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Dang, got married in late 2019 and thought we might have a windfall due to the single-person withholding vs. married-filing-jointly status. However each of us earned near the kick-in for the Additional Medicare tax, so with combined income we owe a ton of money in additional tax for that. Ugggghhhh
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Jan 22, 2020 20:13
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Academician Nomad posted:Dang, got married in late 2019 and thought we might have a windfall due to the single-person withholding vs. married-filing-jointly status. However each of us earned near the kick-in for the Additional Medicare tax, so with combined income we owe a ton of money in additional tax for that. Ugggghhhh And that's why you don't get married.
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Jan 22, 2020 21:00
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Question reference the "Blindness Deduction".... I just wrapped up my mother's taxes online with Turbotax. Very simple 1040-SR, as she just has her SS and a couple of very small pensions. She takes the standard Single Deduction, as well as the Over-65 Deduction. It's too late for Tax Year 2019, but I saw the additional "Blindness Deduction". I did some searching, but get conflicting info whether or not something has to be actually sent in, or simply kept available with her records should the Feds ask for it. I need to get her in for her eye exam this year anyway, but curious whether a statement by her Ophthalmologist is enough, or perhaps something like this form, ( https://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/documents/pdf/confirmation-of-legal-blindness.pdf )? That form seems targeted towards SSDI though. While I don't believe she has any medial issues with her eyes themselves, her Alzheimer's has caused massive Depth Perception, Field of View, and general vision issues, in addition to just interpreting what is in front of her, so I believe she'd still qualify, even though it may be more the dementia side of things affecting the vision. TLDR; What exactly do I need to keep in her records to get her this additional Blindness Deduction next year?
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Jan 22, 2020 21:56
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Academician Nomad posted:Dang, got married in late 2019 and thought we might have a windfall due to the single-person withholding vs. married-filing-jointly status. However each of us earned near the kick-in for the Additional Medicare tax, so with combined income we owe a ton of money in additional tax for that. Ugggghhhh Nice humblebrag, congratulations on your marriage and well-paying job. Try to increase your withholding or make quarterly estimated tax payments next year to prevent thia sort of thing from cropping up again. Madbullogna posted:Question reference the "Blindness Deduction".... I mean, I can quote the 1040 instructions for you, but they tell you what you need from the eye doctor and it says to keep it for your records.
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Jan 22, 2020 23:03
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If I have a W-2, no children, student loan interest, and capital gains, is there a cheaper option than paying $70 for online tax filing? It’s always been free for me in the past but I guess no longer since I finally make a decent salary.
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Jan 23, 2020 01:53
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TurboTax deluxe can be found for $40 and includes one state filing. Or the obvious — paper forms and instructions are free.
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Jan 23, 2020 02:03
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I didn't make enough to itemize this year, but I did start to pay off some small student loans. My job sent my paperwork super early so I went ahead and filed before I got my 1098-E for student loan interest. Turns out I paid about $220 in interest. Is this worth me filing an amended return, or would I only get back a few bucks? Filing single, no dependents, can't be claimed as a dependent
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Jan 23, 2020 02:33
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skaboomizzy posted:I didn't make enough to itemize this year, but I did start to pay off some small student loans. My job sent my paperwork super early so I went ahead and filed before I got my 1098-E for student loan interest. Turns out I paid about $220 in interest. Is this worth me filing an amended return, or would I only get back a few bucks? Just a couple bucks.
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Jan 23, 2020 02:42
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Epi Lepi posted:Just a couple bucks. Cool. Cheap lesson for next year, at least.
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Jan 23, 2020 02:53
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:TurboTax deluxe can be found for $40 and includes one state filing. I like free tax usa which costs $15 for state filing and you can find coupons and cash back too It's at the least a nice calculator that you can then use too fill out forms!!
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Jan 23, 2020 03:01
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Malcolm XML posted:I like free tax usa which costs $15 for state filing and you can find coupons and cash back too
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Jan 23, 2020 04:10
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There's also the free file fillable forms on the IRS website but it doesn't help you with the state taxes (if any).
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Jan 23, 2020 04:33
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For several years I just did it all in TurboTax online, did their document preview at the end, and transcribed it all into the paper forms. Costed a stamped envelope. gently caress you Intuit and congress.
