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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / July 2006As much as I complain ...
about my health insurance company (and I have plenty of reason -- just spent another large chunk of time on the phone with them this morning because they screwed up), when they do come through, they come through large. Total charge for Colonoscopy: Billed by doctor: $2410.70 Allowed by insurance co.: $1414.06 Amount I need to pay: $90. Not bad. DH was telling me that he spoke to his dentist, and apparently the amount disallowed by the insurance company, as long as it's within reasonable limits, can actually be deducted from doctors' taxes, so they end up with very little income tax to pay. Interesting.  Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > about my health insurance company (and I have plenty of reason -- just > spent another large chunk of time on the phone with them this morning [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > reasonable limits, can actually be deducted from doctors' taxes, so > they end up with very little income tax to pay. Interesting. Interesting maybe. But not true. Of course they don't have to pay tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it from their taxes, no. Jo >> DH was telling me that he spoke to his dentist, and apparently the >> amount disallowed by the insurance company, as long as it's within [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it from > their taxes, no. Hrmmm. I wonder what he was talking about, then. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > Interesting maybe. But not true. Of course they don't have to pay > tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it from their > taxes, no. Doesn't it count as bad debt? Uncollectable? (Or should it be uncollectible?) Chak SignatureAccording to a recent British poll, all except greed of the seven deadly sins (anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth and pride) should be removed from the list, and the following substituted: adultery, bigotry, cruelty, dishonesty, hypocrisy and selfishness. Chakolate <chakolateDeathToSpammers@gmail.com> wrote (in her sig): > According to a recent British poll, all except greed of the seven deadly > sins (anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth and pride) should be > removed from the list, and the following substituted: adultery, bigotry, > cruelty, dishonesty, hypocrisy and selfishness. Now that's sensible! Those are much more destructive sins than ... sloth? Pride? Sheesh, pride is a *good* thing. (Well, unless you get carried away - but everything's bad when you get carried away!) I'm not sure about adultery, though. Well, cheating and lying, which are the principle no-nos involved in adultery, do belong on the list. But I see that dishonesty is already there. Simply sleeping with someone outside your marriage isn't necessarily bad - what if your spouse agrees to it? Would that even be considered adultery? Just riffing, Joyce - with a Smudge chin resting on her left hand > Chakolate <chakolateDeathToSpammers@gmail.com> wrote (in her sig): > > According to a recent British poll, all except greed of the seven deadly > > sins (anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth and pride) should be > > removed from the list, and the following substituted: adultery, bigotry, > > cruelty, dishonesty, hypocrisy and selfishness. > Now that's sensible! Those are much more destructive sins than ... > sloth? Pride? Sheesh, pride is a *good* thing. (Well, unless you get > carried away - but everything's bad when you get carried away!) Pride is the most destructive of all, since it causes the person suffering from it to put their own interests first at the expense of others. I think whoever answered the poll didn't understand what was meant by the sins. > I'm not sure about adultery, though. Well, cheating and lying, which > are the principle no-nos involved in adultery, do belong on the list. > But I see that dishonesty is already there. Simply sleeping with > someone outside your marriage isn't necessarily bad - what if your > spouse agrees to it? Would that even be considered adultery? Well, yes. You're still breaking a vow and adultery is considered to be caused by lust, so you're back at the original 7. Bigotry could have its roots in envy, greed, pride or even anger, depending on why the person is bigotted; cruelty comes from anger or greed or pride, dishonesty is a tool used in pretty well all of them, hypocrisy is often rooted in pride. See how pervasive pride is? In this context, it doesn't mean knowing yourself and your value - that's actually a virtue, humility (often misunderstood as a kind of cringing denial of who you are because of a minunderstanding of one of the basic Christian paradoxes - each human is at the same time of immense value simply because they are human and also infinitely inferior to the creator.) There's a very interesting book by Solomon Schimmel on the subject: 'Seven Deadly Sins: Jewish, Christian, and Classical Reflections on Human Nature'. SignatureCheryl >> Interesting maybe. But not true. Of course they don't have to pay >> tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it from their [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Chak But doctors only pay tax on what they collect in the first place. Hardly makes any sense to deduct what they don't get from what they do get. You would arrive at some meaningless number. Jo > But doctors only pay tax on what they collect in the first place. Hardly > makes any sense to deduct what they don't get from what they do get. You > would arrive at some meaningless number. > > Jo Now you've gotten