Author Topic: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread  (Read 35203 times)

johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #50 on: January 23, 2015, 02:49:57 PM »
But that was 2014.  In a different thread, I found out other ppl have tax spreadsheets.  I figured this is brilliant! I put in all of our deductions/exemptions/student loan interest/etc. and ballparked where we should be for 2015.  I wanted 0 allowances b/c my DH is in a new crazy job situation, and I figured we can adjust to having more take home pay later this year (yay!) when I can better estimate our gross income.  Well, the woman who does our payroll is my mother.  And she thinks mothers know best :p  So she put in 2 allowances because we're married and there's 2 of us.  This coincided with a raise, and I figured the increase in take home pay was due to the raise.  Actually, half of the increase is due to those 2 allowances.  So I very nicely explained to my own mother that I had actually filled out the W-4 form correctly and pretty please change it in the payroll software.  And now I'll have to carefully watch my paychecks to be sure she doesn't change it back.  So 2015 could turn out interestingly.
The reasoning behind allowances means basically nothing. The correct way to do it is to project your 2015 taxes (using an adjusted version of the 2014 tax spreadsheet), figure out how the tax withholding should be split amongst you and your spouse (most logical one is income proportionally, but the IRS doesn't care if you have all the withholding and your spouse has none), and then look up the employer withholding tables here http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf to see how they are going to withhold.
This assumes that they are going to use the 2015 tables properly. They may be a little bit off (my employer always is). Then adjust accordingly.

dandarc

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #51 on: January 23, 2015, 02:56:02 PM »
Still waiting on my 1099s, but I think we'll get a $2700 refund if we go ahead and recharacterize some of our IRA contributions to traditional.  Didn't think the income would come in where that would be possible, but low and behold, we've got more tax-deferred space to play with than I thought we would.

LucyBIT

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #52 on: January 23, 2015, 03:12:35 PM »
I used the IRS calculator several times last year to adjust my withholding, only to realize at the end of the year that my husband never checked "married', and his employer was withholding at the single rate.

Since I was thinking this was going to be a collection of "I messed up and now I'm getting a refund!" stories rather than tactical fanny pack stories, here's my contribution: $4,000 refund, because I forgot to account for a second kid, born in April. I'm just going to blame pregnancy brain for that huge oversight.

How does one forget (a) they are married or (b) they are pregnant and having a baby? Makes me believe that saying of "one day I'll forget my head*" has some grain of truth to it!!!

*There's probably a tax deduction for that somewhere in the 32,000 pages of Australian tax law.

I just realized a few days ago that neither my husband nor I updated our W4s when we got married in August. I really have no excuse other than that I do honestly forget I'm married now; we've been together for 5 years and living together for 3.5, and it's not much different than before.

I did not know that optimizing one's withholdings was a thing. But that's why I'm here! Thanks, guys!

CAtoTX

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #53 on: January 23, 2015, 07:07:12 PM »
Accountant here...  I get to play this game several times a year doing tax projections for clients.  It's supremely satisfying when I compete the return the next year and it is very close.  Last year I actually got a "perfect score".  I had a fairly complex client that ended up getting no refund and owing nothing.  I shared my accomplishment with friends and nobody seemed impressed.  I don't know why.
LOL - reminds me of one of my DH's t-shirts "Engineers aren't boring - they just get excited about boring things!"

Facepunch me, if you like.  We're probably getting a refund in excess of $8k (don't have all the paperwork yet).  Neither of us is working, but we sold stock options and that's W-2 income so they withheld.

We also didn't take the advance ACA subsidy.  We get 1.5% back on our current credit card, but this next year we'll be using that over $1k/month to meet minimum spends on credit cards or for travel hacking.

It's a good thing you didn't take the advance ACA subsidy.  If you sold stock options, you may have an income higher than you expected, and if you still qualify for the subsidy, it may be less than you thought. 

robotclown

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #54 on: January 23, 2015, 07:10:35 PM »
Looks like the 2015 tax brackets/deductions/exemptions are out already.  I'm projected to owe them $5.  Nice.

CAtoTX

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #55 on: January 23, 2015, 07:12:19 PM »
You haven't lived until you've volunteered with VITA (the low-income free tax preparation service provided by the IRS) and you've done about 10 returns in a row...and everyone is getting earned income tax credit and $3,000 refunds.  You tell them and every single time they cheer and shout, "Hooray!  Big screen TV!!" 

johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #56 on: January 23, 2015, 07:38:43 PM »
You haven't lived until you've volunteered with VITA (the low-income free tax preparation service provided by the IRS) and you've done about 10 returns in a row...and everyone is getting earned income tax credit and $3,000 refunds.  You tell them and every single time they cheer and shout, "Hooray!  Big screen TV!!"
One of my friends volunteered with VITA and had one lady come in and ask how much do I need to contribute to an IRA so I don't owe the gubmnt nothing? (Retirement Savings Contributions Credit).

