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Add me on SphinnIn the mail yesterday I received a letter from the IRS, regarding the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Here is a quote of the first paragraph of this letter :
Dear Taxpayer,
We are please to inform you that the United States Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which provides for economic stimulus payments to be made to over 130 million American households. Under this new law, you may be entitled to a payment of up to $600 ($1,00 if filing a joint return), plus additional amounts for each qualifying child.
That sounds pretty cool, right? An extra $600 isn’t really going to stimulate me to make any purchases, but I’m definitely not going to say no to it. Oh wait, maybe I have to. Here’s a quote from the bottom of the letter :
For taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) of more than $75,000 (or more than $150,000 if married filing jointly), the payment will be reduced or phased out completely).
They might as well have replaced that line with :
If you’re successful at all, you don’t deserve anything. We’d rather give it to individuals that make $3,000 a year and would stimulate our economy by spending the $600 on drug money.
Honestly…what is it with the U.S. government hating on successful people? I understand that those who have a much lower income could use the money to pay off debt or whatever, and $600 isn’t enough to save me; maybe pay off 0.01% of my taxes. Really though, it seems like our government does a swell job at trying to reward those who haven’t accomplished much in their life. Maybe it’s not that, maybe it just seems like the government does a swell job at penalizing wealthy individuals for their success.
It is absolutely absurd how much of a higher percentage the rich pay in taxes. People look down upon the saying “the rich will get richer”. That quote is completely true, and that’s what should happen. If someone has the drive, motivation, and guts to take a risk and start their own company, then more power to them when they succeed. People shouldn’t cry because they chose to go to college and chose to work a 9-5 job in a cubicle for the rest of their life.
The argument against this is “well how many rich people out there are rich from just scamming and lying?” Ok, how many in the middle/lower class scam/cheat/lie/sell drugs just to put food on the table and nothing more? Plenty. There’s rotten fruit on every tree, that doesn’t mean you should chop down the entire tree.
This “economic stimulus” plan is just more icing on the cake. Let’s give money to those making less than $75,000 gross per year, and to the successful let’s just keep taxing the hell out of them. For those of you who are uninformed or are just getting into the world of self-employment, here are what federal tax rates look like :
A person who has a highly successful business ($349,700 income) is paying 25% more in taxes than somebody with an unsuccessful business. The government punishes the successful by taking over 1/3 of their profits. This isn’t even counting state tax, so let’s jack it up even higher.
ABSOLUTELY ABSURD.
Every single time I think about it, I get sick to my stomach. If a person is paying more, they’re naturally going to be paying a lot more in taxes even with a fixed percentage. Someone making $10,000 would pay $1,500 in taxes, while someone making $500,000 would pay $75,000. That’s still 50x as much. But the government likes to take advantage of the successful and jack the metric up to 116x as much, $175,000 in taxes. I would say that’s the biggest negative when entering into the lucrative world of online business.
All in all, this post was one big rant about the government, and if you’re anything like me (pretty much if you’re making money online in the US), you can understand my feelings on the subject.
Let’s go lose some money fellas, we’ll get $600 for it.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
That is a very greedy thing to say. Do you know why many third world countries are fucked up? Because the majority of wealth in the country is owned by a very small percentage of people, including the government and a bunch of rich guys who own all the corporations. If America was to allow their rich to easily get richer, that means the poor will be getting poorer. That is exactly what is happening though and they are trying to turn it around to make life better for the poor people.
To complain about it like this is very immature and not accepting the responsibility of being an upper class citizen of the USA. If you want to pay less tax read John Chow’s recent tax avoiding blogs or goto a country where the rich are allowed to get richer more easily and the poor run around in gangs with machine guns and swords and spread aids everywhere.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Obviously you don’t know why the poor stay poor even though they have opportunities to become rich. Throwing money at them won’t do anything. Absolutely nothing. People think money will solve problems, but in reality, it doesn’t.
Ok, granted, there may be some poor, genuine people who are working their ass off to just survive. If most of the poor were like that, I’d be willing to give money to them any day. However, I am not going to give them money if all they do is waste it. O wait, I have no choice. The US Government says so.
March 10th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Wow. Alright. So at this point in my life, I’ve lived at both ends of the spectrum. I’ve lived with those getting the tax breaks, and those in the upper tier. And let me tell you there is more than “some” poor people who are working their asses off just to survive. 99% of them are.
And how are they “wasting” it? You still living under the illusion everyone who is poor is an alcoholic, or hooked on crack?
Most that I have met seriously pay for housing and food. That’s it.
And a lot of the rest of them are “poor” due to mental problems and courtesy of the government(state government in Michigan’s case) have nowhere to go since they shut down all the state run mental institutions to save on…taxes.
March 10th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I never said everyone who is poor is an alcoholic, or hooked on crack. Here’s the cold hard truth. The poor don’t know how to use their money wisely (hence they are wasting it). Yes they may be using most of their money on food and housing, but I guarantee you if they spent that money wisely for food and housing, they would be saving at least half of what they earn. And no, 99% of them are NOT. The environment the Poor live in breeds poor people. It’s the small things they do that suck their money dry and leave them POOR. There will be those small cases where there is actually someone who knows how to use their money, but generally…. Stick with the POOR, and you will stay POOR.
Now As for the poor with mental problems, hey, I WANT to give money to them, to help them. Err, let’s just say, give money to those who know how to help them.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
“To complain about it like this is very immature and not accepting the responsibility of being an upper class citizen of the USA.”
Not accepting responsibility? Upper class individuals are the driving force behind the success of our country, that should be more than enough to fulfill their social responsibilities. Why in the world should those who make our country great through their enterprise and ambition have more social responsibility than those who haven’t done nearly as much?
March 9th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more. Our government taxes the more successful to the point that it almost becomes counter-productive to start a business. What even more absurd and moronic is the “myth” the successful pay not taxes. You hear that crap in the media all the time.
