Hey, even those that don't have to pay any tax have to file to get their refunds, right?
So, are you using a computer program, a web site, or an accountant; or are you doing them yourself with a slide rule?
Is anyone getting a bigger refund than IGY?
I owe a couple of grand because my company didn't properly tax me this year. I don't really care in theory but writing a big check rather than getting slightly less per paycheck isn't exactly my idea of a good time.
This is about the right time to file if you want a speedy return. If you filed already, you might still be waiting for it because there's the bare minimum of people handling returns. If you wait until April, there's more people handling returns but there's 30 times as many returns coming in.
Didn't pay any in...I'm gonna get hammered, but I try and save as much in the next few weeks to pay it off. One of these years I will file quarterly. I go to a lady. She's pretty good, but I need a real accountant who knows things.
i got my refund today & plan on spending it on fireworks.
thats a real economy booster
Filed last night. Used an accountant, mostly because every time I do it myself I reaffirm that it's worth paying an accountant because I hate it with a passiion.
Quote from: FastFreddie on February 20, 2009, 02:20:56 PM
Hey, even those that don't have to pay any tax have to file to get their refunds, right?
So, are you using a computer program, a web site, or an accountant; or are you doing them yourself with a slide rule?
Is anyone getting a bigger refund than IGY?
If you make $56,000 or less and go to www.irs.gov (http://www.irs.gov), you can link out to sites to e-file your federal return for free. If you make more than that, you'll have to pay.
I used TurboTax and H&R Block so I could compare the returns to see if one would be bigger. They were the same and both do an excellent job of walking you step-by-step through the deductions to maximize the refund.
going to my tax guy tomorrow morning
Quote from: hunt on February 20, 2009, 02:42:16 PM
i got my refund today & plan on spending it on fireworks.
Illegal Chinese fireworks, or good-old Made-in-the-USA swirlies?
Quote from: ice grillin you on February 20, 2009, 03:14:12 PM
going to my tax guy tomorrow morning
I want to compare Federal refunds. If they're close, we can compare johnsons as a tiebreaker. It's the Repubelican way.
My accountant charges $225, tax deductible. I'm in the Zanshin mindset.
Im pulling a Wesley Snipes but slicker
Did mine.. I always use Tax Act, and filed early this week. This year they were harder than I expected, considering I didn't have a job the entire year. Still not difficult, but I expected easier.
And I'm getting a shteinload back, since the government taxed my lump sum severance like I made $1M+ a year. Which is nice, because it will help restock the savings account.
I have used Turbo Tax for a long time. All of my info is saved so I don't always have to re-enter everything.
I use TurboTax as well. I filed the first week of February and got it direct deposited in a week. I love TT because of all the deductions I have, it makes it easy to take me through them all.
You don't have as many deductions as the Prius owner!
Isn't there a charge for Turbo Tax?
I use software like every year because I need complex sofware to figure out the tax code. It seems that senators and politicos haven't figured that out as their taxes are all farged up...
If I ran the country - 8% of all income. FLAT TAX, baby.... that's the way it should be.
Can you imagine?
Income (A): __________________
Tax = 8%
Tax owed (A * .08): _________________
Could it really be that simple?
No, it really isn't that simple.
No, it's not the way it should be.
A flat tax won't work, but it should be a hell of a lot simpler than it is. Massive overhaul.
Quote from: General_Failure on February 20, 2009, 02:36:18 PM
This is about the right time to file if you want a speedy return. If you filed already, you might still be waiting for it because there's the bare minimum of people handling returns. If you wait until April, there's more people handling returns but there's 30 times as many returns coming in.
I filed for mine (through Turbo Tax) in the beginning of February and got my return back about a week and change later.
This is a great analysis of the "fair tax" issue with pros and cons on each side:
Quote* Federal income taxes would be completely abolished. According to Fairtax.org, this would include all ancillary taxes on personal income such as estate, gift, capital gains, alternative minimum, self-employment, Social Security, Medicare, and payroll taxes.
* With the repeal of federal income taxes, the IRS (Internal Revenue Service or Income Robbery Service, depending on one's perspective) would have much less power to snoop into the personal and private financial lives of American individuals. Ideally, the IRS would simply cease to exist.
* The Fair Tax would be "progressive" in the sense that it would avoid taxing financially challenged (i.e., poor) people for basic necessities. This is accomplished by means of a "prebate", which according to Fairtax.org would be $2,348 per year for a single person or $6,297 per year for a family of four.
* The Fair Tax is calculated to be "revenue neutral", meaning that all current government services would continue to be fully funded because the money that is raised from this national sales tax would be equal to the amount of revenue that is lost due to the repeal of federal income taxes. Programs such as Social Security, Medicare, etc. would be unaffected.