He says she was the one of the few intelligent people he helped.

geekette

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #57 on: January 23, 2015, 07:41:10 PM »
Accountant here...  I get to play this game several times a year doing tax projections for clients.  It's supremely satisfying when I compete the return the next year and it is very close.  Last year I actually got a "perfect score".  I had a fairly complex client that ended up getting no refund and owing nothing.  I shared my accomplishment with friends and nobody seemed impressed.  I don't know why.
LOL - reminds me of one of my DH's t-shirts "Engineers aren't boring - they just get excited about boring things!"

Facepunch me, if you like.  We're probably getting a refund in excess of $8k (don't have all the paperwork yet).  Neither of us is working, but we sold stock options and that's W-2 income so they withheld.

We also didn't take the advance ACA subsidy.  We get 1.5% back on our current credit card, but this next year we'll be using that over $1k/month to meet minimum spends on credit cards or for travel hacking.

It's a good thing you didn't take the advance ACA subsidy.  If you sold stock options, you may have an income higher than you expected, and if you still qualify for the subsidy, it may be less than you thought.

Well, we didn't sell that much! 

Timmmy

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #58 on: January 24, 2015, 07:52:07 AM »
You haven't lived until you've volunteered with VITA (the low-income free tax preparation service provided by the IRS) and you've done about 10 returns in a row...and everyone is getting earned income tax credit and $3,000 refunds.  You tell them and every single time they cheer and shout, "Hooray!  Big screen TV!!"

I did some work with VITA in college and this is all too true. 

Elle 8

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #59 on: January 24, 2015, 10:01:17 AM »
I've gone from Head of Household with one dependent and the education credits that went along with her, to Single with no dependents.  My rough draft shows I'm going to owe about $800.  I did reduce my allowances, but I guess it wasn't enough.  Hopefully I missed something and it will actually be closer to zero.

caliq

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #60 on: January 24, 2015, 10:30:39 AM »
Well, this summer we got married and then DH's disability got so bad he couldn't work.  So he paid taxes in the 25% bracket for half a year, but earned half of what he should have.  That plus my education credits and student loan interest deduction, plus standard deductions pushed us to a taxable income in the low 4 digits.  Getting a face-punch worthy federal refund of $3800 and a state refund of $1700.  And putting it all towards debt immediately :)

I don't think there's any way I could have planned for the disability thing, or even the getting married thing, so I'm not gonna be too hard on myself about it.  Next year should be interesting with my low student employment income and itemized taxes (we bought a house last January so only paid half property taxes this year, making the standard deduction just barely better -- next year I'll have to itemize). 

Pooperman

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #61 on: January 24, 2015, 10:33:10 AM »
Although I can't submit my return until the 5th of February (boo), I will be getting a refund of $2k despite my best estimation.

ender

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #62 on: January 24, 2015, 11:33:26 AM »
Sadly this year it will be close to a $6,000 tax refund.  My own fault, I've fixed it for this year.

This will be close to me, too...

NoraLenderbee

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #63 on: January 24, 2015, 02:14:19 PM »
Well, this summer we got married and then DH's disability got so bad he couldn't work.  So he paid taxes in the 25% bracket for half a year, but earned half of what he should have.  That plus my education credits and student loan interest deduction, plus standard deductions pushed us to a taxable income in the low 4 digits.  Getting a face-punch worthy federal refund of $3800 and a state refund of $1700.  And putting it all towards debt immediately :)

I don't think there's any way I could have planned for the disability thing, or even the getting married thing, so I'm not gonna be too hard on myself about it. 


You don't deserve any face punches. Your circumstances changed a lot, part of the change was unpredictable, so your tax bill changed dramatically. That's not anything to feel bad about. Now you know what to expect and can plan for next year. And you were able to pay off more debt!

Getting a tax refund at all doesn't seem anti-Mustachian to me, really. True, that money wasn't put to the best use by being loaned to the government. On the other hand, it's money that you saved without even knowing it. You lived on less without feeling it. Isn't that what we try to do?

Now if you treat the refund as whoopee money and blow it on something ridiculous while your hair is on fire, that's facepunch-worthy.