To put it in perspective ” When was the last time a poor person created a job? If the gov wants to stimulate the economy give more to those that are creating jobs and opportunities.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
dude, you are way wrong. The tax code is setup to help small business owners.
Corporations dont pay their fair share of taxes. Its the poor and middle class. Like Robert Kiyosaki’s “Cashflow Quadrant” Those who make the laws keep the gold” Read that book. Its an eye opener. Why do you think Deleware corporations were so popular back in the 90’s. Congressional lawmakers new that corps can pay 15% taxes of the 1st 50K of income. The Lawmakers needed ways to protect all the income the were making from lobbyist my incorporating in deleware. C-corps will always pay the least amount of taxes regardless of whos president, a democrat or a republican. The only guy they have to worry about is if Nader/Camejo and the green party takes the white house. They know how the system is unfair to the lower class and will force increases in taxes to corporations. But even then they’d still have an uphill battle to get their legislations passed by congress. Bottom line, read cashflow quadrant…and see why c-corps will prosper years to come. Heck…start a c-corp, and use that EIN to signup with all the cpanetworks. Take all the LEGAL tax deductions you can to show the IRS you made $49K for the year of 2008. Rinse Repeat….and build your wealth.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Are you kidding me? Corps don’t pay their fair share? We have the second highest corporate taxes in the world.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
>Are you kidding me? Corps don’t pay their fair share? We have the second highest corporate taxes in the world.
No they dont. Create enough tax deductions to make your reportable income less than $50K/year.
You then get taxed at 15%. The rest of the middle class and upperclass will pay 30%-40%.
Shhh…remember congress and the lawmakers know about this…and are utilizing it to the max!
March 9th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I don’t mean to be rude or anything but I just want some clarification on your statement about the poor creating jobs themselves. Let me ask you. WHat are the rich going to do with the added benefits and services from the government? Probably not much because they can already have or can find the best things for them and/or what suits them best. So they probably would not appreciate governmental opportunities as much as a poor person would or the working class. For example, health care or a $600 stipend.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Honestly, if you are paying 35% on your taxes and making that much, you need to fire your accountant and get a good one. Look at any tax studies and you’ll see that the most successful you are, the less in taxes you end up paying.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
If you think it’s bad now, wait and see what happens if Barak or Hillary win….
March 11th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
so true! Go McCain!!!
March 9th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Paul,
I just wanted to point out a few things about the letter you received from the IRS.
First off, everyone should know that it cost the IRS over $42 Million Dollars (Yes: $42,000,000.00+) to send that form letter out to everyone who may or may NOT qualify for the rebate. Talk about a waste of money — should have just let the media tell the masses they have some petty cash coming their way.
Second, in response to WHY the IRS is not giving rebate checks to those of us who are filing taxes with too high of a gross income, the reasons are many but the main component is due to the overwhelming true statistic that “middle class” (and more recently the new so-called “upper lower-class” — those who make over $3k gross income — any lower and you don’t get a rebate either…) all spend most of their disposable income on everyday consumer goods, eating out and entertainment. Statistics show that those making over $75k per year spend FAR LESS, on those specific categories, and are most often very frugal with their more expensive purchases. They spend almost all of their “disposable” money wisely and will opt to invest such monies right back into their own businesses, if self-employed, or into real estate / stocks / mutual funds.
So, even though at first glance it might seem unfair to some of us, the reality is that the IRS and the Fed are putting this “stimulus” money right into the hands of those who will gladly hand it right back to the “rich” — and therefore bringing truth to the quip of the “rich getting richer.” The divide between the rich and the lower/middle classes will continue to broaden as long as they remain fiscally uneducated and unable to control their basic desires to spend money as if it will go bad, like a coupon with an expiration date.
There are several other reasons why the 2008 Stimulus Package actually helps the most wealthy 1% of America, yet also attempts to help those who allowed themselves to be swallowed up by the “irrational exuberance” (quote from Alan Greenspan, ex-Chairman of the Fed) of the last decade or so. But this is intended as a comment to your post, not a book, so we won’t go into all the details now.
I’m glad to hear you aren’t receiving your “rebate check” — it means you’ve done better than 95% or so of all American citizens this last year in gross income.
Have a great night!
- Michael, halfhourworkweek.com
P.S. Also, keep in mind, the IRS knows most individuals earning over $75k AGI will claim their income and file their taxes accordingly and they don’t really care about those making under $3k. So, they’ve just provided an “incentive” for everybody else to quickly file their taxes on time to get that rebate and, in effect, get more tax dollars into the hands of the Fed… faster.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Great comment Michael. I’m going to go check out your blog :)
March 9th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Lol, I just checked out his blog and hasn’t been updated for 3 months. haha
March 9th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Finally somebody comes to put some sense into the argument. Thank you
March 10th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Nice response fo sho.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:54 am
Well said, Michael….well said.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Just be glad you aren’t from Canada. 50% of your income would be gone. Although, they do manage to operate their country in a surplus most years…
March 10th, 2008 at 9:26 am
If the government is operating in a surplus, then they are taking too much of your money. Which would you rather have, the government with a surplus or you?
March 9th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I think the bill getting rushed through is the cause of most of the problems (anywho can be claimed a dependent gets nothing). I think the fair tax would be such a great thing for everybody.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I agree with the government on this one. Like you really need another $600. People who are more successful should be able to help out those who are less fortunate. That used to be the American way. Now it is all about ME.
By the way not every poor person is on drugs. Oh and I don’t think I will get a check either.
March 9th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
2008 Economic Stimulus Package…
Paul Bourque, over at UberAffiliate made a post regarding a letter he received from the IRS, letting him know he basically won’t be receiving a nice little rebate check of $600 or so. For most of us who don’t qualify for the rebate, due to …
March 9th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
If you open a corporation you don’t have to pay taxes on the corporations income only your personal income? Or you could buy real estate and get tax benefits..
