MF'ing taxes

I was kind of the opposite. I was going single and 3 for almost the entire year. Should have been married and three. I hate giving the feds my money to hold but it looks like a better vacation is in store

 

That's the long held debate. Better to over pay and get a big refund or try to get so you don't owe/get much at tax time. I go for the second option. I think I'm getting a little bit back this year but it's not much.

 

child tax credit will offset that.

 

An accountant might be able to help your friend find all possible deductions. But make sure it is a tax accountant. Just because the person has CPA next to their name does not mean they know the tax code.

 

I've seen that before.

back in my days of meager employment I did taxes for Jackson Hewitt. For the most part the only people coming in there are welfare moms with 8 kids, no income, getting a $5,000 refund using the earned income tax credit. They want the cash now loan of course.

So imagine how pleased I was to see a nice lady come in, employeed as a dental hygenist. I pulled her previous file and saw she had a big refund from the previous year. She was all excited because she was going to use this years big refund to make a down payment on a house. She dropped off her stuff and I did her return. There was almost zero fed tax withheld on her W2. Instead of a refund she owed close to $2,000.

And I was the one that had to break the news to her. She was devestated to say the least. Said the payroll people at the dentist had changed her exemptions supposedly to withold more and make her refund bigger. I asked if she hadn't noticed the huge increase in her net pay each week and she was like "not really, I guess, but I trusted them to make it right, what can I do?"

I told her there was nothing we could do. It was still January so I told her she didn't need to file til April since she had to pay - give her time to come up with the cash to pay. She walked out in tears, because she not only had to pay the taxes but wouldn't be able to buy her house.

I felt like shit the rest of the day. But damn - how could anyone not notice the $100 a week increase in their net pay when it was supposed to be going the other way? pay attention people.

 

Get the extension.

2, Tell the 'dear friend' that if they don't watch their money some on else will.

 

Thank ya'll a lot for your advice. I damn sure appreciate it.

 

The child tax credit gets phased out as income increases.

 

Up until this year we either pay or get back around $300 dollars. Paying one but getting back from state(s) or fed. Some dumb asses I work with actually go with minimal deductions so they get back a "big" check. They actually budget their big bills counting on the check. Why would anyone give the government their money essentially to hold until they need it gathering no interest.

 

They just need to set up a payment plan with the IRS. They will let you make payments to them to pay off a big tax debt as long as you pay a reasonable amount that will get it paid off in a couple of years. I did this one time when I had a big distribution from a retirement plan and failed to have enough withheld. I made payments for nine months then let my refund the next year wipe it out.