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#1
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OT taxes questions - any experts?
Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the
calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. I noticed that a lot less was taken from our paychecks than in 2002, especially for DH. Any hint as to why? We both changed our status to married in Jan of 2003 (we couldn't claim married until we were 'residents for tax purposes' and able to use the regular 1040 instead of the 1040NR which has nothing to do with being legal residents but with being in the US longer than 5 years, it has been more than that, but we hadn't done it - I think I had, but it never crossed DH's mind he might change his status, he just does not think about those mundane facts), and we only have one allowance each. Do you guys know if changing from single - married implies less is taken every month? Or do you think it might be related to the new tax laws? I did notice the amount I took home went up at some point, while the total salary had not increased at that time.. I was happy since I was taking more home, and did not question why at the time (I guess in the long run it is better to owe since you've had the money all along, right? But getting a check back sure is nice!). Here I was, naively thinking that since taxes had gone down with Bush (or so the ads keep repeating, although I know most benefits are for the very rich) and there was no marriage penalty anymore we'd get a nice check back! Do you think I should see someone so they can take a look at my numbers? Like an HR Block person? They say the can definitely save you some money, right? The thing is, our taxes are so simple I am not sure they can help us so paying a fee might not be worth it.. unless there is something I am completely missing and it might make a huge difference - remember Sofia was born this year so I cannot claim her! -- Dr. Quilter Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali (take the dog out before replying) |
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#2
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I would go to the payroll dept and ask them to go over withholdings with
you. -- Mary http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948 "Dr. Quilter" wrote in message ... Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. I noticed that a lot less was taken from our paychecks than in 2002, especially for DH. Any hint as to why? We both changed our status to married in Jan of 2003 (we couldn't claim married until we were 'residents for tax purposes' and able to use the regular 1040 instead of the 1040NR which has nothing to do with being legal residents but with being in the US longer than 5 years, it has been more than that, but we hadn't done it - I think I had, but it never crossed DH's mind he might change his status, he just does not think about those mundane facts), and we only have one allowance each. Do you guys know if changing from single - married implies less is taken every month? Or do you think it might be related to the new tax laws? I did notice the amount I took home went up at some point, while the total salary had not increased at that time.. I was happy since I was taking more home, and did not question why at the time (I guess in the long run it is better to owe since you've had the money all along, right? But getting a check back sure is nice!). Here I was, naively thinking that since taxes had gone down with Bush (or so the ads keep repeating, although I know most benefits are for the very rich) and there was no marriage penalty anymore we'd get a nice check back! Do you think I should see someone so they can take a look at my numbers? Like an HR Block person? They say the can definitely save you some money, right? The thing is, our taxes are so simple I am not sure they can help us so paying a fee might not be worth it.. unless there is something I am completely missing and it might make a huge difference - remember Sofia was born this year so I cannot claim her! -- Dr. Quilter Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali (take the dog out before replying) |
#3
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I know from experience that claiming "married" on your W2 does mean less
taxes taken out than claiming "single". I don't know why, but that's how it works. Does that make sense? As far as I know, you don't have to claim "married" even though you are. DH always claims single even though we're married & since we have 2 kids we tend to get a chunk back. I knew there was a good reason we had kids! hahaha It might not hurt to go to a tax preparer, but I would suggest shopping around first. Who knows, you might be able to find one who would look at it cheaper than HR Block? We've used Jackson Hewitt in the past few years, but after paying $200-something this year I've decided we're getting TurboTax next year at Wal Mart. HTH -- Deb in AR A desert-rat at heart! "Dr. Quilter" wrote in message ... Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. I noticed that a lot less was taken from our paychecks than in 2002, especially for DH. Any hint as to why? We both changed our status to married in Jan of 2003 (we couldn't claim married until we were 'residents for tax purposes' and able to use the regular 1040 instead of the 1040NR which has nothing to do with being legal residents but with being in the US longer than 5 years, it has been more than that, but we hadn't done it - I think I had, but it never crossed DH's mind he might change his status, he just does not think about those mundane facts), and we only have one allowance each. Do you guys know if changing from single - married implies less is taken every month? Or do you think it might be related to the new tax laws? I did notice the amount I took home went up at some point, while the total salary had not increased at that time.. I was happy since I was taking more home, and did not question why at the time (I guess in the long run it is better to owe since you've had the money all along, right? But getting a check back sure is nice!). Here I was, naively thinking that since taxes had gone down with Bush (or so the ads keep repeating, although I know most benefits are for the very rich) and there was no marriage penalty anymore we'd get a nice check back! Do you think I should see someone so they can take a look at my numbers? Like an HR Block person? They say the can definitely save you some money, right? The thing is, our taxes are so simple I am not sure they can help us so paying a fee might not be worth it.. unless there is something I am completely missing and it might make a huge difference - remember Sofia was born this year so I cannot claim her! -- Dr. Quilter Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali (take the dog out before replying) |
#4
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I don't know a lot about why with holding amounts might change.
