Taxes

[Ross Scott]

Hey everyone, just a quick update if you're wondering why not much seems to be happening. It's mostly been being busy with getting re-situated since my move and more lately, taxes. Taxes are always an enormous pain for me due to how I get paid and where I've lived. I will be turning in no less than SEVEN forms to the IRS and State this year and it's been taking me days to try and figure it all out. I'm tempted to just mail a check for about how much money I think I owe along with a note that says "I DON'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO ALL OF THIS AND I CAN'T AFFORD A PERSONAL ACCOUNTANT" but I think that would just lead to me going to jail; but it wouldn't if EVERYONE did that. The whole experience has been leaving me bitter, but I've tried to stay positive by imagining the people who designed these forms and/or process them as doing a

the entire time. The way the language is worded on these forms seems fitting for that kind of individual.

 

Fun Fact: Your donations for 2011 (before taxes) come to a total of $1,639.69. I've tried to thank every donator individually for that, but a big thanks again if you've been missed. This sum will go towards the movie project once I'm finally done filling out forms. I'm still open to suggestions of extra things I can do for donators that won't eat too much into my time. The webmaster for the site has suggested adding recognition labels next to people's names in the forum, which may not be a bad idea.

[Chuckthe2nd]

Good update; hope you're able to get all that tax garbage sorted out.

 

And your own Pee Wee Herman laugh, from your Halo Video, is even better than the original in my opinion.

[Alyxx Thorne]

Recognition labels would be a fun idea indeed.

[Chuckthe2nd]

^...Including a gauge that showed how much they had donated. This would insinuate a huge competition to see who could donate the most, and have the highest number.

 

Or not. That could also very well be disastrous.

[Ross Scott]

^...Including a gauge that showed how much they had donated. This would insinuate a huge competition to see who could donate the most, and have the highest number.

 

Or not. That could also very well be disastrous.

Well the thing with that is I don't want people to feel like they're second class citizens if they're not donating. I'm happy to have people watch my videos period, and only instated the donation system because people were actively asking me about it. My favorite fans aren't necessarily the ones who donate the most money, but the ones whom I think could still be watching my (new) videos 10 years from now. I'd prefer to have something where donators could get something extra, but where others don't feel too excluded.

[Scorpia]

Yea, you've probably the heard the whole "allow donators to see your videos before anyone else" thing, huh?

[Alyxx Thorne]

I have actually never donated, and I consider myself one who would actually watch his videos 10 years from now.

[Scorpia]

If you turn this into a "who'll be a life-long fan longer" competition i'll be happy to oblige you.

 

Anyway, I've never donated myself, mostly due to bills being a pain in the ass and never really having any spare cash. :/

[Axeldeath]

I usually donate during the holidays because that's when I'm getting money. I have no time to work during school because I'm doing my NCEA level 2's and have to study through the weekends.

[HLPrincess]

I hope this post shut up all the grumbling people...

 

I think there shouldn't be any labels who donated at all. This will turn the forum into some kinf of competition field and the ones who don't donate will feel excluded. And even more if you put numbers on the labels.

 

 

I thik it's better to make some kind of >>>WALL OF FAME (as far as I remember Nine Inch Nails had sth like that when they were collecting money for some noble reason, no labels on the forums tho) in a "separate" place. It's more symbolic and doesn't make people show off every time they make a post

[trankzen]

Ah the joys of tax forms. I feel your pain a bit: I got a divorce in 2010 and I had to fill 3 separate forms that year, not fully understanding how much I should write down in each of them. But in the end it was worth it since the equivalent of the IRS in my country actually ended up refunding me for 2 years in a row.

 

Also, donations amount strike me as really low, but I can't say I donated myself. Now I know you didn't post this to make us feel guilty about this, but if you hadn't I'd probably wouldn't have even considered to do it.

 

I'll gladly donate now. In fact scratch that I'll gladly pay for all the hours of entertainment you've given us so far.

 

Cheers!

[Jack Noir]

The kind of people who care about competing on a forum will always find a way to do it whether you add little badges or not.

 

This type of person will always exist, there is no way to get rid of them. They serve no real purpose on this earth so if you can make money off their mindless compulsion to compete then you should do it. Think of it as recycling, finding an appropriate use for otherwise useless trash.

 

But obviously in a way where you don't let them know that they are trash.

[Michael Archer]

Good luck with your taxes, Ross; I hope they don't fleece you too much! Also, I hope your donations aren't taxed. That's A LOT for a machinima director; Machinima.com doesn't mind that on top of your regular paycheck?

 

Taxes are so goddamn complex, and I don't think it's fair that an individual like yourself can go to jail and literally not now what he did wrong (e.g. initialed instead of signed). Flat tax is looking better all the time, huh?

[eldflaugamadur]

I wonder what would happen to government if everyone quit their jobs and stopped paying taxes for some reason. Summons images of starving crowds of unshaven functionaries in dirty tattered suits, like rats leaving house devoid of food.

[Ross Scott]

Good luck with your taxes, Ross; I hope they don't fleece you too much! Also, I hope your donations aren't taxed. That's A LOT for a machinima director; Machinima.com doesn't mind that on top of your regular paycheck?

 

Taxes are so goddamn complex, and I don't think it's fair that an individual like yourself can go to jail and literally not now what he did wrong (e.g. initialed instead of signed). Flat tax is looking better all the time, huh?

I will be taxed on the donations, yes. My guess is I'll have about $1,100 of it left to use after taxes. The amount should be enough to pay for the least enjoyable aspects of production that are necessary, specifically weightmapping on models. It is a lot, though someone mentioned this:

 

http://www.indiegogo.com/Angry-Video-Game-Nerd-The-Movie

 

Also I don't get a regular paycheck from Machinima, I'm not officially an employee. Any income I get from them can vary quite a bit. My rate has actually gone down to about half of what it was a few months ago due to Youtube changing its algorithms.

 

I'd be more in favor of a progressive tax system, like in Warcraft 3.

[J.C.]

Well, we are lucky in my country, since the equivalent of the IRS (called SII) has improved and modernized drastically all of it's procedures over the last 15 years. When it's time for the yearly taxes, most people just log on to the SII's website and have a proposed tax return form waiting for them, already filled in with the data from employers, banks, etc. This year my tax return procedure took less than 2 minutes to complete (log in, click, click, accept and send, log out).

 

About the donations, I'm glad you got some money out of it. I maintain what I said when the system was launched though, your thank you email is more than enough, no "public" acknowledgment should be required. We donate to help you. Not to brag about it.

[Otto]

What he said.

 

Is all this perplexity mainly coming from when you moved to Los Angeles? I hear your "if EVERYONE did that" idea is quite popular in California, giving it more tax revolts than any other state. I'm told the former Governator leaving things in shambles is partly to blame. Plus the multiple rejections to budget measures, though I'm utterly ignorant when it comes to these things.

 

Also, how did YouTube changes affect your ratings?

[Tadrix]

I have actually never donated, and I consider myself one who would actually watch his videos 10 years from now.

 

Definitely the same here. I highly appreciate Ross' great work, and I'm actually quite sure 10 years in future I would not only watch new videos, but also old ones with someone who never saw them.

[kuzmuz]

If I had a credit card I would so donate.

[Doctor Felix Whooves]

I think that the donate system should let us choose to have the thing that says we donated. So that the ones who didn't donate won't fell bad