Asklemmy

The last 2 months I have cared a lot. I typically overpay my tax on purpose so the IRS gets an interest free loan and I get to save some money. I aim to change that soon so I just pay what I owe, and possibly don't get a refund in April. I don't want to give the regime a single penny more than I owe, and frankly if my state seceded and I didn't have to give them a dime, it would be preferred.

I think taxes are great, but the rich really need to pull their own weight. The new taxes just fuck over the poor/middle class

We have a saying in my country: there's no point in complaining because nobody listens. I mean we are all paying so what's the point of moaning about it

I'm fine paying what I pay, but I reserve the right to question the quality of services they pay for.

Property taxes bug me a lot. The tax has gone up over 10% each of the past 3 years. It's adding a lot to my mortgage.

I pay quite a bit in Denmark, but used to live in the US.

I pay more taxes now (not THAT much more but definitely more). However I see what I get for my taxes here: healthcare, bicycle lanes, cheap and very good trains/metro/ferries/buses everywhere, etc., and sooo much support for people. It makes me proud to pay taxes here, even though of course I always want more in my pocket and I want more for my money.

In the US I hated the taxes because I paid more than rich people (as they pay nearly none) and I didn't feel like i got a lot from them.

No problem with taxes as a concept, but I hate how the US uses tax money

I pay a lot in taxes because I earn a lot. I earn a lot because I work hard and I was lucky (had the right opportunities, enjoyed work that is well compensated by capitalism, etc). I don’t care paying high taxes

I care anytime some rich prick pays less than me.

Depends on the tax. Progressive income tax? I don't care so much. Flatter taxes like sales, property, gas, etc, I care about more because it affects the people at the bottom disproportionately. We only need a progressive income tax AND accountability at the top end for people to pay in. Tired of billionaires getting off free with loop holes.

I became more aware of how much tax I was paying when I became self employed because instead of paying a bit out of each check like a w2 worker I have to pay it in lump sums quarterly.

I run a low overhead medical practice so I don’t have a tax cheat llc, I take the standard deduction every year and as a result my taxes are pretty much the same as they ever were. Even though it’s roughly the same amount (slightly more actually, now that I cut out the overhead of medical systems stealing 30-60% of my labor) there’s something psychological about paying the amount in a lump sum

I think paying taxes is important and I want to do. However I feel conflicted about spending this money because what I feel paying taxes are important for are generally not what my tax dollars fund, and increasingly so. I want to pay and gladly will for community enrichment, better public schools, access to healthcare, infrastructure like roads, power lines, sewers, moving away from fossil fuels, better handling of trash and recycling programs, rehabilitation programs for criminal offenders, mental health programs including interim programs like community supports and mobile programs that exist in between outpatient and inpatient, social welfare programs that give people access to housing, food, electricity, etc

But instead my taxes pay for these things increasingly less. About 20% of my taxes go to military and defensive spending and while I do think some amount needs to go to this I think it’s absurd. Most countries spend 3-5% on defensive spending. Even China, the second highest after the US, spends 6%.

So I don’t resent paying taxes but I do resent how much when roughly 1/5th of that goes to defense contractors to launder billions from taxpayer and Israel for genocide. I also resent that my tax burden continually increases despite making roughly $60-70k a year while the services around me continually decrease.

If you get within earshot of a Republican, chances are you'll hear complaints about "damn taxes" within five minutes. So to a certain set of people, definitely everyone they talk to is constantly complaining about taxes.

When I was starting out and making little money, the taxes I paid were definitely cutting into my ability to live. I think instead of "standard deductions" we should have real minimum incomes. If you are under the minimum income for your location, you don't pay taxes.

Now that I am at the end of my career, I think it's stupid that my taxes are not higher. If I could have given young me some of the money I am keeping now, I would have had a much better life overall. I obviously can't do that now, but I can give someone else the same breathing room.

I care more about where they are spent. My local government is spending it far better than my federal government. If it was half my income and was spent in ways that lower the cost of living and improve quality of life, then I'd have no problem with that.

If I get a tax cut, I think, cool, at least I choose where this money goes, because I actually do give some to non-profits that benefit society. Tax amounts are not something which determines how I vote, I gloss over it in the news, it's just incidental that the anti-worker parties want to raise my taxes and spend them in worse ways.

I only cared when I was poor and living paycheck to paycheck.

