Taxes: Yikes

[akaykay]

got my first paycheck as a pharmacist and almost 40% was deducted I thought the upper end was 35%. How could this be? I haven't even started the process for 401k and medical insurance, so my paycheck will be far less. Also the state tax deduction is crazy.

How much are you guys getting deducted around the globe?

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[xiphoid2010]

got my first paycheck as a pharmacist and almost 40% was deducted I thought the upper end was 35%. How could this be? I haven't even started the process for 401k and medical insurance, so my paycheck will be far less. Also the state tax deduction is crazy.

How much are you guys getting deducted around the globe?

Federal + state income tax, then you got medicare/medaid and social security tax which adds another 6 some %. Later on you'll have 401k and healthcare charges that comes off pre-tax.

Ohio had a 4-5% state tax. Now I'm in Texas, there is no state income tax, but sales tax is higher.

 

[Unchained]

Welcome to the real world. Try marrying another pharmacist and Obama would call you rich and raise your taxes more. You now have to start paying your "fair" share even though 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax. Do your part and vote Republican.

 

[owlegrad]

Welcome to the real world. Try marrying another pharmacist and Obama would call you rich and raise your taxes more. You now have to start paying your "fair" share even though 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax. Do your part and vote Republican.

When did Obama raise taxes?

Can you link to that 47%? I hear numbers thrown around, but I can never find info I find creditable when I try to track that stuff down. Also between dems and repubs, we do not have a party of fiscal responsibility. Just throwing that out there.

 

[lorain]

Welcome to the real world. Try marrying another pharmacist and Obama would call you rich and raise your taxes more. You now have to start paying your "fair" share even though 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax. Do your part and vote Republican.

ROFL if it only was that easy

 

[lorain]

When did Obama raise taxes?

Can you link to that 47%? I hear numbers thrown around, but I can never find info I find creditable when I try to track that stuff down. Also between dems and repubs, we do not have a party of fiscal responsibility. Just throwing that out there.

exactly, both spend and spend

both really arent that different, the similarities between this and the previous admin are very glaring

 

[pezdispenser]

http://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/netpay/us/delaware/calculator.html and remember to select your state.

The number of federal allowances on your W-4 for a basic single pharmacist should normally be 2 even if you are using just the standard deduction. Reduce it if you have a lot of income that doesn't get tax withheld like interest, dividends, capital gains. Increase it if you itemize deductions, by 1 per $3,700.

Social security tax was actually reduced this year to 4.2%. Normally it's 6.2%. Medicare is 1.45%.

State taxes, union fees, etc you'll have to figure out yourself.

Edit: If anyone is still interested in this calculator, in the deductions section, health insurance is exempt from federal and FICA, and 401(k) is exempt from federal taxes. I'm not sure about your state and local taxes.

 

[Unchained]

Owlegrad I'm not arguing about who is fiscally responsible. I'm arguing about who takes care of me. Repubs generally have a better record of taking care of the "rich". Dems generally have a better record of wealth redistribution. This administration will do the same when they have the opportunity.

 

[owlegrad]

Owlegrad I'm not arguing about who is fiscally responsible. I'm arguing about who takes care of me. Repubs generally have a better record of taking care of the "rich". Dems generally have a better record of wealth redistribution. This administration will do the same when they have the opportunity.

It is a fallacy to think that you are rich enough for the repubs to care about. Almost laughable. Pharmacists are powers of ten away from the tax bracket that republicans protect. IMO

 

[lorain]

Owlegrad I'm not arguing about who is fiscally responsible. I'm arguing about who takes care of me. Repubs generally have a better record of taking care of the "rich". Dems generally have a better record of wealth redistribution. This administration will do the same when they have the opportunity.

right and where are those jobs the tax cuts for the rich are supposed to provide?

and the people the R care about make far more than 2 rph combined....talking about millionaires, corporations, etc

 

[type b pharmD]

http://www.paycheckcity.com/calculator/netpay/us/delaware/calculator.html and remember to select your state.

The number of federal allowances on your W-4 for a basic single pharmacist should normally be 2 even if you are using just the standard deduction. Reduce it if you have a lot of income that doesn't get tax withheld like interest, dividends, capital gains. Increase it if you itemize deductions, by 1 per $3,700.

