Arizona Optional Tax Tables: Fill & Download for Free

You are right. If you don't know where you want to end up, it can be very hard to figure out how to get there.Arizona Department of Revenue tries to be helpful on the Form A-4. On Page 2 of the online A-4 they have a calculator to help you. But when you get to Line 4 - your annual withholding goal - you have no idea what to enter. So the rest of this calculator is worthless. What should your goal be?Page on az.govAt this point you have to go the the AZ Form 140 Instructions. On pages 27 - 32 of the instructions are Optional Tax Tables for people making under $50,000 per year. On page 33 are Tax Tables X & Y for people making over $50,000 per year.Page on azdor.govNow we can figure out this problem and find your goal. I will assume you are single making $36,000 per year. Looking at the optional table on page 31 your tax would be $1,061. So 1,061/36,000 = 2.95%. The A-4 gives you the options of 2.7% or 3.6%. At 2.7% you would owe $89 on April 15. Not fun but not terrible. At 3.6% you would get a refund of $235. That money might have come in handy during the year, but it is usually fun to get a refund.If you make over $50,000 you have to go to Page 33 and work through the calculations.This being your first year, you will only make part of your annual wages/salary. So you can go with the lower percentage and then at the start of next year give the Payroll Administrator a new A-4 at a higher percentage. So with 2 months left in the year, your salary for 2015 will be $6,000. Looking at the Optional Table on Page 28, the tax on $6,000 is $156. So $156/$6,000 = 2.6% so check Box 2 on Page 1 of the A-4 and select 2.7%.Hope this helps.ps. If you don't like math, just use the Goldilocks method. Not too much and not too little. Pick the one in the middle and hope for the best. This would have given you 2.7% or 3.6% which is what our calculations confirmed. :)

I doubt it.The Wall concept is very popular but there is no money for it. They could “blank check” it and just add it to the deficit but that’s irresponsible.Congress has not successfully passed a budget in years. We can barely vote to up the debt ceiling and there have been multiple government shutdowns over the Continuing Resolutions on funding.The Wall is a $100 billion expense. More conservative projections exist but they don’t include maintenance which will equal the initial cost inside of 20 years.Essentially to build the Wall, they have to raise taxes. Republicans all sign a no new tax pledge when they get sworn in, so they won’t do it and most Democrats think the Wall is a dumb idea that won’t actually stop anything so they are disinterested.That leaves the President, who will need to campaign on building a wall and raising taxes to do so. If that produces a win then that’s a mandate and Congress is likely to fund the Wall.Where President Trump screwed up is he repeatedly stated that Mexico would pay for the Wall. That’s an unequivocal statement too. Mexico of course is never going to pay for it.Congress as a result gets a loophole not to build a Wall. The President painted himself into a corner here. Both parties will fund border security but neither party actually wants a wall.Now in 2020 we might see a bunch of Wall Builders running but to be realistic they will have to also run as Tax Raisers. That may not be an effective campaign message.Personally, I think the Wall is a monumental waste of money but we waste money, monumentally, all of the time. I’d never vote for a single issue candidate based on the Wall but I wouldn’t automatically dismiss a prowall candidate with a multilayered policy outlook that was in line with my own views.Congress needs to pass a budget though. An actual budget, not a series of short term spending measures.An important aspect to the Wall debate is the economic impact of the project. Most of our financial boondoggles are pretty well distributed. Every state has a military installation and projects like the F-35 Jount Strike Fighter source out of nearly 300 Congressional Districts. The Wall only has that advantage for four States. California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The US border in most of these states is actually the middle of nowhere and that offers little short term impact.This might seem dumb but every Spending concern in the Congress is viewed through this lens. What is the secondary economic impact?President Clinton was going to do a Wall too but the whole thing fell apart because of logistics and cost, not to mention thousands of eminent domain lawsuits.John McCain included the Wall as