Comments on: You Tell Me (and a Giveaway): Taxes

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:42:38 +0000

I always over think my taxes. I'm a CPA so I probably 'run the numbers' three or four times a year. I always try to end up owing just a little and then file at April 15th. As long as you don't owe too much there isn't a penalty for paying April 15th and then I can earn a few more months of interest on the tax due amount. Of course with interest rates so low it doesn't really pay that much. Kim’s last blog post..Walgreens Reader Board 3/19 - 3/21

By: marci357

marci357 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 22:13:58 +0000

Oregon does tax us to death…. and they want to add a sales tax also? nuts!
I’m in the same boat. Get a federal refund every year (about $900) and owe the state of Oregon every year (about $600)… Maybe this year I’ll get lucky and they’ll be none owed – haha – not with Oregon. As above, maybe I’ll also look into adjusting the state…after I see how this year goes. I knew it was a possibility, but this is the first time my income will be roughly the same two years in a row.

Mine are at my tax man’s – I usually send them mid-February and he gets them back to me about now. Way too complicated for me to even worry about :)

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:30:47 +0000

We already filed ours and we try real hard to not get alot of money back because we don’t want to be loaning the government money also! But, even more so, this year was significantly important because we live in CA and if you’ve heard about CA, there was a moment when we didn’t know IF we’d get our money back. So far, they say it will come, but it was a real wake up call to change our deductions to make that number even closer.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:26:57 +0000

I used to be a midnight filer like Jill! I always was one of those people rushing out at 11:58 to go to the post office. Now, I have an accountant do them because they are really complicated. Mine are done already and I got too large of a refund from Federal and owed City. Since my life has been topsy turvy I wasn't surprised they were off. I adjusted everything though so it should be close to zero. I HATE giving the government a free loan! Dawn’s last blog post..My 2008 Tax Returns

By: Tax Guru

Tax Guru — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:21:54 +0000

I am right with you on the e-filing. It is so much easier and convenient. I have also never had a problem when e-filing, it has always been fast and accurate.

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:00:45 +0000

@jill – I am laughing so hard at your comment, because it sounds like something I used to do before I was married. But hey, nothing like a little adrenaline to get you moving, right? I know I work best under pressure! LOL

I had no idea you could adjust state withholding separately! Can you tell I haven’t worked an outside job in a while? I’ll have to tell my husband to look into that. I always figured it was because Oregon taxes us to death.

By: Janelle

Janelle — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:49:08 +0000

I file our returns via Turbo Tax asap. This year I had them done by the 3rd week in January. I love Turbo Tax because once you have used them one year, when you go in the next year they have your information on file and just stick it in your new forms. Very cool. Plus they don't miss anything in deductions. We always get a nice size return, but we have a lot of kids and even though we use the highest deduction we can on our W-4, we still get a return. Plus we've been able to claim medical expenses, and that helped a lot. We don't have state taxes here so I can't help you with that one. I hope we don't. They keep talking about maybe starting a state tax. Janelle’s last blog post..Weekend Linkage

By: jill

jill — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:43:20 +0000

I’m going to try to adjust my state withholding, as previous posters suggested – but here in Illinois, we have always received a Fed refund, and ALWAYS owed the state! I figured it was just because we have high taxes here in the flatlands. That being said, my husband and I have had a ritual since we began filing together – on April 15th at approximately 9 pm, I gather all the information and fill in the forms while he paces the floor, muttering about filing extensions. Then, with minutes to spare, we jump into the car and race to the post office. We know which branches have a late drop-off. The relief that washes over us as we hand our envelopes through the car window to a grumpy, underpaid federal employee gives “financial freedom” a new meaning. We drive home giddy with promise, having dodged another deadline bullet, sometimes forgetting to roll up the windows. Then we toast our good fortune with a saucy little bubbly (Miller High LIfe). In recent years, this “speed date” has taken new twists, as we have had to bundle two sleepy children into the frigid spring night, but the kids have learned to join in the carnival atmosphere. No, e-filing may be technologically superior, but nothing gives you such a feeling of reckless accomplishment as filing your taxes at the last possible minute!

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:40:39 +0000

Hi Lynnae, I do file my taxes asap. We file pretty much as soon as we get my w-2. My husband can print his before we actually receive it so we file really early. We both actually are blessed to claim 1 (without owing) so we don't receive as large of a refund but we definitely need the money during the year. As far as state taxes, our state has multiple types of withholding. You can do single, married, or married but withholding single. It sounds weird, but it actually works out for us in the long run because we owe a lot less then if we withheld married. Mostly because my husband works across state line so we have to pay taxes to 2 states (which I hate) but we have little control over that situation. They also have where you can claim a withholding status plus have a flat rate taken out as extra each paycheck. Nicole’s last blog post..Budgeting Grade: F

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:33:42 +0000

I guess “I” did my taxes yesterday; my boyfriend’s brother is a tax accountant and graciously offered to do mine. He says I owe the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania $3 (on my interest income from online savings… I usually owe a couple bucks), but I’m getting a nice fat refund from my federal. I know that I’m loaning the government money for free, but right now they need it (kind of funny… okay, not really funny) and it’s a forced savings program for me. If I get a thousand dollars in a lump sum, it goes straight to savings, but if I had an extra $100 or so in my paycheck every month, most of it would probably get frittered away.