MoneyCat

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #64 on: January 24, 2015, 02:34:14 PM »
I do my own taxes, so it's going to be interesting this year.  We should be getting a major tax credit for mortgage interest on our house, plus credit for charitable giving.  Last year, we underpaid our state taxes, so hopefully I calculated things better for this year.  I'm impressed by people who get $0 back.  That is some wizardry right there.

caliq

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #65 on: January 24, 2015, 02:44:39 PM »
Well, this summer we got married and then DH's disability got so bad he couldn't work.  So he paid taxes in the 25% bracket for half a year, but earned half of what he should have.  That plus my education credits and student loan interest deduction, plus standard deductions pushed us to a taxable income in the low 4 digits.  Getting a face-punch worthy federal refund of $3800 and a state refund of $1700.  And putting it all towards debt immediately :)

I don't think there's any way I could have planned for the disability thing, or even the getting married thing, so I'm not gonna be too hard on myself about it. 


You don't deserve any face punches. Your circumstances changed a lot, part of the change was unpredictable, so your tax bill changed dramatically. That's not anything to feel bad about. Now you know what to expect and can plan for next year. And you were able to pay off more debt!

Getting a tax refund at all doesn't seem anti-Mustachian to me, really. True, that money wasn't put to the best use by being loaned to the government. On the other hand, it's money that you saved without even knowing it. You lived on less without feeling it. Isn't that what we try to do?

Now if you treat the refund as whoopee money and blow it on something ridiculous while your hair is on fire, that's facepunch-worthy.

Thanks for the kind words :)  I promise the refund will go straight to responsible things! 
« Last Edit: January 24, 2015, 05:04:10 PM by caliq »

CAtoTX

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #66 on: January 24, 2015, 05:25:32 PM »
I'm getting a pretty big refund this year, thanks to pre-paying property tax and going over the standard deduction, education tax credits & savings bond interest exclusion for higher education expenses.  It's going to become my emergency fund.  If I'd saved it in my savings account over the year instead I'd have made...maybe $3 in interest. 


I am already looking at 2015...I'll use the standard deduction this year and push Schedule A deductions into 2016.  I got a raise but increased my 401K to contribute 100% of the raise so that shouldn't affect my income tax.





NumberJohnny5

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #67 on: January 24, 2015, 06:11:54 PM »
I have no idea how to adjust withholding for Australian taxes. Past years we've had a pretty big refund (over $5k). This year should be less, since my wife hasn't worked any the past six months (she may go back to work, that'd give income plus tax withholding).

US requires us to file a tax return, even though we don't live there and have no US income. That's ok, I claim the amount we made, and the amount of taxes paid (they're higher in Australia), and since there's income showing we're eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA (if we took the standard "not living in the US" income exemption, no income would show and we couldn't contribute to the Roth...admittedly, it would make tax time a LOT less complicated).

Also, we somehow still qualify for our child tax credits. Past years that's been $1k per child, so I'm hoping for a $3k tax refund!

RetiredAt63

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #68 on: January 24, 2015, 06:29:00 PM »
I'm hoping I don't owe too much.  I cashed the last mutual funds for DD's education and they will count as income - but she will me back for pay the extra income tax that causes, so it will look worse than it is.  My major pension over-deducts (Quebec pension, Ontario resident, can't fix it), my dividends under-deduct to compensate, and my small pension and my CPP should be about right.  Next year (really this year, 2015) should be a lot simpler, and more accurate.  I start OAS (all this money coming in) and I have already arranged a reasonable withholding for it.

I have my TurboTax installed, but legally no-one has to send T4s and T5s until the end of February, so I am in wait mode.

Travis

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #69 on: January 24, 2015, 06:57:19 PM »
This year is very complex for tax calculations with a lot of new stuff for me.  I had only a single month of taxable income along with tuition, cashed out several mutual funds to start up a couple Vanguard funds, and will experience foreign tax for the first time.  I'm not 100% on all the paperwork I will require, but I know I'll have to wait until the middle of February for it all to be available.

lizzie

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #70 on: January 25, 2015, 06:02:39 AM »
I'll be getting my first ever tax refund this year courtesy of my wife giving birth in late December. I wanted to make sure that little tax deduction was delivered before I changed any withholding.

Lol and congratulations. My second little tax deduction was born in the evening of December 31 (fourteen years ago). Unfortunately that made it so we had to pay another insurance deductible for the year that had just ended, to cover the baby!

Freedom2016

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #71 on: January 25, 2015, 10:29:43 AM »
Looks like the 2015 tax brackets/deductions/exemptions are out already.  I'm projected to owe them $5.  Nice.

