People without kids pay more taxes. WTF?!!

[Bea]

This has always made me really angry. It is one of the main things I would like to change about (American) society. Other peoples' children strain our society wayyy more than me and my two cats. But they're rewarded for it.

/[soap]

[elisantics]

Well, here is where i disagree with the idea of an inequity. It's not that people without kids are *charged* more on taxes. your base rate is the same as anyone else making the same amount of money. But if you have kids, it puts a bigger burden on the income, so you get a deduction for dependents.

Yes, kids do put a burden on our tax dollars - but they're also going to hopefully pay them in the future. And the burden on poor families is very large. I was the one dependent child in a single-parent household for a long time, and there were times when we were pretty poor (talking no tv, no heat, wearing shoes 2 sizes too small poor). Without those deductions, the strain on my mother would have been too much. With those deductions she was able to save a modest amount and send me to college. Now, it wasn't enough savings for even a year's tuition, but it helped out.

In order to avoid making children an even bigger burden on tax revenues, we do have to give some deductions to parents so that they can possibly pay for their health care, shelter, and food, not to mention educational expenses.

[Bea]

Elisa I have honestly never looked at it like that. I tend to just get stabbity about the whole thing without thinking. But you're right. I can understand that. It would be nice though if people who couldn't afford the extra stress on their income just refrained from having children.

[elisantics]

It would, but that's likely never going to happen. Because you never know when other stressors are going to come up. Job security is nearly non-existant these days. People get sick and have to leave jobs, or they get divorced and the burden falls on one or the other. There's no way to plan for every what-if. I'm using my own case as an example again, but I was the 3rd child, much younger than my siblings, and my mother got divorced and had to return to the workforce after being a SATM for over a decade. It wasn't something she could have really planned on when she had kids, and 2 of us were her dependents for a while.

Now, that's not to say that there aren't inequities in other laws that have to do with income and benefits (maternity leave vs. sick leave is a big one to me. I feel we should all get the same time.) But the deductions for dependent children as well as educational deductions for any children going to college, I do agree with - because it has to do with trying to make them better people as adults.

[Bea]

That's a great counterpoint about job security. Thanks for the enlightenment. :)

[jeth]

It's frustrating when you see people raking in tax returns that double or triple your own, sure, but then again I look at it this way - yeah, they get a bigger payout at tax time, but their income is being sucked up left and right during the year. Kids.are.not.cheap. Don't ever kid yourself about that. Think about all the money it takes to keep you afloat - rent, utilities, groceries, car payment, clothes, entertainment, education, etc. Now double that, or triple that, or whathaveyou. It adds up fast. I have to give the people who I work with credit - we all make relatively the same income, and while I'm short on money because I'm paying off debts (that will be gone in a few years time) they are paying off child care, education costs, etc. and aren't getting ahead all that much. I know a girl who pays enough in child care per month to rent my apartment 1 1/2 times! How she does it, I'll never know.

I guess I'm content to give it to them. Yeah it sucks when someone's bragging about a bigger return than mine but then again I'm sure it pisses them off when they hear how I spend my money. It's a give and take.

[Julie]

See, we bought a house-- and that makes our refund almost as much as someone who has kids.

Man, I wish I could deduct my dog... ;)

[by the woods]

See, we bought a house-- and that makes our refund almost as much as someone who has kids.

Man, I wish I could deduct my dog... ;)
Us too. We bought a house this year and the interest on our mortagage is a nice writeoff. :)

I don't mind people with kids getting a bigger deduction either for exactly the reasons Elisa mentioned. She just said it so much better than I could have. :e

[Charles:]

Dog training is expensive...it should be a write off!!

[chloe dancer]

My daughter's daycare (4 years old) is $1100 per month. Yes, per month. So while you might be angry seeing me getting a little more back on my taxes - you can laugh your ass off every 15th of the month while I am writing out daycare checks. (If that makes you feel any better). And she likes to eat and wear clothes too. So really every Saturday you can rest assured she is costing me out the ass ;)

[Charles:]

Uh...$1100?
when Tristan went fulltime to daycare it was $400.

Do they use gold diapers?

[Bea]

God I love the name Tristan. So much. Did you pick that out Charles?

[Autumn]

Yeah, those without children really need to consider the costs that responsible parents have. I don't live off welfare, I work full-time, and I pay for all of my daughter's expenses. Just taking into consideration childcare, health insurance, food, and clothing, we're talking $600/mo. When she wasn't in school, that amount was easily double due to childcare.

At my current rate of $600/mo, that's $7200 a year, and that doesn't even cover half of it. Back when I was spending about double that, I was getting between $3-4k back on taxes. Which isn't much, considering the amount of money that's put out. (This year we got back jack squat, FYI).

Bottom line: parents, especially single parents, really need that kick back. You can whine and complain about tax refunds all you want, but just remember that you get to spend every paycheck on you, whereas a lot of parents never have that option.

[chloe dancer]

Uh...$1100?
when Tristan went fulltime to daycare it was $400.

Do they use gold diapers?

Ha! No, but they fill out an excellent accident report. That is the going rate. This is at a Knowledge Beginnings - one of the more reputable establishments around here. Last summer when I had to pay for summer camp for my son as well - I actually lost money working those two moneth. Isn't that pathetic?

[Charles:]

I guess the cost of living is much higher up there.

but hey, you have the red sox!!