I teach school for 40 grand a year before taxes.

[_ed_]

56. Shameful

My tax story always amazes people. My wife and I run a small business out of our house. To make a long and complicated tax law story short, we wind up paying about a 40% actual tax rate for federal taxes, because we have to pay DOUBLE payroll tax. The other option is to hire a payroll company and lose the liquidity of our income, which doesn't work with our business model. Beyond that, we have to provide ourselves with extremely expensive private healthcare insurance (wife has pre-existing condition).

40%. Forty fucking percent. We're quite comfortable, and I actually don't even mind paying 40%. But, when Mitt Romney pays less than 14%....

In what rational world would a husband-and-wife small business being run out of a basement pay a 40% rate and a corporate raider who shuffles paper around for a living pay 13%? Exxon gets a refund, but we pay 40%?

Don't forget: in America, small business is our backbone. That's why we force small businesspersons to pay fucking 40% in taxes and provide themselves with expensive and inadequate healthcare.