? What do the 2015 figures have to do with your 2014 taxes due?

We massively overpaid our 2013 taxes last year, which we rolled forward as credits for 2014. Our CPA is trying to get us to $0 owe / $0 owed but we have a complicated situation so it's going to be hard to get that close.

robotclown

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #72 on: January 25, 2015, 04:28:20 PM »

 What do the 2015 figures have to do with your 2014 taxes due?


Nothing, just looking ahead.  I'm doing my 2014 taxes right now, and I screwed up a little in my spreadsheets, because the return is less than I expected.  A closer look shows I counted all of the long-term gain at 0% and the short-term losses as a subtraction from income, and forgot that they offset. 

Grand total return: $92.  Woo!

Apples

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #73 on: January 25, 2015, 05:48:55 PM »
I forgot to mention that it's also so high because the woman who does payroll for our small business accidentally put in 10 allowances last spring instead of 1.
Having way too many allowances than intended would cause your refund to be incredibly low and/or negative. Allowances decrease the amount of withholding.

Yeah Johnny847, I do realize that.  We accidentally overcorrected for the error, plus all the other issues, which leads to the large refund now.  I should have clarified within my post that I realize that.  It was more just examples of how we failed at income taxes last year.  Thanks though.

Rural

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #74 on: January 25, 2015, 05:50:30 PM »
Still waiting for a 1099, but my estimate has me getting a refund of$1,000 and my husband paying $850. Not a bad overall balance, that.

Goldielocks

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #75 on: January 25, 2015, 05:58:45 PM »
I'm still punching my face because I'm going with an accountant due to a crazy year in the tax world (move, working in two states, working out of state, buying a house). I figure that they can make their pay this year.

The issue is that I just got a paper form from them. WTF. This is more complicated than me going through Turbo Tax or TaxAct.

Ha ha!  I found that too, with Deloitte doing my first US tax return when the company relocated me ....   the pages and pages and pages to itemize and detail not only minutae of my investments, but also the days in the US that year, the move,  and to know that some clerk would likely have to re-enter it all.   It was a bit obscene for taxes compared to doing them myself previously.

Emilyngh

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #76 on: January 25, 2015, 06:10:30 PM »
Just did our taxes yesterday and we'll be getting back $2,000 in total from the state and feds.

In theory I'd like to get closer to $0, but in reality, this is about as close as we're going to get with how income, credit eligible for, etc varies year to year.

johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #77 on: January 25, 2015, 07:42:51 PM »
Still waiting for a 1099, but my estimate has me getting a refund of$1,000 and my husband paying $850. Not a bad overall balance, that.
Are you guys married filing separately or something? I'm a bit confused how you are separating you getting a refund and your husband owing tax.

notmyhand

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #78 on: January 25, 2015, 08:08:04 PM »
My husband and I are both self-employed and work with a ton of independent contractors.  April is always a sad month as people see what they owe, then proceed to freak out and borrow money, file for extensions, or put the return under their bed and never send it in.  This same thing happens in October when the extended returns are due.  People know they should be paying estimated taxes and they know what they will owe, yet somehow it always seems like a giant surprise.  I know of people who have failed to file for numerous years now as they never seem to have the money, despite my urging to file and set up a payment plan. 

As for us, we are hitting the marriage penalty this year (got married in 2014) but will come out with around a $200 refund.  Increasing estimated tax payments for 2015 though is never fun.

Rural

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #79 on: January 26, 2015, 06:36:47 PM »
Still waiting for a 1099, but my estimate has me getting a refund of$1,000 and my husband paying $850. Not a bad overall balance, that.
Are you guys married filing separately or something? I'm a bit confused how you are separating you getting a refund and your husband owing tax.


You're not that confused; you got it in one. :-) We file married filing separately because of other complex financial considerations. This year may actually be the last we do that; I run things both ways and I think the advantages are ceasing to outweigh the disadvantages.

johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #80 on: January 26, 2015, 06:48:29 PM »
Still waiting for a 1099, but my estimate has me getting a refund of$1,000 and my husband paying $850. Not a bad overall balance, that.
Are you guys married filing separately or something? I'm a bit confused how you are separating you getting a refund and your husband owing tax.