Social security tax was actually reduced this year to 4.2%. Normally it's 6.2%. Medicare is 1.45%.

State taxes, union fees, etc you'll have to figure out yourself.

what this guy said ^

i'd think ~33-35% all told (before insurance and retirement) sounds more reasonable than 40% , its possible youre doing something wrong with your withholdings

also there's something called supporting your fellow man , and living and contributing to a society.

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm

as a pharmacist, your overall federal tax rate should be in the low 20s .. 20-23% probably , add in your 6-7% fica (currently cut/lower), and 5% state tax, you should not come out over 35%

 

[Unchained]

Owlegrad I'm talking two pharmacists. Obama has mentioned his lower bracket many times. You're not paying attention to it since you don't come close. Taking care of your fellow man is naive. Your fellow man is out to screw you my friend.

 

[R2pharmD2]

Owlegrad I'm talking two pharmacists. Obama has mentioned his lower bracket many times. You're not paying attention to it since you don't come close. Taking care of your fellow man is naive. Your fellow man is out to screw you my friend.

Even two pharmacists (assuming median pay) won't hit the oft cited >250K mark. Also, what percentage of Americans paid no income tax under the previous administration? There are certainly philosophical differences between democrats and republicans, but they're far more similar than they are different. The biggest difference is in their rhetoric.

 

[owlegrad]

Owlegrad I'm talking two pharmacists. Obama has mentioned his lower bracket many times. You're not paying attention to it since you don't come close. Taking care of your fellow man is naive. Your fellow man is out to screw you my friend.

You said 47% do not pay taxes. Fair enough, what is the bottom 47% income? How does it compare to 250k? This is just for fun, has nothing to do with my argument.

I never said anything about taking care of anyone. I reject that republicans are going to guard your paycheck more than democrates. I am not talking rhetoric here, I want numbers. Republicans are not out to put more money in your pocket, I promise.

 

[spacecowgirl]

welcome to the real world. Try marrying another pharmacist and obama would call you rich and raise your taxes more. You now have to start paying your "fair" share even though 47% of americans pay no federal income tax. Do your part and vote republican.

lol!

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

You said 47% do not pay taxes. Fair enough, what is the bottom 47% income? How does it compare to 250k? This is just for fun, has nothing to do with my argument.

I never said anything about taking care of anyone. I reject that republicans are going to guard your paycheck more than democrates. I am not talking rhetoric here, I want numbers. Republicans are not out to put more money in your pocket, I promise.

Not to fight but I do believe in stirring the pot with facts. The following link will show you mostly what is being talked about.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html#Data

If you look at the first table, it is a very basic summary of % income and % taxes paid. Now, these are 2008 numbers but I looked at the IRS and could not find anything newer. The top 5% of earners (people with an adjusted gross income of ~160k or more) earned ~35% of all income. Yet, they paid almost 60% of all taxes to the gubment. On the other hand, the bottom 50% (people with an adjusted gross <33k) earned ~13% of all income but barely paid any taxes: 2.7%.

So, it is plausible that 47% of people have no tax liability or get more credits back than they ever pay. There is just not a good accounting of this without going through a multitude of gubment reports (and we all know the "gubmentese" in these reports will make your head hurt worse than any class that we take in pharm school).

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

Also wanted to add another quote. By this agency, it was not 47% but it was still better than 37% that had absolutely no tax liability or even received more back than they paid in (e.g. refundable tax credits). Here it is (emphasis added by me):

"The IRS data below include all of the 139.96 million tax returns filed in 2008 that had a positive AGI, not just the returns from people who earned enough to owe taxes. These figures exclude those tax returns filing a return merely to receive a stimulus check.

From other IRS data, we can see that in 2008, around 52 million tax returns were filed with either positive or negative AGI that used exemptions, deductions and tax credits to completely wipe out their federal income tax liability. Not only did they get back every dollar that the federal government withheld from their paychecks during 2008, but some even received more back from the IRS. This is a result of refundable tax credits like the earned income tax credit (EITC), the refundable portion of which is not included in the aggregate percentile data here."

 

[Ilikechemicals]

also there's something called supporting your fellow man , and living and contributing to a society.

Support being the key word. When I pay 33% of my income in taxes "support" is not the word that comes to mind. Robbed is a better word in my opinion.