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Jan 23, 2020 04:43
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moana posted:Not quite - wage earners only have to pay half of it. The other half is paid by your employer. When you're self-employed, you are your own employer, so you get to pay both sides, woo. I always understood the deduction you got from SE tax when self employed (you take half the amount of SE tax you pay on the return and subtract it from your income above the line) was supposed to compensate for the whole employer/employee portion thing of social security tax. Not sure admittedly, could be wrong and honestly wouldn't surprise me if the math doesn't work out right that way anyway. Lord of Garbagemen posted:You will need to consider the need to issue 1099s for your rental as well. Rule of thumb $600 or more in a year for a service (not materials) , you don't need to issue to corporations, attorneys get them no matter what. Depending on whether you have some sort of rental management service, they may report any rental income they take in on a 1099-MISC to you as well. If you do have to file 1099-MISC form(s) for people yourself, usually you can find the software/paperwork to file them in Staples I know, or get a preparer to help if you aren't sure how. Also for a rental property, you want to know your basis (which is usually how much you paid for the house originally plus the cost of any additions, if any) and the date it was officially available to rent; you'll need those to work out depreciation expense. CelestialScribe posted:Obviously asking an accountant as well, but question: I *believe* that is this case but I would definitely ask somebody more familiar with (read: not on the opposite coast from like me) California, they have their own way of doing everything tax-wise to put it mildly. Hoodwinker posted:Yeah, this. Please don't give TurboTax or HR Block your money. Always being down on my livelihood around here! 
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Jan 23, 2020 05:15
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MadDogMike posted:I always understood the deduction you got from SE tax when self employed (you take half the amount of SE tax you pay on the return and subtract it from your income above the line) was supposed to compensate for the whole employer/employee portion thing of social security tax. Not sure admittedly, could be wrong and honestly wouldn't surprise me if the math doesn't work out right that way anyway.
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Jan 23, 2020 08:30
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I'm just a single, no dependent filer. This new job was the first with healthcare and I used an HSA, is there anything special I need to do?
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Jan 23, 2020 16:22
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Uno Venova posted:I'm just a single, no dependent filer. This new job was the first with healthcare and I used an HSA, is there anything special I need to do?
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Jan 23, 2020 16:23
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Uno Venova posted:I'm just a single, no dependent filer. This new job was the first with healthcare and I used an HSA, is there anything special I need to do? HSAs are pretty simple anyway. Deduct anything you put in post-tax, don't contribute more than allowed, don't withdraw for anything other than qualified medical expenses, done.
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Jan 23, 2020 16:51
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Hoodwinker posted:Nope. You should be able to take care of everything using FreeTaxUSA. It sounds scammy as hell but it's a legit filing service. if u dont like the dumb name there's always taxhawk which is the same thing
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Jan 23, 2020 20:01
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Is credit karma still doing free tax software in exchange for selling your data to everyone?
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Jan 23, 2020 20:42
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Question about solo 401ks. I had a side gig that brought me about 30k of profit this year. I also have a regular job with a 401k equivalent. I know for a solo there is both an employee and employer contribution section. I understand the employer side limitations (25% of profit after self employment tax deduction). For the employee side, it's just whatever I had left in my 401k contribution "bucket"? So if contributed 10k into my regular 401k, I should be able to contribute 9,500 as an employee to my solo 401k?
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Jan 24, 2020 03:09
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IOwnCalculus posted:HSAs are pretty simple anyway. Deduct anything you put in post-tax, don't contribute more than allowed, don't withdraw for anything other than qualified medical expenses, done. One thing that was confusing to me at least, a new HSA person, is that the IRS HSA form tells you not to deduct HSA contributions which are taken out of your paycheck. I got worried about this, but I found that the amount of my HSA contributions deducted from my paychecks wasn’t included as wages in my W2, so it ended up being consistent. It did puzzle me for a while though.
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Jan 24, 2020 14:34
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silence_kit posted:One thing that was confusing to me at least, a new HSA person, is that the IRS HSA form tells you not to deduct HSA contributions which are taken out of your paycheck. I got worried about this, but I found that the amount of my HSA contributions deducted from my paychecks wasn’t included as wages in my W2, so it ended up being consistent. It did puzzle me for a while though. Yeah it confused the hell out me the first time around. Another way to think of it is that these are effectively employer contributions that reduce the amount of money your company pays you, so you never really received the income in the first place. Something to remember is that HSA contributions via payroll deductions bypass FICA tax, whereas direct contributions (non-payroll) do NOT bypass FICA tax (i.e. you deduct non-payroll contributions from your income taxes, but it's already been hit by FICA tax and you don't get that back). The IRS doesn't care, but it cuts in to your savings. So always do payroll deduction for HSAs if you can.
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Jan 24, 2020 14:52
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what's the deal with free tax usa? is it legit?
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Jan 24, 2020 16:54
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My understanding is that it's legit, but maybe a little janky/effortful - I've not used it but have a few clients who have asked about it and that's their opinion. Free tax tools should be getting beefed up after this year though, hopefully: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/01/after-turbotax-shenanigans-irs-floats-possibility-of-offering-rival-service/
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Jan 24, 2020 17:54
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black.lion posted:My understanding is that it's legit, but maybe a little janky/effortful - I've not used it but have a few clients who have asked about it and that's their opinion. Intuit hid their free file option from Google despite that being the entire reason the irs was leaving them alone? Pure greed.