March 10th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Cheers to that brother. I have 19 units, only manage 3 myself and besides having to crunch numbers for a day before I go see the accountant, this time of year is pretty good to me and my wife. I learned that four years ago when I started that business. It’s what you keep that counts…
March 9th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I had a nice response comment written, but I am afraid it might have been too long to appear under the post here. I’ve posted the comment as a response on my blog, though. Hopefully Paul will be able to revise this comment with my intended comment! This is an important issue for all of us earning over $75k p/yr.
http://www.halfhourworkweek.com/2008-economic-stimulus-package/
March 9th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Nevermind! Just saw it post. Great job Paul. (feel free to delete this message & parent)
March 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I’m like you (making really good money online), but I disagree with your post almost entirely.
The fact that you would even say “the government rewards failure and punishes success’ tells me you haven’t put much objective thought into all of this.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
God help us if Barack or Hillary win.
That 35% tax bracket will disappear, only to be replaced with a 45-55% one.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
…….”stimulate our economy by spending the $600 on drug money”
Dude, I really like your blog….but, you are completely way off in left field here. Please take a look at a few of your campaigns and tell me which people are your target audience!!! I’m going to guess that a great majority will be receiving these checks and possible buying the products that you market. If this is the case are you then the “drug pimp” by default.
Keep up the good work! Cheers!
March 9th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
“If you’re successful at all, you don’t deserve anything. We’d rather give it to individuals that make $3,000 a year and would stimulate our economy by spending the $600 on drug money.”
What an ignorant thing to say. The money is going to people who are most likely to spend it…
You said, “An extra $600 isn’t really going to stimulate me to make any purchases…”
That’s why you aren’t getting the money. You said it yourself.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Haha, you stole both of my points.
To say that poor people would spend it on drugs is a pretty horrible thing to say especially when theres no facts to back it up. Rich people don’t do drugs? Are you serious?
And the point of this tax break isn’t to stimualte long term growth, its to give it to the people who will spend it the quickest. A valid criticism would be that half the money from the crap people are going to buy will be out of the country really soon anyways, likely to china where everything is made.
The tax code in general is really unfair and stifles ecomonic expansion due to extremely high personal income taxes and corporate income taxes which make it very difficult to compete in the global marketplace. Although there was a really good comment about if you pay 35% of your income in taxes, then file your accountant. That’s very true and I just read a quote by Warren Buffet that basically said he wanted to meet one billionaire that paid a higher percentage of their taxes than their secretary. This is why there should be no income tax or a low flat tax with no income tax deductions…
March 9th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
“..Not accepting responsibility? Upper class individuals are the driving force behind the success of our country ..”
As a part time affiliate marketer, I’d have to say that we as affiliate marketers are just highly skilled advertising pros who know how to get cheap clicks on the internet. I wouldn’t say that affiliate marketing really contributes anything to society other than matching customers with business that offer products and services. It’s not as if we are doctors, construction workers, etc. who actually produce something or perform truly needed services for society! Sorry guys, the world would still turn without us!
March 9th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
The government will always give money to those who don’t deserve it. Ever heard of WIC? It’s a (theoretically good) program that helps under-privileged mothers feed their kids by giving them food stamps. Sounds good, right?
Well, back in high school, I worked in a grocery store that accepted WIC checks. The mothers that would come through would use the WIC checks on food, and their real money on alcohol, makeup, and cigarettes. I can’t stand people who abuse the system.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
surrender your passport and become a citizen of monaco
March 9th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
This blog has some great articles but this is the first one that shows a lack of experience. Yes, the rich pay more taxes, they can usually afford to. As someone said, earlier, the recepients of this “stimulus money” will likely just spend it, but grouping them as drug users is a bit harsh.
Is the US government great? No. But no government is – hell, you could have grown up in places experiencing genocide. Frankly, just being born in the US or Canada is like winning the lottery, people here generally don’t have to fight for survival or basic needs like shelter and food.
I think most people agree the stimulus package is useless but the generalizations in this article are very short sighted. Visit the world, get some experience, I’m guessing your view would change slightly in 10-15 years.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Greedy fucking pig. I’ve been meaning to prune my rss reading list for a while. Thanks for reminding me to get started. Unsubscribed.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
My favorite comment on this blog to date.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I think you’re a good affiliate marketer, but what a whiner you are! You should be thanking your lucky stars that you’re making the type of money you make, and on the internet, no less! If you were living in a dumpster in India, I could understand the bitching, but this is ridiculous. Weathier people whining about paying taxes (without wondering where their next meal is coming from or even missing the money that much) is so 2002. If you were a minority, everybody’d think that you were just another complainer railing against The Man. What a luxury to be able to bitch about paying taxes on the money that you earn – and in a recession too…
March 9th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I agree that the graduated income tax is terrible. It is a crucial part of socialism/communism and part of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. Unfortunately many liberals that are ignorant about economics believe that somehow social welfare programs that take from the rich and give to the poor help America, instead of make more people dependent on handouts.
However, I have to disagree with the emphasis you seem to place on money. Not everyone that is poor is a drug addict with no work ethic. I live in the poorest major city in America (Cleveland), and I know a lot of people that have been laid off in the last decade from jobs that they worked at their entire lives (steel workers, auto workers, etc.). Now they are left working at crap jobs just to get by. Not everyone is smart enough to be on the cutting edge of technology and able to acquire the skills to do a 180 degree job switch. I can respect a man who works with his hands to put food on the table for 25+ years. I’m not saying the government should give handouts to these people, just that there are a lot of hard-working, honest people who don’t make a lot of money.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
“Someone making $10,000 would pay $1,500 in taxes, while someone making $500,000 would pay $75,000. That’s still 50x as much.” Do you know why you’re being taxed 50x times more? Because you’re making 50x as much!
