It gets wonky with a non-cash windfall though. A couple of years ago my wife and I won game tickets valued around $3k which of course you have to pay income tax on which was ultimately around a thousand dollars (I don’t remember exactly, but it was something like 30-50% of the winnings) for just those tickets, which of course since they’re game tickets you then spend more money going to the game. Ultimately we could afford it and enjoyed the experience but I do not want to imagine how that goes for folks who win for example a $40k car and don’t take the cash equivalent option
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captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 week agoYeah, oh no I have to pay taxes on a massive windfall… Fuck off with that, I want my society to function. I get that it’s a big chunk, but it’s also free money.
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 1 week ago
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 week ago
That’s totally fair, and I think that taxes should be included as part of the prize in non cash prizes (and cash equivalent should include the taxes as well to avoid the incentive to make it difficult not to take the cash or for people to not take it).
And yeah, windfall taxation is tough because it includes large financial inheritance (which left unchecked results in nobility, at least according to the founders of my country), lotteries (which I see no reason not to tax like any other income), sentimental inheritance of small goods (like grandma’s jewelry), sentimental inheritance of real estate (yeah that needs taxed, but the taxation system should work with you on it), non sentimental inheritance of real estate (which will be claimed to be sentimental), and large winnings/gifts that while very nice may become a burden when taxes are applied. And the lines between all these are blurry enough that some people will be cheating it
holy_scroller@lemmy.zip 1 week ago
I’ve heard numerous people complain about getting a raise because they would end up in a higher tax bracket and come out net negative…I don’t think most people understand how tax brackets work.
Landless2029@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I learned about tax brackets when I went up a bracket.
Self education is seriously lacking for most people.
Literally just search “how do tax brackets work?”
Took me 15 min to learn everything I needed to know instead of making a false assumption.
LePoisson@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Yeah anyone that thinks making more money means they’ll end up with less money because of taxes is just wrong. It’s crazy how so many people are that naive that they want to actively handicap themselves.
Having said that, you know what does work like that, our welfare system. It is possible to hit a point where you work too much and get xyz benefits taken away and the monetary value of those is larger than what your raise was. In particular, childcare/food stamp benefits are a hard one to lose and childcare can be a lot of money. So, that’s a valid complaint but if you are not receiving government aid any raise you get at work is a benefit to you.