You're not that confused; you got it in one. :-) We file married filing separately because of other complex financial considerations. This year may actually be the last we do that; I run things both ways and I think the advantages are ceasing to outweigh the disadvantages.
Ah gotcha.
Yea married filing separately seems to disqualify you from a lot of credits and deductions...it can help you avoid the "marriage penalty" but sometimes the credits and deductions are worth more than the marriage penalty.
Then again there are other reasons to file separately, which can get complex, like you said.

brandino29

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #81 on: January 30, 2015, 12:37:01 PM »
I just had a pretty interesting experience doing this year's taxes (well, last year's I suppose). 

Last night I did them using the H&R Block software, got to the end but didn't submit.  This morning I did them using TurboTax to see if the numbers came out the same.  Then this afternoon I did them a third time on TaxACT.  Here were my results:

H&R Block: Federal refund $2,210, state owe $139, cost to file both $59
Turbotax: Federal refund, $2,232, state owe $112, cost to file both $92
TaxACT: Federal refund, $2,337, state owe $91, cost to file both $20

Needless to say I went with TaxACT. 

I do find it somewhat disconcerting though that putting in the exact same information across all three platforms came up with different figures in every instance.  Though, they were all close enough that I feel I'm safe in the event of an audit.  Plus, huge props to TaxACT for providing the same service for significantly cheaper (but I will admit it wasn't quite as user friendly as the other two, but still wasn't bad, and they got me more money back anyway.)

marty998

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #82 on: January 30, 2015, 01:35:22 PM »
I have no idea how to adjust withholding for Australian taxes. Past years we've had a pretty big refund (over $5k). This year should be less, since my wife hasn't worked any the past six months (she may go back to work, that'd give income plus tax withholding).

US requires us to file a tax return, even though we don't live there and have no US income. That's ok, I claim the amount we made, and the amount of taxes paid (they're higher in Australia), and since there's income showing we're eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA (if we took the standard "not living in the US" income exemption, no income would show and we couldn't contribute to the Roth...admittedly, it would make tax time a LOT less complicated).

Also, we somehow still qualify for our child tax credits. Past years that's been $1k per child, so I'm hoping for a $3k tax refund!

PAYG withholding variation. If you can accurately gauge where you'll end up (for example of you only work half the year, or have a heavily negatively geared property) you can ask to adjust the tax withheld on your pay.

https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/PAYG-withholding-e-variation/

Be careful, if you have a payable balance at the end of the year, chances are the ATO will not let you do it again the next year.

marty998

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #83 on: January 30, 2015, 01:41:26 PM »
I just had a pretty interesting experience doing this year's taxes (well, last year's I suppose). 

Last night I did them using the H&R Block software, got to the end but didn't submit.  This morning I did them using TurboTax to see if the numbers came out the same.  Then this afternoon I did them a third time on TaxACT.  Here were my results:

H&R Block: Federal refund $2,210, state owe $139, cost to file both $59
Turbotax: Federal refund, $2,232, state owe $112, cost to file both $92
TaxACT: Federal refund, $2,337, state owe $91, cost to file both $20

Needless to say I went with TaxACT. 

I do find it somewhat disconcerting though that putting in the exact same information across all three platforms came up with different figures in every instance.  Though, they were all close enough that I feel I'm safe in the event of an audit.  Plus, huge props to TaxACT for providing the same service for significantly cheaper (but I will admit it wasn't quite as user friendly as the other two, but still wasn't bad, and they got me more money back anyway.)

Thats surely not right. Does the IRS automatically accept it, or do they amend to what the actual tax payable/refundable should be?

Tax rules should result in the same outcome for the same data. If the 3 software providers are coming up with different numbers then their developers must be interpreting the rules differently.

I wonder if that is simply a marketing differentiation...."We guarantee you the best refund*"

*Software not 100% accurate. We accept no liability blah blah blah

Timmmy

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #84 on: January 30, 2015, 02:08:34 PM »
I just had a pretty interesting experience doing this year's taxes (well, last year's I suppose). 

Last night I did them using the H&R Block software, got to the end but didn't submit.  This morning I did them using TurboTax to see if the numbers came out the same.  Then this afternoon I did them a third time on TaxACT.  Here were my results:

H&R Block: Federal refund $2,210, state owe $139, cost to file both $59
Turbotax: Federal refund, $2,232, state owe $112, cost to file both $92
TaxACT: Federal refund, $2,337, state owe $91, cost to file both $20

Needless to say I went with TaxACT. 

I do find it somewhat disconcerting though that putting in the exact same information across all three platforms came up with different figures in every instance.  Though, they were all close enough that I feel I'm safe in the event of an audit.  Plus, huge props to TaxACT for providing the same service for significantly cheaper (but I will admit it wasn't quite as user friendly as the other two, but still wasn't bad, and they got me more money back anyway.)

My suggestion would be to go with the accurate one.  At least two of them are wrong.  Maybe all three.  If you can't explain why they came up with different results and determine the right one, you need to see a professional. 

johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #85 on: January 30, 2015, 02:31:15 PM »
I just had a pretty interesting experience doing this year's taxes (well, last year's I suppose). 

Last night I did them using the H&R Block software, got to the end but didn't submit.  This morning I did them using TurboTax to see if the numbers came out the same.  Then this afternoon I did them a third time on TaxACT.  Here were my results:

H&R Block: Federal refund $2,210, state owe $139, cost to file both $59
Turbotax: Federal refund, $2,232, state owe $112, cost to file both $92
TaxACT: Federal refund, $2,337, state owe $91, cost to file both $20

Needless to say I went with TaxACT. 

I do find it somewhat disconcerting though that putting in the exact same information across all three platforms came up with different figures in every instance.  Though, they were all close enough that I feel I'm safe in the event of an audit.  Plus, huge props to TaxACT for providing the same service for significantly cheaper (but I will admit it wasn't quite as user friendly as the other two, but still wasn't bad, and they got me more money back anyway.)

My suggestion would be to go with the accurate one.  At least two of them are wrong.  Maybe all three.  If you can't explain why they came up with different results and determine the right one, you need to see a professional.
+1.
This is an example of why you shouldn't use tax software. There is a possibility that it is wrong, and if you don't understand the tax code because you've only ever used software to file your taxes, you're not going to know which one is right.

The IRS isn't going to care what the tax software told you. The tax software company may have some kind of backing for you, but the IRS (should) still come after you if it's wrong.

brandino29

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #86 on: January 30, 2015, 03:28:43 PM »
Certainly possible that I'm a complete jerk for thinking this way but it honestly doesn't bother me in the end.  They were all very close which indicates to me there was no huge anomaly between any of the three.  And the fact that our AGI for the year was around $67,000 with no stock maneuvers or foreign accounts in the mix means we're at an extremely low risk for being audited.  So, sort of the way that I see it, on the off-chance we were to get audited, I feel comfortable knowing there's no doubt we were in the ballpark and wouldn't get stuck with some huge, unexpected tax bill. 

MsPeacock

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #87 on: January 30, 2015, 04:12:34 PM »
Well, my refund is huge - but but but there is a good reason. For many years ex-DH did not have his withholdings straight and we would end up owing 15k in taxes. Every.single.year. And he would be surprised, shocked, and angry over owing taxes - and yet not adjust his withholdings. This went on for many years. We separated and he got the surprise of his life when we filed - could do it seperately (I owed ~1k, he owed ~18k) or joint (total tax bill about ~12k. He felt I should pay 6k of it even though we weren't together that year).  Nope.

Anyhow - what followed was several years of complicated taxes, including selling my rental property to pay legal fees. I owed 26k in taxes last year due to that sale.

This is my first year of 'simple' taxes - and I am getting 7k back. I have already adjusted my withholdings for 2015 and am looking forward to substantially larger paychecks and hopefully either a very small refund or very small tax bill next year. That refund is going right into by debt snowball and will make a nice dent.

Oscar_C

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #88 on: January 31, 2015, 09:13:33 AM »
As a Tax Preparer, I'm exposed to a bunch of facepunch worthy things. Mostly I'm hearing about how people will spend their refunds. But what bothers me most is that our clients ask for advanced refunds, checks or debit cards. It's insane because we tell the fees are almost $100 and yet they do it anyways, just to get it a few days faster.

I wouldn't mind so much if the fees were less, like $15 like another bank product we have (but we can't use it due to some fraud that happened before I was hired).

ms

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #89 on: January 31, 2015, 10:33:05 AM »
I'm getting a big refund due to switching employers mid year and so having an EI and CPP overpayment refunded.

Since I'm on Maternity leave I'll probably just hold onto the money to see if any emergencies come up during the year. I don't have an emergency fund.

But overall I'm feeling pretty good about it as this is the first year that I'm not paying down my LOC with the refund (as it's at zero) and also I was able to put 22% of my pay to RRSPS while with the new employer.

teen persuasion

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #90 on: February 02, 2015, 12:29:06 PM »
I just had a pretty interesting experience doing this year's taxes (well, last year's I suppose). 

Last night I did them using the H&R Block software, got to the end but didn't submit.  This morning I did them using TurboTax to see if the numbers came out the same.  Then this afternoon I did them a third time on TaxACT.  Here were my results:

H&R Block: Federal refund $2,210, state owe $139, cost to file both $59
Turbotax: Federal refund, $2,232, state owe $112, cost to file both $92
TaxACT: Federal refund, $2,337, state owe $91, cost to file both $20

Needless to say I went with TaxACT. 

