Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

Erwin posted:

I'm probably a moron but to me it seems strange that the OP doesn't address filing online, as there are so many choices, and surely one is better than the other.

HR Block or TurboTax. Both free, legit, and much easier to use.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Mandalay
Mar 16, 2007

WoW Forums Refugee

kaishek posted:

HR Block or TurboTax. Both free, legit, and much easier to use.

Turbotax "Free" will still hit you for $31 for efiling the state return.

Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

Mandalay posted:

Turbotax "Free" will still hit you for $31 for efiling the state return.

Oh, right. My state has free efile anyways so I always forget that.

silvergoose
Mar 18, 2006

IT IS SAID THE TEARS OF THE BWEENIX CAN HEAL ALL WOUNDS




Taxact only costs 18 to use and file one federal/one state.

Mandalay
Mar 16, 2007

WoW Forums Refugee
I don't see what's stopping you from using Turbotax, efiling free with your federal, and simply printing out and mailing your state return.

e: amusingly the state return fee is lower with my paid version of Turbotax
e2: alternately, you could use a friend's copy of Turbotax since they're licensed (IIRC) for 5 free federal efiles.

zer0spunk
Nov 6, 2000

devil never even lived
As a freelancer, if a client chooses to pay me in cash or a personal check, and it's under the amount required by the 1099-MISC, if I report it and it adds to my gross income, but they don't, what exactly happens?

sorry for the insane run on sentence.

Basically i'm wondering, there's been times where I receive 100 cash for a quick consult or something, and I report that in my gross income, but I know there's no way that person is reporting it, and i know they aren't sending me a 1099...does this just throw some flags on their filing?

zer0spunk fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Apr 8, 2011

Mattism
May 22, 2007

zer0spunk posted:

As a freelancer, if a client chooses to pay me in cash or a personal check, and it's under the amount required by the 1099-MISC, if I report it and it adds to my gross income, but they don't, what exactly happens?
The person who paid you looks like a fool for not taking a deduction for contract labor or similarly named expense.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

zer0spunk posted:

As a freelancer, if a client chooses to pay me in cash or a personal check, and it's under the amount required by the 1099-MISC, if I report it and it adds to my gross income, but they don't, what exactly happens?

sorry for the insane run on sentence.

Basically i'm wondering, there's been times where I receive 100 cash for a quick consult or something, and I report that in my gross income, but I know there's no way that person is reporting it, and i know they aren't sending me a 1099...does this just throw some flags on their filing?

How would the IRS know who paid you if no 1099 was issued? Also, the IRS couldn't care less if someone is not claiming a deduction for something they could be, but it is their job to find people who are not reporting income that they should be.

poofactory
May 6, 2003

by T. Finn
Can collectible gains be offset by capital losses? I have a stock loss that I have been carrying over for a couple years and I want to sell some collectibles at a profit this year. Can I do this?

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

poofactory posted:

Can collectible gains be offset by capital losses? I have a stock loss that I have been carrying over for a couple years and I want to sell some collectibles at a profit this year. Can I do this?

Short answer, Yes. But there is a formula where current gains get applied to current losses first, and then your losses that were carried forward from previous years get used up. Even after the gains are completely offset, you can still take the regular $3000 in losses on top of that, and carry over the remaining until next year.

coolskillrex remix
Jan 1, 2007

gorsh
edit: probably just going to go to the guy who does my family's taxes

coolskillrex remix fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Apr 10, 2011

bimmian
Oct 16, 2008
I entered the wrong school district code when doing my state taxes, however both my current district and the one I was living in most of last year have a tax rate of 0%. Do I need to file an ammended return?

Mattism
May 22, 2007

bimmian posted:

I entered the wrong school district code when doing my state taxes, however both my current district and the one I was living in most of last year have a tax rate of 0%. Do I need to file an ammended return?
No.

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007
No longer stickied? For shame, mods. For shame.

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

AbbiTheDog posted:

No longer stickied? For shame, mods. For shame.

Fixed. How did that happen? Do we want to have poo poo post icon?

entris
Oct 22, 2008

by Y Kant Ozma Post

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Do we want to have poo poo post icon?

No. It demeans you, Abbi, and furu; ya'll are doing God's work in here.

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Fixed. How did that happen? Do we want to have poo poo post icon?

