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scribe jones posted:Nice humblebrag Thanks  In all seriousness, the only two returns I prep are my own. I've gotten to the point I need to ask my staff how to get the tax prep program to work.
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Feb 4, 2014 17:42
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DholmbladRU posted:Does it matter how much I make? I have a great deal of student loans, paid almost $20k this year. So that doesnt leave me with much. Yeah, sorry, that was rude of me. I was just thinking that given the total taxes you pay in a year, being $460 off in your withholding is not that far off percentage-wise. I wasn't trying to make a judgment on whether or not you should be able to afford it.
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Feb 4, 2014 18:34
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Admiral101 posted:$7,000 of tax liability sounds about right with the numbers you're providing. That's what I'm saying. 7k is just what was withheld from my check. My wife withheld several thousand more on hers. We shouldn't owe any money unless the math is really crazy. Looking at your list, it looks like we should be able to take our housing related deductions on top of the standard deduction? Because TurboTax definitely didn't do that, and that could be the issue here. After we filled everything out and answered all of the questions it said we could only take the standard deduction. kaishek posted:Did you pay 10k in student loan interest, or 10k in student loan payments? I suppose it is possible, but that sounds high. Only the interest is deductible. Yes, we paid 10k in interest. My wife has a big pile of usurious private student loans because her parents didn't go to college/know nothing about finances and thought it was a great idea for her to just borrow her way through college. I also have about 30k in federal loans.
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Feb 4, 2014 19:07
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I feel for you on private loans. I had to get a $5k private loan to cover difference and the interest rate was 10%. Had to pay that off quickly or I was just making payments on interest.
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Feb 4, 2014 20:21
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LeftistMuslimObama posted:That's what I'm saying. 7k is just what was withheld from my check. My wife withheld several thousand more on hers. We shouldn't owe any money unless the math is really crazy. My list used the standard deduction. You cannot take mortgage interest/taxes on top of the standard deduction. I assumed you'd be using the standard deduction because your mortgage interest and real estate taxes for 2013 were on the low end so it seems very unlikely to me that you'd be itemizing this year. On the forms that turbo tax is producing, list every number (rounded to the nearest 100) on every line of the first two pages of the forms that turbo tax is producing (as well as mentioning which kind of form it's producing, if it's not a 1040). It should get pretty obvious where the mistake is, if there is one. If I had to make a wild, blind guess, I'd say you input your medicare or social security taxable wages instead of your federal taxable wages into turbo tax. Admiral101 fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Feb 4, 2014 |
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Feb 4, 2014 21:18
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I have a couple questions now that I've married a Canadian and immigrated to the great white north. This year I earned little enough to claim the EITC, but the H&R Block website tells me I'd have to file jointly in order to claim it. My totally real non-resident alien Canadian wife had no US sources of income. As I understand it, if we filed jointly she would be able to claim an exemption on her Canadian income and not have to pay US taxes on it. Is that correct? Furthermore, would my eligibility for the EITC be calculated before or after her exemption? Additionally, she doesn't have a SSN or ITIN. From the research I've done it looks like she could apply at the time of our filing by including a completed W-7. Is that correct?
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Feb 5, 2014 00:16
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Alright this is a dumb query on behalf of my mom through the words of someone who knows nothing about how marriage influences taxes. Last year she and her husband filed jointly, but this year he wants to see if filing separate will garner him a more favorable return. I'd say he probably makes close to double her salary, so that makes her AGI for filing this year as separately pretty high? I think that's how it works? Bottom line: She's concerned by her AGI and how it will weigh on her this year since she makes way less money than that. Any advice I can give her, or is there anything she can do if he really does go with filing separately as opposed to jointly?