So at 2.5 hours a day (out of 8, I rounded down) that adds up to 27 days a year that I give away to my fellow Americans.

I want a statue and a medal. Actually, all I really want is to pay less taxes.

 

[R2pharmD2]

Support being the key word. When I pay 33% of my income in taxes "support" is not the word that comes to mind. Robbed is a better word in my opinion.

So at 2.5 hours a day (out of 8, I rounded down) that adds up to 27 days a year that I give away to my fellow Americans.

I want a statue and a medal. Actually, all I really want is to pay less taxes.

Interesting. I never knew that ALL tax money went to welfare programs!

 

[type b pharmD]

Interesting. I never knew that ALL tax money went to welfare programs!

well, by support i meant, supporting clean drinking water, roads and police, defense from terrorists, public health, and education of fellow citizens.

Dont get me wrong i'm all about limited government, but to have a functioning high tech society where everyone has a good chance to live a good life, you gotta pay to create and maintain the infrastructure in the first place, and it's everyone's shared responsibility and is just, part of living in a civilized society. Granted I think govt expenditures and taxes should be cut by about a third , but, it IS something we all have to realize that it's part of our responsibility as citizens to support our community endeavor

 

[R2pharmD2]

well, by support i meant, supporting clean drinking water, roads and police, defense from terrorists, public health, and education of fellow citizens.

Dont get me wrong i'm all about limited government, but to have a functioning high tech society where everyone has a good chance to live a good life, you gotta pay to create and maintain the infrastructure in the first place, and it's everyone's shared responsibility and is just, part of living in a civilized society. Granted I think govt expenditures and taxes should be cut by about a third , but, it IS something we all have to realize that it's part of our responsibility as citizens to support our community endeavor

Just to be clear, that was the point I was raising. We benefit directly from much of what we pay in taxes. It's not just forced charity.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

Just to be clear, that was the point I was raising. We benefit directly from much of what we pay in taxes. It's not just forced charity.

Kind of like me paying my property taxes that are supposedly for my kids to attend school? 1. I have multiple properties and pay the same taxes on all of them yet I dont have multiple families with kids attending school. 2. My only child just turned 2 yo so all the taxes I paid the last 18 years are just for her and her alone? 3. I plan on sending my daughter to a private school, so again, I pay property taxes to the public school system for what reason?

While I agree that some taxes are required for the operation of government, the rates at what we pay and how it is spent is ridiculous. The majority of the money spent by the government is for entitlement programs. Besides, I paid my dues to my government (10 years of active duty with multiple deployments). How many people that take something from the government ever did anything for the betterment of that government or their fellow citizens?

 

[Unchained]

Kansas Pharmer thank you for taking the time to present the stats. It is important for our younger members to understand that they are being overtaxed by a very inefficient and wasteful gubment. I have worked in poor areas and your fellow man feels as though they are entitled to your money. These are not the poor people as presented in the Bible. Todays poor feel entitled by generations of gubment handouts.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Well...

So far I've been compensated $86,170.32 gross...and I've been taxed $19,666.64. Thats for federal and state and med/ss. So my effective tax rate is 22.82%.

For living in a society where I have protections, infrastructure, and the ability to exploit the labor of others to be compensated more than I'm actually worth, I'd say that's fair. Hell, paying 50% income tax would be fair.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Owlegrad I'm talking two pharmacists. Obama has mentioned his lower bracket many times. You're not paying attention to it since you don't come close. Taking care of your fellow man is naive. Your fellow man is out to screw you my friend.

Awww...look at the cute little Ayn Rand reading sociopath.

 

[awval999]

My gross compensation so far is: $77,354.86 and my taxes YTD (federal, state, FICA, medicare, and local) are $21,406.70, for an effective tax rate of 27.67%.

In my opinion, this is not justifiable, but it is what it is. You can further reduce your effective tax rate by deferring more money pre-tax into a 401k/403b, currently this year I am deferring 10% and hope to increase to 15% (this will max it at $16,500) for 2012.

I don't know how WVU has a lower effective tax, but he may be married, have more exemptions on his W-4, deferring more into his 401k.

 

[universalcynic]

Or you can reduce your tax rate by not actually working a job for your money.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Or you can reduce your tax rate by not actually working a job for your money.

