Yeah, right.
The IRS claims I spent 1064.00 on sales tax in a county where state and county sales tax = 7%. On an income of 125,000.00
Paid 5,500.00 (so far) in state income taxes.
Now, figure I’m not buying a car, nor a house or other sales items like that. 48% of my income is in taxes - though that includes the matching 6.5% of the Social Insecurity taxes that I would have been paid, and will never get back.
So, 50% of my income is taxes, leaves roughly 60,000.00 to spend.
1/2 of that is on already-taxed items like gasoline and telephone/cell phone/internet/natural gas, water, electricity.
So that leaves 30,000.00 to spend locally. At 7% sales tax spending 30,000.00 = 2100.00. Minimum.
The IRS is - again - dead wrong.
Is any of that going into savings or investments? Charitable donations? (Another deduction, but it lowers $$ available to pay sales taxes.) Birthday/Christmas giving (cash)?
I’m sure the IRS calculation is low, but it’s intended to be that way. Outside of major purchases (Vehicle, renovations, etc) who is actually going to save every single receipt and calculate their sales tax at the end of the year? So, if they have an easy way to figure your numbers, but ‘charges’ you for the convenience, most people are fine with that, and they’re happy cause they can squeeze more $$ out of you. If you want to save every receipt and actually calculate your sales tax (and hope it’s more than income taxes!), great. If not, their calculator can at least get you a small deduction that’ll save you $200 or so you wouldn’t have otherwise had confiscated from you. And I’m ‘happy’, TX has no income tax so my deduction is definitely going to be sales taxes! (Thinking next year I might actually start saving receipts, but that really is a pain.)