The number to compare is how much taxes you pay in total rather than the amount that you get back or pay by April 15. You can tweak your withholding so you are paying enough not to get a bill. Getting a big refund means you had too much withheld and having to pay means you didn't have enough with held. We actually paid a little less taxes this year compared to last with the new tax cuts. What 'rich' or 'very rich' means is different depending on which politician is talking. Taria Dr. Quilter wrote: Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. I noticed that a lot less was taken from our paychecks than in 2002, especially for DH. Any hint as to why? We both changed our status to married in Jan of 2003 (we couldn't claim married until we were 'residents for tax purposes' and able to use the regular 1040 instead of the 1040NR which has nothing to do with being legal residents but with being in the US longer than 5 years, it has been more than that, but we hadn't done it - I think I had, but it never crossed DH's mind he might change his status, he just does not think about those mundane facts), and we only have one allowance each. Do you guys know if changing from single - married implies less is taken every month? Or do you think it might be related to the new tax laws? I did notice the amount I took home went up at some point, while the total salary had not increased at that time.. I was happy since I was taking more home, and did not question why at the time (I guess in the long run it is better to owe since you've had the money all along, right? But getting a check back sure is nice!). Here I was, naively thinking that since taxes had gone down with Bush (or so the ads keep repeating, although I know most benefits are for the very rich) and there was no marriage penalty anymore we'd get a nice check back! Do you think I should see someone so they can take a look at my numbers? Like an HR Block person? They say the can definitely save you some money, right? The thing is, our taxes are so simple I am not sure they can help us so paying a fee might not be worth it.. unless there is something I am completely missing and it might make a huge difference - remember Sofia was born this year so I cannot claim her! |
#5
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In article ,
"Dr. Quilter" wrote: Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. snip I'd suggest getting some advice from an expert -- the H&R Block people tend to be pretty knowledgeable. We used them for years, though this year we switched to TurboTax and like that very much. -- Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas my ISP is earthlink.net -- put sfoster1(at) in front http://home.earthlink.net/~sfoster1 |
#6
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Married people get a break tax wise. You pay less taxes than if you both
filed separately. That is why less taxes were taken out. My husband and I have found that we need to claim 0 deductions each----we don't itemize deductions either (no house interest to deduct). The payroll department where you work should be able to help you calculate how many exemptions to claim. If your tax situation is simple---do your taxes yourself. No need to pay someone to do what you can do yourself. Did you know you can go to Turbotax.com and file your taxes online. There are other providers as well---H & R Block for instance. If you have internet, you don't have to go out and purchase tax software---which changes each year. There is a nominal fee for using internet tax software. Betty in WI "Dr. Quilter" wrote in message ... Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. |
#7
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200 bucks, really??? I thought you had to claim married if you were and
the only reason we weren't was the non resident issue... Deb in AR wrote: I know from experience that claiming "married" on your W2 does mean less taxes taken out than claiming "single". I don't know why, but that's how it works. Does that make sense? As far as I know, you don't have to claim "married" even though you are. DH always claims single even though we're married & since we have 2 kids we tend to get a chunk back. I knew there was a good reason we had kids! hahaha It might not hurt to go to a tax preparer, but I would suggest shopping around first. Who knows, you might be able to find one who would look at it cheaper than HR Block? We've used Jackson Hewitt in the past few years, but after paying $200-something this year I've decided we're getting TurboTax next year at Wal Mart. HTH -- Dr. Quilter Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali (take the dog out before replying) |
