Taxes are done!

[stessier]

Filed for another year. I suspect I will not like next year when I don't have an electric car purchase to claim.

Refunds hit my bank account last night.

[Carpet_pissr]

From The Atlantic the day:

The IRS Finally Has an Answer to TurboTax

Against all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology.
By Saahil Desai

If I hadn’t already bought TT this year, I would give this a shot. Anyone tried it? IRS’ own software, Direct File.

[stessier]

From The Atlantic the day:

The IRS Finally Has an Answer to TurboTax

Against all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology.
By Saahil Desai

If I hadn’t already bought TT this year, I would give this a shot. Anyone tried it? IRS’ own software, Direct File.

I thought it was limited to certain, rather basic, tax situations.

[RMC]

Filed for another year. I suspect I will not like next year when I don't have an electric car purchase to claim.

Refunds hit my bank account last night.

My state refund hit my account in less than 10 days. Stil lwaiting for federal to hit my account, but I only got like 150 back from Federal so not really worried about that.

[Kraken]

From The Atlantic the day:

The IRS Finally Has an Answer to TurboTax

Against all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology.
By Saahil Desai

If I hadn’t already bought TT this year, I would give this a shot. Anyone tried it? IRS’ own software, Direct File.

I thought it was limited to certain, rather basic, tax situations.

W-2 income only, standard deduction, and income-limited. It's basically form 1040EZ (does that even still exist?). It's a good start, though.

[stessier]

From The Atlantic the day:

The IRS Finally Has an Answer to TurboTax

Against all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology.
By Saahil Desai

If I hadn’t already bought TT this year, I would give this a shot. Anyone tried it? IRS’ own software, Direct File.

I thought it was limited to certain, rather basic, tax situations.

W-2 income only, standard deduction, and income-limited. It's basically form 1040EZ (does that even still exist?). It's a good start, though.

I'm very happy it exists. I hope they continue to expand it - or better yet, move to how other countries handle it and just tell us what we owe. That would require closing a lot of loop holes, though, which is a topic for a different forum.

[LawBeefaroni]

New bracket this year but still managed to keep it lean. We owe under $1K for both state and fed combined.

[Kraken]

From The Atlantic the day:

The IRS Finally Has an Answer to TurboTax

Against all odds, the government has created an actually good piece of technology.
By Saahil Desai

If I hadn’t already bought TT this year, I would give this a shot. Anyone tried it? IRS’ own software, Direct File.

I thought it was limited to certain, rather basic, tax situations.

W-2 income only, standard deduction, and income-limited. It's basically form 1040EZ (does that even still exist?). It's a good start, though.

I'm very happy it exists. I hope they continue to expand it - or better yet, move to how other countries handle it and just tell us what we owe. That would require closing a lot of loop holes, though, which is a topic for a different forum.

Yeah, it's a political hot potato with the players taking the positions you'd expect. Wrong forum, though.

Wife got our stuff to the CPA a couple of weeks ago; we probably won't hear from him until 4/15, and odds are we'll have to file for an extension and make an estimated payment. That's how it usually goes, anyway.

[Scuzz]

The CPA dropped off our return yesterday. It was a nice surprise as we got a federal refund with owing the state just a couple hundred. I expected some real damage with the state return but thanks to SS not being taxable at the state level it wasn’t bad at all.

[Kraken]

Just got back from dropping off a $2,600 check at the post office. Not only did we have to come up with that big chunk of change; we also have to make estimated payments of $1,425 each quarter. My monthly $800 budget for taxes above and beyond normal withholding has to go up to $935. Oh, and property taxes are due on 5/1, too. Yikes.

The good news is that our effective federal rate fell to 11.2% this year. Historically it's been right around 12%. The other good news is that I had enough money in the tax account to cover everything, with $40 left over.

Part of this year's problem was an unplanned corporate profit. QuickBooks counts income when you generate an invoice, not when you receive payment. My client's November payment, due at the end of December, was two weeks late this year, so I couldn't write myself a paycheck to make the income go away. If they'd paid my company on time so that it could've paid me on time I would've ended the year with a small loss, which is always the objective. On the bright side, pushing the last paycheck of 2023 into '24 gives me a nice start on booking a loss for this year.

That extra $135/mo to make higher quarterly payments stings, but I have a hunch it's overpaying and 2024 will end up in our favor.

[Zarathud]

You want to make a profit every few years, to show you're a real business and not a hobby.

[Kraken]

Yup. Unfortunately this was my third profitable year in a row. At least it was small...most of our shortfall stemmed from making insufficient quarterly payments.

[Madmarcus]

Taxes undone!

They were done and filed a couple of weeks ago. A few days ago we received an amended 1099 from Fidelity. It's not going to change the dollar amounts by anything significant but we'll send it off to the tax guy, he'll amend things, and I guess we'll square things up with everybody after that.

[jztemple2]

Taxes are done. At least that's what my wife told me. I've never filed an income tax form in my life but my wife must be doing it OK

[Zarathud]

Tax refund was as much as our new heat pump—$16,000. Work increased my withholding significantly after making partner, and I’m now paying both sides of Social Security and health insurance. Felt pinched in the pocketbook last year, and now I know why.

