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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/3/2008 5:56:41 PM
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agapetos
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quote:
I was thinking the other day how nice it would be if some members who are from countries where socialized medical care is used would post in that thread. However, since that many falls into American politics, I can understand why there would be a lack of interest on thier parts. I have seen non-Americans make attempts at joining those conversations only to get slammed and be made out to be ignorant of American politics just because they don't live here. I'm with Lexie on that one...
quote:
I'm wondering how much sales tax is over there in Britain, up there in Canada and down under in Australia? Ours is different in each state, like in CA when I was there it was 8.25%, but here in OR we don't pay sales tax. I don't mean any disrespect to you, but I laugh hysterically when I hear Americans talk about how high the tax is in their state. I believe CA has the highest ~ I know it did at one point anyhow. Here it's 17.5%, but not everything is taxed. Books are zero rated, some foods and I think some children's clothing. Not sure what else.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/3/2008 9:40:23 PM
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Mrs.X
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Wow, that seems high to me, I guess cause I'm not used to that. I wonder if sales tax was that high here if we could have socialized healthcare too. Does a lot of other funding have to go into that, or does the sales tax seem to cover it? Like does a lot come out of your paychecks too for tax?
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From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. -Proverbs 15:1
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 1:02:57 PM
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Mrs.X
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OH OK! Well, that makes it easy then! When I lived in CA, it was really hard to go grocery shopping with only a certain amount of money because you had to factor in tax at the checkout. So, if the price tag says $1, you pay $1.08 at checkout.
Another question, is it standard to tip your waitresses between 15% and 20% in Britain? I imagine it'd be easy to do that since all you have to do is look at the sales tax on your bill. In CA, we'd look at the sales tax on the bill and double it. In Oregon, since we don't have a sales tax, we just do 20% since it's easy to do the math.
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From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. -Proverbs 15:1
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 1:50:28 PM
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HenriettasCat
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I might be wrong as we don't eat out very often, but tipping over here is not such a big thing as in the States (though international travel is changing this). When I was waitressing (many years ago) we always loved Americans because they nearly always tipped - it was drunks first, Americans second lol (drunks liked to empty their wallets in gratitude).
Ahem...I do tip - usually 10% unless service is really shoddy.
One of the main bugbears with tipping here is that you never know if the tip goes directly to waiting staff. In some establishments it just goes into the general coffer and then used to top up waiting staff salaries to comply with minimum wage - that does'nt' seem fair to me. Waiting staff work hard and earn little enough as it is. There is talk at the moment about stopping this practice. Whether that will have an effect on tipping I don't know.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 2:02:27 PM
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Mrs.X
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No kidding? Yeah, waitresses only make minimum wage in the States (usually somehwere between $6-7 an hour), so they really rely on their tips to pay the bills. My friend worked at a popular restaurant here in town for breakfast and lunch on the weekends (4 shifts), and by Sunday, she'd have $400 in tips.
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-Stina
From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. -Proverbs 15:1
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 3:46:10 PM
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HisCovenant
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Unless they have changed it recently (which I think they are in the process of changing it now,) in the US a waitress makes less than minimum wage because she gets tips.
quote:
A minimum cash amount of $2.13 per hour should be paid to tipped employees. If tips actually received are not sufficient, when added to $2.13, to total the minimum wage of $4.75 (as of October 1, 1996) or $5.15 (as of September 1, 1997), the employer must also pay the additional difference to the tipped employee.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 3:55:48 PM
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doinkdom
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Tax might seem high in the UK, but we are taxed to death in the US.
We're taxed on nearly everything and it varies from state to state.
Property tax is ridiculous, then you have state tax, then federal tax, etc.
And property tax is every year in most states and things like tobacco are highly taxed and then a sales tax on top of that. I think wine and beer is the same way, but can't remember.
