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A comment on How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck. Parent comment

Re:How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck by yason on Sunday July 12, 2009 @04:17PM (#700535)
I think the point of the diagram is to show where people decide to spend their money, that is, the money they actually get. What they get is after-tax. They do not get to spend the portion that is taxed away anyway so it's not on the list because it's not their choice.

By the way, don't you guys in the U.S. get a salary report for each paycheck you receive? Such a report in Finland would state your salary before taxes, after other deductions such as insurance, pension, union fees etc. each listed per row, and finally your salary after taxes. I think that producing such a report is required for all companies so at least in this part of the globe you wouldn't miss how much you pay taxes.

I must say that personally I really don't even know my salary before taxes unless rounded to the nearest 500 euros or so. All I'm interested in how much I get transferred to my bank account each month.

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Re:How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck by anamax on Sunday July 12, 2009 @09:43PM (#700879)
> By the way, don't you guys in the U.S. get a salary report for each paycheck you receive?

Yes we do. Most people ignore it (just like you). They figure take-home is their income and that any refund that they get after filing is "free money" to them and not a zero-interest rate loan to govt.

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