You act as if you can from the bottom of the bottom to where you are today. You lived at home with your parents where all your basic needs were met and you were able to take a little risk. I do mean little; you went into negative your checking account right? Big entrepreneur we have here. Easy to talk big on your accomplishments when you were spoon-fed your whole life.
Would you still be where you are today if you were living all alone in a mud and tin house somewhere in Mississippi (Yes they do exist in America), or project complex in Brooklyn, New York? Fuck no! Your state of mind would be completely different. Why did you even sponsor a child? By reading your post I believe that you have no sympathy for the poor.
You and I are the same age but I did decide to stay in school . One thing I learned as I began to make money is that there is no reason to get greedy. “When you have money it attracts more money” – me.
Check this out when you have a chance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs
March 9th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
try moving to Australia.
Earn over 75k – 40% tax rate
Earn 150k+, 47%
I wish we had your tax brackets. i might still have some cash left over.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Taxation without representation… my favorite subject. Paul you kind of make me laugh… you think all your hard earned tax money is going to go to poor people (who spend all their money on crack and prostitutes I presume) when in reality its going to finance that fun war we started based on misinformation. I would actually be happy if all my tax payer money went to constructive and humanitarian purposes. As for you tax problems, move offshore like Haliburton (Dick Cheney’s company). They moved to Dubai, you can setup something similar. I know a couple of internet entrepreneurs who have done the same!
March 10th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Dubai? Bunch of fascists. Don’t go anywhere near there.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1306973,00.html
March 10th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I never said Dubai was a great place to do drugs, I simply pointed them out as that is where Haliburton (the company with all the juicy contracts in Iraq) moved.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Talk about ignorance. “Constructive and humanitarian purposes” HA. The government isn’t into humanitarian purposes unless it is a natural disaster of some sort. If you honestly think the government uses your money ‘constructively’, you are living in a dream. I’ve spent many years working for the government in different capacities and they waste tons of money needlessly.
If you want your money to be constructive and humanitarian, give it to a charity. Then take a tax write off for it.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Paul, I think this is the first time I can say that you have been wrong. The richest man in the world, Warren Buffet was talking about the tax burden of the rich. http://www.cnbc.com/id/21543506 .
Long story short, he paid 17% tax on his millions and he tried to find anyone in his office that paid less of a percentage than him, and even the secretaries making 35K a year paid 35%. So he’s calling for the rich to pay more taxes.
Yeah, it sucks to pay taxes, but the system we built has created the possibility for your financial prosperity, so you should just suck it up and pay.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Flat tax = Fair tax.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
You live in a capitalist society? Guess what, you’re going to get taxed like it.
Put yourself in the shoes of the government. What makes more sense? Tax the rich or tax the poor? Even if you say it makes more sense to have a flat tax, that’s kind of retarded. For instance, if there’s a 34% flat tax, what happens to the poor people who are living paycheck to paycheck?
And what makes you think the rich won’t find a loophole to get out of it anyway?
Exactly. No matter how you stack it, it’s better to tax the rich; they have more to burn.
I say this as a victim, of course. >:]
March 10th, 2008 at 9:46 am
What is retarded is thinking you need a 34% flat tax rate. The point of a flat rate is that everyone pays _their fair share_, AND you get rid of all the loopholes and deductions that the wealthy use, legally I might add, to reduce their rate. If you make it flat, then everyone would have the same rate, say 10 or 15%, which is pretty much what the lower incomes pay anyway. You take that rate and apply it to the wealthy and remove all the deductions and they effectively pay more in taxes.
It is always easy to tax the rich because they have it, but that isn’t fair either. They work hard as well to get where they are. They just worked hard in a different manner than someone else. Why penalize someone for it?
March 9th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
The philosophy behind your post is right on- though some of the math isnt (not taking into account marginal rates for example).
Also, most successful business people use legal tax avoidance schemes and many pay a very low actual % of income.
I would also say comparing personal income to a successful business is a little weird. I have had VERY successful years in business where my personal taxable income was below the poverty line- and I was living well. Of course that can work the other way- high personal income and a low or negative biz income. and so on.
A fair tax system would probably be Flat and have ZERO deductions for anyone. But as it is now most successful people are intelligent enough to take advantage of the tax code and pay as little in taxes as possible. Most of us just pay our “rent” and go on with our business.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:06 am
Yes, how f’ed up is the tax system where someone can earn a million bucks a year, live lavishly, and pay less tax than a homeless man.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:01 am
OF COURSE THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAX THE RICH, BECOZ THE RICH GOT ALL THE MONEY WHILE THE POOR GOT NO MONEY TO EAT
March 10th, 2008 at 12:06 am
The Government doesn’t do it to help people. the reason they don’t give it to successful people is because they wont spend it right away, successful people invest it, and it takes longer, poor people go out and spend it instantly!
March 10th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Hey Paul,
I’ve been following your blog for a while and really like it – keep it up! :-)
Regarding this tax post, I just wanted to say that as a marketer living in the US, you really are fortunate compared to most other countries in the western civilization.
I live in the 2nd richest country in the world (Norway. The US is currently ranked 7th), and here – entrepreneurs REALLY are not encouraged to succeed. The government deliberately makes it hard for entrepreneurs to build a business because they want everyone to work 9-5 jobs for reasons of “equality”. We also have 50% tax for the wealthier and a fixed sales tax of 25% on ALL goods and even services. Granted, my country is strongly socialistic but the US has always been the “land of opportunity” in comparison.
