Anyone nervous to do their taxes?

[ramee]

LOL. We have such a basic return. We don't own our home, we have 2 W2s that we need and that's it. No real investment income to report earnings on (it's all tied up in retirement accounts and 529 plans). I do our taxes every year using Turbo Tax and file as soon as we get the W2s.

This was usually our situation! I filed as soon as possible for the refund. It was so simple.

Now, I’m waiting on my first w-2 in almost 6 years. And we bought a house last year. So I’ll be waiting a bit longer to make sure we have all the necessary paperwork. I am ready to get it over with!

 

[ZoeBell]

I’m not looking forward to doing my taxes this year. Going thru a divorce but it wasn’t finalized before the end of the year. So we either file together like the good old days(ha!) or married but separate. I did a quick look at married filing separate and it would not be pretty for me. I have to somehow convince him it’s in both of our interests to file together. He’ll be convinced I’m “taking his tax return”, except he’s not the brightest bulb(hence the divorce) and doesnt get how tax returns go. He makes way less so has way less taken out in taxes. I make more and always have had extra taken out to I make sure we received a decent return. Plus “I” paid for our daughter’s college tuition, so I should be the one to see that returned to me.
Wish me luck

 

[runwad]

Ugh, yes! But only because DD20 gets college scholarships that taxes have to be paid on. It should be easy. But every year I have a million papers and examples and last years taxes spread out all over the dining room table to make sure I do everything right. Then when you throw paying some tuition with a 529 it just seems to make it a little more stressful, worrying about doing the right thing! And sometimes those dang TurboTax questions mix me up.

But we have 2 in college and qualify for the American Opportunity Tax Credit of $2500 per college kid, so if I owe it'll get subtracted from the credit. I was lazy this year and figured I'd just see how things shook out, then make adjustments next year.

 

[queenofthehive]

Always.... Dread it completely. Yes, we always owe so never any fun...

 

[dclpluto]

Nope I got my taxes figured out pretty close. It’s usally I get back just a little bit or have to pay a little bit. Usually within 100 dollars either way.

 

[Superchikk]

I hate it. I am stressed until the final verdict comes in. We are both considered self-employed, but it's complicated. I quit trying to do my own taxes about 15 years ago and found a tax accountant I trust. But I still dread it every year. I have a ton of stuff to gather and am always waiting on that one last document to show up. So far, I've gotten about 1/4 of what we need. We make quarterly payments and I set even more aside, which is a good thing since we usually end up owing. I'd rather owe (if I have it saved, anyway) than give the government an interest-free loan. Since I set extra aside, what we don't owe, we get to use however we want, so it's almost like getting a refund.

Isn't there a way to make this process simpler?

 

[PatMcDuck]

Terrified. We live in NJ. Our SALT is double the new amount allowed.

 

[LovesTimone]

Last year we got a 1 dollar back... I wasn't complaining though it was the first year we ever got money back...so we did not have to pay... YAY...

We bought a house a the end of 2017 - so this year we should be in better shape... maybe we will get 5.00 back....

As long as we don't have to pay I consider that a win....

 

[smiths02]

Ugh, yes! But only because DD20 gets college scholarships that taxes have to be paid on. It should be easy. But every year I have a million papers and examples and last years taxes spread out all over the dining room table to make sure I do everything right. Then when you throw paying some tuition with a 529 it just seems to make it a little more stressful, worrying about doing the right thing! And sometimes those dang TurboTax questions mix me up.

But we have 2 in college and qualify for the American Opportunity Tax Credit of $2500 per college kid, so if I owe it'll get subtracted from the credit. I was lazy this year and figured I'd just see how things shook out, then make adjustments next year.

Wait...scholarships are taxable? We never paid taxes on any of mine. There is no way we could have...I grew up dirt poor.

 

[tzolkin]

It annoys me to no end when DH will come back talking about people's refunds being so much more than ours.
How we should use their tax guy because they got a refund.
I am not saying that a tax professional wouldn't find a few more things, but the real difference is how much those people have withheld from their paychecks.

Yeah, many people have no concept of how it works. They believe it’s all “free money” rather than understanding it’s a refund of what they overpaid.

If the two of us have the exact same income and the exact same situation, we are paying the same amount in taxes regardless of whether one receives a $10k refund and the other owes.

(I do get that there are some circumstances where you can receive more than you paid, but that’s not what I’m talking about.)

 

[barkley]

Wait...scholarships are taxable? We never paid taxes on any of mine. There is no way we could have...I grew up dirt poor.

it depends on the scholarship/grant and how the expenses fall. w/dd it was because the amounts she was awarded exceeded the allowable qualified educational expenses. the amounts she got each year that exceeded those expenses was taxable income. it was never an issue for her until this year b/c she graduated and started her first f/t time job so she's got more income but our cpa had us set up her withholding's to take that last couple of quarters of scholarship and grant money into consideration.

