"No sympathy": 26-year-old roasted over massive tax bill complaint
<p>It’s a classic tale of riches to tax brackets – OnlyFans creator Talia Batiste, 26, has found herself in the fiery depths of an Australian Tax Office reckoning, and the internet has wasted no time serving up a heaping plate of zero sympathy.</p>
<p>Batiste, who revealed that she’s been hit with a tax bill totalling $71,008.45 (yes, she included the cents for maximum devastation), took to social media to lament her financial woes.</p>
<p>“For everyone that likes to make sure I’m paying my tax. I’m going to go and cry myself to sleep now,” she wrote, presumably while clutching her silk pillow stuffed with $100 bills.</p>
<p>The internet’s reaction? Less “thoughts and prayers”, more “play stupid games, win inevitable government-mandated financial responsibilities”.</p>
<p>“Absolutely robbery,” one concerned citizen commented, clearly distressed by the idea of anyone having to contribute to society.</p>
<p>“To pay that much tax, you earn a sh**load. No sympathy,” another user shot back, presumably while furiously entering their own lacklustre income into a tax return calculator.</p>
<p>Some were more pragmatic, offering sage financial wisdom. “I hope you have a good accountant to get you those tax deductions,” someone advised, the unspoken message being: “There’s still hope, young one.”</p>
<p>While many scoffed at the idea of crying over a salary that most people only see on TV shows where billionaires buy entire islands for sport, Batiste remained defiant.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/cry-myself-to-sleep-26yearold-in-tears-over-giant-tax-bill/news-story/7adfcb10f0ea62a1749f4dc6c1b65934" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Speaking to news.com.au</a>, she admitted that the bill “wasn’t too bad” compared to the tax nightmares of yesteryear. (Yes, it turns out paying taxes gets easier when you know they’re coming. Who knew?)</p>
<p>Batiste revealed that an early accounting blunder had initially classified her as a sole trader rather than a business, making her tax situation about as pleasant as a surprise phone call from the ATO.</p>
<p>“So when I make $400,000+ a year, it looks like that is my personal income rather than money going back into a business,” she explained, finally unlocking the ancient wisdom of self-employment taxation. Now, with proper financial advice in place, she says she takes a modest salary while the rest of her earnings go into business expenses – like, presumably, funding the tissue budget for her post-tax breakdowns.</p>
<p>Despite her newfound tax strategy, Batiste insists that the process “never gets easier”. (Except for last year, when she owed a whopping $136k, making this year’s bill look like pocket change by comparison.)</p>
<p>She also had some words about Australia’s taxation system: “Everybody pays too much tax.”</p>
<p>Yes, much like death and bad reality TV spin-offs, taxation is inevitable. But Batiste isn’t letting it get her down – at least, not too much. Even though she says she’s “prepared” for these bills now, that doesn’t mean she enjoys sending her hard-earned money into the great abyss of government spending.</p>
<p>“Hitting send on that ATO payment hurts every time,” she said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, taxpayers earning a fraction of her income simply sighed, checked their bank balances, and went back to their regularly scheduled programming: budgeting how to afford avocados and rent in the same month.</p>
<p><em>Images: TikTok</em></p>
