Home Taxes rant

[misysu2]

I just had to rant...

I did my taxes yesterday. I heard over and over the President approved all these funds for extra tax returns and the IRS was sending out return notices, and all, and what did I qualify for? NOTHING!

I had to PAY BACK! What is going on!? I feel singled out and a little violated that the gov''t got my hopes up. I really couldn''t afford to pay the gov''t right now.

 

[janinegirly]

The president''s tax rebate is based on salary. If your adjusted gross income is below 87000 you will receive a check in the mail. You will receive the max ($600) if your salary is $75K or below.

If you owe taxes, that''s not really related to the rebate program (that you hear about in the news). And it means you are not deducting enough from you paycheck each week/month (maybe you need to select a higher deduction) which will mean you owe at tax time.

But I agree, taxes are not fun!

 

[Mara]

ha ha get used to it...!!

i was bummed, this year i found out that the child deduction is only like $2500. who benefits from that?! kids are WAY more expensive than that! hahaa.

 

[misysu2]

My taxable estimate was around 19k! And I still owed!

All I had to deduct was my student loan interest...

 

[janinegirly]

Well like i said if you owe, it''s something to do with your deductions. Like when you filed your w-4, you claimed zero deductions instead of 1 (for yourself) for example. You may want to increase that going forward. Of course that would mean you will get taxed more in each pay check, but you won''t owe as much at tax time. It''s all the same in the end (you still have to pay uncle sam!), just whether you''d prefer it spread out or all at once.

With your income level, you will receive the $600 tax rebate in the mail, probably around May. This is the tax refund President Bush has been talking about, so that''s a good thing! If you filed a joint, it''s $1200 rebate.

 

[misysu2]

Will I receive a tax rebate even if I had no tax refund? Are they different things?

 

[ladypirate]

Date: 3/11/2008 11:45:35 AM
Author: janinegirly
Well like i said if you owe, it''s something to do with your deductions. Like when you filed your w-4, you claimed zero deductions instead of 1 (for yourself) for example. You may want to increase that going forward. Of course that would mean you will get taxed more in each pay check, but you won''t owe as much at tax time. It''s all the same in the end (you still have to pay uncle sam!), just whether you''d prefer it spread out or all at once.


With your income level, you will receive the $600 tax rebate in the mail, probably around May. This is the tax refund President Bush has been talking about, so that''s a good thing! If you filed a joint, it''s $1200 rebate.

Actually, if you claim 0 allowances on your w-4, you''ll get taxed more per paycheck and get a bigger refund at the end of the year. The more allowances you claim, the more likely it is that you''ll have to pay the gov''t at the end of the year rather than the other way around. Misysu, do you know how many allowances you were claiming?

In any case, you should still get the tax rebate. That''s separate from the refund.

 

[janinegirly]

yes ladypirate that's pretty much what i was saying. she needs to increase from 0 to 1 (if that's what she's claiming).

Tax rebate is separate from refund. The rebate is based on your income (adjusted gross) only and it sounds like you will receive one in May for $600.

 

[Mara]

yep LP is right. the more you claim the LESS gets taken out of your paycheck. if you claim 0 then they take out the max each paycheck.

pretty much all through my 20''s i''d claim 0 and STILL owe. you can also have them take out more $$ aka add in $100 a check or something manually to the W4. but that''s no fun.

we didn''t start reaping tax benefits til we bought a property but now our incomes make even that a fairly moot point.

 

[misysu2]

Okay good to know! I don''t feel AS bad now. Thanks for the explanation! I will wait patiently for May to roll around.

 

[Independent Gal]

Yup, the tax rebate is a hand-out, separate from your regular taxes.

You will get $600, unless you paid the govt. less than $600 (incl. what was deducted from your paycheck) in taxes.

Are you sure you took all your deductions? Including the ''just for breathing'' deduction? At your income level, you shouldn''t have much tax to pay I would have thought.

It''s free to use H&R Block''s online software if you make less than $53,000 a year, so maybe they can find you more deductions. Hey, costs nothing, and you may get your $$ back.

Just a thought.

 

[Miscka]

I feel ya, misysu. I had to pay as well

I filled out my W-4 wrong (using the irs website!!). After realizing that, I was really glad I shelled out the 75 bucks to have someone do them for me.

Also, did you switch jobs? My guy told me that got me this year. Boo.

 

[misysu2]

Date: 3/11/2008 12:32:37 PM
Author: Miscka
I feel ya, misysu. I had to pay as well

I filled out my W-4 wrong (using the irs website!!). After realizing that, I was really glad I shelled out the 75 bucks to have someone do them for me.

Also, did you switch jobs? My guy told me that got me this year. Boo.

I switched jobs in mid January and have been at the second job since. Who knows? I did go from a poor student to a poorly-paid working stiff, so my taxes were different than usual. Next year will be different, too. At least I''ll get refunded my taxes and get a little more back with the rebate.

Thanks, Miscka. I''m glad I''m not the only one!

