the entire country, in contrast to the conditions for paying income tax to the state in which you live. For example, in Texas there is no such tax, but in New York it is 8, 82%.

Another mandatory and extremely important tax for the state is social tax, it provides a pension program and payments to the unemployed. Now it is about 6, 2% of the salary, a couple of years ago it was around 4%.

Medicare (medical tax) provides affordable health care for those without insurance and for the poor, that's another 1.45% of the salary.

For example, from a salary of $ 50 thousand per year, for which a tax of 22% is set, income tax for a non-family person will have to pay $ 14,825 (federal $ 11,000 + retirement $ 3,100 + medical fee $ 725). If you file a declaration with a family, the tax will be $ 9,825 (12%) ($ 6,000 + $ 3100 + $ 725). So being married in this regard in the United States is beneficial.

Apart from the above, my family pays property tax. All property owners must pay it, and the amount of the fee depends on the value of the land and the house (buildings). The interest rate fluctuates and directly depends on the adopted city budget, 1.9% for the state of Texas. This amount includes tax levy in the city department of education, tax on water resources in the city (rivers, lakes) and road tax.

For example, in the city of Round Rock, with a population of just over 120 thousand people, last year's budget was $ 323 million. The amount is not so high, since the city did not have large expenses other than improving roads. Almost all of the construction of new buildings was carried out at the expense of investors. It is noteworthy that all budget items are detailed on the website, any resident of the city can go to the city meeting and express their opinion.

The city department of education has its own budget: last year it overtook the city one in terms of amount and amounted to $ 413.8 million. The city has 53 schools and 48,500 students. Last year, the education department built a new high school and two concert halls for students. The salary of teachers in the erected school is also taken into account here.

If a city resident's house is estimated at $ 245 thousand, then the property tax will be on the house for $ 5373.21. Of this amount, the city budget will receive $ 1057, the district budget - $ 1048, the road department - $ 97, and the water department - $ 47 …The City Department of Education is owed $ 2,880.

And that's not all. Do not forget that sales tax is levied on purchases of goods and services. Its percentage is individual for each state. In Texas, sales tax averaged 8.25% in 2017. For example, for headphones that cost $ 14.99 in a store, at the checkout they will charge another $ 1.24 on top. An important nuance to the discussion of sales tax: they are not taxed on essential products (milk, bread, fruits / vegetables, etc.).).

Basically, Americans believe that they pay a lot of taxes, but they understand: roads without dents and holes, like social infrastructure, are maintained with these funds. There are two fire stations within a radius of 3-4 km from my house, the police come to the call in less than 5 minutes.

In December 2017, President Donald Trump signed the U. S. Tax Reform Act into law. The law provides for a tax reduction for legal entities (corporations, enterprises) from 35% to 21%, and also reduces the tax on funds that are returned to the country from the activities of corporations to 15.5%. That is, legal entities will pay less taxes if they decide to invest in America rather than abroad.