Comments on: 2011-2012 Tax Rates & 2011-2012 Tax Brackets

By: darren m smith

darren m smith — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:39:47 +0000

my wife and i live together for five years i got my greencard and i got a job but my wife made more money than me and i didnt know about taxes so she use a taxes id number with my name to file taxes in 2005 2006 and i didnt work that long to be oweing the irs money i only made eleven thousand dollars last year and they take taxes out i suppose to be getting a refund back if the irs dont take it this is very hard on a person you trying get your money and you didnt make any money at all and the irs is always taking your hard earn money people who rich who owe irs they dont take there money but poor people they take there little bit of money from them its very sad it makes you wonder why work

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:25:07 +0000

At least one positive from the 2012 tax brackets is that most of us will get a tax cut, thanks to the increase in tax bracket ranges. A little good in these tough financial times.

By: jean

jean — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:48:08 +0000

a family member filed me as a dependant on their income tax filing, how can i find out?

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:05:24 +0000

I have a kid in another country, but not married to the mom. I send money every month to them for 9 years now, including private school tuition. I have an 80 year old mom living with me, I pay a lady $3200 a month to take care of her at home. IRS won’t let me deduct the cost to support my kid, won’t let me use my mom as a dependent (she gets $900 SS) and won’t let me claim head of household to get a measly $100 bucks back. This country is so messed up.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:07:51 +0000

Ronnie, you seem to be talking out of both sides of your mouth. One is right and the other is wrong. Both ccan’t be right.

By: Debra

Debra — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:02:41 +0000

You can cliam head of house Hold and one dependent and that will defintily help your claim or you can claim single and your one or two dependent’s and get back a nice return. But make sure that when you claim it is by goverment regulation’s and rules. Don’t try to claim your friends children you will get pentalie’s.

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:05:09 +0000

You will be paying much less than that because of deductions either standard or itemized depending on your situation. You only have to pay the tax bracket percent on the next incremental dollar earned above all of your deductions for the bracket you are in. For example, if you got a pay raise of $1000 dollars THEN you would probably owe an additional $250, but if you earned $100,000 total you would find that your TOTAL would most likely be more like $10-$15 thousand instead of $25,000.

By: David

David — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:26:14 +0000

The problem is it would take Kennedy era tax rates,remember that was close to a 90% top tax rate, to actually make a dent in the debt.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:46:18 +0000

Ok, forgive me for my ignorance on this one. My goal is to adjust my withholding in 2012 so that we don’t get a refund (but we don’t wanna owe either). We are not looking for extra pocket money, we are looking to offset the raise we are planning to contribute to our 401Ks. So according to the chart we fall in the 25% line. So at 90K we should be paying 22.5K in taxes by the end of the year? Is this right?

By: Madison

Madison — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:33:08 +0000

Hi Jack,

You are correct, the tax tables are for taxable income. In addition to adding on your standard deduction and your exemptions to come up with the maximum before crossing over into the next tax bracket, you can also add on other pretax items (like 401k contributions and health care premiums) and other deductions that appear on the front page of the 1040 (like IRA deductions, student loan interest, tuition and fees, etc.)

Also, don’t forget that only the amount that crosses over will be taxed at the higher tax rate, not your entire income.

By: Jack Wells

Jack Wells — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:34:42 +0000

I’m a bit confused (bet you get a lot of that). I’m assuming these tax tables are for taxable income, right? Which means if I can earn $87,900 before crossing over into the 25% bracket. That would be $69,000 plus my standard deduction of $11,600 (Married filing joint) plus my 2 Exemptions ($7,300 last year) Is this correct? Or is there something I’m missing?

By: Quan

Quan — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:04:01 +0000

^ Couldnt agree more! Us regular folks have to spend weeks educating ourselves on tax and investing (which scares many from educating themselves financially in the first place), while those with the extra resources will have sound and good advice readily avaliable!

By: Rimaye

Rimaye — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:48:36 +0000

So basically you object to this because most people will see a (slight) cut in taxes, while those making more than $150K will see a (slight) increase? I think those making over $150K can deal with it, quite frankly. And if they don’t like these rates, why don’t we bring back Reagan-era marginal tax rates (around 50% for top earners)? Someone has to pay for those bailouts.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:59:01 +0000

Sandy,
Think of the number of exemptions you claim as your pre-claiming deductions on your return. However this only takes into account the average for your tax bracket and if you are only claiming the standard deduction and not itemizing, don’t have a mortgage or student loans you might have less than the average number of deductions.
I am not an accountant but I would only claim 1 on your W4. Never compare what someone else gets as a refund. People who frequently get a high refund may also be claiming deductions they are not entitled to (or are exaggerating) and put themselves at risk if they are audited. Sounds to me like you need some more deductions or a better accountant.

By: sigusmunt Kreusz

sigusmunt Kreusz — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 04:17:28 +0000

All of the comments and disagreement prove one thing. That our tax system is too complicated for even the officials and “so-called” long term “expert” employees of the IRS to know, at the tip of their fingers, what’s right and what’s not.
Such a over-complex system is tailor made to create the need for entire industries that cater to all this confusion and sense of fear.
If no taxpayer and no tax official is sure exactly what the law IS, it’s best to “have a friend” at the IRS, or GOP, or Democratic Party, or at an expensive tax attorney/CPA, who will run interference for you and whose names instill fear in IRS examiners. They are the “hired guns” of the business.
THAT is why everyone is PO’d at rich folks; for having expensive help that aids them in getting away with paying less than otherwise and thus making it imperative that less rich people pay more!