 

[Miranda]

I look at it a bit differently. I''d much rather break even (meaning no tax refund or no extra pay-out) or even pay a little extra at the end of the year. I want to have all of my money to invest or spend. If the government has my money all year long that''s interest I could be earning. A tax refund isn''t extra, free money from the government. It''s money you overpaid to the government that they''ve had all year! If you are paying extra, well, you''ve just had more money to spend all year. This is why I don''t like the idea of withholding income tax. Most people just don''t understand or even think about how much they are paying in tax. If we all had to write a big fat quarterly check to the government we''d all think about how much we actually pay and how poorly the government chooses to spend it. Just my .02.

 

[Independent Gal]

Miranda is right. The money you get back is your own money that you loaned the government interest free over the course of the year. You don''t get back new money. It was yours all along. So, technically, if you''re a saver anyway, it makes sense for you to keep the money and only pay the piper come April. Under paying makes more financial sense than overpaying.

 

[divergrrl]

The tax rebates aren''t coming in May for everyone. We don''t get ours till the week of September 24th. Its based on the last two digits of the primary social security number holder on your tax returns (my dh is our primary & his last two digits are in the 90''s, so we are the last ones).

Here''s the schedule, the first numbers correspond with the last two digits of your social security number. The date is when the check should be mailed.

00 - 09 July 23
10 - 19 July 30
20 - 29 August 6
30 - 39 August 13
40 - 49 August 20
50 - 59 August 27
60 - 69 Sept. 3
70 - 79 Sept. 10
80 - 89 Sept. 17
90 - 99 Sept. 24

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 3/11/2008 4:04:00 PM
Author: Miranda
I look at it a bit differently. I'd much rather break even (meaning no tax refund or no extra pay-out) or even pay a little extra at the end of the year. I want to have all of my money to invest or spend. If the government has my money all year long that's interest I could be earning. A tax refund isn't extra, free money from the government. It's money you overpaid to the government that they've had all year! If you are paying extra, well, you've just had more money to spend all year. This is why I don't like the idea of withholding income tax. Most people just don't understand or even think about how much they are paying in tax. If we all had to write a big fat quarterly check to the government we'd all think about how much we actually pay and how poorly the government chooses to spend it. Just my .02.

In complete agreement w/Miranda on this one. I also rather owe a little then a lot; I can't remember getting a refund (which is good). I also have to do like Mara and claim 0 and withhold a little extra so we don't owe too much. Sorry, you owe lots.

 

[pennquaker09]

I second SDL. Don''t feel bad, I had to pay also. I wish we could file together, but oh well.

 

[chiapet]

In all 7 years that I''ve worked in the US, I''ve always PAID BACK to the IRS. I never ever not even once got a refund.

Like I don''t pay enough taxes already!

 

[Miscka]

Date: 3/11/2008 4:04:00 PM
Author: Miranda
I look at it a bit differently. I''d much rather break even (meaning no tax refund or no extra pay-out) or even pay a little extra at the end of the year. I want to have all of my money to invest or spend. If the government has my money all year long that''s interest I could be earning. A tax refund isn''t extra, free money from the government. It''s money you overpaid to the government that they''ve had all year! If you are paying extra, well, you''ve just had more money to spend all year. This is why I don''t like the idea of withholding income tax. Most people just don''t understand or even think about how much they are paying in tax. If we all had to write a big fat quarterly check to the government we''d all think about how much we actually pay and how poorly the government chooses to spend it. Just my .02.

ITA w/this. Everyone I know is all about the big refund, but I would MUCH rather have my money during the year to save or use as I need. I see it like you said, that I could at least earn interest from my ING savings acct instead of the gov. keeping it for free.

If you go on the IRS website you can do this little witholding calculator where you answer questions and it tells you what to put on your W4. Then, if it says you will owe $120 at the end (for example) you can have an additional $10 witheld each month to break even. Only mine did not work out, lol. Very interesting point about the quarterly bill. Yikes, even the thought of that amount scares me!

 

[sunnyd]

I have to wait until September?!?! Stupid misleading government!!! Where did that info come from diverr?

 

[divergrrl]

Date: 3/12/2008 2:13:43 PM
Author: sunnyd
I have to wait until September?!?! Stupid misleading government!!! Where did that info come from diverr?

Source: US Department of Treasury.

I''m ok waiting until September. I wasn''t expecting the money, so its not really on my radar. Plus, my birthday is September, my daughters 1st bday is september, my dad & stepmom''s bdays are in November, my anniversary & son''s bdays are xmas-time, as well as xmas itself. That $1800 is now officially our "birthday & xmas fund".

And I''m taking this time to save up for xmas 2009 since I can earmark that rebate for this year.

what can you do?

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 3/12/2008 2:40:27 PM
Author: divergrrl

Date: 3/12/2008 2:13:43 PM
Author: sunnyd
I have to wait until September?!?! Stupid misleading government!!! Where did that info come from diverr?

Source: US Department of Treasury.

I''m ok waiting until September. I wasn''t expecting the money, so its not really on my radar. Plus, my birthday is September, my daughters 1st bday is september, my dad & stepmom''s bdays are in November, my anniversary & son''s bdays are xmas-time, as well as xmas itself. That $1800 is now officially our ''birthday & xmas fund''.

And I''m taking this time to save up for xmas 2009 since I can earmark that rebate for this year.

what can you do?

Sit and wait, I guess...

I didn''t really have anything planned for it though. But my boyfriend''s (whose ssn ends in 01, yes!) is going toward my ering! And the sooner the better for that one.