So, I'm thinking that by the time we average it all out...we're all probably paying within a percent of two for it all.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 4:33:31 PM
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HisCovenant
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That's what I've found. Years ago when we lived in FL there was no income tax... however, we were taxed to death in other ways. But if you averaged it all out, it equalled about the same percentage of our income being taxed. So we really weren't taxed to death... it just seemed like it because we were used to not ever seeing the money because income tax is usually taken before you get a check and in FL we constantly saw it going out.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 4:36:18 PM
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agapetos
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quote:
Tax is high, but its all added into the ticket price - therefore you know exactly what you are going to pay at the end of your shop. I don't really think about it too much (or try not to!). Same here!  quote:
ORIGINAL: HisCovenant
Unless they have changed it recently (which I think they are in the process of changing it now,) in the US a waitress makes less than minimum wage because she gets tips.
quote:
A minimum cash amount of $2.13 per hour should be paid to tipped employees. If tips actually received are not sufficient, when added to $2.13, to total the minimum wage of $4.75 (as of October 1, 1996) or $5.15 (as of September 1, 1997), the employer must also pay the additional difference to the tipped employee.
I think the law here is changing as we speak about tipping. Employers were using the tips that customers paid to bring their waiting staffs wages up to minimum wage, thus cutting their wage bill.
quote:
Employers are to be banned from using tips and service charges to "top up" staff pay to meet the minimum wage, under government plans.
The changes, set to come into force next year, will benefit those working in industries such as restaurants, where tipping is commonplace.
Firms are currently allowed to divert service charges into takings.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7533863.stm
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 6:01:53 PM
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HisCovenant
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I think here they are raising minimum wage, but not dropping the tipping reduction in minimum wage. I can't imagine the uproar if restaurants had to comply with minimum wage without tips. Their minimum wage will increase, too, but will include tips as a part of their wage, just like now. It's probably fair to make restaurants comply, not including tips, but it sure would hurt them and cause a huge increase in restaurant prices.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 6:41:08 PM
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nicole6598
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Our sales tax here is 10% but not on things like bread, milk, diapers, meat, fruit and vegetable etc.
We don't have tipping here in Australia.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 6:49:31 PM
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lexie
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quote:
I'm wondering how much sales tax is over there in Britain, up there in Canada and down under in Australia
In Ontario, sales tax is 13% - 8% PST (provincial) and 5% GST (federal). A couple of years ago it was 15% but the Conservatives lowered it.
You don't pay sales tax on necessities like groceries and we you don't pay provincial sales tax on children's stuff. It also may seem like a lot, but you get used to it, and you add the tax without thinking when considering how much you're going to spend.
Dh and I were talking today about how you may not pay a lot of sales tax in the US, but you do pay the tax other places. It would be interesting to see a comparison of all of the taxes (property, income, paycheque, etc) to see what the real comparison is. Also, I wonder how it works with things like health care (ex. How much an American pays to have their own insurance vs. how much I pay in taxes - though our taxes don't just go to health care so I suppose that would not be possible.)
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/4/2008 9:29:38 PM
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nicole6598
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Lexie I don't think our taxes here in Australia are that high really, our sales tax is lower than yours, but you do pay tax on items like chocolate and stuff.
That would be an interesting comparison to make. I would think that it costs more for Americans insuarnce than it would for ours through tax.
From July 1st my hubby has made 9800 and has paid 2500 in tax.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 1:28:13 AM
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Mrs.X
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When I had health insurance through my work (good insurance) I paid $150 a month for it, and my work paid the other $150 a month, and that was just for me, not hubby or kids. My co-pays (what you pay when you go see a doctor for check-ups) were $10, and emergency room visits were $50.
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-Stina
From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. -Proverbs 15:1
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 6:50:04 PM
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nicole6598
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Henrietta we get child tax benefits for child care here too, it is sad they give incentives to go back to work but not to stay home isn't it?