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Feb 5, 2014 02:40
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If you file jointly, your wife will be treated as a US resident for tax purposes and you would both (theoretically) be subject to US tax on all of your joint income, regardless of where it was earned. You would be able to take a credit, however, for Canadian taxes paid on foreign source income (or the foreign earned income exemption). The EITC would be calculated MFJ using your joint income. She would need to file a W-7 with your return and obtain an ITIN, unless she is eligible for a SSN. Unfortunately, the W-7 is kind of a pain in the rear end; I routinely see them rejected for nonsense reasons, and have had to reapply three or more times for some clients. You have to include your passport or a copy certified by the issuing agency with the application, and the Service rejects a lot of applications with certified copies. My advice is to get several certified copies made at once in case you need to reapply. Another option would be to use an acceptance agent, I believe most of the big four offices are acceptance agents. You could also apply in person at the US Embassy, but only in Frankfurt, Paris, Beijing, or London. Good luck.
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Feb 5, 2014 02:42
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Justadae posted:Alright this is a dumb query on behalf of my mom through the words of someone who knows nothing about how marriage influences taxes. Last year she and her husband filed jointly, but this year he wants to see if filing separate will garner him a more favorable return. I'd say he probably makes close to double her salary, so that makes her AGI for filing this year as separately pretty high? I think that's how it works? It's vanishingly unlikely that they'll be better off filing separate.
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Feb 5, 2014 02:46
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PatMarshall posted:If you file jointly, your wife will be treated as a US resident for tax purposes and you would both (theoretically) be subject to US tax on all of your joint income, regardless of where it was earned. You would be able to take a credit, however, for Canadian taxes paid on foreign source income (or the foreign earned income exemption). The EITC would be calculated MFJ using your joint income. Ah, in that case it looks like it's better for me to file separately. Thanks. I know I'll also have to file yearly as long as I retain my US citizenship, but the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion should knock out any tax obligations (unless I get rich). It seems it would be better to avoid the hassle of getting my wife an ITIN and instead continue filing separate.
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Feb 5, 2014 03:30
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My wife and I are used to getting fairly substantial tax returns. This year, we're getting back $4. Last year, we got $1400. What gives? If it matters, we bought a house last year.. but I kind of would have thought that would have led to MORE of a return, not LESS. TurboTax seemed to indicate that we were getting a nice deductible when we put in the fact that we bought a house, but it didn't change the number on the side at all. I got all the way to the end of the accuracy check and it didn't spot any fatal errors.
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Feb 5, 2014 05:00
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New Leaf posted:My wife and I are used to getting fairly substantial tax returns. This year, we're getting back $4. Last year, we got $1400. What gives? If it matters, we bought a house last year.. but I kind of would have thought that would have led to MORE of a return, not LESS. TurboTax seemed to indicate that we were getting a nice deductible when we put in the fact that we bought a house, but it didn't change the number on the side at all. I got all the way to the end of the accuracy check and it didn't spot any fatal errors. Vote to change the thread title to "US Income Tax Questions Megathread: Where's my refund"
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Feb 5, 2014 05:41
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kaishek posted:Vote to change the thread title to "US Income Tax Questions Megathread: Where's my refund" Five golden man babies for you goon sir  The answer is that gremlins came and stole your refund. In all seriousness, I understand the frustration that results from not understanding why the results are so different from year to year. Unfortunately, there is almost never a simple answer to that question that we can give you over the internet. One of my clients was particularly insistent about this question last year and I spent a good half hour plus analyzing the two years and breaking down what changed, and that was WITH all of the underlying data for both years. furushotakeru fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Feb 5, 2014 |
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Feb 5, 2014 06:54
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kaishek posted:Vote to change the thread title to "US Income Tax Questions Megathread: Where's my refund" Thanks, super helpful. No really though, I don't understand how taxes work at all and that's probably part of the problem. I thought that buying a house and having mortgage interest and all that jazz gave me some sort of credits towards my deductions, but in this case the deductions it says I got didn't count towards my refund. Does this all just mean that we have our withholding right and we should be lucky that we don't owe?
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Feb 5, 2014 13:15
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New Leaf posted:Thanks, super helpful. There are two separate things - credits and deductions. Credits reduce the amount of taxes you owe directly. Deductions lower the amount of money you have that is taxed. You can either claim a standard deduction, or itemize your deductions. Say you have $5k of itemized deductions one year but the standard deduction is $10k - you take the standard deduction and your itemized deductions don't matter. This would be true if you have $9k of itemized deductions, or only $1k - they don't matter until they're over the standard deduction. So hypothetically, if you lost some tax credit from the prior year and picked up substantial deductions (but not enough to itemize), you'd see more taxes.
