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Scotttheking · Feb 8, 2006, 10:55 AM

After a few calls to my accountant to request that he hurry up and finish my tax return, along with declaring that I'm not paying any taxes this year, the results are in. I'm getting 100% of what I paid back

Between state and federal it is enough to cover about 60% of what I spent on textbooks

What about you all, refund or owe?

wdlove · Feb 8, 2006, 12:21 PM

I will soon know for sure. Going to my lawyer to have my taxes figured.

Congratulations on you refund. After all it is your money.

turtle777 · Feb 8, 2006, 01:44 PM

Refund, probably 2.5 grand. Great. Need to pay some bills.

Mrjinglesusa · Feb 8, 2006, 01:48 PM

My days of getting tax refunds are long gone.

smacintush · Feb 8, 2006, 01:51 PM

You just loaned you hard-earned money to the federal government for 0% interest.

Congratulations.

placebo1969 · Feb 8, 2006, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by smacintush

You just loaned you hard-earned money to the federal government for 0% interest.

Congratulations.

True. However, I would rather get it back in one lump than keep a little bit on each paycheck. To each his own, I guess. My wife and I are getting just under $900 back.

rparke1 · Feb 8, 2006, 02:07 PM

i got a little over 3 grand last year :-)

turtle777 · Feb 8, 2006, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by smacintush

You just loaned you hard-earned money to the federal government for 0% interest. Congratulations.

Don't forget, there is a smarter way.

Get some exemptions and underpay taxes and borrow from the government. When time comes to pay, put it on your credit card with 21% interest and pay it off over the next years.

Et viola, there you got -21% !

Railroader · Feb 8, 2006, 03:47 PM

I got my state return today. Federal return should come in the next couple days.

I have very little idea how to schedule my taxes to I come out even. So I always get a refund.

This year was the biggest refund I have ever gotten.

Railroader · Feb 8, 2006, 03:49 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Don't forget, there is a smarter way.

Get some exemptions and underpay taxes and borrow from the government. When time comes to pay, put it on your credit card with 21% interest and pay it off over the next years.

Et viola, there you got -21% !

Hey, that's how my brother-in-law does it. He claims I am a moron for loaning the government money. He's still paying 2003 taxsl at 18%. He's so smart. He does have a doctorate* degree and all.

*seriously, he does.

production_coordinator · Feb 8, 2006, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Refund, probably 2.5 grand. Great. Need to pay some bills.

If you get paid 2 times a month... you may not have bills to pay off if your paycheck had the extra $100 you earned in there.

turtle777 · Feb 8, 2006, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

If you get paid 2 times a month... you may not have bills to pay off if your paycheck had the extra $100 you earned in there.

Huh ?

What do you know about my bills ?
Bills are NOT always proportional to income, ya know !

On a second thought, I guess you misinterpreted what I said.
I meant that I'm expecting a 2.5 grand refund, but it will go towards paying off some non -IRS bills !

willed · Feb 8, 2006, 03:56 PM

I got £40 back last week. Do I win? It was from, like, 2002, when I was working as a lifeguard. As I was a student they shouldn't have taxed me, but they did one time and I didn't notice, until I started to pay tax recently. Nice to get a cheque back for once!

ReggieX · Feb 8, 2006, 03:58 PM

No idea, I won't get my T4 until the end of the month.

nredman · Feb 8, 2006, 05:42 PM

i'm getting some back too - going to use it to pay some bills

production_coordinator · Feb 8, 2006, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by what_the_heck

Huh ?

What do you know about my bills ?
Bills are NOT always proportional to income, ya know !

On a second thought, I guess you misinterpreted what I said.
I meant that I'm expecting a 2.5 grand refund, but it will go towards paying off some non -IRS bills !

I'm saying that perhaps if you didn't give uncle-sam a tax free loan of $2,500, you could have been paying incrementally on your bills instead of waiting until the government gave your money back to you.

ghporter · Feb 8, 2006, 06:34 PM

Well you see it's like this...

On January 1, 2005 I officially retired from the Air Force. <deleted long winded discussion of how military retirees get shafted (yet again) by Congress> So with a really big cut in my income, we figured that things would be pretty tight around here once I retired. Then my wife got promoted AND got a full time rather than part time position. So she gets more every hour and she gets more hours.

So....her withholding was WAY too high. I mean WAAAAAAYYYYY too high. So we're getting a nice refund. Nice enough to pay off a credit card balance (the one we've been putting all the "I wish we could pay cash for this because we really need it" purchases on).