Christina- some doctors will charge here, I dont know how they do it, because most doctors bill Medicare for you, but a standard appointment is about $35, hospital is free unless you go to a private hospital and you aren't a private patient (private health care). My doctor doesn't charge when I see him, actually he does sometimes, but you don't get paid for kids visits up to the age of 16 years, and he rarely charges me when I go.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 7:51:03 PM
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Mrs.X
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We get a child tax benefit here too...I think it's $1000 per child.
My kids have the Oregon Health Plan (provided by the state government for low income folks) which is for pregnant women and children under 5 under a certain income level. We don't pay anything for doctor or hospital visits or generic prescriptions or ambulance rides. Brand name presciptions and vanity work (like braces on your teeth or circumcisions) are the only things that aren't covered.
What is maternity leave like where you all are? In the U.S. there is only one regulation regarding that and it's that the employer must allow 12 weeks, but they don't have to pay you anything. Some companies will allow you longer (most don't), and some companies will pay you some (most don't). When I worked as a security gaurd for a large company, I could take maternity leave as long as I wanted. In fact, I am still on maternity leave and have been for almost two years I think. But, they don't pay anything. If I decide to return, they will find me a site to work at right away, and possibly transfer another guard so I can have a place to work. But, that's only because they like me, not because of company policy.
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-Stina
From Sweet Grass to the Packin' House
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. -Proverbs 15:1
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 7:55:39 PM
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nicole6598
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We have a health care card system for low wage earners, they don't have to pay for any doctors, they get all prescriptions for lke $3 or something, and they get free dental, optical etc etc.
Maternity leave, they are trying to push for everyone to pay 8 weeks I think. At the moment you can take up to 52 weeks maternity leave from your job and still return to the same position you held when you left. I think most big companies pay about 6 weeks maternity leave.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 9:53:06 PM
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lexie
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In Ontario birth mothers are entitled to 17 weeks unpaid, job-protected pregnancy leave. If they take that, they are entitled to 35 weeks unpaid, job-protected parental leave. Birth mothers who don't take pregnancy leave, and all other parents are entitled to 37 weeks off.
Here is something cool:
quote:
If each parent of a newborn took the maximum leave allowed at separate times, the baby would have a parent at home for 89 consecutive weeks (17 weeks of pregnancy leave for the birth mother, plus 35 weeks of parental leave for the birth mother, plus 37 weeks of parental leave for the other parent).
Companies don't have to pay maternity benefits, however the government will pay for up to 50 weeks (that's a combined maternity leave and parental leave.) I'm not sure how much exactly they pay (it's a percentage of your income.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 9:58:54 PM
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manda59
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quote:
ORIGINAL: HenriettasCat
One of the best tax 'deals' I get is Child Tax Credit. It helps to pay for nearly 90% of my childcare making it very worthwhile going back to work.
But you don't have to go back to work full-time to get it. I get it for working 2-10hrs per week.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 10:17:25 PM
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nicole6598
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that is cool lexie, we don't have pregnancy payment here, but one your baby is born the govt gives you $5000 and every year you get $600 for each child you have
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/5/2008 10:24:39 PM
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lexie
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Our pregnancy payments fall under Employment Insurance, which you pay into if you work. However, there are rules to qualifying for it (I didn't qualify for it with Akeelah and won't with any future children because I don't work.) We're hoping to swing a pregnancy in the summer so Dh can collect the parental leave benefits during the summer while he's off work!
Once you have your child, everyone gets a Universal Child Care Benefit of $100 a month whether you work or not. Then, depending on your income you can qualify for provincial child care benefit, federal child tax credit and provincial child tax credit.
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I want to be more than an ordinary servant.
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RE: Question from a Brit to any Y... umm American - 8/6/2008 12:30:26 PM
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agapetos
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quote:
What is maternity leave like where you all are? In the U.S. there is only one regulation regarding that and it's that the employer must allow 12 weeks, but they don't have to pay you anything. You can take up to a year off here ~ but you don't get paid for the whole year (I don't think). Manda may know better than me. The amount you are paid varies on the length of time you have off (and possibly the length of time you've worked for your employer).
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