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According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

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Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#51

Post by smokeyj »

earl wrote: post #49
smokeyj wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you sympathize with the tax code it's probably because you've never bootstrapped a start up. It's hard enough to make it, even without financing the government. A high quality of living is enabled by technology and innovation, and the process that stifles innovation - taxes - should be regarded with extreme caution. If trading with each other is a taxable offense you can expect a severe impediment on innovation. D…

Come on, your post is stupid on it's face. If a high quality of living is enabled by technology and innovation, said technology and innovation is enabled by stuff the government does -- a huge quantity of technology has it's roots in US government spending, and education is one of the 3 big things that states spend money on. Further, you conflate taxation laws and laws that prohibit things, eg "trading with each othe…

And you know where the U.S gets those gobs of cash to throw at building new technology? The markets of course! Governments need a marketplace, the marketplace doesn't need the government. The internet is largely unregulated, but we use creative solutions to overcome barriers, and this should be a model for other industries as well. A market solution is always better than a government solution, because with the first you can always opt out.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#53

Post by chopsueyar »

earl wrote: post #48
icco wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds hilarious, source?

I don't know about the not getting prosecuted bit, but drug taxes are real -- see eg http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1578857,00.ht... http://marijuanastamps.com/state-stamps.htm Mostly, it's another way for pigs to steal from people. The idea being they can not only throw you in prison for dealing, but then use tax forfeiture laws to take everything you own.

You can buy the collectible stamps on Ebay, too.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#54

Post by chopsueyar »

100k wrote: post #16
tomjen3 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the US tax system, but are you supposed to pay more money when you don't have a job than when you do have a job?

Theoretically, your employer pays half the employment taxes and you pay the other half. When you are self-employed you must pay all of them. Of course, this simply equates to W2 employees being paid less income.

...or 1099s being liable for more taxes.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#55

Post by icco »

earl wrote: post #48
icco wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds hilarious, source?

I don't know about the not getting prosecuted bit, but drug taxes are real -- see eg http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1578857,00.ht... http://marijuanastamps.com/state-stamps.htm Mostly, it's another way for pigs to steal from people. The idea being they can not only throw you in prison for dealing, but then use tax forfeiture laws to take everything you own.

I was just looking at a similar article, I totally didn't know that, but I find it very interesting none-the-less.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#56

Post by yeahsure »

barrkel wrote: post #30
enjo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make 10K a year at a yard sell or selling pot, you owe the IRS money on that income. Just because you're less likely to get caught doesn't make it any less illegal. Probably the closest "real world" example would be a flea market. Those large flea markets are the google, and the vendors are the independent folks putting ads on their sites. You sell $10k worth of goods at a flea market, you bet your ass that marke…

It's not in the government's interest to collect tax on every transaction at every scale, because (a) it costs money to collect tax, and (b) economic activity is itself dampened by the transaction costs of keeping reliable accounting records in case of audits etc. That's not to say that 10,000 USD annual revenue is too low to be efficiently taxed; but there certainly are points at which it doesn't make sense.

Hi - (this is my first post). I'm not sure I agree with that. For example: Starting in 2011, any vendor or independent contractor payment that aggregates to more than $600 in a year gets a Form 1099-MISC.

Do you think $50/month is worth all these paperwork? I sure don't.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#57

Post by jlujan »

pinksoda wrote: post #20
enjo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make 10K a year at a yard sell or selling pot, you owe the IRS money on that income. Just because you're less likely to get caught doesn't make it any less illegal. Probably the closest "real world" example would be a flea market. Those large flea markets are the google, and the vendors are the independent folks putting ads on their sites. You sell $10k worth of goods at a flea market, you bet your ass that marke…

There was a guy who got caught selling a lot of marijuana and didn't get in much trouble because he was paying taxes on it since day 1.

Same goes to illegal immigrants. You do not need proof of citizenship to acquire a Tax ID or file a return. Those that are picked up and tried for illegal immigration are much more likely to not be deported/jailed if they have all of their taxes in order.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#58

Post by pyre »

noonespecial wrote: post #4

He's probably not nearly as SOL as he thinks. As others are already pointing out, he probably just needs to come at it as a "self employed individual". There is tax for this, but also many deductions. A few choice minutes with a tax professional would probably clear up most of his problems. Unfortunately, those minutes would have been a bunch more helpful before he ended up with penalties for not filing, but again, a…

By 'tax professional' do you mean a lawyer or an accountant? I remember hearing ads on the radio some years back for a tax lawyer claiming that it was better to see a lawyer than an accountant because the accountant can be forced to testify against you (but attorney-client privilege protects you if you get a tax lawyer).

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#59

Post by tedunangst »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

I'm always amazed, when the-tax-system-sucks posts come up on HN, how quickly most commenters are to trash the author and/or lecture the complainer on how wrong they are. There is a impedance mismatch at work in our system of governance that's not going away any time soon. The government makes laws by sticking people into little boxes and making rules for those boxes. This system of boxes and rules -- the tax code --…

Nobody ever writes long blog posts saying "I paid my taxes. End of story." There's a definite bias in that only bad news ever gets reported.

One anecdote about is not an indictment of the whole system.

Re: According to the IRS you are a private contractor employed by Google

#60

Post by chopsueyar »

grandalf wrote: post #11

Most of this kind of things probably slips under the IRS's radar. Similarly, when's the last time anyone here declared the value of gifts they received as income? The problem with this sort of thing (and the new 1099 rules) are that they criminalize a large swath of the population. Sure, the violations are minor, but the fact is if you break the rules you are guilty of a crime. The problem with this is that if we're…

karma whoring...

"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

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