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Feb 5, 2014 14:52
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furushotakeru posted:Five golden man babies for you goon sir I let you guys answer those in this thread. The questions are so vague and no details are provided, I'm not spending 30 minutes tapping out responses. Speaking as a professional - when it comes to the service industry, you usually get what you pay for. If you want to save bucks and turbo tax it, that's fine, but where do you go if you have in-depth questions or need planning help?
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Feb 5, 2014 17:44
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AbbiTheDog posted:I let you guys answer those in this thread. The questions are so vague and no details are provided, I'm not spending 30 minutes tapping out responses. Something Awful, duh. Pay attention, old fart 
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Feb 5, 2014 18:27
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furushotakeru posted:One of my clients was particularly insistent about this question last year and I spent a good half hour plus analyzing the two years and breaking down what changed, and that was WITH all of the underlying data for both years.
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Feb 5, 2014 19:00
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In 2013 I lost my old job and rolled my 401k and Roth 401k into a Roth IRA. I received two Form 1099-R's one for the regular 401k and one for the Roth. H&R Block is kicking out my 1099-R for the Roth saying that the numbers are impossible. Specifically that the box 7 distribution code: BG, and the the box 2a Taxable amount:a non-zero value, don't mix. I'm not sure why there should be a taxable amount at all in a Roth 401k to Roth IRA rollover, but the amount is equal to the difference between my contributions and thier value when it was sold off. Did I do something wrong in the rollover, did they? I'm looking for more information before I go in and ask at the job I haven't been at for over a year. If
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Feb 5, 2014 20:27
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New Leaf posted:Thanks, super helpful. Heh, sorry - anyways, there a million different things that could affect why your tax situation changed. Saying "I usually get back X but this year I got back Y" is sort of meaningless - there are only two numbers that matter, how much you owe (calculated based on your income, type of income, amount of deductions, and amount of any credits) and how much you've already paid (how much was withheld from your paycheck or paid in quarterly estimated payments). If the latter exceeds the former, you get a refund. If it doesn't, you don't or you owe. So in this case yes, it means that your withholding was right. If you get +/- $100 or so (either owing or getting), that's pretty good. But either way, there are many reasons why you could have gotten a refund previously - a handful of tax credits have expired so you might be missing one of those. The house won't help you if, as someone else pointed out, it doesn't exceed the standard deduction. Maybe one of you changed status as a student? Paid less in student loan interest? Contributed or didn't to a retirement account? Someone could probably spend some time and figure out exactly what reason you got a bigger refund last year, but it would basically require re-doing two years of your taxes. In this case as long as you're sure you've filled out all the boxes correctly than the result is probably correct. Turbotax will tell you everything is great because they want you to believe you'll get a huge refund. In reality the only reason you'd get a huge refund is if you have not optimized your withholding. Everyone should aspire to getting no refund, meaning that they paid their taxes correctly during the year.
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Feb 5, 2014 21:47
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kaishek posted:Everyone should aspire to getting no refund, meaning that they paid their taxes correctly during the year. What kind of nonsense is this?!?!? I'm getting enough of a federal refund to pay my state, but I might play with it some more.
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Feb 5, 2014 22:38
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AbbiTheDog posted:What kind of nonsense is this?!?!? If your refund is greater than zero, you gave the Department of the Treasury a no interest loan for that amount.
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Feb 5, 2014 23:34
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Bloody Queef posted:If your refund is greater than zero, you gave the Department of the Treasury a no interest loan for that amount. That argument held more water back in the days when banks actually paid interest 
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Feb 5, 2014 23:50
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AbbiTheDog posted:What kind of nonsense is this?!?!? Sorry, sorry: huge refund! Free money from the government! Whoo hoo gonna buy a new truck.
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Feb 6, 2014 01:46
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My wife borrowed money from her mom for college tuition/supplies a few years ago. Where the hell do I report the interest paid on this student loan even though it is from a private individual?