 

[mjkacmom]

Terrified. We live in NJ. Our SALT is double the new amount allowed.

DH estimates we will pay over $2000 more this year with the new rules.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

I can't wait to start just to be done with it! New job so 1st year I'll have to figure out how to file city taxes for the city I work in. Had a mandatory disbursement from a beneficiary IRA, doubt I calculated that tax right. I've collected 10 documents so far, got an email another is online and waiting on house paperwork, school forms and who knows what I'm forgetting. They really should make this required nonsense easier!! Perhaps I'll make a spreadsheet and that will relax my nerves. Oh yeah and my state, Missouri, found out that had the table wrong for years so they already put out an article to expect to pay double what you normally would or get back way less. Think I got $52 last year, so I'm sure I'll end up paying this year.

 

[runwad]

Wait...scholarships are taxable? We never paid taxes on any of mine. There is no way we could have...I grew up dirt poor.

Yep if you get them for room & board because that's not a qualified expense! Plus paying some with a 529, I have to do some gyrations and pay a little tax, actually my dd pays a little, but I reimburse her...so we can qualify for the whole $2500 of the AOTC.

You dang near have to be a CPA to figure all this out! No way ordinary people are educating themselves on all this so that they can get that credit.

But I find it nerve wracking worrying about an audit someday and making sure I have good notes and records so I can explain things 5 years later or whenever if ever we would get audited. Hopefully never as I'm the queen of thinking I wrote everything down clearly to only come back years later and say what the heck does this even mean.

 

[amcnj]

Once the tax changes were announced I tried to adjust the withholding last January to account for it. But there was a merger that was finalized in December so that will throw me off a little! I rarely get refunds, but also rarely owed much each year, unless there were sizable unexpected changes like the one in December.

 

[twoolle]

Yep if you get them for room & board because that's not a qualified expense! Plus paying some with a 529, I have to do some gyrations and pay a little tax, actually my dd pays a little, but I reimburse her...so we can qualify for the whole $2500 of the AOTC.

You dang near have to be a CPA to figure all this out! No way ordinary people are educating themselves on all this so that they can get that credit.

But I find it nerve wracking worrying about an audit someday and making sure I have good notes and records so I can explain things 5 years later or whenever if ever we would get audited. Hopefully never as I'm the queen of thinking I wrote everything down clearly to only come back years later and say what the heck does this even mean.

I agree...I have often said you should not have to be a CPA to do your own taxes. I am a CPA but all my experience has been in financial accounting and never in tax. However over the last few years I "retired" to be a stay at home mom while at the same time running our family business and a couple other side accounting jobs. Those have forced me to learn more than I would like to about taxes. And it is still a little confusing for me to do our own taxes! Mainly when it comes to investment income, capital gains, etc. But still...

 

[smiths02]

Yep if you get them for room & board because that's not a qualified expense! Plus paying some with a 529, I have to do some gyrations and pay a little tax, actually my dd pays a little, but I reimburse her...so we can qualify for the whole $2500 of the AOTC.

You dang near have to be a CPA to figure all this out! No way ordinary people are educating themselves on all this so that they can get that credit.

But I find it nerve wracking worrying about an audit someday and making sure I have good notes and records so I can explain things 5 years later or whenever if ever we would get audited. Hopefully never as I'm the queen of thinking I wrote everything down clearly to only come back years later and say what the heck does this even mean.

I did get some scholarships and grants for room & board my first...did not pay taxes on that, I'm pretty sure. I think I did file that year because I did work study as well. Room & board was also required my freshman year, I was not allowed to live off campus (or maybe the taxes were different in 1999-2000). I would not have had money to pay the room & board scholarships. Either way, I moved off campus and paid my own room & board after that (so I didn't qualify for the scholarships that weren't tuition, fees, and books). And I don't think they will go back 20 years, so I should be good.

After 2018 since we sold the rental property, at least our taxes should be simple until DS goes to college in 2024.

 

[barkley]

I can't wait to start just to be done with it! New job so 1st year I'll have to figure out how to file city taxes for the city I work in. Had a mandatory disbursement from a beneficiary IRA, doubt I calculated that tax right. I've collected 10 documents so far, got an email another is online and waiting on house paperwork, school forms and who knows what I'm forgetting. They really should make this required nonsense easier!! Perhaps I'll make a spreadsheet and that will relax my nerves. Oh yeah and my state, Missouri, found out that had the table wrong for years so they already put out an article to expect to pay double what you normally would or get back way less. Think I got $52 last year, so I'm sure I'll end up paying this year.

you have to pay CITY income taxes too?

 

[mco65]

I'm sure I'll get hammered as usual and will owe them $5k+ when I file.

Ditto... last year was closer to 4k... but UGH.. i am always nervous.

 

[wvjules]

I get a refund this year. $700 combined. $450 fed and $250 state. Not too bad considering I switched jobs to one with higher pay and received 2 pretty decent bonuses.