#8
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well, I know I am neither rich or very rich.. )
I wanted a couple hundred dollars refund.. that is what I am used to! so you didn't get way too much withheld but you don't have to send a check either! ) guess I did need some tweaking. of course next year it will be very different with Sofia here, rigth? and to think we were considering buying the house we live in, remember? that would have made everything a lot more complicated! Taria wrote: I don't know a lot about why with holding amounts might change. The number to compare is how much taxes you pay in total rather than the amount that you get back or pay by April 15. You can tweak your withholding so you are paying enough not to get a bill. Getting a big refund means you had too much withheld and having to pay means you didn't have enough with held. We actually paid a little less taxes this year compared to last with the new tax cuts. What 'rich' or 'very rich' means is different depending on which politician is talking. Taria Dr. Quilter wrote: Obviously I know nothing about taxes. Just got a shock when I did the calculations for 2003 and noticed for the first time we owe a big chunk (at least for us, since in the past we always got a couple hundred bucks back). Remember we rent, we don't get too much interest from savings accounts, and we have no other income besides 2 postdoc salaries. This is the second time we filed jointly. I noticed that a lot less was taken from our paychecks than in 2002, especially for DH. Any hint as to why? We both changed our status to married in Jan of 2003 (we couldn't claim married until we were 'residents for tax purposes' and able to use the regular 1040 instead of the 1040NR which has nothing to do with being legal residents but with being in the US longer than 5 years, it has been more than that, but we hadn't done it - I think I had, but it never crossed DH's mind he might change his status, he just does not think about those mundane facts), and we only have one allowance each. Do you guys know if changing from single - married implies less is taken every month? Or do you think it might be related to the new tax laws? I did notice the amount I took home went up at some point, while the total salary had not increased at that time.. I was happy since I was taking more home, and did not question why at the time (I guess in the long run it is better to owe since you've had the money all along, right? But getting a check back sure is nice!). Here I was, naively thinking that since taxes had gone down with Bush (or so the ads keep repeating, although I know most benefits are for the very rich) and there was no marriage penalty anymore we'd get a nice check back! Do you think I should see someone so they can take a look at my numbers? Like an HR Block person? They say the can definitely save you some money, right? The thing is, our taxes are so simple I am not sure they can help us so paying a fee might not be worth it.. unless there is something I am completely missing and it might make a huge difference - remember Sofia was born this year so I cannot claim her! -- Dr. Quilter Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali (take the dog out before replying) |
#9
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My DH former employer always assisted us.
-- Mary http://community.webshots.com/user/mardor1948 "Dr. Quilter" wrote in message ... I did, they tell me I should do what I want. I think maybe they are not allowed to give tax advice? Mary in Oregon wrote: I would go to the payroll dept and ask them to go over withholdings with you. -- Dr. Quilter Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali (take the dog out before replying) |
#10
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"Dr. Quilter" wrote in message ... 200 bucks, really??? I thought you had to claim married if you were and the only reason we weren't was the non resident issue... I would say undoubtedly your payroll deductions went down because of the change to "married" as well as the tax reduction. Both DH and I claim "single" and we also have extra money taken out. Still, this is the first year we got a refund in a long time. Iris |
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