Thank you for posting this.

Warren Buffett.

 

[owlegrad]

Kind of like me paying my property taxes that are supposedly for my kids to attend school? 1. I have multiple properties and pay the same taxes on all of them yet I dont have multiple families with kids attending school. 2. My only child just turned 2 yo so all the taxes I paid the last 18 years are just for her and her alone? 3. I plan on sending my daughter to a private school, so again, I pay property taxes to the public school system for what reason?

While I agree that some taxes are required for the operation of government, the rates at what we pay and how it is spent is ridiculous. The majority of the money spent by the government is for entitlement programs. Besides, I paid my dues to my government (10 years of active duty with multiple deployments). How many people that take something from the government ever did anything for the betterment of that government or their fellow citizens?

First let me say, thanks for posting some facts. Facts are good.

Second, you benefit from the taxes paid to schools because it is in your best interest if most people are educated. I think it is called an inferred benefit, meaning that even if YOU didn't attend a public school and your children do not attend a public school, you are still benefiting from the education that others received. It sucks sure, but it is preferable to "the masses" going uneducated, which benefits no one. You do benefit from other people's education, assuming that you do not live in the woods and hunt your own food. We live in an interconnected society.

Also, if you attend a state university or CC, you have benefited from public education, just sayin'.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

So at 2.5 hours a day (out of 8, I rounded down) that adds up to 27 days a year that I give away to my fellow Americans.

I want a statue and a medal. Actually, all I really want is to pay less taxes.

Sorry but this is just silly. Do you really believe you receive NOTHING in return for the taxes you pay? If so, then may I suggest relocating to a rural area of a third world country? You probably won't have much tax liability and won't have to worry about subsidizing any of those pesky things like clean drinking water, roads, bridges, police, fire and EMS, and other non-essentials.

 

[genesis09]

I live in a high tax state (Wisconsin). State income tax is about 6%. Thus far, about 33% of my income has gone to taxes. However, on my W-4, I took 0 deductions.

 

[owlegrad]

Thank you for posting this.

Warren Buffett.

But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.

I had no idea so few people made more than one million dollars a year. What percent of earners do pharmacist fall under again? I remember finding that once, but now I don't remember where.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

First let me say, thanks for posting some facts. Facts are good.

Second, you benefit from the taxes paid to schools because it is in your best interest if most people are educated. I think it is called an inferred benefit, meaning that even if YOU didn't attend a public school and your children do not attend a public school, you are still benefiting from the education that others received. It sucks sure, but it is preferable to "the masses" going uneducated, which benefits no one. You do benefit from other people's education, assuming that you do not live in the woods and hunt your own food. We live in an interconnected society.

Also, if you attend a state university or CC, you have benefited from public education, just sayin'.

I don't want to hear any whining from those who CHOOSE to send their children to private schools and then cry about paying taxes to support public schools. No one is preventing them from exercising their child's right to a free public education. They've decided to purchase something that they see as better or at least different than public school education and need to live with that choice.

I pay taxes that support public transportation in my city. So I could, if I wanted to, ride the bus all over town for a very nominal fee. I don't know what that fee is, because I've never done it, but that's not the point. I'm not getting anything out of my tax dollars that I pay for public transit, so should I demand a refund of them to help me pay for the three cars my husband and I have chosen to own?

 

[LazyMooch]

Freedom vs. Equality

Lower taxes vs. Higher taxes

I like the two formers, because they make it easier to eventually exploit the labor of my humanities major peers.

 

[npage148]

I don't think people making over 100K pay enough taxes.

 

[owlegrad]

A summery, if I may:

Pharmacists do not make good money compared with most Americans. Based on what we know here, the effective tax rate is 22, 27, or 33% (before tax returns) but lets not muddle the argument with facts and lets just say it is 40%. Obviously, that is too much. It shouldn't be more than 10%. You shouldn't be punished for making money. The problem is poor people don't pay enough taxes.

 

[Ilikechemicals]

Interesting. I never knew that ALL tax money went to welfare programs!

I never said welfare. I said fellow Americans as even the crap that I do use is also (or can be) used by 349,999,999 other people.