I think you will be hard pressed to find another country that will cut you as much slack as the US does when it comes to building your own wealth. In a lot of European countries, the taxes are much higher than the US, and we have higher sales tax on top of that. I’m not against paying taxes, nor am I against helping out the poor. But just know that your country actually is pretty good compared to the alternatives. Like someone else said – the only other places you probably could get away with more money are the ones where ammo is the currency of the poor.
If you don’t wanna report all your earnings to the IRS, you can always sign up with some foreign affiliate networks that will pay in different other ways (abroad accounts, etc). ;)
Just my 20 cents. (Would be 2 cents if I lived in the US, lol)
March 10th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I really feel bad for you guys in Europe. The real downside in the U.S. is that we are so far away that noone will look and see what such a socialist-like system does to the country and the economies over there. Some want to do the same thing here and drag us down the toilet.
The only ones that benefit in such a system are the ones running it. Business owners are the losers and the employees tend to think that have it great.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Yeah sounds like it’d suck to live in Europe.
March 10th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Looks like everyone is on my side now. I bet Paul is a spoilt little rich kid. His daddy probably made his websites for him.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:16 am
pops is a doctor/dentist… second generation atleast…
March 10th, 2008 at 1:29 am
freaking stipid idea about these $600. Everyone aware of it, so prices will jump up. Gov has printed around 100B green papers (out of nowhere) to make these $600-givea ways. So there would be 100B bucks more in the economy, so the prices will jump up once again. You guys in the U.S. may face high inflation soon 8(
As to gov. taxes. Do You know what pro-poker players do? They say “FUCK YOU mr.Sam”, and then move to other countries with comfortable tax rates. 8)
March 10th, 2008 at 4:22 am
Wow you hit a hot topic here I see. Taxing to redistribute wealth is a pretty set concept. The world understands the benefits and any basic economics text book will explain it if you dont.
Tax is always a big deal at election time, but most of us are wise enough to know that if we want certain things we have to pay for them.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Give him a break – he is only 19 – still a kid, not an adult, come on!
March 10th, 2008 at 7:07 am
In your statement, “They might as well have replaced that line with :
If you’re successful at all, you don’t deserve anything. We’d rather give it to individuals that make $3,000 a year and would stimulate our economy by spending the $600 on drug money.”
As you create this visual for your readers, I sure hope you’ve included working college students and stay at home moms, many of whom who fit this economic profile of earnings of $3,000 or slightly more.
Are you saying that these people would spend their $600 on drugs? How foolish if you really do.
Based upon your generalization, it seems perhaps you’re stereotyping by economic class.
At the end of the day, if affiliate marketing is your business model, your revenue largely still depends upon other companies and the crumbs they decide to throw your way.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:13 am
I couldn’t agree with you more. Did you know that if your Gross (Page 1 On Tax Return) Income exceeds $150,000 (Married Filing Jointly) you are no longer eligible top fund a Roth IRA? So now you make too much money to be eligible for the same retirement savings account (THAT YOU FUND WITH YOUR OWN MONEY) that any other family making less then $150,000 is eligible for. You have to hate the governments fiscal policy. (especially if your able to make some money)
B-Man
March 10th, 2008 at 7:15 am
kids… great linkbait. Here are a few quotes that have always been interesting.
“If you don’t like the US, move” and “Support the troops, by paying taxes” and “Welcome to the real world” and “Balanced budget” etc…
I really like the take that Mark Cuban has on this at his blog. Maturity shows.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:20 am
About the discount itself. It should be called something to the like, gas expense makeup money…
Just rough numbers, 52 weeks in a year, 15 gallons in gas a week, two cars a house hold, 40 cent increase in gas over the last to years, you get $624 a year extra in gas… So realistically this money is going back to the wealthy.
Not to mention with more disposable income for the lower-middle class your income should be boosted from ppc, no?
March 10th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Why not get down to the real issue that the income tax is contrary to the constitution in the first place. It makes me sick that they tax *anyone’s* income. The rich v. poor thing doesn’t enter into it. We need to eliminate 99% of our current bloated government, because they can’t do anything a) right or b) frugally. Look at social security or the stupid failed war on drugs.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:30 am
These “money making” blogs are starting to disgust me…The postings are either purposely controversial to drum up more traffic or they are essentially paid advertisements littered with affiliate links to entice newbies to buy crap. Do you think the author really cares about 600.00 measly dollars? Either spit out the details on your money making efforts or STFU with useless little anecdotes, pictures with other internet geeks or useless tips.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Another poor person looking for a handout, I see. :)
March 12th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Starting to disgust you? stop reading. I’m sure you mean “starting to make you jealous”
March 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am
The idea that successful business owners are “lucky” and that the success they have was magically bestowed upon them from above is competely absurd.
Going to work everyday and working hard doesn’t mean you will succeed.
All that means is your are showing up. Showing up to work and putting in the hours for the job your are paid to do isn’t hard. It is the abosulute bare minimum you are required to do. There is no reward for this. You don’t get a cookie or a trophy nor do you deserve one.
Now once you get home after 10 hours of grueling work or school are you ready to put in another 4-5 hours trying to improve your situation in life? Are you ready to put the safety and comfort of your steady paycheck on the line for a potentially huge payoff? Are you ready to go long stretches of time without any payoff or financial gain? Are you willing to fail over and over and over again before finding one (possibly fleating) success? Are you willing to have your family and friends question you and your descision and point out your failures?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions then success is going to be VERY hard to come by.
In the U.S you are not guaranteed success, happiness or a bowl full of cherries. You are only guaranteed the right to pursue happiness. A lot of people think otherwise…they are wrong.
Sitting on the couch bitching about the success of others with one hand in a bag of chips and the remote in the other isn’t “pursuing” anything other than the average life of the masses.
If we were to redistribute the wealth of the world so that tomorrow morning every single person on the face of the planet had the same amount of money, 24 hours later the balance of wealth would have already begun to shift back to the same people.