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Jan 24, 2020 18:00
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silvergoose posted:Intuit hid their free file option from Google despite that being the entire reason the irs was leaving them alone? Pure greed. ...why do you think the tax system remains complicated, despite massive calls for simplification and politicians promising to help? edit: the tax prep industry has a massive lobby. They do everything in their power to prevent the government from simplifying things or offering free options. They thrive on complexity. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Jan 24, 2020 |
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Jan 24, 2020 18:52
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And it should be noted that the IRS as an agency has actually pursued free simple tax filing and also pre-filled auto generated tax returns based upon known income in the past. And each time lobbyists and Congress put a stop to it: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/07/18/tax-filing-congress-irs-000683
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Jan 24, 2020 19:09
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DaveSauce posted:...why do you think the tax system remains complicated, despite massive calls for simplification and politicians promising to help? Oh I know all that. I didn't know that they had agreed to give people free filing with some limits, and then work hard to make sure people didn't even see those options.
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Jan 24, 2020 19:12
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silvergoose posted:Oh I know all that. I didn't know that they had agreed to give people free filing with some limits, and then work hard to make sure people didn't even see those options. Yup, they are a bunch of shitlords. They agreed as a compromise with the IRS, where the IRS agreed not to pursue creating a free version in exchange for letting the market supply free options. Basically, there was a recognized need for a free filing option, and it's better for Intuit to give away their own option than to let the IRS come up with one that would compete directly with them. So they did it, ate the cost, and then decided to bury it using the grade-school logic of, "but I DID give a free option, just because you can't find it doesn't mean it's not there!" At the end of the day it's a slap on the wrist. The IRS's funding has been cut so much that they can't even enforce their rules, let alone develop a free filing option. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Jan 24, 2020 |
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Jan 24, 2020 19:19
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They actually dropped the prohibition last month when they updated the agreement. Who knows if Trump’s IRS will actually try to do something good though. https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-reforms-free-file-program-drops-agreement-not-to-compete-with-turbotax
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Jan 24, 2020 22:56
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silvergoose posted:Intuit hid their free file option from Google despite that being the entire reason the irs was leaving them alone? Pure greed. Also if you went directly to their websites, you couldn't use the free version. The only way to use the free version was to use the link from the IRS website. Also the free version won't export data to the unfree version or vice versa.
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Jan 24, 2020 23:06
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Badger of Basra posted:They actually dropped the prohibition last month when they updated the agreement. Who knows if Trump’s IRS will actually try to do something good though. yeah, I guess that's what I meant by "slap on the wrist." I'm presuming they dropped the agreement in retaliation for Intuit being a dick, but honestly the IRS has no resources to do anything about it even if there were political will.
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Jan 24, 2020 23:08
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Does anyone have a link to a good tutorial on what to do about “household employee” ie my nanny? I know I have to issue a W2 by the end of January. Is the IRS document on this useable without outside help? Thanks
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Jan 25, 2020 03:46
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gvibes posted:Does anyone have a link to a good tutorial on what to do about “household employee” ie my nanny? I know I have to issue a W2 by the end of January. Is the IRS document on this useable without outside help? Circular E. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15 It's not too hard, but you will probably need to spend some time going over it.
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Jan 25, 2020 18:07
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IRS goon here. Please e-file so when I audit you I don’t have to crawl through an incomplete Unisys printout trying to piece together what your W2s were.
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Jan 25, 2020 19:46
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Discendo Vox posted:IRS goon here. Please e-file so when I audit you I don’t have to crawl through an incomplete Unisys printout trying to piece together what your W2s were. How are you even supposed to be able to do you job when...... Oh right, the people controlling the money don't want you to be able to do your job.
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Jan 25, 2020 20:42
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SlapActionJackson posted:Circular E. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15
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Jan 25, 2020 22:05
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Motronic posted:How are you even supposed to be able to do you job when...... Just to be clear it doesn't mean we somehow don't wind up looking at your W2s, there's no One Weird Trick here. It means we have to both make you provide copies of them to us, and, sometimes request that a storehouse mail us your original return.
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Jan 26, 2020 02:02
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Discendo Vox posted:IRS goon here. Please e-file so when I audit you I don’t have to crawl through an incomplete Unisys printout trying to piece together what your W2s were. What, you guys don’t just demand we re-send the W-2 forms like the states do at the drop of a hat?  . Also I’m doing a bunch of W-7 ITIN applications so sorry, gotta paper file by the rules there.
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Jan 26, 2020 02:05
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