Author Topic: Tax Quiz (Read 10520 times)

Gone Fishing · « **on:** February 24, 2015, 09:41:12 AM »

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-get-an-f-in-income-tax-quiz-2015-02-24?dist=lcountdown

How did you do?

dandarc · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2015, 09:47:57 AM »

I think 10/10 - Question's 6 answer reads like the one I picked, but doesn't say "Answer is X".

johnny847 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2015, 09:51:28 AM »

I missed one question, #6.

Question 4 is a little bit misleading, because A is true at a state level sometimes, and B is only true if the money is used for qualified higher education expenses. Regardless of QHEE use, it is tax deferred growth, but it only becomes tax free growth (and what I would interpret tax-free income as) if 529 money is used for QHEE.

I have a small beef with question 3 - exemptions should not be plural. You can claim exemption from tax withholding. But you do not claim exemptions on your W-4--you claim allowances.

Mississippi Mudstache · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2015, 10:06:11 AM »

I missed 6 and 8. Those were the only two I was uncertain about, and neither of them have any relevance to me, so I'm not surprised I missed them.

Travis · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2015, 10:51:35 AM »

Half the questions were genuinely useful for every taxpayer to know and understand. The others were such niche issues I looked at the question and thought "who cares?"

AH013 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2015, 11:32:33 AM »

10/10!

2lazy2retire · « **Reply #6 on:** February 25, 2015, 06:33:47 AM »

Tax deduction for pet - missed that one. I'm going to have dog services take our mut away and then "rescue" him back as a nice 250 deduction.

Bob W · « **Reply #7 on:** February 25, 2015, 08:32:24 AM »

10/10 Wish they had more relevant questions such as HSAs, IRA (deductible), SEPs etc.

Mississippi Mudstache · « **Reply #8 on:** February 25, 2015, 08:35:52 AM »

Quote from: Travis on February 24, 2015, 10:51:35 AM

Half the questions were genuinely useful for every taxpayer to know and understand. The others were such niche issues I looked at the question and thought "who cares?"

Agreed.

GuitarStv · « **Reply #9 on:** February 25, 2015, 08:38:32 AM »

I got 6/10, but I don't know much about US tax policy.

Nancy · « **Reply #10 on:** February 25, 2015, 09:03:23 AM »

GuitarStv, yet you know more than the average U.S. adult!

mcneally · « **Reply #11 on:** February 25, 2015, 09:30:07 AM »

The answer about what your refund should be is either wrong or value judgement about what your refund *should* be, not a fact about withholding tables. For example if a single person has a $70k W-2 job and no other income, they would have a refund of $987 if they file their W-4 with one exemption. If they claim two exemptions on the W-4, the tax due would be exactly zero. The tables withhold more than necessary so that most W-2 earners won't owe money because the government knows most people are terrible with money. Withholding tables get more complicated on joint returns though.

johnny847 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 25, 2015, 09:53:58 AM »

Quote from: mcneally on February 25, 2015, 09:30:07 AM

The answer about what your refund should be is either wrong or value judgement about what your refund *should* be, not a fact about withholding tables. For example if a single person has a $70k W-2 job and no other income, they would have a refund of $987 if they file their W-4 with one exemption. If they claim two exemptions on the W-4, the tax due would be exactly zero. The tables withhold more than necessary so that most W-2 earners won't owe money because the government knows most people are terrible with money. Withholding tables get more complicated on joint returns though.

That's incorrect.
(I'm going to assume that what you assert about the tax refund amounts based on allowances (they're allowances, not exemptions, on the W4) is correct. It seems right to me but I don't want to go through the tax withholding tables right now).

If a single person earning $70k fills out his/her W4 as the instructions say, then he/she will claim two allowances: one for himself/herself because nobody claims him/her as a dependent, and one for being single and having only one job.
As you say, then this would result in a tax refund of zero. The tables aren't withholding more than necessary, they're exactly right assuming no other sources of income.

I fail to see how this question is a value judgement about what your refund *should* be.

Davids · « **Reply #13 on:** February 25, 2015, 11:33:24 AM »

I got #9 wrong, I answered A but thinking about it I see why D is the answer.

mcneally · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2015, 11:34:36 AM »

Hmm. I looked up the actual W-4 form and you're right (it's been several years since I filed one out). I always thought I was being clever by claiming two allowances rather than one.