I do find it somewhat disconcerting though that putting in the exact same information across all three platforms came up with different figures in every instance.  Though, they were all close enough that I feel I'm safe in the event of an audit.  Plus, huge props to TaxACT for providing the same service for significantly cheaper (but I will admit it wasn't quite as user friendly as the other two, but still wasn't bad, and they got me more money back anyway.)

I had a similar experience last year.  I started on TT, got to the end and they were going to charge to file my state (the state changed which providers they approved, and I missed it).  Started again with a state approved site that happened to be H&R in disguise.  H&R refused to let me claim DD3's college credit, so $1000 smaller refund.  Got frustrated that I couldn't make H&R correct, went back to TT, lo and behold they let me file it for free, state included!.

Now the difference here is that I already knew the correct refunds, since I work thru it by hand first, and just go thru SW to efile.  I'd look at the details of the three returns and find the differences.  It is entirely possible that the correct answer is some permutation of the differences between them.

Villanelle

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #91 on: February 02, 2015, 12:33:49 PM »
I can't wait to get my tax return!  We use TurboTax (IIRC), which we get free,  and they offer a 5% top up if you take part or all of your refund in Amazon credit.  We are out of last year's credit.

Of course, we haven't even started this year's return though documents are mostly gathered. 

MishMash

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #92 on: February 02, 2015, 01:15:15 PM »
We are probably going to get a hefty refund this year due to a surprise 6 months of non taxable deployment pay.  It's a step above pulling teeth to get his finance people to do witholdings, TSP etc correctly, and since he's not in the MyPay system due to the nature of his job, we can't do it without them so we couldn't adjust.   Essentially he ended up paying taxes, then getting those taxes back in December, it's all sorts of messed up..I'm not too concerned with it, it's just going into investments anyway.

Now, facepunch worthy...I volunteer in the tax center on post...and you would. not. believe the crap that goes on.  We had people calling in and complaining the day W2's were released that they couldn't get their husbands W2..the site got SO overwhelmed with W2 requests that it crashed and even though we have NOTHING to do with releasing those, people called us up to bitch, and then wanted us to do their taxes without them so they could "get their money".

Of the ones that I have done, I generally ask what they are doing with the refund, ONE person so far has said something logical which was to pay down their credit card.  Every. one. else mentioned, buying a new car, taking a vacation, putting in a pool (it's JANUARY people and you are probably moving in 2 years), buying clothes, buying rims for an already overpriced Camaro etc.  It seriously makes me shake my head. 

It especially makes me shake my head when they are claiming EIC due to CZTE and non taxable BAH and an unemployed spouse, then go and blow it on crap, crap that usually ends up on a yardsale site in a couple of months.  You're welcome fellow human, MY tax dollars just bought your new toy since you literally paid nothing to the feds and got BACK money for having kids and an artificially low income.  I don't think this would bother me as much if more people were saying, oh we are saving it for a rainy day, or for our next PCS, or for retirement because then I would have a little faith that they are interested in improving their future (and hopefully not going to be on other government programs).

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #93 on: February 02, 2015, 01:23:23 PM »
The IRS isn't going to care what the tax software told you. The tax software company may have some kind of backing for you, but the IRS (should) still come after you if it's wrong.
For a discrepancy that small, they would send a letter indicating the correct amount, and adjust the refund. You have to be off by a couple orders of magnitude more to even raise an eyebrow.
Even if they actually suspect you of wrongdoing, the first step in an audit would be to simply request documentation of any questionable deductions.

johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #94 on: February 02, 2015, 01:52:51 PM »
The IRS isn't going to care what the tax software told you. The tax software company may have some kind of backing for you, but the IRS (should) still come after you if it's wrong.
For a discrepancy that small, they would send a letter indicating the correct amount, and adjust the refund. You have to be off by a couple orders of magnitude more to even raise an eyebrow.
Even if they actually suspect you of wrongdoing, the first step in an audit would be to simply request documentation of any questionable deductions.
In all likelihood you're probably right. But catching the attention of the IRS is something that I'm sure most people would like to avoid, even if it is for something incredibly minor.

brandino29

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #95 on: February 02, 2015, 03:25:53 PM »
The IRS isn't going to care what the tax software told you. The tax software company may have some kind of backing for you, but the IRS (should) still come after you if it's wrong.
For a discrepancy that small, they would send a letter indicating the correct amount, and adjust the refund. You have to be off by a couple orders of magnitude more to even raise an eyebrow.
Even if they actually suspect you of wrongdoing, the first step in an audit would be to simply request documentation of any questionable deductions.
In all likelihood you're probably right. But catching the attention of the IRS is something that I'm sure most people would like to avoid, even if it is for something incredibly minor.

