Posted on 10/15/2008 9:19:40 PM PDT by CarolAnn
My husband and I own a plumbing company. My husband's name happens to be Art, but when I heard what Obama was saying to Joe, he was saying it to us.
We consistently make between $250K-300K per year and I have recently had to take on a second job to make ends meet. We have two plumbers on the payroll and I do the books. I quit taking a paycheck from the company because we have to keep our expenses down. We are among the smallest of small businesses, and any additional tax burden on us would be devastating. We do not live extravagantly. In fact, we live very modestly. Our big extravagance is a fishing trip to Canada every few years.
If Obama is elected, my best advise to Joe would be to become a C Corporation so that the company's income is not his personally. Most people with businesses as small as ours are a Sub Chapter S Corporations and their company incomes go directly on their personal tax returns. Then he would be put into Obama's sights for higher taxes.
I'm tire of working so hard and getting rewarded by politicians who want to take more of what little we get to keep. We have to be the government's tax collectors (sales tax, withholding tax, social security blah blah blah) and God help you if you forget to cross a t or dot an i. Government regulations choke us I'll bet you anything that if Obama is elected, social security taxes will go up - WAY up.
Good luck Joe. I really mean it. You are probably going to be one popular plumber in Toledo!
We’re going to be in the same boat with our business.
IF, due to the stupidity and ignorance of the average voter, BO manages to get himself elected, I think we’re going to add an “Obama surcharge” to each of our customer invoices reflecting the increase in our taxes.
“Oh, this charge here? Well, the total above is what you would have paid before Obama so wisely increased the taxes affecting many small businesses. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to absorb the extra cost and stay in business, so we’ve been forced to pass the additional cost on to our customers.”
We've built a reputation of running an honest business, so if anything else is said, I'll just add: "Don't be shocked. Nearly every other small business in America has been forced to do the same thing. We just want to be upfront and not hide the cost to you." (At this point, I might also ask, "Would you be interested in a 'Palin 2012' bumper sticker?" *snicker*
Please don't take this as a defeatist post... note the big "IF". It's not over yet! :)
I have a few micro-businesses probably smaller then yours. We have not done an LLC or Corporated yet. So all the income is transferred to the personal tax form. The real killer is the Self Employment tax, which applies before your personal itemized deductions. During the first couple of struggling years for me as a self employed individual I had to pay Self-Employment tax, but no income tax. The Federal tax code is an abomination. Should be scrapped completely. And if Obama things he can squeeze more out of me, he is a complete fool. I will just reinvest the gains back into the company and not even let Uncle Sam have a chance at them. My companies will remain fiscally solvent, while Uncle Sam of course remains fiscally insolvent.
Neil Cavuto had Joe the Plumber on his show yesterday (via phone from Ohio). Joe clearly stated that he would be voting for McCain.
Great thread, Carol Ann!
I am the Only McCain guy in this Office and The admin who gets the Mail is obnoxiously Pro Obama and my absentee Ballot hasn’t arrived!
Wow. Scary glimpse of future life in the US if these Marxists take over for several years...
If you own a business in WVa that’s exactly what happens.
And if you aren’t making that, odds are you are employed by someone who is.
This was about health care and fines; distinctions eren’t made between gross and net but business size is usually determined by gross.
I know how it works. I’m also a small business owner with an S corp.
I work for myself. I’m in a state always in the bottom when it comes to average household incomes. Income that high isn’t common anywhere though really. Obviously there are people who make that and more in most parts of the country, but those who do only account for a tiny percentage of our population, less than 2%, according to the census numbers at least. Most small business owners aren’t earning anywhere close to that after you adjust for their deductions.
The only real way to reduce health care costs is to start with tort reform, and the democrats will never allow that.
Another yard plumber's wife.
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