Thursday 22 October 2009

Round 21 Summary + tax rundown

This round, I started doing taxes again. I'd stopped doing them for a while because I was using Bigger Bills and many of my Sims were way too poor to pay! So I got discouraged and pretended the taxes were part of the bills.

I've taken that hack out now though and am doing taxes manually again. I've decided my Sims will pay taxes every 4 years - they paid in 2013 this round, so the next taxes won't be until 2017.



I've also overhauled the system, inspired by Maisie, Laura and Shana. Sims must pay 10% of their total household value (which is cash + bank balance + lot value) in taxes. Sims will now be able to claim deductions - $1500 per dependent. "Dependent" is defined as a child under 18, a non-working elder or a full-time student under the age of 22. So Wade and Athena can claim for Joanna but Kendal's parents (if she had any and wasn't a townie) could not. She fits the full-time student criteria but is old enough that the Sullivan Tax Office expects her to be supporting herself.

Sims can also claim a $2000 deduction if they are a farming family (community enrichment!), a $1000 deduction for owning their own home and a $1500 credit for married couples. Business owners will also earn deductions (community enrichment again) based on their business level. I'm too lazy to figure out income for businesses anyway!

And because I always think it's interesting to see with other people's hoods, here are the richest and poorest families in Sullivan and their total household value, as of tax time 2013.

The richest:
1. The Bentons -
$1,455,019
2. The Royce-Nihills
- $1,033,081
3. The Clarke-Drapers
- $553,592

and the poorest...
3. The Lachance-Morettis
- $55,178
2. The Romillies
- $38,652
1. The Morettis
- $2711

Because Caleb is renting, his lot value doesn't count towards his total so that's just his cash. Technically, the Novaks are much poorer but because they have more assets they can sell, they don't even make the list. They're only cash poor.

And now the hatches, matches and dispatches from Round 21 in Sullivan.

Births:
4 (Sophie Gottlieb, Camilla and Lila Sitko, Joshua Royce-Nihill, Elspeth Romilly)

Deaths: 2 (Joseph Carmody, Abhijeet Turner)

Engagements: 3 (Lake and Kendal Draper, Eliot Novak and Cordy Lane, Jesse Carmody and Abigail Lachance)

Marriages: 2 (Wade and Amelia Gottlieb, Lake and Kendal Draper)

Break-ups: 1 (Gordon Nott and Ione Romilly)

Graduations: 2 (Cordy and Luc Lane)

New residents: 2 (Cara Nanale, Gordon Nott)

Total population: 93 (41 male, 52 female)
Babies: 2
Toddlers: 11
Children: 9
Teens: 10
Adults: 50
Elders: 11

10 comments:

  1. How do you manage all of those people? 93 wow!

    And you have some really rich Sims, wow!

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  2. I might use some ideas from your tax system if you don't mind. I've been thinking about making some adjustments because the taxes are driving my sims into poverty now!

    I'm so impressed with how regularly you update! I don't know how you find the time and energy to play so much!

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  3. I hate math, be my tax person. ROFL No, I'm going to sit down and figure this stuff out. It's time for my simmies to pay taxes. The time is drawing closer and I'm still dragging my feet.

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  4. Thanks everyone!

    Heredon, I've always had large hoods and after reading of someone at N99 who has 900 playable Sims in her hood (!), 93 doesn't seem that large.

    I do have some very rich Sims but the Clarke-Drapers are the only ones who came by it honestly. Tate Benton and Ben Nihill are both in the graphic design career, which has a glitch that gives you a $500,000 reward for a chance card, instead of $500. I let them keep it because I wanted some insanely rich Sims!

    Cissie, I don't mind at all. And I'm a bit nutty with the updates but I try to do a lot while I have the time because otherwise, my playing would be waaaaay ahead of the blog. I was doing that for a while but I really don't like that system, so I just try to keep on top of it and I usually play every day.

    Riverdale, I hate it too! You have no idea how many times I'll scrap my whole calculation and start over just to make sure I've got it right. I'm probably using far too many steps too but it helps me see everything clearer.

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  5. I'm glad you're ok with me copying your ideas. Your tax system makes so much sense and I've grown to hate the one I created for Wellington. Basically the tax system in Wellington will be pretty much identical to Sullivan so I'll give you full credit :)

    I have already set up a nice "taxes" file with the Open Office Calc program :p

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  6. Glad you posted the richest/poorest! It's so interesting to see, and WOW on the big bucks! Can I be adopted into one of those top three families?

    What sims do you consider in your population? Are they strictly the households that you tell stories of here? I'm getting to the close of my round and want to do a tally but I have non-played characters that live in Millwood, I'm not sure if I should "count" them, since I don't play them specifically. follow? I'm way OCD about this.

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  7. Cissie, aren't you clever! I just use the Windows calculator program and that's as fancy as I get!

    Maisie, I wouldn't mind being adopted into one of those rich families either!

    For the population count, I only count currently playable Sims. So any family who you see an update on count but Corbin Gray and his family, who I have living in an apartment in Exeter do not count. Similarly, Matilda Jacobson, who you saw in the primary school update, and her parents don't count either. Debbie Lane used to count but she's a playable NPC now, so I no longer include her in the count (as of this update anyway - I think I used to!)

    If you're OCD about this, you're probably around the right bunch of people - I think most of us bloggers are! I know I am.

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  8. Oh yes, I know I'm in good company with my OCD habits towards sims. That was one of the draws I got to your blog, and from the others I found from your sidebar in the beginning. A whole community, of rule-driven, reality seeking, OCD simmers!

    Thank you for answering this question and my others. I built my school last night, and will give that a whirl, I know I have about 40-50 played sims in my hood, and I'll count them the same as you do.

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  9. I have become more OCD as I've got more into the community. Seeing ideas from all the other hoods made me want to try them in my game. I never thought I'd be able to keep up with so many rules but it's actually exactly what I need (along with blogging) to maintain interest in the game. Over the last year, I've loved my game more than I ever have.

    I'm excited to see your school!

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  10. It's exactly what I needed too!! I've never enjoyed the game more than I do these days!

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