The dancing pig seems more appropriate. Like a little piggy bank.

Mandalay
Mar 16, 2007

WoW Forums Refugee
My friend told me that he paid $300 to H&R Block for a 30-minute tax return session. Is this representative of rates out there? I've always self-prepared personal returns.

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

Mandalay posted:

My friend told me that he paid $300 to H&R Block for a 30-minute tax return session. Is this representative of rates out there? I've always self-prepared personal returns.

It could be. I used to work for them; they charge per form, not based on how long it took to key in. If his stuff was all lined up, he didn’t ask too many questions, and especially if he was a prior client and his address/phone number and prior forms popped up from last year, an experienced preparer could do a fairly complex return in 30 minutes.

They charge more from mid January to about Feb 10th. Then the price goes down until about March 20th, after which they jack it up again. \/\/\/

Zeta Taskforce fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Apr 11, 2011

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!
I believe with HRB pricing also varies by region and by date. This close to the deadline I imagine that the rates are jacked up a bunch. I could be wrong about this though.

Also, most HRB offices are franchises so I don't know if perhaps this varies from office to office as well, or if it is standard policy from the head office.

furushotakeru fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Apr 11, 2011

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007

furushotakeru posted:

I believe with HRB pricing also varies by region and by date. This close to the deadline I imagine that the rates are jacked up a bunch. I could be wrong about this though.

Also, most HRB offices are franchises so I don't know if perhaps this varies from office to office as well, or if it is standard policy from the head office.

It's called "value billing," bitches. :smug:

Small White Dragon
Nov 23, 2007

No relation.

entris posted:

No. It demeans you, Abbi, and furu; ya'll are doing God's work in here.
Helping people save money on their taxes is God's work?

I guess he is a Republican after all!

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Small White Dragon posted:

Helping people save money on their taxes is God's work?

I guess he is a Republican after all!

It is all part of my multi step plan:

1) Slash taxes for billionaires for the next three years, reducing expected revenues to fall by about $860 billion.

2) As soon as this is done, make a big huge loving stink about the deficit and how we need to spend less money on government.

3) Hold the entire nation's government hostage until I secure ~$50 billion in spending cuts and then crow about how I am a champion for fiscal responsibility.

4) ???

5) Profit.


Just kidding. "???" is obviously "secure millions of dollars in contributions from rich friends as thanks for saving them billions in taxes and get re-elected until the end of time".:wotwot:

furushotakeru fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Apr 12, 2011

Pinkied_Brain
Aug 4, 2004

Can someone explain this AMT business for me?


I left a startup and exercised all my Stock Options (the company is still private).

The stock options were worth 10c when I joined, and when I left they were valued at 23c. I bought all the vested ones I had (65,000) for the original 10c, so I paid $6500. Now there is some sort of AMT thing people talk about, based on the difference (23c - 10c = 13c * 65,000 = $8,450) on my stocks which are of course worthless right now. Do I have to pay tax on that 8 grand I "made" by paying 6500?

Pinkied_Brain fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Apr 12, 2011

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007

Pinkied_Brain posted:

Can someone explain this AMT business for me?


I left a startup and exercised all my Stock Options (the company is still private).

The stock options were worth 10c when I joined, and when I left they were valued at 23c. I bought all the vested ones I had (65,000) for the original 10c, so I paid $6500. Now there is some sort of AMT thing people talk about, based on the difference (23c - 10c = 13c * 65,000 = $8,450) on my stocks which are of course worthless right now. Do I have to pay tax on that 8 grand I "made" by paying 6500?

Assuming incentive stock option (ISO)?

If ISO, you have AMT income for the difference on the amount you paid versus the value of the stock. Report on Form 6251.

You then have a higher AMT basis on your stock vs. regular tax for when you eventually sell the stock. You need to hold the ISO stock for two years to get the best tax treatment, otherwise you have a disqualifying disposition (may be ordinary income).

Translation - might want to pay someone to do your taxes this year. Git 'r' dun.

Ninja edit - if you do trigger AMT due to this, I believe they've changed the code so you can get an AMT credit carryforward for use in later years (timing difference, not permanent difference). Form 8801.

Pinkied_Brain
Aug 4, 2004

Crap, the only sentence I understood from your post is "might want to pay someone to do your taxes this year".

