What surprises did you find on your taxes this year?
Posted at 5:00 AM on April 14, 2010
by Eric Ringham
(12 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics/Government
Thursday is the last day to file your tax returns on time. Today's question: What surprises did you find on your taxes this year?
Comments (12)
I found we received a tax cut, I guess 95% of us did. Don't tell the tea baggers as they won't believe you anyway.
I had filled my refund back in February and hadn't received my federal refund yet so I called the IRS "Where's My Refund" customer service line to investigate. I found out that my efile was rejected because my AGI signature didn't match the previous year's return. I wished turbo tax let me know that my efile was rejected! I had no idea. However, I should of taken more responsibility following up on my return a lot earlier.
I advise individuals who filed early and haven't received their return yet to check their status of their efile to see if it went through. I'll be working on resubmitting mine tonight. Good luck!
My income was the same, last year broke even - this year had to pay in over a thousand dollars.
But I don't mind,,, I'm sure it will be well spent.
DTOM
I was in a similar situation to 'John' both in terms of #'s and amount I had to pay in. I was completely knocked off balance by the AMT. Cost me $12,000. Ouch. I don't know about whining, but the next person that talks about the 'rich' not paying their 'fair share' might get more from me than they bargained for. Yeesh. How many more people can I have on my back? 47% of folks are paying 0 income tax according to the IRS. I have no problem with 'progressive' taxation, but come on, we are creating a society of freeloaders! When the price of something is free, the demand is unlimited.
Our taxable income was down, mainly due to flat wages for my teacher husband and MUCH higher health insurance costs. However, we got a much larger refund than ever, which was a big surprise and I guess is due to some of the new tax credits. We usually come out even between federal and state. This year's refund was a pleasant bonus that paid off credit card debt in full. We then cancelled all but one credit card and will not be getting into debt again. We actually have an emergency savings account now, even while wages have gone done. This economy has certainly scared us into being much more careful with our money! That's a good thing.
We never mind paying those taxes, either, as we value the society we live in.
Self-Employment Tax (which includes both the employee and employer-paid amounts for Social Security and Medicare) can be a surprise!
My wife started a new business, and after initial costs, our "Taxable Income" was less than $1,700, but our calculated tax (before credits) was $1,944!!!
And when we were done, we had 28 pages of forms to file!!
No refund or tea party for us! We are paying in $8,529 on top of $86,127 already withheld, for a total federal tax of $94,656. Although we don't agree with everything the government spends money on, we are proud to be Americans and to do our part to support our country. The true patriots are the people who pay their share every year without whining about it. That's not the same as being politically disengaged. We are very engaged in contacting our legislators and supporting good candidates for public offices.
That i was self employed!
None. If you keep an eye on your finances during the year, there should be no surprises.
The "Making Work Pay" tax credit was a surprise. I'm not rich, but neither am I poor. I took the credit but have to wonder, why is the government handing out free money to me?
There was an unexpected tax credit for my daughter in college, it was a welcome relief!
I got more money back than I ever have in my tax-paying life. My income remained the same and I took the same deductions as the year before, so I benefited from the tax changes.
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