me curious. As another example, an auto mechanic, or landlord, or anyone else who provides a service for money can deduct money they were unable to collect as a bad debt, no? The amount the physician would deduct would be a specific figure--it would be the amount charged less the amount that the insurance paid. But then, the physician *agrees* to accept the lower figure from the insurance company as payment of the debt *in full*. So technically, there is a zero balance after the patient pays his part. So yeah, I don't think the physician would be able to deduct the diff. Sherry <--- admits there's a reason she pays someone else to do her taxes. >>> Interesting maybe. But not true. Of course they don't have to >>> pay tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Hardly makes any sense to deduct what they don't get from what they > do get. You would arrive at some meaningless number. Wait, no. Chak has something there. I know that bad debt can be worked into your taxes somehow; I just don't remember how. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca > >>> Interesting maybe. But not true. Of course they don't have to > >>> pay tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully If that were true, couldn't your auto mechanic say "The bill for changing your oil is $599.00. But I'm going to charge you $29.95 and write off the rest." Sherry >>>> Interesting maybe. But not true. Of course they don't have to >>>> pay tax on that amount because they never get it, but deduct it [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Wait, no. Chak has something there. I know that bad debt can be > worked into your taxes somehow; I just don't remember how. Key words here are cash, accrual, and inventory. Most of us pay our taxes on the cash basis. That means that our taxable income for the year is based on what we collect during the year. A 12/28/06 paycheck would enter into your 2006 taxes but a 01/03/07 paycheck wouldn't be taxed until your 2007 taxes. Even if each was for working the same dates and hours. This is usually the same way taxes are paid by anyone in a service field. Income is taxable when you get it and expenses are deductible when you pay them. (more or less) But in some businesses that could be really unfair. Either to the taxpayer or the government. Because you can always manipulate when you get your income to some degree and when you pay your bills. So some businesses are required to report their income on the accrual basis. For the most part it affects any business that has inventory as a big part of its operation. Their income is taxable as they earn it and stuff is expenses as it is used, not as its bought. A taxpayer only gets a bad debt deduction from taxable income (never from tax) if they have already paid tax on those earnings. The key is bad debt deductions are only for money you have already paid taxes on. Jo > A taxpayer only gets a bad debt deduction from taxable income (never > from tax) if they have already paid tax on those earnings. > The key is bad debt deductions are only for money you have already > paid taxes on. Hmm. That sounds like no deduction at all to me. But my understanding of taxes is pretty pathetic, and I'm in awe of anyone who can explain something like this so clearly. Even Albert Einstein himself said that taxes were the hardest thing in the world to understand, so I guess I'm in good company. :) Joyce > > A taxpayer only gets a bad debt deduction from taxable income (never > > from tax) if they have already paid tax on those earnings. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Hmm. That sounds like no deduction at all to me. All a bad debt deduction amounts to is the government saying "OK we made you pay tax on money we thought you were going to get, but you didn't get it and it looks like you aren't ever going to, so you can have the tax you paid back now." Well, there is another one for when you loan money out (that you already paid tax on) and think you are going to get it back only you don't and you really really tried. But there are a ton of rules for that one and it hardly ever happens for individuals. You should hear my routine on when you have to pay tax on social security that you collect. It sounds like the who's on first comedy routine. Jo > about my health insurance company (and I have plenty of reason -- just > spent another large chunk of time on the phone with them this morning [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > reasonable limits, can actually be deducted from doctors' taxes, so > they end up with very little income tax to pay. Interesting. Boggle My ct scan cost way more than that. And I still owe over 800.00. You better love your insurance company. > > about my health insurance company (and I have plenty of reason -- just > > spent another large chunk of time on the phone with them this morning [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > My ct scan cost way more than that. And I still owe over 800.00. You > better love your insurance company. Cat scans are way expensive. So are MRI's. I was really shocked at the price of those two procedures. Sherry >> My ct scan cost way more than that. And I still owe over 800.00. >> You better love your insurance company. > > Cat scans are way expensive. So are MRI's. I was really shocked at > the price of those two procedures. Yeah, I'm not sure how a colonoscopy compares to a cat scan. I bet the equipment is more expensive for the scan. I don't remember the cost of the MRI I got on my wrist a few years ago. I know my out of pocket was a lot more than for this colonoscopy. Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca |
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