I don't quite understand what "trigger" AMT means, but I guess I'll just follow the advice I understood. And yes, it is ISO.

Xarthor
Nov 11, 2003

Need Ink or Toner for
Your Printer?

Check out my
Thread in SA-Mart!



Lipstick Apathy
Question:

I got sent a 1099-G from Uncle Sam because I was on unemployment for some of 2009 and through the first week of February 2010.

In the right hand corner of the 1099-G box it says 2009, and all the instructional text on the sheet refers to 2009.

As I noted, I was only on unemployment for a month and a week of 2010, but the dollar amount in box 1 on the form takes into account all of 2009 and 2010.

Should I declare this? Should I not worry about it? Should I only declare the amount I made in 2010? (Although I have no idea how I would calculate that.)

Xarthor fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Apr 13, 2011

Surreal Windmill
May 18, 2007

Wherefore set upon this magical round hill, the windmills go Round and Round as do we all
So I e-filed mid last month, and the Where's My Refund site says it was direct deposited into my account on the 8th. I call my bank yesterday and it was indeed deposited, but it tried to go into savings even though it was coded as savings (Can anyone explain this?). So instead of trying to fix something or contacting me they just like.. returned it. So now what? How do I figure out what the number is listed for them, can they even try again or do I have to wait for mail? Will they do that automatically or do I have to contact someone?

It's all very frustrating I really don't understand why my bank couldnt allow it to just go into savings or checkings or whatever I don't care it's the same person.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Surreal Windmill posted:

So I e-filed mid last month, and the Where's My Refund site says it was direct deposited into my account on the 8th. I call my bank yesterday and it was indeed deposited, but it tried to go into savings even though it was coded as savings (Can anyone explain this?). So instead of trying to fix something or contacting me they just like.. returned it. So now what? How do I figure out what the number is listed for them, can they even try again or do I have to wait for mail? Will they do that automatically or do I have to contact someone?

It's all very frustrating I really don't understand why my bank couldnt allow it to just go into savings or checkings or whatever I don't care it's the same person.

The government will automatically mail a check to the address that is on the return you filed, but it will typically take an extra 2-3 weeks to arrive.

sonicice
Oct 21, 2000

Michael J Beverage, I've got a bone to pick with you.
At the beginning of this year I started working as an independent contractor. My checks have no taxes taken out of them. Would this be a good time to start using, say, Quicken, to keep track of my expenses and the like? The thought of my tax situation come April 2012 is quite scary to me as I've always just filed a simple 1040EZ or whatever with Turbotax Free.

So, what is the best way to keep track of things like mileage, gas, and other expenses and my income that I will need at the end of the year?

EDIT: Also, can the purchase of the software be written off?

EDIT2: Do I need to pay taxes for January 2011-April 2011 by this April 18? Aaahhhhh.

sonicice fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Apr 14, 2011

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007

Surreal Windmill posted:

It's all very frustrating I really don't understand why my bank couldnt allow it to just go into savings or checkings or whatever I don't care it's the same person.

It's because banks and tax preparers get sued for silly little poo poo like this, especially if the money goes into the wrong account and the owner won't give it back.

No. 9
Feb 8, 2005

by R. Guyovich
This might be stupid, but this is my first time filing.

All my income comes from 1099-MISC. Total it comes to about $8,000 from all the forms I've got. A friend was telling me that I wouldn't have to pay the $2500 or so that I'm expecting because it's a such a small amount and I have no other income. Any truth to this or should I just expect to shell out the 1/3 of the $8,000?

No. 9 fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Apr 14, 2011

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

No. 9 posted:

This might be stupid, but this is my first time filing.

All my income comes from 1099-MISC. Total it comes to about $8,000 from all the forms I've got. A friend was telling me that I wouldn't have to pay the $2500 or so that I'm expecting because it's a such a small amount and I have no other income. Any truth to this or should I just expect to shell out the 1/3 of the $8,000?

You won't owe much, if any, income tax on that but you will still owe 15.3% of self employment tax on the net income from your consulting work, after expenses are factored in.

KnifeWrench
May 25, 2007

Practical and safe.

Bleak Gremlin
Okay, I know this is last-minute, but I'm having a problem e-filing, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

This past year, my wife went on medical disability for a month or so. As such, she has a second W-2 from the insurance company, but it shows 0 wages, and (as far as I can tell) is only present for a single item in box 12 (Code J, about $4,400).