We will fix my wife's withholding, but it's nice to know that things work out ok sometimes. We didn't hurt that much, and we did wind up ahead in some ways. AND we'll have some left over for fun, too.

isao bered · Feb 8, 2006, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

heh. didn't you read the part of the contract where it says any promise you make to your nation or your nation makes to you in becoming a military servicmember is subject to revision by your nation without voiding the contract? ;-)

thankfully, due to the work of generations of retirees the active population enjoys much better compensation than their predecessors. but the shame is that after retiring from the conflicts with enemies both foreign and domestic, many have to join a conflict against whom they served. i still don't think it's a bad deal, especially compared with pension tragedies in the civilian sector. yet an imagination of what may have been without the continuous effort of those dedicated retirees does give great pause.

current active duty careerists are wise if they observe these travails...

be well.

laeth

SirCastor · Feb 8, 2006, 07:01 PM

Thanks to Earned income credit, I'm getting back more than I paid. Way more.

ghporter · Feb 8, 2006, 07:19 PM

I actually am getting a better package than most of the people who enlisted after me. My retired pay is based on my final check, and the plan gives me 2.5% of base pay per year of service (after 20 years minimum). There are two newer programs that wind up sticking it to people, called "High-3" (based on the average of one's final three years pay) and "CSB/REDUX" (which must be Klingon for "bend over-there's no time for lubricant!").

High-3 simply elminates the benefit of one's last (every two years) longevity raise and the last two inflation-adjustment raises (which are usually around 2.5-3%). REDUX cuts one's retirement pay to something around 40% of base pay, AND THEN CUTS IT AGAIN AT AGE 62 WHEN SOCIAL SECURITY CAN KICK IN.

Under High-3 my pay would be about $3K less a year. Under REDUX, it would be almost $10K less AND it would also go down more at age 62. This sort of maltreatment certainly warrants award of the famous "purple shaft with barbed wire clusters" medal.

So everyone got an abbreviated version of my rant anyway. I didn't go through a lot of what a whole bunch of GIs are going through right now. They are being paid crap and having to leave their families behind to go in harms way BECAUSE THEY WANT TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY. And for thanks, if they survive and don't throw in the towel before 20 years of service, they get another kick in the teeth. Write your (very well compensated) Congressman and Senators (who all get a most generous retirement package that can kick in after a much shorter term of service -- and they don't get shot at at work!) and tell them that it's stupid to shortchange our military personnel this way. While you're at it, tell 'em that witholding a part of a military retiree's retirement pay because he's getting VA compensation for something that happened to him due to his service is an unacceptable insult as well. (When the VA finally figures out how "disabled" I am and starts paying me a disability stipend, my retirement pay WILL be reduced by that ammount.) It's part of a VERY old "anti-double dipping" law that was never intended to hurt retirees with valid disabilities.

Ok, rant over. How 'bout them <your team here>?

isao bered · Feb 8, 2006, 07:43 PM

well to keep this completely tax related... ;-)

one of the better things they have done wrt military retirement is inclusion of military personnel into the thrift savings plan. especially so now that the limits are off. being able to contribute untaxed pay so simply into a decent program like that is a fantastic offerring to those who take advantage of it. though i suspect someday they'll probably come up with some matching fund program that may look good on the front end but really screw the misinformed or simple on the back end (y'know - like redux ;-).

y'know, there's probably a great joke hiding amongst the terms "air force" and "disabled", but i don't want to be the one to make fun of any chair-related mishaps. i know those casters can be tricky things. ;-)

be well.

laeth

mindwaves · Feb 9, 2006, 12:02 AM

Excluding my stock sales which I have yet to factor in and misc deductions, I will owe ~$300.

Scotttheking · Feb 9, 2006, 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by smacintush

You just loaned you hard-earned money to the federal government for 0% interest.

Congratulations.

Yes, but only because a check I was supposed to get in December did not come until January. Cash based accounting is nice like that. If the check had come in December I would have gotten a smaller refund. I could have claimed exempt from taxes, but my accountant advised against it.
However, it was not hard earned money. I didn't work hard for it

It's $180 federal and $120 state, approximately.

