Raybyrnes- I agree that W2 employees get “punished” versus self employed. W2’s have no where to “hide” their income and take home much less than the self employed does. I guess you get rewarded for taking risks to start your own business and potentially employing others.
So to throw a wrench into this debate, why should single, houseless people who don’t tax the world’s resources with children and work for the “man” be punished for their choices?
IF you are single, you are childless and do not own a home because sadly you do make 250k but have always lives in cities that precluded you from owning real estate, then you get the heck taxed out of you. Your accountant tells you can only avoid AMT by making 3x what you are making or figuring out how to not be a W2 employee – you cannot take more deductions because of AMT. What puts you into AMT? Its not capital gains, its taking state tax as a deduction along with standard deductions that makes the % you’re deducting rather high.
Should you be a FB and bought a condo during the boom because you were technically able to although imprudent just so you can take another write off?
To agree with those that say don’t complain about those who have it better, I’ve known this for some time, but I’ve realized the only way to get ahead is to be self employed. You could probably make half of what you do as an employee, but taking advantage of EVERY tax loophole/break that you can find for a self employed!