a plank in his Presidential bids. Both in 2000 and 2008. It didn’t get any traction then and we had much more illegal immigration and significantly more contraband moving back then.Trump resurrected the whole Wall concept but his supporters fail to recognize that Congress has been debating the relative merits of a Wall for close on 30 years. They’ve been actually fighting for 20. What this means is that many of them are well versed in the various cost benefit analysis and have looked at the various options. A 40 foot tall concrete barrier that stretches for more than, even, a thousand miles would have been laughed off as a joke before Trump. Absolutely no one in Congress would vote for that unless their brother in law had a concrete plant on the border.This is the reality. There is neither money nor will to put this thing up.President Trump himself doesn’t really seem to be that motivated to do it. For one all he has done is build some prototypes, for a photo op. He has intermittently demanded money but it’s all in nickels and dimes for such a massive project. He could have had the money if:He had included the Wall in his omnibus Infrastructure Package that to this day no one has actually seen.Pushed that infrastructure package before his Tax Cuts.If he had renominated Merrick Garland to SCOTUS he would have put a good 150 Democrats into his back pocket. This would also help in other ways since Garland has ruled several times in favor of Executive leeway on contentious immigration issues.Cut a deal on DACA when the $25 Billion was on the table.Now all all of these options would have put the Congressional GOP on edge but he is more popular than they are. So he could keep them in line with the Bully Pulpit, which he likes but doesn’t really work on the Democrats. His problem has always been his own party. They don’t want to spend ANY money, a significant minority oppose DACA and half secretly think the Wall is dumb. He was so busy playing politics that he squandered his opportunities to get this thing built.Now he has a hostile House and a GOP Senate that has seriously cooled on him. He is no longer the bringer of election wins and that has crippled his once frantic momentum.So how does this hurt Congress?The President is flailing. Making fun of the Wall got at least 25 Democrats elected. The Senate Republicans are all eyeing 2020 nervously because they have some ugly fights due in that election.The Democrats just won “bigly”. They are about to call plays from the GOP handbook and bury the White House in Oversight Hearings which is exactly what their wins were all about. Mueller is still working but doing so at what even hostile observers note is almost breakneck speed. My guess is that he will be wrapped up in the next year or so.Nancy Pelosi has a head of steam. She had no actual challengers to her Speakership, despite all of the speculation. Don’t get confused by her awful public address abilities, she’s a brilliant parliamentarian. She can wrangle cats (Democrats) and actually doesn’t make many strategic errors. The reason she gets so much hate from the other side is she is actually quite effective. She is infinitely more dangerous than Chuck Schumer. She is also far more disciplined.Trump is using a government shutdown to shakedown Congress for money. This is dumb because Pelosi knows full well this will hurt Republicans before it hurts Democrats. She’s gone through this before. Several times actually.She will actually cut a deal on some wall funding but only if she gets some draconian concessions, from a Republican viewpoint anyway. She won't just cave though. She can’t but she also has no reason too.The President has had it easy so far. He failed to do his Wall with easy. He had a trifecta government and couldn’t get it done. Now he has to deal. The upside of this is that President Trump seems to actually like Pelosi and she likes to cut deals. The two of them might actually hammer something out but she will be getting something out of it or more likely several somethings.The next election might be Wall centric but only if Trump is running. Pence can’t sell the Wall any better than McCain could and no other Republicans likely to run will stake out that territory for their own.Pelosi has shushed the Impeachment talk but it is absolutely on the table still. An extended shutdown makes it more likely actually because it puts Republicans in a bad spot.The Democrats just won the biggest House win ever, ever. They did it by promising not to fund the Wall. They can’t go back on that so there is no strategic failure. The strategy was always not to build it.

