Which is ones Salary/Income . . . Net Income or Gross Income? (deduction, expenses)

[FreshFresh]

When someone says they make a certain amount of money per year, which one are they talking about?

[ukrkoz]

Normally, people will mention gross salary.

[Themanwithnoname]

I use net.

[pinipig523]

Most mean gross.

[mathjak107]

using net would be meaningless unless you threw that number out after you did your taxes.

depending on witholding, net can be any figure you like but that does not mean thats the actual after tax number.

you may prefer to get money back at the end of the year and have more taken out. i may prefer to owe at years end.

we can have the exact same pretax tax income so stating each weeks take home would not mean much.

[Themanwithnoname]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

using net would be meaningless unless you threw that number out after you did your taxes.

That is what I use. But then, I dropped a check in the mail to the Infernal Revenue Service today!

[Briolat21]

Originally Posted by FreshFresh

When someone says they make a certain amount of money per year, which one are they talking about?

When someone asks you for your salary (like for a mortgage or car note) - they are asking for your gross income.

When someone randomly mentions their salary in conversation (who even does that?) - I have no idea what they're referring to -- It could be their gross or their net, yearly/monthly or weekly.

Of course I don't work in a world where people are bragging/comparing salaries often.

If someone is trying to get you to take a sales job based on their bragging about their salary ("I make $4000/week selling Nutritional Supplements and I don't even have to leave my house!!") -- chances are high its a scam and the number is neither gross nor net, but just made up.

[stan4]

Having a conversation about salary does not have to be some bragging situation.

Anyway, to the op, they usually mean gross.
What people with the same salary net can be very different.
For example, two people can make $40,000 a year, but one has more deductions or one is utilizing the 401k better, etc. So at the end of the day, their take-home is different.

[Briolat21]

At my workplace, where talking about salary would be relevant - we are prohibited from doing so. When I was with a former employer - it was the same policy.

Otherwise, about the only person for whom a conversation about my salary would be relevant would be someone just graduating college who was interested in this career field.

I generally don't discuss salary with neighbors, or relatives in other career fields, or even friends. Not even friends who are in the same industry but work for industry competitors.

I agree it doesn't have to be bragging, but definitely in my social circles salaries (mortgages, etc) are not discussed in any sort of casual conversation.

[texdav]

Salary is go ross income before any deduction for taxes and beenfits is taken out. Take home pay is what you eran after those dedcutions.Net income woul;d mean you after all expenses are taken out in cost of living which varies.taxbale incomje is purely for tax purposes and alos varies by deductions allowed.Where I worked salaried positions where known and only contracted positions where not know.