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I did the taxes today, and I must say, I like them better since I got married. Hubby doesn't claim any deductions on his W2 and overpays all year to get a nice refund. (I tried explaining about savings accounts.) I started getting a little back when I opened my IRA.
Filing together, we got back $500 more than we did seperately. It paid for the new bed I bought and will pay for his trip to DragonCon in September. For once, that didn't make me crazy. Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Paul, are you e-filing? If so, and if you have your totals, you can file without it... KPC was issued an incorrect W-2 and e-filed before he got the correction.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I don't have my total, because I'm a bad accountant. Plus, my w-2 is freaking annoying (its a school district w-2, so I don't pay into social security, but I do pay into a teacher retirement account), and the pre-tax and post-tax deductions screw with my head.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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I already filed and got my money. I get over two thousand bucks as a return. Considering that I only paid $700 total for taxes, I was pretty happy. I love the EIC.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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This is the first year we don't get EIC since the year after we got married. That's actually a good thing. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I just finally got my W-2 today. I know from prior experience that the numbers on my paychecks don't exactly match the boxes on the W-2 because of various pre-tax deductions, so I had to wait. I'll run my numbers tonight and see how much of my normal refund I've lost due to unemployment.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I know what you mean KQ. I still got ECI this year, but unless something changes, I won't next year. As sad as that is, in most ways it's good.
Still, I was glad to have it this year. I've already spent my refund on a lawyer (they're EXPENSIVE!).
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Jun 2006
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I've already filed mine (or rather my accountant father filed mine). It was my first time filing not as a dependent on my father's taxes so I'm getting some extra money on on top of my refund.
Its about $800 and should be hitting the bank any day now. I've already got a new tattoo artist working on a design for me and the rest is going towards tuition and my student loan. I've already paid off both of my credit cards this year and look forward to being debt-free in a few weeks.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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See if I have exemptions so when I do my taxes I get all sad because I expect a big refund but don't get one. I nearly forgot to submit my tuition payments. I'll hopefully have my pin from last year tomorrow so I can finally get my taxes done.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I got mine on 1/30 and I paid off my student loan (took 13 years) and my car (took 3 years). I'm feeling such relief right now.
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
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quote:Originally posted by AvidReader: I did the taxes today, and I must say, I like them better since I got married. Hubby doesn't claim any deductions on his W2 and overpays all year to get a nice refund. (I tried explaining about savings accounts.) I started getting a little back when I opened my IRA.
Filing together, we got back $500 more than we did seperately. It paid for the new bed I bought and will pay for his trip to DragonCon in September. For once, that didn't make me crazy.
Gee. I wish I could do that. I guess the Prop 8 folks are right... it isn't a rights issue at all.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I claim zero exemptions and get them to take out extra each paycheck as a form of enforced savings. Once a year I get a bonus (or birthday present) from my Uncle Sam. My saintly brother-in-law buys TurboTax every year and he likes to get the most possible use of it, so he does my taxes, my mom's, and his sister's in addition to their own. I'm supposed to go over there next weekend and be the guinea pig on 2008. I'm excited! Last year it was $8k.
Is it bad if your favorite family members are the ones who aren't blood relatives? Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I am thrilled to get our refund. We will be paying off our only credit card, which leaves only one car and student loans. Time to start saving for a house!
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Tatiana, TurboTax is charging a per-return fee this year. Might want to compensate your BIL for that extra cost.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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"They have another week. The deadline was extended this year. "
Really? Til when? I looked up the deadline a few weeks ago, and saw that it was feb 2nd. Did this extension happen recently? Or am I totally hallucinating that I actually read what I thought I read?
Sigh. Can't find anything on this online that doesn't say 2/2/09
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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That's odd. I was told it was 2/15 this year. Clearly someone was confused.
. . . and I need to be concerned/annoyed that I haven't gotten mine. gah!
Tatiana, my dad does all us kids' taxes (and the grandkids) with his copy of TurboTax too. He just warned me the other day.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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But for simple returns turbo tax is free online anyway. Tatiana, how about just setting your bank to automatically deduct money and put it into a savings account? Then you get the interest too.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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One of the guys at work asked me if I knew anything about taxes recently. My response was, "Yes. You go buy TurboTax and answer all of its questions. Then you hit submit."
I could probably figure out the forms without TurboTax, but this is easier.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I'm getting over $4k this year. That will be going toward the down payment on our house... Woohoo!
Posts: 382 | Registered: Jan 2008
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Nope, except that it takes more energy of the delayed-gratification and setting-things-up kind.
I can't file my taxes until 1) I get a statement I haven't recieved yet, and 2) Congress makes a final vote on the stimulus housing/bill, and 3) I buy a house. I might be pushing it to the limit this year, which disturbs me, because I usually file in early February.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Don't get me wrong, it's fun to get a big chunk of money at the beginning of every year. I'd rather get a return than discover I owe taxes. No question about that. But it's not a windfall. It's not free money. It's just Uncle Sam giving back some of my money he's been holding.
Having that extra money available to me every month throughout the year, sitting in my money market account and earning some interest, is much more attractive. I can set a goal to save X amount of money through the year and work it into my budget. At the end of the year I have the same amount as a fat tax return, plus the percentage I earned in interest. Granted, it takes some number crunching and certainly demands some "delayed gratification", but I get a better result for the same 12 months as anyone who relies on their tax return.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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That's for sure. I can set it up so my direct deposit is split - some goes into my checking, and the other chunk goes into a savings account at a different bank. I can get to that money, but it is a hassle and takes a couple of days.
I can't believe how much easier it is to save that way. And that's a lot of interest over the course of a year - I would much rather have it than Uncle Sam.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Some families pay negative income taxes (as long as we disregard the social security/medicare stuff). So getting a return isn't necessarily a sign of having lent money to the government.
For the others...some people don't have (or don't think they have, or don't want to try to have) the restraint to leave money in a savings account instead of in the government's pocket.
For my part, I try not to pay income taxes that will just get refunded, but I get a percentage of my income from bonuses and stock compensation, and income tax is withheld at a high rate from those payments, so I always have a refund coming even though I didn't pay much on every paycheck.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Right--it's hard to nail a $0 tax return, and it's much more pleasant to be on the positive side than the negative. But relying on that return as a savings plan, using it for "big purchases" when it comes every year, or (heaven forbid) planning to use it as a bailout so you can put more on credit during the year, is much less financially sound practice.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Originally posted by scholarette: But for simple returns turbo tax is free online anyway.
Many of us don't qualify for a 1040EZ or 1040A. Anyone who owns a house, owns a business (including one-person businesses), has itemized deductions, makes more than a certain amount, or files as head of household must file a 1040. Which TurboTax charges for.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: Why not keep your return as close to 0 as possible and invest your money throughout the year instead of loaning it interest-free to Uncle Sam?
That's the wisdom I've always heard, anyway. Is there a good reason not to do it that way?
I don't have that choice. I should have 11 allowances (or whatever they're called), but if there are more than 9 (I think it is), the employer has to send in documentation to justify it. He doesn't want to do that, and I don't want to do that. So I just take the maximum you can without documentation and get $4-5K in February.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: Why not keep your return as close to 0 as possible and invest your money throughout the year instead of loaning it interest-free to Uncle Sam?
That's the wisdom I've always heard, anyway. Is there a good reason not to do it that way?
The reason that I can't do this is closely related to my response in the Marshmallow Test thread.
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
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Tax time was good to us this year with having a baby and being first time home buyers. I got to buy new furniture and replenish our savings that went down when we made the down payment on our house. Woohoo!
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by scholarette: But for simple returns turbo tax is free online anyway. Tatiana, how about just setting your bank to automatically deduct money and put it into a savings account? Then you get the interest too.
scholarette, I do that too. That money always gets spent every few months when things come up. This is for longer term projects. AFR, I agree with your logic, however, I like it that I can't get at this in any way until the end of the year. I do it because it actually works for me. So that trumps a theoretical saving plan that won't work.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by scholarette: But for simple returns turbo tax is free online anyway.
Many of us don't qualify for a 1040EZ or 1040A. Anyone who owns a house, owns a business (including one-person businesses), has itemized deductions, makes more than a certain amount, or files as head of household must file a 1040. Which TurboTax charges for.
Actually the first e-file is free. If you are filing more than one return, you can file additional for $9.95 each. Which is still cheaper than buying 10 copies of TurboTax.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I finally got my missing W-2 on Tuesday 2/10. I refuse to believe that it takes the post office eight days to get a letter from downtown Chicago to the near west suburbs. And there was no date on the postmark. I've been out of that place for four months and they're still messing with me.
Anyway, the return is filed and I'm actually getting a bigger refund than last year because I now qualify for head of household instead of married separate so I get a larger standard deduction. Yay!
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Tatiana, what about 6 or 12 month CDs? Then YOU get the interest on it instead of the gov't having use of it, but it ties up the money...
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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It seems most people are getting a refund (including me). I wonder if it is intentionallly set up that way so that we are happy to get a refund and don't think about how much we actually paid in taxes...?
Posts: 571 | Registered: Mar 2001
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I get large refunds, but that is from the whole negative income tax thing. Turbo tax was free for me and I do the 1040. This year it did not mention it was only free for people under a certain income level like it did last year.
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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lobo: it is a combination of a complicated tax code (and complicated work patterns) with many people not filling out their exemptions correctly.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I will never forget to write down my AGI or Pin # from now on. Waiting for 20 minutes on hold with the IRS while trying to look for jobs and do data entry at the same time is a nightmare.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by lobo: It seems most people are getting a refund (including me). I wonder if it is intentionallly set up that way so that we are happy to get a refund and don't think about how much we actually paid in taxes...?
That's actually the purpose of withholding. They know that if we were forced to write a check each year for the tax burden, there'd be open rebellion. If it also included the hidden taxes in the prices of the things we buy (which comes from the taxes on the manufacturer) and the hidden tax of inflated money supply, there'd be blood in the streets.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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lobo, when I said that I meant some people get more in refundable tax credits than they owe in income tax.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
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