Sibley · « **Reply #15 on:** February 25, 2015, 11:36:32 AM »

I disagree with the quiz on #9, so 9/10. Getting into trouble with the IRS by filing late when you owe is worse than not filing at all when you're due a refund in my view. The first you're in trouble, the second you're just stupid.

rocksinmyhead · « **Reply #16 on:** February 25, 2015, 12:07:47 PM »

Quote from: Sibley on February 25, 2015, 11:36:32 AM

I disagree with the quiz on #9, so 9/10. Getting into trouble with the IRS by filing late when you owe is worse than not filing at all when you're due a refund in my view. The first you're in trouble, the second you're just stupid.

Ha, that's what I thought too!

gimp · « **Reply #17 on:** February 25, 2015, 12:16:18 PM »

Quote from: Sibley on February 25, 2015, 11:36:32 AM

I disagree with the quiz on #9, so 9/10. Getting into trouble with the IRS by filing late when you owe is worse than not filing at all when you're due a refund in my view. The first you're in trouble, the second you're just stupid.

Agreed.

The quiz is like half fact, half opinion or unimportant bullshit.

Oh, and it's split up into two pages, and is written instead of being an actual quiz where you click a radio box and get graded.

Clickbaaaaait.

dragoncar · « **Reply #18 on:** February 25, 2015, 12:25:53 PM »

Quote from: 2lazy2retire on February 25, 2015, 06:33:47 AM

Tax deduction for pet - missed that one. I'm going to have dog services take our mut away and then "rescue" him back as a nice 250 deduction.

Seriously... Can I foster a dog indefinitely and write off all expenses????

Mississippi Mudstache · « **Reply #19 on:** February 25, 2015, 12:42:39 PM »

Quote from: Sibley on February 25, 2015, 11:36:32 AM

I disagree with the quiz on #9, so 9/10. Getting into trouble with the IRS by filing late when you owe is worse than not filing at all when you're due a refund in my view. The first you're in trouble, the second you're just stupid.

It would really depend on the circumstances, wouldn't it? If you file late and owe money, then you'll have to pay penalties, correct? It's not like they're going to break your legs and kick your dog. If you don't file and are owed money, then it will also cost you money. The average refund is somewhere north of $2,000. I'm not sure what the average penalties are for filing late when you owe money, but it may very well be less than $2,000. But they didn't really give you enough information to make an accurate selection, so I agree that it was a bad question.

Cromacster · « **Reply #20 on:** February 25, 2015, 12:47:14 PM »

Quote from: dragoncar on February 25, 2015, 12:25:53 PM

Quote from: 2lazy2retire on February 25, 2015, 06:33:47 AM
Tax deduction for pet - missed that one. I'm going to have dog services take our mut away and then "rescue" him back as a nice 250 deduction.

Seriously... Can I foster a dog indefinitely and write off all expenses????

There are cases where dogs end up in foster care for a long time. The longest I have heard of is 7 years in foster care and the dog ultimately died of natural causes. These are usually dogs that are older or have characteristics about them that make it undesirable. but most organizations should be working to place dogs. It's in their best interest to move foster dogs into homes, so they can give the foster homes more dogs.

Essentially, the same tax rules also apply for disability service dogs (not therapy dogs), but in addition you can also write off the cost of acquiring a disability service dog, which if you are paying the full cost can be between 5-20,000, depending what they are trained for.

With that said, it's still cheaper to not have a dog.

socaso · « **Reply #21 on:** February 25, 2015, 01:15:22 PM »

I got the 9/10. I've never loaned money to a friend so I didn't know anything about the tax implications.

Zikoris · « **Reply #22 on:** February 25, 2015, 02:43:14 PM »

I did it for fun as a Canadian and still managed to get 6/10 right. You guys have a lot of weird things you can claim, apparently. Maybe some of them apply to Canada as well, but I would never be in a position to find out - gambling losses, etc.

PatStab · « **Reply #23 on:** February 25, 2015, 05:13:21 PM »

I missed 6, so 9 correct, no F for me.

Indexer · « **Reply #24 on:** February 25, 2015, 07:19:56 PM »

8/10.

Cheddar Stacker · « **Reply #25 on:** February 25, 2015, 09:57:19 PM »

What a shitty quiz. First 5 questions were simple. Last 5 were ridiculous.

5 of 5, then
3 of 5.

And I'm a fucking CPA. Very poorly written questions in my opinion.

Heather in Ottawa · « **Reply #26 on:** February 26, 2015, 05:16:11 AM »

I'm Canadian and even I got 8/10... Disagree with q9 (especially if the amount you're owed is near 0) and I've never heard of a 529.

But, I guess our tax systems have many similarities... I've done #6. The food, etc was considered to be a "donation in kind" and the shelter issued me a tax receipt.

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Author Topic: Tax Quiz (Read 10520 times)

2lazy2retire

Nancy