[YellowKing]

Had to pay $700 but we got slammed last year for a lot more so I'll take it! It just sucks we didn't get a return as it would have come in handy with all the unexpected expenses we've incurred in the past couple of weeks.

[hentzau]

Went to file my return (always wait till the end since I have to pay every year) and found out my wife’s license expired and she didn’t bother to renew it a month and a half ago, so I can’t file it tonight.

The good news is that we have a DMV literally a block and a half from us. So she should be able to just walk over and get her license renewed, right? Wrong! They’ve gone to appointment only license renewal at all 44 Chicago area DMV locations save one. So my wife is going to have to haul her ass downtown to get her license renewed.

Thank god I didn’t wait until tomorrow to file.

[Skinypupy]

Filed ours on Friday. I was expecting to get absolutely hammered this year between distributing a significant amount from mom’s estate and a better than expected commission year, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting (around $6k).

Should be the last year we have to deal with filing multiple returns for both us and mom’s trust, which is a big relief.

[Hrdina]

Well, frak, I went to efile my taxes a few hours ago and I'm getting errors from the H&R Block servers ("bad gateway").

Downdetector reports a whole bunch of people were seeing outages since maybe 9 PM. I would have filed long before then if I didn't take a break to go outside and enjoy the nice weather this afternoon.

Hopefully they'll get their $#!^ together by the morning. I am not looking forward to having to print my stupid forms, write a couple of checks, and go to the post office.

I always wait until late because I know we owe a lot. My wife's previous job always withheld too little, but her new employer is better. However, my wife did some work for a non-profit this year and they paid her a bunch of money but did not withholding, so we're in the same boat as usual. Hopefully next year will be a little better.

[Exodor]

Thanks to the kicker we're getting ~$6k back from the state.

[jztemple2]

Well, frak, I went to efile my taxes a few hours ago and I'm getting errors from the H&R Block servers ("bad gateway").

We must have dodged that bullet as my wife uses the H&R Block software and she didn't have any issues.

[Hrdina]

Well, frak, I went to efile my taxes a few hours ago and I'm getting errors from the H&R Block servers ("bad gateway").

We must have dodged that bullet as my wife uses the H&R Block software and she didn't have any issues.

I am still having issues. My post office closes at 4, so I'm about ready to give up and go stand in line.

H&R apparently did finally say something on twitter about this and claimed they expected to be back online by 12 EDT. Didn't happen.

Someone else claimed on reddit that they talked to CS and they said they "expect the issue to be resolved by 12pm CST [sic]." That didn't happen either.

What worries me is the ambiguity. A number of people have written that despite the "Bad Gateway" their returns were received. What I cannot afford is to pay my tax bill twice, so I'm lingering here at home in the faint hope that this will get resolved soon.

I'm contemplating trying to pay the IRS directly via irs.gov then mailing my forms, but that has the same worry about a double payment.

[Isgrimnur]

Effective Tax Rate
2023 - 10.34%
2022 - 10.93%
2021 - 9.76%
2020 - 9.87%
2019 - 10.31%
2018 - 11.31%
2017 - 10.16%
2016 - 10.33%
2015 - 11.65%
2014 - 11.03%
2013 - 13.47%
2012 - 15.81%
2011 - 13.10%
2010 - 12.85%
2009 - 12.87%
2008 - 12.35%
2007 - 9.82%
2006 - 9.42%
2005 - 10.66%

[Carpet_pissr]

Effective Tax Rate
2023 - 10.34%
2022 - 10.93%
2021 - 9.76%
2020 - 9.87%
2019 - 10.31%
2018 - 11.31%
2017 - 10.16%
2016 - 10.33%
2015 - 11.65%
2014 - 11.03%
2013 - 13.47%
2012 - 15.81%
2011 - 13.10%
2010 - 12.85%
2009 - 12.87%
2008 - 12.35%
2007 - 9.82%
2006 - 9.42%
2005 - 10.66%

Now compare that to other developed modern western countries' rates, and wonder no more why our country is old and janky and crumbling in comparison. Simplistic...but it's a big factor. OTOH if we didn't spend so much on the military in comparison...but the question is if we had higher rates, and/or didn't blow it all on Oorah, WOULD we spend it to better our society at large, or return it to our citizens so they could blow it on Trump's latest grift? (coin, bible, Trump Media stock, etc)

I guess relatively, Americans travel far less than their developed Western country brethren, so they don't see how good they could have it. Ignorance is bliss and all that.

[jztemple2]

.What worries me is the ambiguity. A number of people have written that despite the "Bad Gateway" their returns were received. What I cannot afford is to pay my tax bill twice, so I'm lingering here at home in the faint hope that this will get resolved soon.

I'm contemplating trying to pay the IRS directly via irs.gov then mailing my forms, but that has the same worry about a double payment.

Sorry to be so late, but I confirmed with my wife that you cannot double pay. When the IRS receives a return for a certain social security number for which the amount has already been payed, they will not cash the check but instead will send the person a letter.