* Because this tax system is consumption-based rather than income-based, people could exercise a certain amount of control over how much tax they pay. Since the tax is only applied to new (not used, secondhand, etc.) items at the point of sale, a relatively frugal person could avoid paying taxes on most things, and might even make money because of the "prebate". Meanwhile, wealthy people who choose to live "high on the hog" without paying attention to their spending choices would probably pay more tax.
* Since the Fair Tax only taxes consumption, it would not punish businesses for expanding and creating more jobs, investing in research and development, or donating to charity. Also, because the individuals who create and maintain those businesses would have more disposable income to expand and compete in international markets (assuming that they make relatively wise choices, see the point above).
* The base price of goods and services (that is, their cost of production before adding any taxes, profits, etc.) would be lower because the embedded costs of the current income tax system would no longer be a factor. This would partially offset the increase in the total price of new products and services that would result from the Fair Tax.
* From the standpoint of government revenue collection, the "problem" of tax evasion would be reduced because people who currently resist paying income taxes and/or derive their income from black market sources would be taxed automatically at the point of sale whenever they purchase new goods and services. Moreover, the government would no longer need to spend taxpayer money in order to chase down income tax evaders.
* A national sales tax such as this would be much more transparent than the current tax system. There would be no more loopholes, special exemptions, payroll taxes, embedded costs, or other factors that allow people under the current system to avoid realizing how much tax they are actually paying. With the amount of taxation clearly visible to the general public, people (hopefully) would be less likely to tolerate wasteful spending, corruption, and inefficiency in government, resulting in lower levels of taxation and a stronger economy overall.
Cons:
* The retail price of new goods and services would increase.
* If the income tax is not fully repealed as promised OR a future president and/or Congress decides to re-instate some portion of the income tax code under the guise of a "national emergency" or something similar, we could end up with a national sales tax AND an income tax, which would be disastrous for our economic freedom.
* The actual rate of the national sales tax would be 30%, not 23% as the Fair Tax proponents claim. This difference is due to the deceptive language that the proponents use to describe the tax rate calculation. Not only is this deception insulting, but it also makes it easier for the government to raise the tax rate in the future because people will think that the current rate is lower than it actually is.
* Unlike the income tax brackets, this national sales tax proposal is not indexed for inflation, meaning that as inflation increases the base price of goods and services, the amount of sales tax that you pay will also increase.
* People who have paid into the Social Security system and/or private savings accounts for retirement will be effectively double taxed when they begin withdrawing their money and spending it. This is because most of the money that people have managed to save up to this point already has been taxed under the current system.
* Because tax rates would be simplified under the national sales tax system, this could ironically make it easier for the government to raise the tax rate on certain items that it deems "unhealthy" or "dangerous". If this occurs, things such as fatty foods, cigarettes, firearms, and an indeterminate number of other politically unpopular items could wind up being taxed at exorbitant rates, which would certainly go against the spirit of a "fair" tax system.
* If the Fair Tax is sufficiently high (like 30% or more), this could encourage more people to enter the black market in order to avoid the tax. This could cause crime that is often associated with black markets to escalate and effectively criminalize otherwise ordinary people.
* The "prebate" that is built into the Fair Tax system could actually do more harm than good in the long run because it would effectively put all Americans (except those without Social Security numbers) on the government dole, and this could create problems with dependency and the "free lunch" mentality as experienced by recipients of current government welfare programs.
* The Fair Tax does nothing to solve the underlying cause of high taxation, which is excessive government spending. As long as the federal government keeps spending taxpayer dollars on things that it has no business being involved with in the first place, it will continue to require high taxes in order to finance its expenditures, including the increasing cost of the national debt. Simply changing the method of taxation is not going to change the root causes of unfair taxes.
The bold paragraph is the single biggest concern I have and it's the major reason why I think a fair tax wouldn't work at all. The current system is a mess but it's nirvana compared to what would occur if the flat tax system is adopted.
30% or more?? Everything would go to the black market. There are some European countries now that have a very healthy black market for day-today things like groceries and home repair. They'll even quote you two prices. 1,000 with a receipt, 700 without.
WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service today released new withholding tables that will result in more take-home pay this spring for millions of American workers.
The new tables incorporate the new Making Work Pay credit, one of the key tax provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that became law earlier this week.
"For most taxpayers, the additional credit will automatically start showing up in their paychecks this spring," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "Since employers and payroll companies will handle this change, people typically won't need to take any additional action. The IRS will continue working to implement this and other provisions of the new law as quickly as possible."
Many higher-income taxpayers will see little or no change in their take-home pay. That's because the Making Work Pay credit is phased out for a married couple filing a joint return whose modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is between $150,000 and $190,000 and other taxpayers whose modified AGI is between $75,000 and $95,000.