Anyways, I'll play the big, bad, right wing, god fearing, baby loving, oil drilling, conservative that hates everyone else in the country and wished they would all die of starvation and diseases, do to their inferior economic and or racial standing

I look at the federal government spending and see that 56% percent of it is spent oh so selflessly on SS, healthcare, and welfare programs.

So that leaves 44% of the budget for stuff that I do use no matter how inefficient or terribly provided by our bureaucratic overlords. Thats still 15 days out of the year (or 45 working days) of paying for stuff that I dont use.

Screw the statue or the medal I want 30 of those days back for vacation.

 

[njac]

A summery, if I may:

Pharmacists do not make good money compared with most Americans. Based on what we know here, the effective tax rate is 22, 27, or 33% (before tax returns) but lets not muddle the argument with facts and lets just say it is 40%. Obviously, that is too much. It shouldn't be more than 10%. You shouldn't be punished for making money. The problem is poor people don't pay enough taxes.

Nicely done.

 

[BMBiology]

So that leaves 44% of the budget for stuff that I do use no matter how inefficient or terribly provided by our bureaucratic overlords. Thats still 15 days out of the year (or 45 working days) of paying for stuff that I dont use.

How much of your 44% goes to defense? Is that also something you don't use?

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

First let me say, thanks for posting some facts. Facts are good.

Second, you benefit from the taxes paid to schools because it is in your best interest if most people are educated. I think it is called an inferred benefit, meaning that even if YOU didn't attend a public school and your children do not attend a public school, you are still benefiting from the education that others received. It sucks sure, but it is preferable to "the masses" going uneducated, which benefits no one. You do benefit from other people's education, assuming that you do not live in the woods and hunt your own food. We live in an interconnected society.

Also, if you attend a state university or CC, you have benefited from public education, just sayin'.

More of my post is pointed towards the fact that I have worked hard all my life, chose to reinvest my money into my community, provided safe and clean housing for my renters, and try to make it all affordable.

In return, I have been taxed at multiples of what most people are and am expected to be happy about it. Additionally, I am expected to keep my other properties at a higher standard than the people in the next neighborhood that are in section 8.

And yes, my overall factor is to make a profit. But, since the basic premise of talking about taxes is "fairness", why do I bear the brunt of it while the idiots in subsidized housing not have to conform to the standards I do?

 

[SkiPharmer]

I find it interesting how no one on this thread has mentioned that the Republicans came up with Medicare Part D but offered no way to pay for it (hence the reason for the donut hole). When talking about cutting entitlement programs they always mention Medicaid but never Medicare, this is cuz a large part of their base is old people! I have a customer who is the biggest Republican who ripped all entitlement programs and he just got on Medicare this year and now he bitches how it's not funded enough and that people don't care about old people and we want them dead..wtf!? , you want to know where a lot of our tax money goes to waste....try two wars over 10+ years.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

Well...

So far I've been compensated $86,170.32 gross...and I've been taxed $19,666.64. Thats for federal and state and med/ss. So my effective tax rate is 22.82%.

For living in a society where I have protections, infrastructure, and the ability to exploit the labor of others to be compensated more than I'm actually worth, I'd say that's fair. Hell, paying 50% income tax would be fair.

If you dont think that you are taxed enough, the gubment allows you to make contributions directly. Remember, there is only minimum required taxes, you can always pay as much extra as you want.

This is what I love, people say that they think they should pay more, but they never then pay any extra. So, if you think it is unfair, then gather up a bunch of like minded people and send the Treasury a big fat check. But, I wont hold my breath. I will pass out long before someone that talks like this actually gives extra money.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

More of my post is pointed towards the fact that I have worked hard all my life, chose to reinvest my money into my community, provided safe and clean housing for my renters, and try to make it all affordable.

In return, I have been taxed at multiples of what most people are and am expected to be happy about it. Additionally, I am expected to keep my other properties at a higher standard than the people in the next neighborhood that are in section 8.

And yes, my overall factor is to make a profit. But, since the basic premise of talking about taxes is "fairness", why do I bear the brunt of it while the idiots in subsidized housing not have to conform to the standards I do?