Some people are good managers of money and resources and some people are ignorant, irresponsible and short sighted. Within in a year most people would be back to where they were before. The poor would be poor again and the rich would be rich again.
The government can regulate and legislate all they want to make things “fair” but they can never change human nature.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Meh. Another blog goes the way of Shoemoney/John Chow posting meaningless linkbait and wasting my time..
March 10th, 2008 at 10:26 am
You’re wasting your own time if you expect him to give you a step-by-step on making money online.
Go try it yourself. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll learn with a little trial and error.
March 10th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Either way, same result, not reading the blog…
March 10th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Anon, look up “straw man argument.”
March 10th, 2008 at 10:24 am
WHAT IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT??!!
The rich don’t pay the most taxes,..
If your a bussiness owner than the taxes are highly in favor of you, but that’s if you have an corporation or an llc, if you incorporate you will have laws that are highly in favor of you so the government does reward success, the 35% tax are for workers who earn high salaries, like doctors, lawyers, college professors, not business owners, if you own a inc or llc business, your ownly taxed own your taxable income, that means that you can buy a car, and write it off as a business expense if you use it for work, take a trip out of town and write that off too if happen to handle any business out their while your own vatication, you’ll get write off’s for web hosting fees, your computer, rent for your office and all types off stuff, and with the money left over to be taxed you’ll still probably be tax modestly because your viewed as an comapny not an individual, the laws are in favor of the rich, think about it, what’s the tax rate for dividends?? like 15% huh, if you want to increase your knowledge of how the rich pay their taxes start reading some of robert kiyosaki books, i first reccomend reading cash flow quadrant http://www.amazon.com/Cashflow-Quadrant-Guide-Financial-Freedom/dp/0446677477/ref=pd_sim_b_title_3
then when your ready to start your own corporation then go and get this book http://www.amazon.com/Own-Your-Corporation-Companies-Everyone/dp/0446678619/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1
make sure you go to his main site richdad.com, and find out if their’s any updated versions of those books..
that’s how i know about this tax stuff, it’s because he teaches about financial literacy, turth be told the only reason why you were taxed so damn high is because you filed as an indvidual, and not as an corparte entity!, if you thinking im talking all fluff and no filler than maybe warren buffet can convince you, “Mr Buffett said that he was taxed at 17.7 per cent on the $46 million he made last year, without trying to avoid paying higher taxes, while his secretary, who earned $60,000, was taxed at 30 per cent. ” – Times Online
read the rest of the article here http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/money/tax/article1996735.ece
and everyone stop trippin over $600 bucks, don’t be a scrooge
Peace, 17 y/o entrepreneur and investor
March 10th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Yes… the rich do pay most of the taxes….
In fact over 96% of our taxes is paid by the top 50% of our wage earners. Over half of our taxes are paid by the top 5% alone.
So yes, the rich pay an overwhelming majority of the taxes that keep America running.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The number of people paying over $100,000 in taxes per year is pretty evident in reading the responses. They sit there getting their $1,000 refunds each year and complain that rich people should be taxed MORE. What a farce. Rich people pay for everything in this country through taxes. Poor and middle class just live off the fat of the land. The nice part is you can always move to a better tax situation and there’s lots of places with nice beaches and hot weather that welcome rich guys… :)
March 10th, 2008 at 11:33 am
One of the most ignorant, disgusting and egoistic posts ever. Unsubscribing.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Well… Here in the Netherlands you pay 52% taxes if your income is higher than 100 000 euro / year, which equals about $154 000 right now. I think I’m going to try to become an US citizen, or even better, a Swisz citizen with 2% taxes !
March 10th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Two words: Liechtenstein Rules.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
hey bro,
my manager at CX digital recommended that i check out your blog. you post up great articles, keep it up! and yeah, i am unfortunately exempt from the economic stimulus plan too! and to add insult to injury, corporate taxes are due this week and they’re killer!
March 10th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Off-Shore Corporations Baby! You pay WAY less tax and get to visit the island once a year for your shareholder’s meeting (or more often if you want)!
A flat tax is the ONLY way to go…plus I don’t want the @)#$ing US government spending all my tax dollars in Iraq and paying the tab for illegal immigrant welfare…
Keep making the big bucks Paul…all the personal attacks against you in this post originate from patheticly jealous bastards who make bunk! I for one am happy for you…19 and on top of the world! I hope to get my affiliate sales volume up to your levels soon!
-G
March 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
You sir sound like a pompous a$$hole. You are missing the entire point here. The money is not being given to “reward” anyone. It’s being given to people who otherwise have very little money to spend or none at all.
March 10th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Actually, I think it is you that is missing the point. There are three fundamental reasons why you are completely off base. First of all are you really naive enough to believe that the money actually goes to the poor to help them improve their quality of life? The money that we give to our pathetic government all goes towards funding war, weapons development, and immigration control–hardly helping anyone is it? Secondly, if they were to give it to the poor, how do you think that would turn out? I’m all for helping poor people, but what they need is HELP not money. Clearly, they don’t know how to handle the money they receive or they would be able to–slowly but surely–work their way into the middle class. The poor need education, and programs to help them learn to be intelligent with their money. Without that, even giving them the money is a bad decision. Finally, you have to realize that this concept makes light of this nations founding cornerstone–capitalism. I understand that it’s important for the rich to support the development of their country, but just by having their money, they are indirectly doing that through the pursuit of their own interests–ala the ‘invisible hand.’ Paying such an absurd rate of taxes to keep throwing money at the poor is no different than communism–we just don’t want to look at it that way.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Alexander- Holy s**t ! The swiss only pay 2% taxes?? Maybe I should move to Switzerland. I could learn to like those taxes and the strong currency! The Dutch pay serious taxes. Are those VAT taxes or income taxes only??
March 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Whats the problem dude? cant you pay that much money or what?
