bye bye $1400

[kyparrish]

1. Make sure your wifes company is withholding enough to cover taxes due.
2. ???
3. Profit

Just finished the taxes. Can't wait till next year!

 

[KLin]

You mean you didn't have that money in an ingDirect account making interest?

 

[Squisher]

I had to pay $3700 last year, I was surprised I'm getting back $1300 this year. I guess I'm a better lier these days.

 

[SparkyJJO]

That happened to my brother. Looks like he owes a good deal of money too

 

[Tiamat]

its better to owe anyways, as you had the option of using that money when you needed it, or let it grow in a savings account. Its sort of like the gov't giving you a free loan in the amount that you owe them at the end of the year. Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

 

[RichieZ]

yea i owed more than that this yr, funny cuz i got more than that back last yr

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

You will get penalized if you don't withhold enough taxes.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
its better to owe anyways, as you had the option of using that money when you needed it, or let it grow in a savings account. Its sort of like the gov't giving you a free loan in the amount that you owe them at the end of the year. Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

Not when your budget is tight like my brother's is.

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

You will get penalized if you don't withhold enough taxes.

If so, shouldn't my brother's employer bear that penalty, since they failed to do the paperwork properly in the first place?

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: Tiamat
its better to owe anyways, as you had the option of using that money when you needed it, or let it grow in a savings account. Its sort of like the gov't giving you a free loan in the amount that you owe them at the end of the year. Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

Not when your budget is tight like my brother's is.

edit: its late, i probably screwed up my logic. In any case good luck with paying it off!

 

[Safeway]

I am getting money back, thankfully.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

You will get penalized if you don't withhold enough taxes.

If so, shouldn't my brother's employer bear that penalty, since they failed to do the paperwork properly in the first place?

I think you get penalized if you owe two years in a row, and there may be other conditions you have to meet. It's not your brother's employer's fault. He should fill in his own W-4.

Edit: I think you have to have underpaid by 10% or more in the current year, and have underpaid by any amount in the previous year.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO

Originally posted by: Tiamat
its better to owe anyways, as you had the option of using that money when you needed it, or let it grow in a savings account. Its sort of like the gov't giving you a free loan in the amount that you owe them at the end of the year. Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

Not when your budget is tight like my brother's is.

edit: its late, i probably screwed up my logic. In any case good luck with paying it off!

Nah, you just didn't account for the fact that many people live paycheck to paycheck, and when you're not aware that you're going to owe it sucks to find out about it.

 

[sygyzy]

I owed $3000 this year. $1400 is not a big deal

 

[djheater]

I had my withholdings figured out, so that I'd get about $250 back.

Then, we bought a house, both started school and had a child. I ended up with $4500 back this year... I realllllly need to adjust again.

 

[thirdlegstump]

She lacks discipline!

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Then again, i dont know if its illegal to purposely withhold more taxes than you need to during the year...

You will get penalized if you don't withhold enough taxes.

you have to be grossly misreporting to be penalized. If you fudge a few more exemptions or so, you are just going to owe. I usually owe each year, but I prefer looking to it as cost of business rather than having money tied up.

All in all though it's half of one, 6 of another. The money is not going to make or break me coming out each paycheck vs getting some / oweing some at the end of the tax year.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Not when your budget is tight like my brother's is.

If you think it is tight now, think how bad it would have been if the taxes were withdrawn 1+ years ago if the employer did it differently.

If so, shouldn't my brother's employer bear that penalty, since they failed to do the paperwork properly in the first place?

No, it is your responsibility to tell the employer how much to withhold. You fill out a form when you get hired, and you can redo it at any time. It is up to you.

Originally posted by: alkemyst
you have to be grossly misreporting to be penalized.

Not really. There are a few requirements, none of which are "grossly misreporting". You owe a penalty if:
1) You owe more than $1000 and the amount you owe is more than 10% of the total tax you paid.
2) If the total tax you paid wasn't paid by the periodic due dates.
I don't think either of those are "grossly misreporting". But maybe my definition differs from yours. For example, if in this case the total tax is $7000 and the amount left to pay is $1400, he meets criteria #1. $1400 is more than $1000 and $1400 is more than 10% of $7000.

There are exceptions where you can get away without a penalty.

 

[CPA]

Why are you upset that you had to pay taxes. That meant you had the money to pay off debt or put into savings. You got an interest free loan.

 

[Mxylplyx]

My bill is $3K this year. I was purposely underwithholding so I could pay off debt. I knew I would avoid the penalty since my income went up quite a bit from the last tax year. I'd say I worked the system pretty good.

 

[Vic]

Withholding has no effect on actual tax amount. Learn to budget.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: kyparrish
1. Make sure your wifes company is withholding enough to cover taxes due.
2. ???
3. Profit

Just finished the taxes. Can't wait till next year!

bummer.

but at least you got to use the government's money interest free all year instead of giving the government a loan of your money and getting a refund minus the interest.

 

[dullard]

Oh, and one more thing. This is a lesson for everyone to do thier taxes well before April of the year it is due. Then you can plan for any sudden bills/refunds.

I already have my 2007 taxes done. I know pretty much to the penny what I'll get on my refund when I file in Jan of 2008. Sure, congress may change a tax law, or something may happen to my job. But I'll just take 3 minutes to update my tax form and I'll be right back on track.

If your brother knew in Jan of 2006 that he'd owe $1400 today, he'd have been much better off. Don't wait until the last moment to do the taxes.

 

[BabaBooey]

Originally posted by: Squisher
I had to pay $3700 last year, I was surprised I'm getting back $1300 this year. I guess I'm a better lier these days.

Now we can work on that spelling ...


J/P ..

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE.....NOW PAY UP !!

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: bababooey
WELCOME TO THE LAND OF THE FREE* AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE**.


*Excludes mandatory 25% yearly charge required for most orders.
**Shipping and handling the brave off to foreign wars costs extra. Brave will usually not be at home.

Fixed.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: dullard
Oh, and one more thing. This is a lesson for everyone to do thier taxes well before April of the year it is due. Then you can plan for any sudden bills/refunds.

I already have my 2007 taxes done. I know pretty much to the penny what I'll get on my refund when I file in Jan of 2008. Sure, congress may change a tax law, or something may happen to my job. But I'll just take 3 minutes to update my tax form and I'll be right back on track.

If your brother knew in Jan of 2006 that he'd owe $1400 today, he'd have been much better off. Don't wait until the last moment to do the taxes.

haha, you remind me of ned flanders doing his taxes on new years' eve