PAYROLL TAX DEDUCTIONS

I’ve never accepted the fact that our government has the right to withhold money from our wages to pay taxes on a calculation of projected anticipated income, i.e. payroll taxes deductions.

At age 14 I got my very first job that actually paid a wage.  I proudly got my Social Security Card that plainly displayed “Not to be used for identification purposes.”  I went to work at the local bus terminal loading and unloading baggage, boxes, cartons, etc. from long-haul buses.  It was during WW II.  They would hire anyone that would work.   I was paid the handsome sum of 40 cents an hour, the then minimum wage, to work 40 hours a week.  I was to be paid every 2 weeks.

I worked my first 2 weeks and was paid by check a few days later.  I looked at the amount.  There was a mistake.  It was only $28.  I had worked 80 hours and it should have been $32.  I complained to my supervisor that I had been shorted and showed him the check.  He replied, “Welcome to the real world, kid.  Uncle Sugar gets his cut before you get yours.”

That ticked me off royally.  And, I’ve been ticked off ever since.