Ive decided to start this series of articles with acquired skill about the amount and type of taxes you pay. I wont be able to cover all of the types of taxes that are paid by Americans because that would turn this article into a book. I am just going to list a few of the most common taxes that most of us have to pay.

How much do you pay in taxes every year? I might bet many of you dont have any idea. You might think you might just look at your taxation forms for last year and have the answer. I guarantee that would be just the beginning.

Just take a look at the below list of various taxes and do the math yourself:

Federal Income Taxes - Uncle Sam is currently getting between 15% and 39% of our Adjusted Gross Income to pay for what ever it is that they spend funds on in Washington. The main point I want to contruct here is that many people feel that because they received a refund, they didnt pay any taxes. For some people, this is true. However, the vast majority of people that receivea refund are just acquiring back the money they already paid in through withholding, minus the taxes they owed. HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY LAST YEAR?

Income Tax Preparation - Yes, I ponder the cost of having our taxes prepared by a professional as a tax. If the federal tax code was published in english, maybe more of us could prepare our own taxes.

Social Security - 15.3% of your income goes directly to the federal government for social security and medicare and is conveniently deducted from your paycheck. The myth about your employer paying half is just that. If you werent required to pay social security, that is another 7.65% that your employer could pay you.

Sales Taxes - Unless you live in a state that doesnt have a state sales tax, this costs you around 6% to 7% of every penny you spend. Wouldnt it be nice to buy something for $99.95, hand the clerk a $100 bill and get a nickle back.

Property Taxes and Real Estate Taxes - These taxes might run intothe thousands of dollars a year. I understand , there are some places you arent required to pay these taxes either, however, you can bet they get this money in other ways. Before you renters initial smiling, remember that your landlord has to pay these taxes. Want to guess where he gets the money?

The Other Guys Taxes - What do you mean "The Other Guys Taxes"? He can pay his own. For each item you buy, the manufacturers and distributors have expenses like the cost of production, packaging, shipping, etc. They also have to pay taxes. Who do you think actually winds up paying these expenses? If you buy it, you do. I have seen estimates that between 20% and 25% of the cost of most items is for taxes that they have to pay. To make a profit, all companies must pass all expenses they have along to the consumer.

Gas Tax - With federal gasoline taxes over 18 cents per gallon and state gasoline taxes as high as 35 cents per gallon it isnt hard to see that, with the price of gas currently under a dollar in most places, over half of the cost of your gas could be going for taxes.

Self Employment Taxes - This is simply the way a self employed human pays their Social Security and Medicare. They are required to pay 15.3% of their gross income to cover these expenses. These are the people that really understand how much taxes they pay. This is because they are required to write a check for them four times a year and, if they underpaid throughout the year, they might have to write another check on April 15th.

When you look at your budget and wonder where all of your money is going, you might want to think about what you are paying in taxes. There are taxpayers in this country that are paying over 50% of their income in one tax or another.

Here are links to a couple of other articles Ive written on taxes:

I Love That Big Tax Refund
http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/taxrefund.html
A 23% Federal Sales Tax!! But Wait!
http://www.homemoneyhelp.com/fedsalestax.html

Im not trying to make a political statement here. I just believe that all the people should be aware of where their funds goes. If you take a few minutes to consider it, I think you will realize that a nice percentage goes to the federal, state and local governments.