Monday, March 22, 2004
Hot Damn! I'm Rich ...
... at least according to the anti-tax-cut gang.
I've always supported the Bush tax-cuts, on principle if nothing else, and felt the "tax-cut for the rich" mantra was never more than blatant partisan sloganeering. The engineer in me, though, has always wanted empirical quantitative evidence. I got it last night when I entered my 2003 Federal Income Tax data into last year's software and then imported the exact same data into the 2003 version. Actually, there was one difference, as a portion of my IRA contribution was deductible this year and wasn't last year. The results? Well, with a total income in the $50K - $75K range, filing jointly with two kids and mortgage (i.e. typical middle-class family) the 2003 bill was about $790 less then it would have been in 2002.
Don't know about you, but I'm still not so rich that I'd look an $800 gift horse in the mouth. And, as a bonus, I get bragging rights to being "rich".
I've always supported the Bush tax-cuts, on principle if nothing else, and felt the "tax-cut for the rich" mantra was never more than blatant partisan sloganeering. The engineer in me, though, has always wanted empirical quantitative evidence. I got it last night when I entered my 2003 Federal Income Tax data into last year's software and then imported the exact same data into the 2003 version. Actually, there was one difference, as a portion of my IRA contribution was deductible this year and wasn't last year. The results? Well, with a total income in the $50K - $75K range, filing jointly with two kids and mortgage (i.e. typical middle-class family) the 2003 bill was about $790 less then it would have been in 2002.
Don't know about you, but I'm still not so rich that I'd look an $800 gift horse in the mouth. And, as a bonus, I get bragging rights to being "rich".
