3 ms·

> couples that maintain distinct finances Is that an American custom, going as far as accounting for split groceries runs ?

gmane 3y ago
While not general to all Americans, there's a minority subset of couples who do not combine household expenses. There's a bunch of reasons for this: if you are divorced, it can simplify some of the processes around alimony. If you had a bad relationship due to finances in the past, some people prefer financial independence, or if the couple have other complications that makes combining household finances complicated (like trusts, or property owned with a different party).
ezconnect 3y ago
He used the term SO, so probably not married and they need the expense report for their tax.
- oh_sigh 3y ago
  In what country would your groceries be an item on your tax reporting?
  - gizmo686 3y ago
    In some circumstances, the US. When calculating your taxable, you can deduct state and local taxes from your income for federal tax purposes. This is generally not worth it, since you would give up deducting your state income tax. Even then, the IRS recognizes that keeping track of what you pay in sales tax is unreasonable, so you are allowed to: a) deduct groceries as if they were taxed at the general rate, even if your state has exemptions for essenyials like food and b) ignore what you actually paid in sales tax entirely, and deduct an estimate based on your income and the tax rate. https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america/2023/07/sales-tax-deduction.html https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america/2023/07/sales-... https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sca#en_US_2022_publink100041575 https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sca#en_US_2022_publink... https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/use-the-sales-tax-deduction-calculator https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/use-the-s...
nicolaslem 3y ago
We're both from Europe, maybe it's a millennial thing. We both lived with flatmates before moving in together, so we just continued splitting expenses like we were previously doing with flatmates. It happened naturally and seemed logical at the time. Fast forward a decade and we still do it this way. We must be doing something right because we never argue over money or similar topics. Why change something that works?

gmane 3y ago

While not general to all Americans, there's a minority subset of couples who do not combine household expenses. There's a bunch of reasons for this: if you are divorced, it can simplify some of the processes around alimony. If you had a bad relationship due to finances in the past, some people prefer financial independence, or if the couple have other complications that makes combining household finances complicated (like trusts, or property owned with a different party).

ezconnect 3y ago

He used the term SO, so probably not married and they need the expense report for their tax.

oh_sigh 3y ago
In what country would your groceries be an item on your tax reporting?
- gizmo686 3y ago
  In some circumstances, the US. When calculating your taxable, you can deduct state and local taxes from your income for federal tax purposes. This is generally not worth it, since you would give up deducting your state income tax. Even then, the IRS recognizes that keeping track of what you pay in sales tax is unreasonable, so you are allowed to: a) deduct groceries as if they were taxed at the general rate, even if your state has exemptions for essenyials like food and b) ignore what you actually paid in sales tax entirely, and deduct an estimate based on your income and the tax rate. https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america/2023/07/sales-tax-deduction.html https://www.avalara.com/blog/en/north-america/2023/07/sales-... https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sca#en_US_2022_publink100041575 https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sca#en_US_2022_publink... https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/use-the-sales-tax-deduction-calculator https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/use-the-s...

nicolaslem 3y ago

We're both from Europe, maybe it's a millennial thing. We both lived with flatmates before moving in together, so we just continued splitting expenses like we were previously doing with flatmates. It happened naturally and seemed logical at the time. Fast forward a decade and we still do it this way. We must be doing something right because we never argue over money or similar topics. Why change something that works?