Don't put too much credit in the government's ability to know the "right" amount.  There are going to be a couple hundred million people filing taxes, many of them are going to be wrong, even professionally prepared ones.  Even if only 5% were wrong (my guess would be much higher, like 1 in 3) we're talking about tens of millions of inaccurate tax reports.  The IRS has neither the time, manpower, or computing power to individually monitor every tax return filed.  They've got to focus on the big earners that could potentially be shielding significant chunks of money from the government, otherwise it would not be cost effective to run the agency. 

Hell, Wesley Snipes went years intentionally not paying taxes at all before the IRS could actually do anything about it. 

(Disclaimer: I'm not advocating that or saying it's not important to file your taxes correctly to the best of your ability, but I'm not going to spend hours of my time combing through the minutiae of federal tax law for what is unlikely to amount to even $100 either way.) 


johnny847

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #96 on: February 02, 2015, 03:38:25 PM »
They've got to focus on the big earners that could potentially be shielding significant chunks of money from the government, otherwise it would not be cost effective to run the agency. 
While that's logically true, one of the red flags for getting audited by the IRS is the earned income credit, which by definition can only be claimed by those who have lower incomes.
Quote
Every year, the IRS conducts 500,000 EITC audits as part of a broader enforcement strategy, and EITC claims are twice as likely to be audited as other tax returns.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/10/22/cost-of-improper-earned-income-tax-credits-10-billion/

They're not targeting just those who are wealthy (though certainly, there are other articles which state that the IRS is more likely to target you if you are wealthy, all else being equal).


Now I have no source whatsoever to back this claim (but you didn't cite a source to back your claim either), but I do doubt though that for electronically submitted forms to the IRS (so if employers send their employees' W2's to the IRS electronically, if banks send 1099-INTs electronically, etc), that it is difficult to build and maintain a computer system to make sure that you have reported all the income on your electronically filed tax returns.

cavewoman

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #97 on: February 02, 2015, 03:58:57 PM »
Taxslayer.com offers free filing of state and federal returns for active duty military members.

I always thought that was nice of them so I use them for my taxes as well.  I don't remember the price from last year, but it compared well to TurboTax from what I remember.  (I used to use TT but it seemed like every subsequent year it would tell me I needed the better version and lock me out of using the same, basic, cheaper option I had used the year before)

Now that I say that though, I wonder if the poster who was posting about on post volunteering might say that most active duty members don't need taxslayer.

When I was 14 or 15 and had my first job, my Dad would come home with 2 copies of paper forms for federal and state each.  He'd have me fill one out, he'd fill the other out, then we'd check to see if I did them right.  When I tell certain people I do my own (I mean come on, I'm single and simple, tax-wise) they look at me like I have recently developed horns.  I'm just glad my Dad took the time to teach me to not be afraid of doing them myself.

zephyr911

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #98 on: February 02, 2015, 04:21:50 PM »
In all likelihood you're probably right. But catching the attention of the IRS is something that I'm sure most people would like to avoid, even if it is for something incredibly minor.
I understand that people are afraid, mostly because of the overblown hype generated by a handful of horror stories. It's really a shame, and I'm tempted to conclude that most of the people in the horror stories deserved it. I don't have the personal knowledge to actually make that conclusion, but I've interacted with numerous IRS employees and I can say this about 100% of my calls: unless they genuinely believe that you are trying to break the law, they're generally really f'ing nice about trying to help explain the system and what they need from you.
These guys deal every day with people who cheat the system for thousands, even millions, and they're shorthanded. It's in their best interest to deal with honest mistakes quickly and efficiently, and get back to actual fraud cases.

RFAAOATB

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Re: The official Tax Return Facepunch thread
« Reply #99 on: February 02, 2015, 04:49:35 PM »
It especially makes me shake my head when they are claiming EIC due to CZTE and non taxable BAH and an unemployed spouse, then go and blow it on crap, crap that usually ends up on a yardsale site in a couple of months.  You're welcome fellow human, MY tax dollars just bought your new toy since you literally paid nothing to the feds and got BACK money for having kids and an artificially low income. 

You're welcome fellow human, MY tax dollars

MY tax dollars


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