March 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
yep… it’s official now. you are a dumbass.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
35% is high for the top bracket? check out the tax rates of some European countries (Germany or Sweden pop into my mind as first examples, but the much poorer Eastern-European countries will do just as well), you will be astonished to see rates close or even above 50%.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Indeed. Everything over about 32 000EUR is taxed at 50% in my country, corporate tax is close to 33% and you pay 21% VAT over almost all products you buy. And that’s just the beginning…
March 10th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Taxes in the US are too high but in Europe it’s even worse, you really get punished here if you make too much money.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I totally agree! Vote Republican!
March 10th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Looks like a bunch of democrats here.
The income tax is unconstitutional and the Sixteenth Amendment should never have been ratified in the first place.
Now I understand both sides of the story. Yes, it would be nice if we could help the poor, and yes, it is unfair that the rich are taxed ridiculously high brackets. But the fact of the matter is in the United States we live in a capitalistic society. Do you hear the word socialist or communist in there? No.
Our government should be taking measures to ensure that everyone has the chance to raise their income level if they so desire. Higher education needs to be much cheaper. There needs to be jobs for people when they are done with school. The economy needs to be stimulated. Unfortunately, these things are not happening. Instead, they seem to think its better to hand out money that they can’t afford to whomever asks for it.
The government also needs to stop their wastless spending. I heard that over a trillion dollars is wasted on useless causes. That number may not be exactly correct, but it is close (relatively). Stop wasting money. Stop spending it on pointless wars. End the income tax. With 30% more money for Americans to spend each year, the economy would be on fire. Americans spend, thats what they do. With all this extra money where do you think it would go?
Other countries have higher tax brackets than the US because they pay for everything for you. Medical, education, etc etc. Another reason why we don’t want that here.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Wow, is this whining???
You are barley paying anything compared to us living in Sweden,
If one earn above ~$100 000 here it’s you would have to pay 60%.
For the ones earning about $33 333 it’s 30%.
Now, would you like to compare gas prices? :-D
March 10th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Don’t worry Marke, We’ll be catching up to you guys soon. $6/ gallon anyone? $120 just to fill up a Hummer at 12 MPG… 50cents per mile! Glad I have a hybrid!
March 10th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Yeah, jeez, bush really screws over the rich people….. go read something.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Would you like the government to take advantage of the poor too? The government provides a service, we pay for the service. Don’t like it? Tough shit, GTFO of my country or shut up.
If you could be anymore retarded i think you would be autistic.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
The stimulus package thing is just an advance on any refund you would’ve gotten next year so the impetus of your discontent isn’t as bad you made it out to be, though your main point is clear. What’s funny is that back in the day when Eisenhower put a 79% tax (or something like), it only applied to ONE person… Rockefeller, how’s that for hating on success?
March 10th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
your right the poor should die or something because htey do not pay taxes. fuck them i am in the same boat having to pay for their drugs. the us hates successful people like me. i laugh at all the people going to college and trying to get jobs they are a waste to society. they are morons for not figuring out they can make more at home with advertisements.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Focusing on making money is one thing. Focusing on making a difference is another. What do you contribute to the world besides advertising Juan? It looks like you could benefit from a little higher education yourself considering you don’t know to CAPITALIZE or use the integrated spell checker.
Little twits who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
College for was awesome… S——-g girls, raging parties, life long friends, educated brain and football scholarship… Yea, that sucked. Something you will never understand or experience. Four and a half of the best years of my life. Here I am right beside you making money online the only difference is I have a portfolio of rental property which not only makes money but provides a chance to help less fortunate tenants and time to volunteer at church.
So stay in your basement you jealous little man, write your crappy ads and your lame landing pages, and contribute nothing substantial to the world. You suck.
That’s right, I said it… You suck.
March 10th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Now you know why all the successful affiliate marketers like Ron Paul.
Welcome to the Republican Party :)
March 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I think spending $42 million to inform taxpayers about the tax rebate is a waste of money, and I doubt the rebate will have much positive impact on the economy. However, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 does provide one tax incentive that will help the economy – check out this [link title="Section 179 calculator"]http://www.crestcapital.com/tax_deduction_calculator[/link] that shows various tax savings on various equipment costs purchased by samll business. Small business is the lifeblood of the economy and Section 179 will be a real boost.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
[...] Source RSS Trackback URL 10. March 2008 (22:13) Filed under: Home [...]
March 10th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I completely agree with you. however, if you’re a business owner and you’re making more than $75,000 then your tax planner sucks and deserves to get fired.
You should be sheltering your income through corporations and legitimate tax deductions like real estate.
Rich people don’t pay taxes. Check out John Chow’s post on the topic. It was probably the only useful post he’s had in the past 6 months!
Stop acting like a whiny poor person ;-P
(i’m being facetious in this last line – don’t lets get our undies in a twist.)
March 10th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I’m Waiting for my check like everyone else still gotta file for my taxes ~Nick~
March 10th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
fairtax is what we need! fairtax.org check it out. Huckabee is the only one supporting it.
we need huck or paul
March 11th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I agree with the essential premise of your article. I am highly trouble by your statement connecting poor people with drugs. There are many highly educated, highly ambitious people that are poor. To whom much is given much is required
March 11th, 2008 at 6:14 am
“An extra $600 isn’t really going to stimulate me to make any purchases”
The gov’t know that successfuly people think just like you, that’s why they don’t give you the economic stimulus money. They give it to the people who will blow it…which usually is the lower income people…which is why they are alway broke. If the gov’t want to do something productive they need to be teaching money managment and hard work ethics in schools.
March 11th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Found this site through WF -
Great post, its ironic how i work for eFile
More info on Economic Stimulus.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:04 am
even though i always loved your posts, i have to disagree with you on this one.
this isn’t about penalizing the rich or poor or what. you are just not getting the $600. treat it as a gift you can afford to your fellow Americans and give yourself a pat on the back.
