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Comment by caseysoftware | Hacker News Reader

I'm nowhere near the $230k mark but - based on my first paycheck so far - the increase will be well more than a mortgage payment for me.

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Your increase due to what? Marginal income tax rates only increased for taxable income above $400k single ($450k married). Perhaps you are referring to the Payroll Tax increase, which hits the first $113K of income by 2%? (but then your increase would be the same as someone making $113k payroll income)

Based on your comment, I can only surmise that your "nowhere near $230k" remark means you are really well past that mark in income, or your mortgage payment is indeed quite low.

Well below that.. and my mortgage payment is reasonable for the area (Austin, TX) but ridiculously low compared to SF, DC, etc.

I don't think it's the raw dollars that matter but what the alternative for those dollars are (aka opportunity cost).

If you were affected by the highest possible increase in payroll tax ie 2% of the first 113k of payroll income, that would be $2260 per year, or $188.33 per month.

You must have a very low mortgage payment.

He meant 'a mortgage payment' .. meaning one month's mortgage payment. If not, then yes $188.33 is highly unlikely to be a monthly mortgage payment even for the affordable Austin, TX area.

$X * 2 paychecks/month * 12 months > mortgage payment

I read this as total yearly tax increase being greater than one month's mortgage payment. "A payment" is usually one month of your mortgage (maybe plus taxes & insurance depending on your situation), isn't it?

Anyway, that seems believable for Austin, TX.

You would make a much more comparable statement by comparing your tax increase to owner equivalent rent [1], since a mortgage payment is so variable.

In my case, the going rate of a house similar to mine rent-wise would be about 50% higher than my current mortgage payment.

[1] http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/owners-equivalent-rent.a...

Tax cuts with an end date really don't seem like "tax hikes" to me. Yes, taxes are going to go back up, but the rates were set up with an end date, people know their taxes are likely to go back up.

Further, griping about the temporary 2% payroll tax expiring? It was done as an aid to a sluggish economy. Things aren't rosy overall, but they are improving a bit.

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