

What We Pay For - ryandvm
http://www.whatwepayfor.com/

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coreyrecvlohe
Great site. Just today Ezra Klein of the Washington Post did a piece on a
proposal to mail a 'receipt' to tax payers for services rendered, so people
stay informed about the proportion of their dollars spent annually. I think
it's a good idea.

Post Article: [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-
klein/2010/09/shouldnt...](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-
klein/2010/09/shouldnt_taxpayers_get_a_recei.html)

Tax Receipt Proposal:
[https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://content.thirdway.o...](https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://content.thirdway.org/publications/335/Third_Way_Idea_Brief_-
_A_Taxpayer_Receipt.pdf&pli=1)

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theli0nheart
I made Where My Money Goes last night, which is a more visual take on the
receipt idea, if not as in depth:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1748042>

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cookiecaper
The problem there is that most people don't know exactly how much they spent
on taxes each year. The posted site here is nice because you can just put a
salary.

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theli0nheart
I'm working on it! Also, income varies by state, which this site doesn't
correct for. Tonight I should have a solution :)

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rwhitman
I love how out of one submission of an NPR article to HN there came about 4
different apps that all do an amazing job of making the 'tax receipt' concept
a reality

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coin
Most of these different apps simply linearly scale the results, which is
incorrect. Some taxes are non-linear (such as Social Security, which is only
collected on the first $106,800 of income).

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DanielBMarkham
This an extremely important point.

What would be useful is if somebody created a mathematical model of the tax
system. This model could drive these other sites, and it could also be used in
all sorts of "what-if" scenarios.

I don't think this exists, and it seems like such an obviously good thing to
have. I guess the problem is that there's not really a mathematical model of
the tax system. Everything is subject to some interpretation, and the rules
and system has become so complex that it is probably impossible to model.

(Just answered his own question)

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Timmy_C
When I estimated my costs Social Security was roughly $5,400.00 a year yet I
keep hearing that when I get to retirement age that there won't be any Social
Security left.

This is a bad investment or we need to rethink the ways in which that money is
being use. Because that seems like a lot of money for a program which may
never benefit me.

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Symbol
It's a shitton of money, funding what is ultimately a pyramid scheme where
I'll never reach the top of the pyramid.

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Goosey
It seems a lot closer to a ponzi scheme than a pyramid scheme.

I do believe if I was funding an IRA/ROTH-IRA with that money I would be much
better off. However, we are not funding OURSELVES, we are funding those who
came before us. And while we may not get our payout (may not be funded my
those who come after us) the fact is that those being funded right now deserve
what they are getting. It's pretty selfish to just say 'if it isn't helping
me, why should I care?'

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anamax
> the fact is that those being funded right now deserve what they are getting.

Really? Why do they deserve it?

Interesting fact: Black men collect only a fraction of what black men
contribute.

And, unlike IRAs, their SS contributions don't result in something that they
can leave to their heirs.

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lurchpop
I'd love to see one where you choose a country of origin, currency, then see
what the taxes are. I'm really curious to see if the myth that taxes outside
the US are as nightmarish as Americans think.

It's a little off but that page estimates i'm taxed at about 42%.