March 11th, 2008 at 8:25 am
lol, you guys don’t understand the tax system
if you make $500,000k, you pay 10% for the first $11,200, 15% from $11,200 – $42,650 and so on..
so the calcs in the blog post are rubbish..
March 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am
What was so controversial about that post? I fully agree, except it’s not true poor people sell drugs. Smart people sell drugs and they sell them without getting caught and become rich. Poor people who sells drugs usually get caught quickly and go to jail and stay poor forever.
Taxes are the worst thing ever on a successful person, but it’s pretty easy to pay less by incorporating.
I think your post title should be “Government Hates Hard Workers” because the U.S. government is certainly for the corporations.
If you are familiar with early political philoshopy such as Hobbes and Locke, you’ll know that government was created by the wealthy to protect their property from the crazy poor people -the rich man’s nightmare.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Of course you all realize you will probably be taxed on that $600 next year….
March 11th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Flat tax = Fair tax.
By Jeremy Palmer
Thats the best comment on this blog.
Govnerment does take from the successful way to much. I don’t look forward to the Democrats taking the white house and removing the tax breaks from stock dividends.
I want more tax cuts let alone the tax cuts that need to be made pernament. Even a middle class guy like me knows this stuff.
However…….
If this was a blog about taxes, I would be OK with this kind of post. But this is not that kind of Blog. Unlike us little people you with all you money can enjoy a lot more tax deductions. I’ll be taxed next year for that $600, but you can dump a ton in tax shelters.I will also unsubscribe from this blog just like like Daniel. Because you have to be the wienest affiliate marketer there is. I swear for some one soo smart you sure are stupid.
March 11th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
OH come on guys, do you know who’s a whiner? You are, you are unsubscribing because he said something you don’t agree with? Yeah that’s how you’re like huh, not facing the situation just avoiding it any way possible. And you’re saying he’s immature? I bet you wouldn’t say that if he was 60! Who do you think you are telling him what’s right and wrong, you’re just a bunch of stupid, naive humans.
All we do here is express our thoughts not convincing each other of our beliefs.
Why should rich pay more in %? Are you greedy and you envy them so you want them to pay more …
Poor are poor, they have hard lives but money from government won’t help them, they need to change their thinking …. Whatever you gonna say I’m stupid anyway
March 11th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
all this bickering about taxes is useless since we still have to pay them, no matter how illegal or wrong they may be. wanna pay less tax? Vote Ron Paul in 2008 and help him abolish this IRS, the Fed, and all the other monolithic monsters of the US government. Watch “America: Freedom to Faciscm” on Google Video if you want to be enlightened on the legality of the income tax.
March 13th, 2008 at 1:08 am
[...] Paul for example. Paul runs a Web site called UberAffiliate.com, where he talks about how he makes thousands of dollars a day. But it seems that’s not enough [...]
March 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
lawl. Paul Why would you even care? Stop whining u lil bitch.. and go make some money.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Both of my parents are poor. They both feel they are somehow being wronged by one thing or another. They waste all their energy on this way of thinking and believe me they are not alone. Are there road blocks on the way to wealth? Sure. Does it do you any good to whine about it? Not that I’ve seen. Over the last two years I’ve been focused 100% on what I can do about it myself. Not what the government “owes” me, not what I “deserve” to be given. I’ve doubled my income. I’m well on my way to doubling it again. Love the site, way more useful then the stimulus package in my book.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Paul – I agree wholeheartedly. The U.S. government hates success because the majority of the country is composed of unsuccessful people who hate success (it’s called jealousy).
Everyone who thinks that it’s fair to tax the rich more needs to read a book called “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. It’s about what happens to the world when the top 1% – the “atlases” who hold the world on their shoulders – get fed up with the hate and ingratitude they receive from government and from the masses and decide to go on strike. In addition to this, it’s an excellent moral defense of capitalism – something we don’t see much anymore. Too many capitalists have accepted a utilitarian code of ethics and don’t know how to properly defend their system anymore… and we wonder why we’re going socialist. Let me quote from one of the best sections of the book, where a corporate owner is on trial and gives his defense:
“I could say to you that I have done more good for my fellow men than you can ever hope to accomplish-but I will not say it, because I do not seek the good of others as a sanction for my right to exist, nor do I recognize the good of others as a justification for their seizure of my property or their destruction of my life. I will not say that the good of others was the purpose of my work-my own good was my purpose, and I despise the man who surrenders his. I could say to you that you do not serve the public good-that nobody’s good can be achieved at the price of human sacrifices-that when you violate the rights of one man, you have violated the rights of all, and a public of rightless creatures is doomed to destruction. I could say to you that you will and can achieve nothing but universal devastation-as any looter must, when he runs out of victims. I could say it, but I won’t.”
“It is not your particular policy that I challenge, but your moral premise.”
“If it were true that men could achieve their good by means of turning some men into sacrificial animals, and I were asked to immolate myself for the sake of creatures who wanted to survive at the price of my blood, if I were asked to serve the interests of society apart from, above and against my own-I would refuse, I would reject it as the most contemptible evil, I would fight it with every power I possess, I would fight the whole of mankind, if one minute were all I could last before I were murdered, I would fight in the full confidence of the justice of my battle and of a living being’s right to exist. Let there be no misunderstanding about me. If it is now the belief of my fellow men, who call themselves the public, that their good requires victims, then I say: The public good be damned, I will have no part of it!”
Now there’s Truth. Go read the book – it’ll change your life.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:56 am
If i get a $600 refund I put it in the bank. A poorer person would spend it and stimulate the economy.
If life was really fair you would get paid based on the benefit to society that you create. Affiliate marketing provides little value.
Also, taxes in the US are some of the lowest of anywhere that you’d want to live.