Quote from: ice grillin you on February 24, 2009, 11:23:58 AM
the Making Work Pay credit is phased out for a married couple filing a joint return whose modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is between $150,000 and $190,000
I need a lower-paying job. Or my lady needs to stay at home barefoot, popping out babies.
Obama's policies may cause me to procreate more, suckers. I may go Duggar-style on your shtein.
oh, you poor thing. it must be hard to get by on such a tight budget
I'm just saying - if the tax structure reduces the impact on our lifestyle from earning less money, we are receiving an incentive not to work - or at least for one of us not to work.
Obviously, it's just a microcosm of what will happen in the country as a whole.
More jobs for the rest of us.
Quote from: rjs246 on February 24, 2009, 12:02:30 PM
More jobs for the rest of us.
says the guy who will be phased out of the benefits of this even more than I will be
And yet here I am, not complaining about it. Weird.
i wish i made enough money not to qualify for this minor tax break
Quote from: SunMo on February 24, 2009, 12:08:06 PM
i wish i made enough money not to qualify for this minor tax break
seriously...and you wonder where the pubs get the reputation of being rich pompous country club aholes...and ff doesnt even have real money the real rich pubs have to be just unbearable
Quote from: FastFreddie on February 24, 2009, 12:01:37 PMwe are receiving an incentive not to work
oh, this again. it's a wonder anyone works at all for less than 3 mill a year...those evil fed bastiches want us all on the welfare dole obvisouly
Quote from: Diomedes on February 24, 2009, 12:13:43 PM
Quote from: FastFreddie on February 24, 2009, 12:01:37 PMwe are receiving an incentive not to work
oh, this again. it's a wonder anyone works at all for less than 3 mill a year...those evil fed bastiches want us all on the welfare dole obvisouly
Luckily, our conflict will be solved by raw data over the next 5-10 years. I can wait.
Anyway, speaking of taxes, I overpaid the shtein out of my taxes after spending years making fun of people who do it. Now, I have a few grand coming my way, and find myself caring less about the markets being in the shteinter. Go figure.
I also have a whopper of a refund coming. This is what happens when you have a huge mortgage payment, you end your business 1/3rd of the way through the year, then start working for the gubment a few months later.
IGY left off the good stuff (http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/106626/Your-Share-of-Stimulus-Tax-Breaks)
Refund could be even bigger next year.
anybody else get the disappointing news sitting across from your accountant that you have to pay multiple g's to uncle sam yet?
5 beans...farging hurt piece
That sounds like really poor tax planning. You should probably get a new accountant for this year.
i would say no planning at all
Quote from: reese125 on March 09, 2009, 02:40:46 PM
anybody else get the disappointing news sitting across from your accountant that you have to pay multiple g's to uncle sam yet?
5 beans...farging hurt piece
I'm gonna owe more than that...
Quote from: ice grillin you on March 09, 2009, 03:05:31 PM
i would say no planning at all
Quote from: mussa on March 09, 2009, 03:22:30 PM
Quote from: reese125 on March 09, 2009, 02:40:46 PM
anybody else get the disappointing news sitting across from your accountant that you have to pay multiple g's to uncle sam yet?
5 beans...farging hurt piece
I'm gonna owe more than that...
reese = poor planning
mussa = no planning
Quote from: FastFreddie on March 09, 2009, 02:54:18 PM
That sounds like really poor tax planning. You should probably get a new accountant for this year.
Ive gotten loot back every year and a nice chunk at that--my accountant has actually been pretty solid compared to my friends returns
but theres 2 ways I can look at it I guess--
1) my wife and I had a great year financially, be happy about it and expect to pay something back
2) Im not being slick enough (and I know this is most likely the case) and I need to do more tax planning/scheming like you said and possibly be on the positive end of a return
there are so many other friggin things you can deduct besides the norm its ridiculous (especially working from home), I just dont do the research
I wasn't talking about scheming. I was talking about changing your withholding or paying some estimated tax throughout the year.
i entered my bank account wrong for my refund direct deposit...so now i have to wait another month for a paper check. i suck
Don't think of it as sucking. Think of it as allowing the Federal government to get another month's worth of interest on your money. You're a charitable person with a kind heart.
Quote from: FastFreddie on March 10, 2009, 10:21:23 AM
Don't think of it as sucking. Think of it as allowing the Federal government to get another month's worth of interest on your money. You're a charitable person with a kind heart.
Doing his part to fight the deficit. A good American!
what's the one month's interest on my $800 refund? i should be given a parade
Quote from: SunMo on March 10, 2009, 10:30:27 AM
what's the one month's interest on my $800 refund? i should be given a parade
It's about tree fiddy.