What are three weird tips about traveling in the US?Motel quality along highways can vary widely, as can prices, but you don’t need to spend a lot for a room at a higher “marquee” hotel. While places like La Quinta, Super8 and Red Roof Inn aren’t exactly the Ritz, they are solidly reliable and a good value overall.The United States is a country of great diversity. When traveling, take advantage of restaurants in cities that have large ethnic areas. Miami is known for the Haitian and Cuban food, Los Angeles for Mexican, Washington, D.C. for Ethiopian, and New York for pretty much anything. Try something you normally wouldn’t get back home.It used to be that if you wanted to get a beer you’d have to get mass produced swill like Coors, Busch or Bud at most bars. That’s changed in the last few years as the craft beer explosion has happened, and many larger cities now have craft beer pubs and tasting rooms. Try their local specialty for a treat.Freeway lanes can end pretty suddenly on three or four lane highways, forcing you to merge right or left with little warning. If there is a center travel lane on your side of the freeway, use it except for exiting or passing to avoid this.European countries love roundabouts, Americans not so much, we just don’t know how to use them. Aside from some areas of the country where there are large numbers of European visitors or residents you usually won’t see them. Instead, look for 4-way stop intersections. To use these the first car to the stop goes first, then the second, etc. unless there are cars at opposing side at the same time, in which case they go ahead together, unless one is turning right in which case the car going straight has the right of way. Got that?Ignore the billboards on the side of the highway. Most will be for just a few types of businesses: hotels, porn shops, tourist traps or lawyers advertising their services to accident victims. Read these while driving and you need your own lawyer for the accident you’ll get into.While you can use a credit card for most things in the U.S., including buying a Coke at a vending machine, ALWAYS travel with a few dollars worth of quarters in your car. You never know when you’ll need them for a road toll, parking meter or even for a washing machine at a laundromat. See the picture below? This is a toll plaza close to where I live in Florida. If you have a SunPass, which pays the tolls automatically for you, you’re in good shape. If you don’t have a SunPass, you better have some coins on you. See my point?Another thing about credit cards - sometimes you need to enter a ZIP code as part of the security precautions required at machines such as gas pumps. Obviously foreign visitors won’t have a zip code. If you face this just enter 99999, this will work for most machines. For Canadians, enter the three numeric characters from your Canadian postal code followed by two zeroes. For example, if your postal code is B2J 4C8, you enter “24800”. (Thanks to Denis O’Sullivan for this Canadian tip!)When booking a hotel, be sure to ask what the TOTAL price will be, not just the room rate. Remember that every hotel will add tax to the amount, plus most will add a tourist tax. These can significantly raise the total you are expecting to pay. Plus, look out for additional add-on fees such as “resort fees” at larger hotels, especially in popular tourist areas such as Orlando and Las Vegas. These are supposedly added to cover usage of such things as WiFi access, pool fees, in-room beverages, phone use, etc. At my recent stay to a major Las Vegas hotel it ran an extra $40 a day, plus an extra $20 a day to park. If you don’t use any of these “services”, dispute it with hotel management as some will reduce or eliminate the fee rather than risk a bad review because of them.If you travel throughout the South you know what a sweet tea is, it’s a Southern drink staple at any meal. Don’t expect to get it anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon Line (basically north of Kentucky as a reference) or west of Texas. In the north or west ask for this and you’ll usually get an unsweetened iced tea with some sugar packets. It’s just not the same, yall.If you’re travelling through college towns in the South on a Saturday, or a major city on a Sunday, in the Fall, you’re likely to come across tailgating. It’s a uniquely American experience that centers around getting together with a few thousand of your friends to support your favorite American football team. If you do, just run with it, join in and enjoy the fun. By the way, some of the best tailgating is found in college towns where the university is affiliated with the SEC.Tailgating at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, ALAt crosswalks across intersections, when you see the solid “white man” on the sign across the street, go ahead and cross. When it changes to flashing red, the light is about to change, maybe in as little as a few seconds, so get across as quick as you can. Don’t expect to hear any audio prompts like you do overseas.In Europe when you use a public restroom you usually have total privacy. Don’t expect that here. The “privacy” partitions in our public restroom almost never go all the way to the ground and many have gaps from about knee level down and in between panels. You get used to it.Speaking of public restrooms, as others have mentioned, bring a roll of toilet paper with you in your car as you travel. You never know when the restroom you need, sometimes the only one available, is out of TP. This has happened to me personally a number of times and I’ve learned from my experience.Another thing about public restrooms is that while most are pretty decent, those at highway rest stops run by the states can vary widely in quality and upkeep between the states. I remember one trip I took going between Florida and Alabama. The Florida rest stop was modern, well kept and had 24-hour security, and the rest rooms were well stocked and clean. At the Alabama Welcome Center just across the state line, the place was run down, dirty, and not staffed. Also, and I’m not kidding here, the mirror in the restroom was being held up with duct tape. But if you have to go, you have to go, so keep #14 in mind just in case.When traveling by car, don’t cut people off by pulling in front of them abruptly unless you want to risk a road rage incident. You can travel well over the speed limit, have sex while driving, or many other things and no one will care at all, but do this and you’ll regret it.Don’t