Nice. And with that, let the usual "the poor and disabled are stupid, lazy, ignorant, stinky, ugly, fat, evil, and _________" (insert invective of choice), class warfare talk begin. We need that kind of thread on SDN periodically.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

\I have a customer who is the biggest Republican who ripped all entitlement programs and he just got on Medicare this year and now he bitches how it's not funded enough and that people don't care about old people and we want them dead..wtf!? , you want to know where a lot of our tax money goes to waste....try two wars over 10+ years.

1. Interesting that he went from a hardcore R to toeing the D line about not caring about / wanting to kill off grandma.

2. While I do not agree with the wars lasting this long, the amount of money spent thus far on them (~2.5T) is only about half of the increase in deficit spending in the last 2.5 years (~4.6T). So, for the mathematically declined: the wars cost approx 0.250T a year while the current federal spending levels cost us 1.84T a year. I guess you are right, we are spending WAY more on defense than anything else.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

Nice. And with that, let the usual "the poor and disabled are stupid, lazy, ignorant, stinky, ugly, fat, evil, and _________" (insert invective of choice), class warfare talk begin. We need that kind of thread on SDN periodically.

You are the one bringing up the tenants of the properties, not me. I may have not enunciated properly but you automatically jumped on the class warfare wagon. I am not talking about class warfare. I was comparing like to like: Me owning regular rentals and the slumlords owning section 8 properties. Whereas I have to meet all regular requirements or get the city on my backside, the guys that own the section 8s are allowed to turn them into slums because they are "providing an essential needed service".

So, get off the high horse about poor people. I have never said anything desparaging about lower income people and I never will. I lived through that before in my life and I try to give as much back as I can.

 

[WhYMee]

the way things work in this country is the middle class gets taxed the hardest. The poor and ultr-rich both pay the least. The poor are protected and provided for and the rich are highly protected from the government.

The rich basically lobby government and reap the rewards with all kind of loopholes.

As pharmacists, we are high middle class so we get taxed very hard for being middle class. The only thing you can do is mayb educate yourself on the loopholes that the rich use and besides that "just suck it up"

Unfortunately, it jsut the way the country works. Just gotta live with it.

The only thing is that there are people in the middle class that are struggling very hard. And if history is an indicator of what happens over time if things get that bad.....Revolution

 

[joetrisman]

 

[R2pharmD2]

I never said welfare. I said fellow Americans as even the crap that I do use is also (or can be) used by 349,999,999 other people.

Anyways, I'll play the big, bad, right wing, god fearing, baby loving, oil drilling, conservative that hates everyone else in the country and wished they would all die of starvation and diseases, do to their inferior economic and or racial standing

I look at the federal government spending and see that 56% percent of it is spent oh so selflessly on SS, healthcare, and welfare programs.

So that leaves 44% of the budget for stuff that I do use no matter how inefficient or terribly provided by our bureaucratic overlords. Thats still 15 days out of the year (or 45 working days) of paying for stuff that I dont use.

Screw the statue or the medal I want 30 of those days back for vacation.

Call it what you like, but just because other people, in addition to yourself, can make use of the services our government provides doesn't change the fact that you benefit from them. And you don't expect to collect SS someday? Or be covered under medicare? And just because you don't make use of welfare programs, the point is that they're in place if you need them. If you were laid off tomorrow, would you refuse unemployment based on principle?

I have no problem whatsoever with people thinking they're overtaxed or disagreeing with how their tax dollars are spent. What I don't understand is why people (on both the right and the left) feel the need to characterize things in exaggerated, emotional terms.

 

[Kansas Pharmer]

]I have no problem whatsoever with people thinking they're overtaxed or disagreeing with how their tax dollars are spent. What I don't understand is why people (on both the right and the left) feel the need to characterize things in exaggerated, emotional terms.

I will second that motion

 

[njac]

If you dont think that you are taxed enough, the gubment allows you to make contributions directly. Remember, there is only minimum required taxes, you can always pay as much extra as you want.

This is what I love, people say that they think they should pay more, but they never then pay any extra. So, if you think it is unfair, then gather up a bunch of like minded people and send the Treasury a big fat check. But, I wont hold my breath. I will pass out long before someone that talks like this actually gives extra money.

If you overpay it's not like government has some slush fund set up for it. It's just going to cause more paperwork and they're likely to send it back to you. Doesn't work like that.

I would totally give more money if I could say where it went.