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Feb 6, 2014 04:43
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Ravarek posted:My wife borrowed money from her mom for college tuition/supplies a few years ago. Where the hell do I report the interest paid on this student loan even though it is from a private individual? The interest on that loan will be non deductible, even if it was for college tuition/supplies. Student loans can't come from family members.
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Feb 6, 2014 05:30
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Reimbursements received in the current year for expenses incurred in the prior year are always taxed in the current year, yes? MN suddenly decided they were going to tax employer tuition assistance last year, which I received for classes I took in 2013 but didn't actually get paid until January. Tried looking for this everywhere on the state's website and I didn't find anything.
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Feb 6, 2014 09:50
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What steps should I take looking to hire a knowledgeable and affordable professional? Do I just google "tax accountant" + "blahblah certified" + "member of ??? association" + "no audit guaranteed" or something? There is an HR Block right by me but I've heard they're astronomically expensive. I'm not even looking for the biggest refund possible, I'm just hoping to follow all the rules and not get audited or whatever. I want to leave 2013 behind me. I do not trust myself/Turbotax to do my own taxes this year. In 2013 I: -Inherited two IRAs, a 401k, and a brokerage account -Took RMDs from the IRAs -Cashed out the brokerage account (not retirement related) -Lump sum cashed out the inherited 401k (it was $400 and not worth keeping open IMO) -Received the payout of two life insurance policies, and one sent a tax form but the other has not -Even though I am the heir, the executor of this inheritance mess lives in another state and does not understand anything legal/tax-y and she's gotten at least two tax forms already and thinks they need to go to me -Sold a house that I inherited that was still under mortgage -Bought a new house, no mortgage -Quit a job and closed its 401k (thought I transferred it, meaning non-taxable, but tax form disagrees apparently) -Got married, changed name -Transferred the two I-IRAs to a new vanguard I-IRA -Opened a traditional IRA with the old job's 401k $ and made a contribution to it as well. -Got a new job ...I think that's it off the top of my head. I just need a professional with experience in inherited tax matters. It all totals less than the $500k or whatever that inheritance rule is, but it's still a lot of stuff. State is Texas, area is Northwest DFW if anyone recommends a guy/company.
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Feb 6, 2014 20:15
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This year I did some consulting work on the side for a friend's company worth about $1200 gross; I need a 1099-MISC from them for that, right? Also, I stopped into an H&R Block and they mentioned that I'd need to file a Schedule-C because of the 1099, to the tune of about $250 - is that normal? I filed taxes with 1 deduction last year and found out I still owed $1000 (split 50/50 between CA and Fed), so I'm going to actually go in and talk to someone instead of using the rather impersonal TurboTax again (this year I got a rough estimate of how much I might owe and it was around $750  ).
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Feb 6, 2014 21:00
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drat Bananas posted:What steps should I take looking to hire a knowledgeable and affordable professional? Do I just google "tax accountant" + "blahblah certified" + "member of ??? association" + "no audit guaranteed" or something? There is an HR Block right by me but I've heard they're astronomically expensive. I'm not even looking for the biggest refund possible, I'm just hoping to follow all the rules and not get audited or whatever. I want to leave 2013 behind me. Side notes: 1) Only technical difference between an LTC and a CPA is a CPA can produce financial statements for third parties for loans, they typically won't accept those from an LTC. I've seen great LTCs, I've seen bad CPAs - it's more dependent on the person than the title. 2) If you have an investment adviser, check with them for a reference. 3) If you work for a small company, ask your boss who he uses. Note this creates a conflict of interest issue for the tax preparer, you might need to sign a waiver. 4) If you do rely on the Google, sit and talk to the adviser and see what they answer to your questions. I deal with this stuff all the time, but not every preparer does. 5) Expect to pay some bucks for this. We charge as a function of time, and it will take time to get this done and done right. Don't scrimp this year. 6) Tell your sister to go see a professional and get her poo poo together. You can't file your returns until she figures out the estate issues.
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Feb 6, 2014 21:39
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Karthe posted:This year I did some consulting work on the side for a friend's company worth about $1200 gross; I need a 1099-MISC from them for that, right? Also, I stopped into an H&R Block and they mentioned that I'd need to file a Schedule-C because of the 1099, to the tune of about $250 - is that normal? You do need a 1099MISC from your friend's company. And yes you will need to file a Schd C. It's very simple to do and TurboTax does a fine job. Seems like a pretty simple tax situation IMO.
