Wednesday Wondering: Tax Time!

Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wednesday Wondering: Tax Time!
23
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 8:32am

So - where are you with tax prep?

All my best,
Danni

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 8:40am

I'm still waiting for interest statments, and all my tax statements from Etrade. If Etrade works like they did last year, they won't make my 1099's available for printing until early February. LOL! Other than those statements, I'm ready. I have my copy of Turbo Tax ready to go.

I'm pretty sure we'll get a sizable refund this year. We're not going to get as much as last year because we sold some stock to pay down two points on our refi loan. I think we're going to put all of our refund to debt reduction. Dh really really really wants a big-screen HDTV, but he said he's not willing to pay $3000 for one with good resolution right now, so I think that's why he's willing to put it all towards debt for now. :-D

I know I always breathe easier when tax time is done. Thankfully, with my husband's busy work schedule and my son being older and involved in so many homeschool type activities and karate, etc, I'm not dwelling on taxes as much as I have in past years. It used to stress me out bigtime, but not so much this year. I've just been shrugging it off this year and saying, "I've got till April. No rush". LOL! :-D

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 9:07am

We haven't received our W-2's yet but I have a folder identified where the tax material goes when it arrives which makes things easier. I should relax since for years DH worked at a camp for a family friend who wouldn't have the forms done until June or so with lots of reminders so we wound up doing extensions yearly.

I think we'll get a refund. DH didn't change his exemptions to account for our second child until August and we had a refund last year. Plus, he works 2 summer camps that take a flat 25%. Whatever money we receive has been earmarked already--we have a pipe that's doing some minor leaking in the basement so a plumber for that (it's in front of a concrete wall and over a concrete floor so I'm not terribly worried about structural damage, ruining furniture, etc.), we need to call an exterminator since we're still catching mice, we would like to replace the dishwasher and whatever is left after that goes towards debt reduction.

DH will do ours using TurboTax.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2004
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 9:32am

My taxes were filed Friday. The military had their W2s ready online last Friday and I didn't earn enough in interest to receive statements so I just added up the interest on my bank statements and put that on the 1040. My 1099 Div was online the beginning of JAN and I received it in the mail a week later.

Part of my refund will go toward shipping one of our cars overseas when we move in June. Some will go to pay for DH's new dress uniform, some will go to pay for DS#1's oral surgery and the rest will be put into savings for our emergency fund.

I filed using Turbo Tax online and it was SO easy.

Good luck to everyone.

BTW for those who always get a sizable refund irs.gov has a withholding calculator that can tell you how many deductions you should take based on estimated income and the number of dependents you would file. It says DH and I should take 11 deductions and that would give us a refund of about $400 a year. HTH.

Kellie

Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 9:51am

I have all the information I have plugged into TurboTax - but it's mostly just what was on the end of the year paystub, etc..


I only have a couple "official" things and plug those numbers in as we get them.


We will be getting a hefty refund but there really isn't anything we can do to get more money during the year.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 10:06am

I'm completely in limbo on taxes. Because of my freelance income, we just never have any clue how much we are going to owe or have refunded each year. And we haven't gotten most of the docs we need yet.

I always set aside 30% of my freelance income to cover taxes, but this year we had to tap that fund to pay for a new air conditioner. So I have only about $1500 set aside. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that will be enough. Even better if we don't owe anything, and I get to allocate that money somewhere else (like paying debt!).

I can't wait till tax season is over and we know where we stand on this!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2005
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 10:19am

Well I haven't recieved my W-2 from work yet, but I have received several 1099s for interest and my income tax refund from the state already and the statement from the student loan company on the interest I have paid. I have a folder created for all of my tax information already. I believe my Mother is going to be buying Turbo Tax this weekend so I'll just do my taxes over at her house. Thankfully my taxes are really easy.

I'm expecting a refund from the Federal Government, at least I hope. But I have to pay the city taxes which I'm hoping the Federal Refund will cover. I should also be getting a small refund back from the state...I usually do get a small refund from them, like twenty or so bucks.

Now the big debate, do I go out and buy myself something pretty with the state refund or apply it against debt? I know I should apply it against debt but the tempetation is there to spend it. I will probably be good though and either apply it against debt or stick it into savings. I'll need to stick it in savings if the Federal Refund doesn't cover the City Tax as that will be a $400 hit to my savings account plus the $700 hit that is coming up for car repairs. Man I hate this time of year.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-1999
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 10:34am

I've ran through our 1040 & we should receive about a $400 refund. Not a lot but so much better than having to pay in! Still waiting on a 1099 before we can file. Good luck everyone through the tax season!

cindylee

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 12:04pm

We are just waiting on our bank statements also. I have an appointment with our tax preparer for Feb 1.
Since we will need our refund pretty quick this year, she said we could have it direct deposited to our checking and get it within a few weeks. Yah! We usually get $3-$4k back. DH made about $15K more this year so I hope that doesn't hurt us because we need to pay off our SUV in order to get a decent sized loan for a house.

I have tried to convince DH to adjust our withholdings so we would break even, but he won't do it. He's afraid we would owe them anyway, plus he likes getting that money in one chunk. Yes, even though they get our interest. This is the same man who won't do the gas company's budget plan because he doesn't want them to have our interest in the summer!! Go figure!!!

I'm not going to argue with him, I guess secretly it's like a little adrenaline rush for me to find out how much we get back, and put all that money on a debt!

Nicki

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-27-2005
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 1:30pm

I finished our taxes last week, we should be getting our refund the first week of February! WAHOOOO!!!!! Can I just say how much I LOVE Turbo Tax :) We are getting just over 3000, we'll be spending about $400 to get rid of our ant infestation. We are also spending around $500 for home repairs that have been waiting WAY to long to get fixed, then the rest is going toward debt...YEAH!

Until I read these messages, I thought 10 was the maxium witholding number you can use. Soooo, thanks to whoever gave the website to irs. I used the calculator and it said that we should have 16 allowances.

I don't know if will change my hubbys witholding though, it's nice to have a large amount at one time. I know for myself that it's easier to waste away small amount than a large amount at one time.

Cristin

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2004
Wed, 01-25-2006 - 2:00pm

Hey Becky, the withholdings calculator at irs.gov takes into account your income, investments, etc (in other words all sources of things considered income) AND the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit to figure out your withholdings and it only does it for tax year 2007, so you can go back next year and refigure based on the tax laws for that year.

We don't get the EIC, but we do get the child credit and it told us that if we took 11 deductions we'd get almost $400 back and if we took 12 deductions we'd owe $125. So, I would say it is pretty accurate. But, that is only based on tax laws for 2007, so I will have to go and put all of the information in for next year to figure withholdings for 2008, because I am sure the tax laws will change again. Isn't that one of the guareenteed things in life--death, taxes and an annual change in tax laws, LOL.

HTH,
Kellie




Edited 1/25/2006 2:01 pm ET by t09w

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