Paying taxes in "proportion" to our separate incomes

kidbmore

New member
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
1
My ex and I have an agreement to pay last year's taxes owed in proportion to our individual incomes.

We owe 2,906 to federal and 1,367 state.

my income was 71,841
her income was 49,964

I am trying to figure out what is my portion or amount that I will be responsible for.

Thanks in advance for your help!

pat
 
Last edited:
My ex and I have an agreement to pay last year's taxes owed in proportion to our individual incomes.

We owe 2,906 to federal and 1,367 state.

my income was 71,841
her income was 79,964

I am trying to figure out what is my portion or amount that I will be responsible for.
To learn how to set up and solve "percent of" word problems, try here. Once you have studied the lesson and learned the basic terms and techniques, please attempt the exercise.

i) What was the total income? (Hint: Add.)

ii) What was your percentage of that total? (Hint: Divide.)

iii) Then what was her percentage of that total? (Hint: Subtract. Or divide.)

iv) What percentage then of the federal taxes should you pay? (Hint: Multiply.)

v) Then what percentage should she pay? (Hint: Subtract. Or divide.)

vi) Repeat steps (iv) and (v) for the state taxes.

If you get stuck, please reply showing your work and reasoning in answering the above questions. Thank you! ;)
 
My ex and I have an agreement to pay last year's taxes owed in proportion to our individual incomes.

We owe 2,906 to federal and 1,367 state.

my income was 71,841
her income was 49,964

I am trying to figure out what is my portion or amount that I will be responsible for.

Thanks in advance for your help!

pat

You my wish to make the split proportional to Tax Liability, rather than income. You might be in a higher tax bracket. It wouldn't be fair to make her pay for that.

I believe, if you read very carefully, it may state that you can land on any split that is mutually agreeable. Whatever you agree, get it in writing.
 
My ex and I have an agreement to pay last year's taxes owed in proportion to our individual incomes.

We owe 2,906 to federal and 1,367 state.

my income was 71,841
her income was 49,964

I am trying to figure out what is my portion or amount that I will be responsible for.

Thanks in advance for your help!

pat
Your total income was 71,841+ 49,964= 121805 so your proportion is \(\displaystyle \frac{71841}{121805}= 0.5898...\) or 59%. Your ex's proportion is \(\displaystyle \frac{49964}{121805}= 0.4101...\) or 41%.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to file separate tax returns?
 
Last edited:
My ex and I have an agreement to pay last year's taxes owed in proportion to our individual incomes.

We owe 2,906 to federal and 1,367 state.

my income was 71,841
her income was 49,964

I am trying to figure out what is my portion or amount that I will be responsible for.

Thanks in advance for your help!

pat
\(\displaystyle \dfrac{71,841}{71,841 + 49,964} \approx 59\%.\)

Check

\(\displaystyle \dfrac{49,964}{71,841 + 49,964} \approx 41\%.\)

Now this may not be an equitable split because of tax brackets, tax credits, tax deductions, etc. on both the federal and state level. Your incomes, however, are not so radically different that it is likely that those things would make a big difference. Hiring an accountant to analyze things in detail would likely cost a pretty penny and then you and your former wife would have to come to agreement on what is equitable given that analysis. I'd stick with the agreement that is already been set. You now have the percentages.
 
Top