I'd care a hell of a lot less about the amount if it felt like it was being used for anything other than padding rich assholes pockets. I want my taxes to feed and help people, repair and maintain roads, and subsidies public transit. I guess I'm saying I want my money to help my community and the vulnerable, not sit in some rich fuckers bank account while a homeless settlement I drive by daily grows, tent by tent.

No (US). Those who loudly complain are generally conservatives who can’t understand how marginal tax rates and brackets work.

Only when the administration is blatantly corrupt. I take pride in funding my share of society, but not when nutjobs are spending it.

No , my problem is just about where it got spent

I pay roughly 30% of my gross income in th US. The only tangible benefit I get from it is the ability to drive on free roads on my way to work to earn more taxable income. I only wish my money didn't go to subsidize the rich and make bombs to blow kids up on the other side of the planet.

Now more than ever, I don’t want to pay taxes except at the state level. If Medicare and social security will go the way of the dodo bird, why should I pay? If federal agencies that make this country a civilized country have been dismantled, why the fuck should I pay? If the military and security apparatus gets bigger yet we lose out on government services that actually benefit the people, why the fuck should I pay?

And I’m at the point where I will cut someone who tells me I HAVE to pay my taxes. Because the only thing keeping me from wilding out in real life and even on the internet is the threat of prison time.

I have heard folks distantly related to me talk like the state tax rate was pretty damn important when selecting which part of the United States to move to.

They were the sort of people that would sit ( in their living room in New Zealand ) and watch fox news and go on the engineered logical and emotional weirdcoaster that sort of media offers up. This is some pretty niche viewing for folks in my country.

Last year I owed 10k USD. I certainly cared then.

Overall I don't think about it until I do my taxes. That said, I'd happily pay more if everyone else got healthcare, good infrastructure, and a clean environment.

I care more about how little rich people pay more than I care about how much I pay. I also care about my tax dollars being wasted.

DOGE could actually be a good thing if it were actually looking through the functions of government to eliminate redundancies, waste, and leakage.

But nope, it’s run by a man child who uses his idea of economics (which is informed by right-wing memes) to eliminate government programs that actually help people and the economy.

If it were being used responsibly I'd advocate for higher taxes, but here in the US taxation is theft.

Yes. But I don’t complain about it. I do complain about wealthier people and businesses don’t pay taxes like I do.

I've heard many right wing folks complain, because in this country at least (Canada), the right LOVES to brain wash them into believing government should be smaller, socialism is bad, and high taxes are evil (even though when they get in they only give tax breaks to their rich friends).

I, one of seemingly few rational thinking humans left in this country, have always understood, believed, and told those people at every opportunity - "THAT IS WHAT PAYS FOR OUR SERVICES"

I remember before I deleted my FB account one tool on there complaining about an incoming 'digital services tax' (i.e. Netflix subs and such), and I quickly skim his wall or whatever, and he was collecting the "oh noes, I lost my job cause covid, please give me money government" benefit we had just like, a year prior - they SERIOUSLY just do not understand they very benefits and services they rely on and complain aren't big enough or good enough, ARE FUNDED BY THOSE DAMN TAXES.

As infuriating as all that is - it's even worse to see an entire half of our government fanning the flames of this idiocy, reinforcing it, and teaching them it is right!!

As a kid I guess I did, because I was borderline libertarian and something of a prick. But these days I'm older and a little more aware of people who aren't me, so these days I don't think about it at all.

I would prefer if rich people paid more, but that has no real bearing on how much I pay.

I'm more or less forced to, how I wish I could pay it just like another bill rather than some complicated guess-and-file game.

I also want the government to give me an itemized list, to a reasonable extent, of where my taxes are going. As a thought exercise, I added "taxation theft" to my yearly budget, which I currently calculate as over a third of my taxes. That's my best estimate of the taxes I'm paying to bomb innocent civilians halfway across the globe, among other uses I would not approve of.

I wish I lived in a country that takes better care of its taxpayers so I wouldn't have to care about the tax I pay.

The only time I have ever cared is when I've gotten a bonus. The tax rate is much higher on a bonus. I'd much rather my company just pay me $25 more a week than a bonus in December.

I've not heard anyone ever complain about it other than in media.

Maybe you need to be more upper class to relate.

Yes, the property taxes in my city are the highest legally allowed and the services we receive are dogshit.

Not really. In the UK for hourly employees the employer handles all that before you even get your paycheque. When it's payday you have a big breakdown in the slip on what's gone to various taxes and stuff, but you skip all of that and just look at the number that says what's going in your bank.

If I was self employed, or won the lottery or something I would probably be a little pissed off about the concept.