[Jeff V]

Sorry to be so late, but I confirmed with my wife that you cannot double pay. When the IRS receives a return for a certain social security number for which the amount has already been payed, they will not cash the check but instead will send the person a letter.

If only the City of Chicago would do so with traffic violations...

I am being threated with termination by my employer because I paid a ticket online 3 years ago but despite me showing them my Amex statement, the city is trying to extort a double payment.

[em2nought]

I'm hope it ends up that I owe a big tax bill for 2024.

[Hrdina]

Sorry to be so late, but I confirmed with my wife that you cannot double pay. When the IRS receives a return for a certain social security number for which the amount has already been payed, they will not cash the check but instead will send the person a letter.

I sure hope that's true. So far so good. The fact that I never did get any kind of confirmation email from H&R makes me feel a little better.

It feels weird relying upon the competence of a government agency, though.

[Max Peck]

Today I learned that even with a bank transfer payment, it can take CRA up to 10 days to process a tax payment.

I paid my taxes owing on 30 April, and CRA generated my notice of assessment on 9 May. Since they still hadn't processed the payment, they sent me a notice that I was in arrears and now owed interest on top. I called the automated service that allows me to check my account balance and found that the balance was $0 with a last-payment date matching when the bank transfer was processed. Presumably once the payment system caught up, my account was updated and the interest charge was nullified. I've never run into this before, so I don't know whether CRA issues an updated notice of assessment reflecting that the taxes have been paid in full and on time.

[Carpet_pissr]

What I learned this tax season:
There is a cutoff date to file electronically - usually end of October, and If you file much after that, like I did this year for my 2022 taxes...then do your NEXT year's taxes on time...you could have some trouble going through the security check that's done using the previous year AGI.

Solution: Put the number ZERO in the AGI field, and Bob's yer uncle.

Long form explanation:
I sent in my 2022 taxes mid to late March (via paper/mailed forms since electronic cutoff had passed), and received my refund before I even started working on my 2023 taxes. When I finished the 2023 taxes (Turbotax), my submission was rejected because it said my AGI number (for my wife, oddly enough...we file jointly) was not correct. After MUCH research, I found out that I had to use zero, and it was accepted.

[Jeff V]

2022 - owed $10k (ouch). IRS agreed to a $500/mo payment plan at 3%.
2023 - $10K refund. Still owed IRS $6K, and they kept it, refunding only $4K I'd have used the $6K to pay off higher interest debt.

[Default]

They must have changed the rules on solar panels. Not only did I get the credit for my taxes bill, the remaining difference was sent as a check to my house.

It almost cancelled out my cat's $4.5k stomach surgery.

[LordMortis]

Since leaving my job, every year I rue not breaking down and getting a laserjet. I seem to have to print (and yes I will continue printing my taxes and tax paperwork every year. I am old and distrustful of technology) I don't miss working but I do miss the perk of free use of the printer with no one caring about the waste. At about $.011 per sheet there, they didn't care if I had 100 pages of taxes to print. A $30 "400 page XL" black cartridge lasts less than 150 pages of mostly white pages on lesser quality printing.

Maybe I'll get laser printer before tax time next year... Inertia is a hell of a thing...

With the last of my paperwork coming through today, taxes should be done in the next couple of days. Maybe even tomorrow.

[The Meal]

We're really happy with our Brother HLL2395DW wireless monochromatic laser printer (and copier and scanner) purchased in 2018. It get sporadic use and is everything it promised to be.

[Max Peck]

Yup, I bought a cheap Brother laser printer back in 2014 (also largely for printing tax forms, as it happens) and I'm still using the "demo" toner cartridge that was included with the printer. I used it just a few days ago and the print quality is still as good as when it was new.

[Kraken]

I, too, have an ancient wireless Brother printer that's still going strong.

I finished my tax prep a couple of weeks ago and Wife promises to wrap up her part this weekend. We should be able to send it all to the CPA in time for him to make the April deadline -- usually a hit-or-miss proposition. I expect that we'll owe the feds a big check again this year, as is customary, despite the $5,000 in quarterly estimated payments that I made last year. It's never enough.

[Lassr]

Tax return this year is going toward a trip to St Lucia.

[LordMortis]

And done. I owe $500 this year. I did not see that coming. So throw that expense on the pile. Could be worse, I suppose.

[stessier]

Just filed for another year - 13.9% effective tax rate. Hopefully will see the refund in about 2 weeks.

[hepcat]

I use turbo tax online and have for years. This time around, I made the mistake of not checking the paid tier they directed me to and I ended up paying for premium level. Unfortunately, I hit the review button before realizing this. After you do that, you’re locked into the tier.

So I decided to take advantage of the tax expert live help I got with the premium level to ask a question about some out of state MUNI bonds I have and how they should be entered. Too small to normally even think about, but I wanted to get my money’s worth.

When the “expert” called me back, I asked him. His reply? “I don’t know.”.

When I pressed him, he told me he could look it up but it would take a while. At this point I’m just tired of all this and hang up.

Sheesh.