compare your country to ours, ever, unless yours is worse than ours in some way. Remember, Americans have huge egos and we just don’t like anyone belittling the good ol’ U.S.A. in any way. So keep your opinions to yourself and we’ll all get along just fine.Our National Parks are true gems and are often a great value worth the visit. From sites such as the Grand Canyon to the Smoky Mountains, take advantage and visit them if you’re in the area. One thing that many people don’t realize is that many sites within the National Park System are free. Visit the National Park Service website for more information.I know that this is going to sound weird, but when you park your car somewhere, take a picture of the street sign closest to where you are parked as well as the building, if there is one. If you forget where you parked, all you have to do is show someone the pictures you took. If they’re local chances are they will be able to easily direct you back to where your vehicle is. Trust me on this!You’ve also read in several posts about small towns across the country that are “speed traps” where the speed limit changes suddenly, often within a few blocks of from where the sign is posted. Take this seriously, it’s real. Here in Florida there is a city named Lawtey, outside of Jacksonville, that was so notorious for this that the city was recognized by the American Automobile Association (AAA) for many years as the only certified speed trap in the entire country. They’re not the only ones out there. Many small towns, especially across the South, use this dastardly tactic as a revenue generator for their town, and the fines are usually hefty. There was recently a report of one city in Alabama that was so bad at this that they had their own traffic court set up, run in conjunction with the police, to handle the number of cases the small force produced every day. And yes, they can, and do, do property seizures at traffic stops, also - so beware.If you want cheaper gas while driving along the highway, don’t get it at stations along the highway by the exits as it is usually more expensive. Instead, drive a mile or two away from the exit into town and you’ll usually find gas somewhat cheaper. Also, another fact I’ve found is that gas is, for some reason, more expensive in less affluent areas. So if the station is an area that doesn’t look at least what we would consider “middle class”, you may pay more in lower income areas.Travel with some music that will keep you awake while driving, especially in the Plains states or while driving across southwestern states like Texas, New Mexico or Arizona. Roads are usually very flat, very straight, and boring. You can get out of radio station range while going through these states and you’ll need something peppy playing to keep you awake during the long drive, especially in Texas where it may take you 2 days or so to cross the state since it’s so large. And by the way, watch your gas gauge. If you see a gas station, use it and keep your tank at least 1/2 full as you never know how far it is until the next station. You don’t want to run out of gas along the highway in these states.When eating at a sit-down restaurant (non-fast food), keep in mind that here in the states they are for primarily one purpose only: to get in as quickly as possible, get you fed, and get you out as quickly as possible. It’s not like in Europe or Asia where you make take several hours for a meal and socialize. Here, they want you out as quick as possible so they can turn the table over and make more money. You want to socialize? Find a coffee shop instead.Using a grocery store here while traveling can be intimidating for a foreigner. Our grocery stores compared to most around the world are, frankly, huge. European ones I found to more resemble like what an Aldi looks like here: small (around 25,000 square feet or less) and limited selection of goods and brands. At some of my local stores you might find 30+ varieties of just ketchup (no kidding!). There are sometimes just so many different options available to you that it can be overwhelming to just make a decision. Strange as it is, I’ve actually seen foreign visitors wanting to make a trip to our local Publix or Whole Foods just for this very reason. And for you Brits out there, yes you can even find real Yorkie bars here.One final tip I’ll leave you with is if you have the opportunity to “get off the beaten path”, do it. Take advantage of going through the small towns, seeing the sights along the drive instead of just traveling the quickest way along the freeway, and going to some of the more off-beat attractions. For example, if you travel ANYWHERE within a 300 mile radius of Chatanooga, TN (that’s basically from Atlanta in the south to Ohio in the north), you’ll see signs saying “See Rock City”. I know it sounds cheesy and like a tourist trap, and even as a lifelong resident down here I had never been there for that very reason. Well, one day while driving through the area solo I thought “what the heck” and stopped there. The view from atop the mountain was amazing, you could literally see as far as South Carolina and Alabama on a clear day from that vantage point which overlooked some Civil War battle sites. So as the saying goes, take time to stop and smell the roses!New addition! When visiting places such as zoos, aquariums, science centers or museums you may want to consider purchasing a year-long pass instead of the single-day admission ticket. Many offer a program of reciprocation with other institutions which allows you to either get in them for free or at greatly reduced costs. Here in Florida, Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park has such a program with over 150 other participating zoos and aquariums across the country as well as ones in Canada, Mexico and Singapore. A one day pass at Zoo Tampa currently runs $34.95, so if you go twice in a year to participating reciprocal locations the annual pass will pay for itself with any subsequent visits. The same is true for National Parks that charge admission such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Seriously consider buying the Park Service’s annual pass if you’re visiting more than one park with admission. After finding this out my family always gets the annual pass.Got another weird travel tip for the States? Let me know in the comments!Edits: Added a photo of a toll plaza by be to make a point about the need to carry coins in your car. Updated credit card usage info for gas pumps.