In 2006 I will likely have to pay taxes, assuming I get a much needed job. Oh well. I am still hoping to make it until 2007 or even 2008 before owing. I need some job though in order to fund my IRA.

ghporter · Feb 9, 2006, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by isao bered

well to keep this completely tax related... ;-)

one of the better things they have done wrt military retirement is inclusion of military personnel into the thrift savings plan. especially so now that the limits are off. being able to contribute untaxed pay so simply into a decent program like that is a fantastic offerring to those who take advantage of it. though i suspect someday they'll probably come up with some matching fund program that may look good on the front end but really screw the misinformed or simple on the back end (y'know - like redux ;-).

y'know, there's probably a great joke hiding amongst the terms "air force" and "disabled", but i don't want to be the one to make fun of any chair-related mishaps. i know those casters can be tricky things. ;-)

be well.

laeth

Well I do think TSP is a Good Thing© for everyone. Everyone that can take advantage of it, that is-it was introduced far too late for me.

No joke about "Air Force" and "disabled" here. I got my bad knees on the job running up and down air traffic control tower stairs multiple times with a 75 pound radio. Yes, I know that anything heavier than a gallon of milk is usually marked "Two Man Lift," but you try to fit two people side by side on a stairway that's 18 inches wide... And in spite of using every appropriate protective device, I can't hear the way I should-though I never worked on the flightline. Yep, I was one of the "active" active duty Air Force people.

Cody Dawg · Feb 9, 2006, 09:21 AM

We are getting $7515 back this year.

Yes, some people say that we "loaned" the government the money at 0% interest...

BUT we're getting back $7500 bucks in one lump sum...which we promptly save.

It is our way of saving some money all year long.

wdlove · Feb 9, 2006, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Well you see it's like this...

On January 1, 2005 I officially retired from the Air Force. <deleted long winded discussion of how military retirees get shafted (yet again) by Congress> So with a really big cut in my income, we figured that things would be pretty tight around here once I retired. Then my wife got promoted AND got a full time rather than part time position. So she gets more every hour and she gets more hours.

So....her withholding was WAY too high. I mean WAAAAAAYYYYY too high. So we're getting a nice refund. Nice enough to pay off a credit card balance (the one we've been putting all the "I wish we could pay cash for this because we really need it" purchases on).

We will fix my wife's withholding, but it's nice to know that things work out ok sometimes. We didn't hurt that much, and we did wind up ahead in some ways. AND we'll have some left over for fun, too.

Thank you for your service to our country. I know what a sacrifice that was. Thanks for your service.

I'm retired from the Air Force myself.

ghporter · Feb 9, 2006, 05:42 PM

Cody, your refund kicks mine's butt! How'd you manage that?

While it's not a good idea financially to maintain one's witholding such that one continuously gets large refunds, as I pointed out in my first post here, it happens. I consider the "no interest loan" worthwhile if I never have to worry about owing taxes in April.

wdlove, when did you retire, and what did you do?

SirCastor · Feb 9, 2006, 06:01 PM

Nothing like getting back money that already belongs to you...

turtle777 · Feb 9, 2006, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by SirCastor

Nothing like getting back money that already belongs to you...

That's why I say: Friends don't let friends borrow money.

ghporter · Feb 9, 2006, 06:07 PM

Insurance costs money and you hope you won't have to use it. I think of having "the right amount" of witholding as being insurance. And sometimes, if you wind up with odd circumstances and get a big refund, (not knowing you were overpaying in witholding) then that's not a bad thing.

But I refuse to set myself up for some functionary in the IRS to decide I'm not having enough witheld. Nope, I'm going to use the proper blocks on the W4 to make sure I have at least enough taken out so that I do NOT need to write a check to the IRS EVER.

Railroader · Feb 9, 2006, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

We are getting $7515 back this year.

Yes, some people say that we "loaned" the government the money at 0% interest...

BUT we're getting back $7500 bucks in one lump sum...which we promptly save.

It is our way of saving some money all year long.

We are getting a couple grand back more than you. We didn't really plan our deductions out very well and donated a lot more this year than last.

We still haven't decided where to put it. We maxed out our 401ks and our Roth IRAs. Might drop it into the kid's 529 plan but I think it might have a limit on deposits as well.

Or, with the help of a little from our savings maybe a chunk of real estate. A piece of forest to camp on and wander around on during the weekends.

Or donate it and get a big refund back next year too.

Lateralus · Feb 9, 2006, 08:53 PM

I got my tax refund deposited back on the 26th of Jan. Go me...

ghporter · Feb 9, 2006, 09:06 PM

Lateralus, did you file on Jan 1 or something? I couldn't actually file electronically until Feb 7 because the IRS had not finalized some of the electronic forms until then...And my refund should hit the bank TOMORROW. Oh boy!

