Have you filed your taxes?

[Julie]

I haven't! *gulp* I just realized. I think my brain has been eaten by weevils. I wonder if weevil-brain is tax-deductible?

[WhyNot]

Filed, yes; paid, no. We owe about $500, split about evenly between the two, and we're procrastinating actually writing the checks. I'd say it's out of some libertarian ideals about not giving the federal government extra interest on my money by paying early, but really it's because we're lazy and keep forgetting to write the damn checks.

[Myrnalene]

oh shit

[yawndave]

Don't worry, we still have a week! This from someone who always snail mails their return on the evening of the last day.

FYI, weevil-brain deduction information can be found in IRS Publication 225.

[Jules]

The checks are written and the returns are waiting for my husband to come home and sign. I paid a huge amount this year, and my quarterly estimated taxes for next year are going to kill me.

[EJsGirl]

We'll sign them and send them in tomorrow. Getting almost a grand back from the state (unless we get a fucking IOU) and we owe the feds in the mid-4 figures...

:smile:

[Gnome]

Crap! >

I really need to take mine in and get them done already. I keep putting it off and then forgetting. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

[susan]

Julie, you might want to hire someone to do them this year. With your husband's death there are both tax considerations and the increased possibility of making an error with your arithmetic.

[Batman]

oh shit

This.

[runner pat]

Done. Mid-February.

[Elyanna]

Done. I owed a little to state (bout 30 bucks) and I'm getting a decent chunk back from federal (bout 300 bucks)

[Julie]

Julie, you might want to hire someone to do them this year. With your husband's death there are both tax considerations and the increased possibility of making an error with your arithmetic.

Because he died in 2009, it looks as though the 2008 taxes are straightforward. I do them online and have the program pull up last year's forms and edit them.

It's good advice, though.

[Eleanor of Aquitaine]

I did a first pass through ours several weeks ago and found out we weren't getting any money back, so I lost momentum. I need to double check everything and file it this weekend.

[SilverTygerGirl]

Did them last weekend. I should get money back from both Federal and State, although I think CA is just handing out IOUs.

[pepperlandgirl]

Did them in March, but didn't file them until last night. Owed fed and state, but I can't complain. I mean, it sucks to pay them but I only owe them because I actually made some money from my books.

[Alien Crouton]

I'd say it's out of some libertarian ideals about not giving the federal government extra interest on my money by paying early, but really it's because we're lazy and keep forgetting to write the damn checks.

Why can't it be both? That's me. Just mailed mine yesterday though.

Last year I extended until October thinking I was going to find a way out of paying taxes on a windfall, and it sucked having that hanging over my head all year. Never again.

[Liberal]

We have filed, and were disappointed that we would be getting refunds.

[MyOwnWorstEnemy]

Already filed, already got the refunds -- which aren't spent yet, but are earmarked for upcoming bills.

[antijen]

I don't really know how to do them, so my man's in charge. Much to my frustration, he's one of those who waits till the very last possible second to mail them in. Stresses me out! Pretty sure they're done, though. Or almost.

[Zuul]

...crap. Thanks for the reminder.

I guess I know what I'll be doing on Monday.

[Badtz Maru]

We did as soon as I had my W-2s. Got $4700 for it!

[Orual]

Filed online a couple of weeks ago. I already got my refund from the feds, and an IOU from the state of California. Which is simultaneously hilarious, disturbing, and incredibly irritating.

[Guizmeaux]

I think it's utterly vile that your government makes every one of you act as unpaid tax assessors/collectors. Here, as far as I know, we only have to fill in a tax form if;

We receive taxable benefits
We are company directors
We are eligible for Capital Gains tax on property or investments
We want to claim back expenses not handled through our tax code.

Is there no such thing as PAYE in the States? I've never lived there as an adult so...

[Elyanna]

I just got my federal refund, woo hoo!

[WhyNot]

Is there no such thing as PAYE in the States? I've never lived there as an adult so...

Pay As You..Earn? Well, employers do withhold an approximation of your tax owed with each paycheck and sent it to the IRS on your behalf, but IIRC, that estimate is based on your marital status and number of dependents only. When tax time comes, you've got all sorts of variables, from whether you bought a house recently to how much you pay in child care so you can work to whether or not you work on a farm. All of that stuff (and much, much more) changes the amount you owe really. So what you've paid via employer withholding is subtracted from what you actually owe once you've taken all the variables into account. If the number is positive, you've paid more than you really owe and you'll get a refund. If it's negative, you haven't paid all that you owe and you write the IRS a check. (I heard they're taking credit cards for the first time this year, but I can't swear to it.) I've had years where we owe the IRS $2000+ and years we get back $2000+ and everything in between, depending on what's been happening in our lives that the employer doesn't account for when determining how much estimated tax to withhold.

The state, at least my state, has far fewer variables that affect your tax owed, and so the estimated tax payments withheld by my employer and sent to the state on my behalf have almost always much more closely approximated what I actually owe for the year. It's unusual for me to owe or get a refund of more than $200 for the State of Illinois.