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Feb 7, 2014 00:43
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1099's are not for you. 1099's are for the IRS so they know how much you were paid by that business. You report your gross income on schedule C regardless of whether you receive a 1099 or not. Otherwise I would report very little income since the vast majority of my clients do not 1099 me.
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Feb 7, 2014 01:10
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SiGmA_X posted:Why do you think someone at HR Block can do better than TurboTax? This never makes sense to me. SiGmA_X posted:You do need a 1099MISC from your friend's company. And yes you will need to file a Schd C. It's very simple to do and TurboTax does a fine job. Seems like a pretty simple tax situation IMO.
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Feb 7, 2014 01:34
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AbbiTheDog posted:Side notes: Thanks! 2. I don't have an advisor, but I qualified for "Vanguard Voyager" and one perk is a discount in using a "Certified Financial Planner (tm)". That doesn't sound like the same thing, but I wonder if they offer something similar for taxes... 3. I do, but my boss is my mother-in-law and her CPA recently quit all of his clients and now she's trying to figure out how to do it all herself. (!) 6. It's not my sister, it's my aunt. She is not only very likely mentally ill, but has been unemployed for like 4 years and doesn't have a penny to her name (her mom pays her rent/utilies, and she donates plasma to get money for gas I think). She doesn't have internet or fax access and her phone service is spotty at best. It's the worst possible situation, but I didn't want to have her step down as exec and let the state manage the estate because ugh. The estate is all but settled (accounts have been passed to me) but all that is left is the tax forms that trickle in. 2 so far, hopefully no more. Edit: Is a LTC only a thing in Oregon?? Google won't show me anything else wtf. Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 03:03 on Feb 7, 2014 |
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Feb 7, 2014 02:22
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Karthe posted:I just want someone to look over my finances and tell me why I owe a poo poo ton of money every year even though I filled out a 1 on the W4. I'd rather sit down face-to-face with someone and talk it out instead of just blindly leaving things to a software package, even if the end result is the same. I have co-workers who've used H&R Block and have horror stories. Use TurboTax, for the sake of all that's good. The "end result" at H&R Block could be some underpaid schlep forgetting to process your return.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:23
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The people that work at H&R Block are, by and large, seasonal workers that essentially have Turbotax open in front of them and just ask you the questions out loud and type your answers into the computer (apologies if anyone here works at HRB). I'd be surprised if they were able to give you a good answer.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:43
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EugeneJ posted:I have co-workers who've used H&R Block and have horror stories. Use TurboTax, for the sake of all that's good. kaishek posted:The people that work at H&R Block are, by and large, seasonal workers that essentially have Turbotax open in front of them and just ask you the questions out loud and type your answers into the computer (apologies if anyone here works at HRB). I'd be surprised if they were able to give you a good answer.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:53
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Karthe posted:Well drat, that's not what I wanted to hear. What should I do, then, if I wanted someone to look over my stuff and point out possible reasons why I owe at the end of the year? Find a local independent tax person? TurboTax has free chat-assistance with every version of their software, and free phone assistance with the Deluxe version or higher: http://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/
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Feb 7, 2014 03:58
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Received a 1099-C for the short sale of my house in Maryland in March 2013. However we had moved to North Carolina in June of 2012 with the sale of the house pending. It took 7 months to close the short sale. I know I am good on the Federal side since they extended the debt relief act through 2013. I know that North Carolina did not extend that portion of the debt relief act (thanks McRory). Our only source of income is from North Carolina currently. From what I have read Maryland still considers it our primary residence since they have a house sale exception and we lived in the house for 5 years consecutively. While in North Carolina we unofficially rented from my parents and did not update our drivers licenses until after the sale. My question is does North Carolina get to claim the debt relief as income or does that get filed in Maryland as a non-resident?
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Feb 7, 2014 13:59
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Is there any way I can view what my withholdings are set at? I owe $1200 again this year, this sucks.
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Feb 7, 2014 15:53
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