How many miles is too much for your paystub?

It won't. People have a very limited understanding of how taxes work.

 

Your net never goes down with more miles. Saying any different is just some lunch counter crap from those with a political bent.

Most truck drivers, OTR drivers, will never get in the higher tax bracket and worry about even increasing the overall tax rate. The daily per diem deduction allowed to OTR drivers should keep most all drivers low enough the tax brackets are not even a consideration.

 

Even if you do get into a higher tax bracket it doesn't matter. The income falling within the lower tax brackets still gets taxed at the lower rate.

 

Right, but somewhere some BS talking political hack will tell these guys different.

 

Income tax liability isnt solely based on what you earn. There are write offs involved, too. Homes, dependants, tax sheltered retirement accounts, and lots more.

Your friends who told you to hold back loads probably told you that because they saw the amount of taxes coming out of their check going up- which it should do because withholding taxes are a percentage of what you earn. Earn more money= larger tax withholding.

BUT

That has nothing to do with what you owe at the end of the year. That is simply the amount of money you had to pay in (by law) on your income as an estimated payment for the year.

If you want real tax advice and how to set up your W4 so you're as close to break even as you can be on April 15th, take your last tax return down to a tax attorney or financial advisor and they will tell you what to do.

Never listen to 99% of truck drivers about your money.

 

extremely limited. Basically no clue. Cause math is hard. The whole notion of netting less by earning more is ridiculous.

 

Okay. So how do you explain those who don't earn a W2 and get a significant refund?

 

I rarely go home. So running less miles means I'm sitting too much. Sitting too much means I'm bored out of my mind. So I run all the miles I can, and cram as many miles as I can into the current pay period just on principle.

 

Now ask yourself the question: does it really ever make sense to try to make less money and/or to defer collecting your money for any period of time? All this thinking about taxes paid in one week and budgeting for paying bills comes from a very narrowminded view of money. More money now coupled with reliable tax planning advice is the only way to get ahead. If you make more this week, save it for next week when things are leaner. Or save it to invest. You will be 65 before you know it. But leaving money on the table or letting somebody else handle it for you for another week or for the entire year is a very bad plan.

Are "a few people" qualified CPAs/tax advisers? Do they know your personal situation? Did the exhibit any sort of evidence that they have studied finance or taxation? I once watched a guy standing at the counter in a convenience store stuff a handful of lottery tickets into his pocket while saying, "I have a degree in accounting. In 25 years, I've never used it." He was talking about using it to get a job, but it is clear he never thought about how his knowledge of financial matters could benefit HIM. If he did, he would not be buying lottery tickets.

It seems we Americans have forgotten that getting a job only makes somebody else rich. The only way to make ourselves rich is to learn about money, save and invest, and figure out as many legal ways as possible to keep it out of the governments hands. Going with the crowd and getting your advice for free is a really good way to stay broke. Forever.

If you've ever seen the movie Hunger Games, you'll remember the scene in which president snow tells his head game maker that the people need a little bit of hope to be placated, but too much hope might lead them to revolt. That's what IRAs and 401k's are. They give us a little training wheels opportunity to build wealth so we will be satisfied and not go for the gold. The result is dependence upon the government because we have no idea what is going on with our money.

The government has worked very hard at making us believe that our money belongs to them. Our money--our fiat currency--truly does. But our wealth--our land, our buildings, our inventions, our food, our fuel, the fruits of our labor--does not. But they have tricked many of us into believing that US dollars in circulation is all there is, and the only way to get it is to get a job, and the only way to keep it is to use one of their tax advantaged arrangements. Funny how the government creates a problem for you and then offers you the solution, isn't it?

There is a whole wide world out there of income, equity, tax advantages, and wealth building that is 100 times greater than what we see in the daily grind of "go to college, get a good job, select one of these 10 mutual funds in your 401(k), and maybe when you retire you will have half a million dollars. Maybe." It's not a secret being guarded by the oil companies or by Donald Trump. It's just a set of knowledge and a skill we have to build. Since money is important to everyone, everyone should know this stuff and not be beholden to the government to tell you what you can and can't do with your money, or your company to tell you where you can and can't invest it. But many of us have written it off thinking that money is evil, that you have to be somebody special to be wealthy, or that it's just too hard. I think it's just too hard to be poor.

Recommended reading:

Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
Rich dad poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Richest man in Babylon by George Clason
Be your own banker by R Nelson Nash

 

Maybe on an annual basis, but when taxes are pulled out weekly, the government isn't looking at the text to ductions you'll get at the end of the year. It is annualizing your income based on how much you made that week. So, at least in the short term, the Perdiem deduction doesn't make a difference.