Scotttheking · Feb 9, 2006, 09:08 PM

I have to wait for my refund(s) to be mailed to me

Lateralus · Feb 9, 2006, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Lateralus, did you file on Jan 1 or something? I couldn't actually file electronically until Feb 7 because the IRS had not finalized some of the electronic forms until then...And my refund should hit the bank TOMORROW. Oh boy!

I did it around the 11th. Only reason I had to wait that long was that the Oklahoma return wasn't available for download through Turbo Tax until the 10th.

But yeah, I did my return with my final '05 paycheck stub since my taxes are pretty straight forward. Didn't get my W2 from work until a few days ago.

porieux · 05:58 AM

...

ghporter · Feb 10, 2006, 08:37 AM

Well my refund showed up right on time! I'm very happy! Now when the VA catch up payment hits (they goofed on some paperwork so my subsistence allowance was cut off for a couple months, but they fixed it so I get a nice lump sum!), I'll really have some mad money! Yowee!

Railroader · Feb 10, 2006, 09:38 AM

MY refund came exactly as they told me too. They must do deposits all at the same time because some family members got their refund today as well.

residentEvil · Feb 10, 2006, 10:24 AM

I've got mine, and spent it: Paid off a credit card, bought everything for the gutted basement bathroom (insulation, drywall, electrical, sink, toilet, vanity, etc), new hardwood flooring (laminet/no glue) for the living room/hallway and enough left over to enjoy super bowl weekend

11011001 · Feb 11, 2006, 08:48 AM

Not entirely tax refund, but our province just gave everyone a $400.00 cheque! Even dead people got it. It was a surplus for oil taxes or something. I am paying for my text books with it as well.

Scotttheking · Feb 14, 2006, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

We are getting $7515 back this year.

Yes, some people say that we "loaned" the government the money at 0% interest...

BUT we're getting back $7500 bucks in one lump sum...which we promptly save.

It is our way of saving some money all year long.

I'm curious why you do that instead of putting a portion of your paychecks into savings...
I guess if you don't have the drive to save money it could be useful, but otherwise it is just a waste of a year's worth of interest...But that's a pretty big cost @ $200-$300.

I talked with my accountant's voicemail today and he'll now be using direct deposit for me, hopefully that'll work with state too.

The only reason I'm getting a refund (if I didn't mention this already) is I use cash based accounting and a check that was expected in 2005 didn't actually come until early 2006, and that was equal to 1/3 of what I actually received in 2005. I fully expect 2006 to cost me in taxes.

Railroader · Feb 14, 2006, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by Scotttheking

I'm curious why you do that instead of putting a portion of your paychecks into savings...
I guess if you don't have the drive to save money it could be useful, but otherwise it is just a waste of a year's worth of interest...But that's a pretty big cost @ $200-$300.

I talked with my accountant's voicemail today and he'll now be using direct deposit for me, hopefully that'll work with state too.

The only reason I'm getting a refund (if I didn't mention this already) is I use cash based accounting and a check that was expected in 2005 didn't actually come until early 2006, and that was equal to 1/3 of what I actually received in 2005. I fully expect 2006 to cost me in taxes.

Not everyone can predict their deductions perfectly at the beginning of the year. Situations change and people change.

Scotttheking · Feb 14, 2006, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Not everyone can predict their deductions perfectly at the beginning of the year. Situations change and people change.

Agreed, that's why I'm getting a refund this year.

However, $7500 is a pretty big mistake...
That said, my question is because of the statement "It is our way of saving some money all year long."

Railroader · Feb 14, 2006, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by Scotttheking

Agreed, that's why I'm getting a refund this year.

However, $7500 is a pretty big mistake...
That said, my question is because of the statement "It is our way of saving some money all year long."

Not really. My friends had twin on Dec 29th last year. That's a a LOT of money back right there.

Unexpected adoption? HUGE deduction. HUGE. $10,000.

Tsunami or Hurricane Katrina donation? Deduction.

Refinance in Jan and deduct a lot of interest and points.

Buy a hybrid car.

Make a lot less at the end or beginning of the year than you normally would, (my situation), big refund.

Hope college tax credit. I think that's $2,500.

There are a lot of ways to get deductions that you aren't expecting.

Simply triple your donations and you'll get a lot back.

TailsToo · Feb 14, 2006, 12:23 PM

Refund!