When I submit for e-filing, now, it gets rejected with error code 0123:
"Form W-2 - Reporting Agent or Employer Name, Employer Address, Employee Name, Employee Address, Employee City, Employee State, Employee Zip Code and Wages must be present."

Should I not be including a W-2 with no wages on it? I figured they must have sent it to me for a reason. I'd rather not waste the paper and stamp printing it out just to sneak it past the computer, but I will if I have to. Or is it legit to just not include this W-2, since it has 0 wages?

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

sonicice posted:

At the beginning of this year I started working as an independent contractor. My checks have no taxes taken out of them. Would this be a good time to start using, say, Quicken, to keep track of my expenses and the like? The thought of my tax situation come April 2012 is quite scary to me as I've always just filed a simple 1040EZ or whatever with Turbotax Free.

So, what is the best way to keep track of things like mileage, gas, and other expenses and my income that I will need at the end of the year?

EDIT: Also, can the purchase of the software be written off?

EDIT2: Do I need to pay taxes for January 2011-April 2011 by this April 18? Aaahhhhh.

The proper time to start using Quicken to keep track of your expenses was when you started. The next best time is to start now and try the best you can using bank statements and receipts to work back, and update it regularly so it doesn’t ever become overwhelming. Good records will make your life so much easier.

I don’t know if there is a “best way” to keep track of your expenses other than to just do it. For mileage, you might want to keep a log in your car. Maybe there is a phone app that does it? I have an old, dumb phone but seems like there is an app for everything else. You might want to have a separate bank account with it’s own checks and debit card you use only for business expenses. FYI, you can count mileage at a standard rate per mile OR the exact costs of gas, maintenance, repairs, etc. NOT BOTH. Most people come out ahead with standard mileage, plus it’s easier.

I would consider accounting software to be a valid business expense. You do need to send estimated payments in by April 18th. Its not hard. Just download Form 1040ES and use the voucher on the bottom.

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007

Zeta Taskforce posted:

Maybe there is a phone app that does it?

There are apps that do this, haven't tried any of them though. Trying to convince my clients to give it a shot.

Insurrectum
Nov 1, 2005

I'm figuring out my taxes right now, and I have a slightly ambiguous situation. I'm a graduate student living in Maryland full time, but my state of legal residence is Pennsylvania (specifically at my parent's house, I need to keep it there so I can stay under their auto insurance). I'm not claimed as a dependent. Since I live here year round, I assume I'm a statutory resident, and thus have to pay Maryland income taxes. However, I received two W-2s this year and was taxed in both PA and MD. The majority of my income was taxed by PA, but a smaller portion was also on my MD W-2. I'm wondering exactly how I should file this year.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

AbbiTheDog posted:

There are apps that do this, haven't tried any of them though. Trying to convince my clients to give it a shot.

I like Trip Cubby for the iPhone.

zer0spunk
Nov 6, 2000

devil never even lived

Insurrectum posted:

I'm figuring out my taxes right now, and I have a slightly ambiguous situation. I'm a graduate student living in Maryland full time, but my state of legal residence is Pennsylvania (specifically at my parent's house, I need to keep it there so I can stay under their auto insurance). I'm not claimed as a dependent. Since I live here year round, I assume I'm a statutory resident, and thus have to pay Maryland income taxes. However, I received two W-2s this year and was taxed in both PA and MD. The majority of my income was taxed by PA, but a smaller portion was also on my MD W-2. I'm wondering exactly how I should file this year.

I had one employer issue me a single w2 for 2 different jobs under their payroll in 2 different states. In my case I filed state tax in both states, obviously claiming non resident status in the state I don't live in.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

taqueso
Mar 8, 2004


:911:
:wookie: :thermidor: :wookie:
:dehumanize:

:pirate::hf::tinfoil:
I am a newbie small business owner. 2009 was a loss, 2010 we had a profit and I had not been filing any estimated tax because everything looked like it was going to be near break-even. I am going to be paying estimated tax for 2011.

Is there a disadvantage to increasing the withholding on my W-4 instead of filing estimated tax (1040-ES) quarterly? The withholding method seems like it would remove a quarterly headache from my life, but there must be some kind of downside, right?

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply