Tag: taxes
There are 16 entries that are tagged taxes. Now displaying reults 1 - 16.
Page: 1
Oh Nos! I Forgot to Report Income to the IRS!
Posted on June 16, 2008 by Her
A few days ago I received a scary looking letter from the IRS. It said that I had not reported some income in 2006, and I owe back taxes plus interest totaling over $600. I am every bit the law-abiding citizen, and I'm a goody-two-shoes to boot, so I was completely horrified! My head spun as I pictured myself being hauled off to prison, possibly even put to work on a chain gang! My first reaction was to throw the letter under the couch and pretend I never saw it, but reason prevailed.
Him and I made our first ever visit to a tax professional this past weekend. I brought the letter plus all my 2006 tax paperwork (thank goodness I saved all that stuff). He quickly determined that yes, I had failed to report this income. It was a complete oversight. I think that what happened was that at the time I was preparing my taxes, I was not sure where to report the income, so I set it aside for later. Unfortunately I completely forgot about it and sent in the return without it. The good news is that our new tax guy feels that we can successfully argue that the IRS is classifying this forgotten income incorrectly, so we'll owe about $200 less than the letter stated. He suggested we write a letter explaining our case and attach a check for the amount we believe I owe.
I spent the past night writing that letter, and boy was that nerve-wracking. I feel like a criminal! Hopefully the IRS will accept my argument and the check and settle the matter quickly. Has anyone else ever forgotten to report any income?
Giveaway Winnars!
Posted on March 27, 2008 by Him
Our H&R Block Taxcut Premium Online + E-File giveaway ended on Wednesday night. Here are the randomly chosen winners chosen via random.org:
Congratulations Sarah and Angie! I've emailed you the information for redeeming the prize. Happy taxes!
Giveaway Reminder: TaxCut Premium Online + E-file
Posted on March 26, 2008 by Him
Just a reminder: we're giving away 2 keycodes for TaxCut Premium Online + E-file, but you need to enter by 9 pm CDT TONIGHT. We'll pick and announce the winners tomorrow.
Head on over to the contest and enter to win!
Free TaxCut Online Premium + E-file!
Posted on March 21, 2008 by Him
We've been talking about taxes a lot here at Make Love, Not Debt. Refunds, payments, sales tax, oh my!
H&R Block has generously donated 2 keycodes for TaxCut Online Premium + E-file. With this, you'll get what you need for FREE to figure out and file your FEDERAL income taxes. You'll still need to pony up some cash for TaxCut state (and e-file should you choose to file that way for your state taxes).
In order to win 1 of the 2 keys, leave a comment answering the following question:
Do you expect to owe or get a refund?
We'll choose a two winners at random using the number generator from random.org.
We'll be closing the contest next Wednesday, March 26, at 9 pm CDT.
Good luck!
Chicago's Sales Tax is Going to Get Ridiculous
Posted on March 19, 2008 by Him
10.25%
10.25%
10.25%
That's the amount of sales tax that will be applied to purchases made in the city of Chicago in November.
What's that mean for us?
Well, I'm definitely going to try to NOT make any large purchases in the city. For pretty much anything over $100, I'm going to turn to the stores on the intarweb for a more competitive price that includes FREE shipping and NO sales tax.
I've stated in the past that I really like to patronize local small businesses, but seriously, the sales tax is re-donk. It's a shame because it is not really the local business owners' fault for this. They're really going to get screwed.
I guess it's a good thing we've started to think about moving away from Chicago. That's too bad: I really LOVE this city. Chicago has many cultural, academic, leisure, luxury, and business resources that will be hard to live without.
But 10.25% sales tax on everything will not be missed.
Miscellaneous Tax Stuff, Update
Posted on March 10, 2008 by Him
At the beginning of February, I had a bunch of tax stuff on my mind. Here's an update to all that madness.
1. I went ahead and ran all the numbers for my taxes - and I still was slated to receive a $4,000+ tax refund. This is attributable to two things: I underestimated the amount of withholding taken from my bonuses, and I vastly overestimated the income we would receive from this blog. Whoops. The good news is that I filed in the middle of February and received my rebate a week and a half after that. Woo!
2. Her ran the numbers for her taxes - and she's going to owe. Everything is already in place, all she has to do is hit "submit"...on April 14.
3. For this year, at least, we won't need a tax guy. Luckily for us, Tax Act had some cool worksheets that helped us estimate what our tax burden will be for 2008, answering many of the questions that I had. They take into account the blog income, our change of marriage status, and projected income for 2008 to help us figure out if we need to make estimated payments, what our withholding should be, etc. Serendipitously enough, it seems that my $4,000+ overpayment this year will just about cover what we need to cover for next year; thus, it seems like we can just keep on keepin' on. (Not surprisingly, the IRS w-2 calculator is still broken.)
4. Bad news: our incomes will exceed that amount for us to take any student loan interest deductions in 2008.
5. Good news: our incomes will exceed that amount for us to take any student loan interest deductions in 2008.
6. Tax planning sucks, but sucks less when you have a good beer.
How are your taxes going so far?
Roundup, Booking Our Honeymoon Edition
Posted on January 24, 2008 by Him
I find it a little odd that there are people who don't believe that credit card rewards can actually be redeemed. The first time I've run into that thinking is through a few comments on this blog. Well, Her and I can tell you that, YES, credit card rewards are redeemable, and we're using them to greatly reduce the cost of our honeymoon. Still haven't paid a cent of interest on credit cards in a while, and don't plan to in the future, either.
Here's what I thought were good readings in the pfblogosphere this week:
Over at Get Rich Slowly, JD gives some good advice on whether you should do your own taxes or hire an accountant. We're probably going to see an accountant this year.
Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity explains the differences between life insurances: term, whole, universal and variable. Since we'll be looking for a good plan this year, this is good information to consider.
While I don't agree with everything in this post in how to become and stay a millionaire by the Wastrel Show, it does give a very interesting aspect of wealth from a perspective that I haven't been exposed to.
Rocket Finances gives us a glimpse of how he does married finances. We do a his-hers-ours plan; we suggest you find the right solution for you.
We've been following 2 Million's review of Smart Couples Finish Rich. He has a great tip, "My wife and I would go to Starbucks and splurge on drinks or have some margaritas while we read it. Find what it takes to make this more enjoyable for your spouse." I'm all for coupling an important, potientially drab activity such as talking about finances with something fun.
Hey, did you know that Single Ma moved? Go check out her awesome new redesigned site, Fabulous Financials, right now!
Tip Top Tax?
Posted on January 18, 2008 by Her
Several wedding vendors have sent us cost estimates that include the tip, then tax the entire amount (including the tip). Is it normal/legal for them to tax the tip? Someone who knows the answer, please let me know!
Miscellaneous Tax Stuff
Posted on February 05, 2008 by Him
No cohesiveness in this post, just tax stuff that's been on my mind...
1. It's the beginning of February, and all of our W-2's, 1099's, and other weirdly numbered tax documents are in. Right now they're sitting in a pile with all of our other financial crap - I get the feeling that neither Her or I don't really feel like dealing with it. In years past, we usually run to the computer and do a quick run of our numbers (this and last year using TaxAct
2. While we are less enthusiastic, I ran the numbers for all of my paperwork only. It seems that when I filled out the w-2 calculator last year after I received a raise I may have goofed a little; preliminary calculations are projecting for me to receive about a $4,000 tax refund. Hey Uncle Sam, I'd like some interest on that! No?
3. Speaking of the IRS w-2 calculator, it seems that it has been unavailable for a little while now. I'd like to adjust my withholding so that I don't overpay my taxes. We also need to see if Her's withholding is sufficient as well. Since we'll be married this year, we have to figure out how that will affect our tax situation.
4. We need a tax guy. While I'm fairly confident that I ran the numbers correctly, things are starting to get a little more complicated that I'm comfortable with. Revenue from this website has forced us to turn this into a business operation; therefore we'd like to get the eligible tax deductions. Also, as stated above, we're getting married this year and will need to account for that in this year's tax planning. I've asked around, and surprisingly enough one guy's name did pop up more than once. I didn't expect that since there's a billion tax guys in the city.
5. After we get married, our income will be too high to collect the full student loan interest deduction. Heck, we may even go over the income amount to collect any of the deduction. That means we have a bigger incentive to pay that sucker off more quickly.
6. When the hell did tax planning becoming something I worried about? Must...continue...to...resist...getting...older...
What's been on your mind about taxes lately?
Divided Household - Working Out A Serious Problem
Posted on January 23, 2007 by Him
When I first met Her, we both used the 1040-EZ form to do our taxes. We didn't make a lot of money, so that was the easy way.
Then we started to make a little more money. Taxes were becoming...computerized. Since at that point in our lives we weren't ready to combine our finances, we diverged when it came to picking which tax software we used.
She picked Turbo Tax.
I picked Tax Cut.
For years we did our taxes as separate entities, not foreseeing the impossibly great implications this may have meant down the road.
Yes, Turbo Tax is looks more polished, but in the past there were reports that there was spyware attached to the program. Tax Cut does look like a Windows 95 program, and is sponsored by H&R Block, a company that we would never want anything to do with.
Someone please explain to me: Why is Turbo Tax Federal + State
Please help is in our time of need. We need to pick one tax program. For the sake of our relationship.
Follow up: Raise and Taxes
Posted on September 13, 2006 by Him
Last week I wrote about my awesome raises that I was fortunate enough to receive this year, and how I hadn't adjusted my withholding accordingly.
This weekend, I played around with the IRS Withholding calculator, and plugged in the numbers that I had now. According to the calculator, I would owe Uncle Sam $1,721 at the end of this year. Ouch. That's even worse than last year's taxes owed.
I played around with the calculator for a bit, and I decided that raising my contribution to my SIMPLE IRA would not lower my income enough to really make a huge dent in the amount that I would owe. I followed the directions that the calculator page gave to me - decreased allowances to "0" and withheld $130 in addition - and hopefully I won't owe or be refunded more than $25.
This won't set us back financially, although we were going to put the extra money towards the credit cards. Maybe next raise.
Are there any other alternatives to lowering that tax bill?
Promotion and a Raise!
Posted on September 08, 2006 by Him
A few weeks ago I was promoted! There were a hints dropped by my supervisor, as well as rumors from the higher-ups at my company. Hey, when you work at a small company of 30 people, word tends to travel pretty fast. It was pretty awesome to get a new batch of business cards with my new title on it.
With the promotion came a salary increase. In fact, this would be the third pay raise in a little under two years. Since I've started, my pay has increased by 42.5%. This year alone my pay has increased twice, I got a bonus for referring a co-worker, a summer bonus, and I'm expecting another bonus in the winter. Including all of these bonuses, Her and I will breach a six-figure gross income this year. Whoa.
The downside to all of this? I haven't checked to see how these pay increases will affect the amount that I owe on taxes. I'm going to run all of my numbers through the IRS Withholding calculator and see how I'm doing. I'll provide an update on Monday.
Can America Afford the Next Recession?
Posted on May 02, 2006 by Her
Today Canada's new conservative government announced their first federal budget. The budget included broad tax cuts for most Canadians, a change from the liberal budgets in recent years. During the past several years the Canadian government has been paying off billions of dollars in international debt and tightening government spending. Finally they have gotten to a point where the government can afford to reduce tax revenues and put more money into the hands of working citizens. One economist explained that Canada is now considered a low-debt nation (relative to the United States, anyway). The Canadian government feels confident that years of fiscal responsibility will allow them to take on debt later if necessary, for example in the case of a recession. "Canada can afford the next recession!" he proclaimed.
Can the United States say the same?
I Heart Paying Taxes
Posted on April 14, 2006 by Her
Call me a communist, but taxes make me feel all warm and fuzzy. I like the idea of everyone in America sharing what they have and working together for the common good. Of course I’m not naive: I know that not everyone pays their fair share, and a great deal of tax revenue is mismanaged or used to better the lives of only a select few. But when the majority of Americans make a significant contribution, amazing things can happen!
There are two ways to look at where your tax money goes.
It gets mixed in with all the other revenue and I pay a little bit for everything.
In this view, I pay a tiny amount of money towards every program that receives tax funding, whether I use it or not. This view makes me feel good because I like knowing that I helped pay for elementary school computers, college grants, the highway construction on the south side, my brother’s military helicopter, my dad’s social security check, the rehabilitation of a convict I’ve never met, and a million other worthwhile programs. This also means that only a very tiny amount of my money was frittered away on wasteful spending. Less than a penny of my cash is going to help build that bridge to nowhere in Alaska! That’s okay, and I can always replace it with the penny I find on the sidewalk.
It all goes to pay for one thing I value, and none of my money goes to things I don’t benefit from.
In this view, I have to choose one destination for my cash. It’s here that I start to really see how good a deal I’m getting. Should I choose to believe my money is all going to clear the snow from my street? Or that I paid for the new books I read at the library? I can believe my money is being spent on the cleanup of the graffiti next door, or that it’s all being generously donated to the local animal shelter that rescued my kitties from the street. When I start to add up the sheer expense of all the benefits I’m getting, I can quickly see that I am getting far more than I paid for. If I had to shovel my own street, acquire my own library, clean the graffiti off the building next door and pay for hundreds of kitties kibble, I would certainly be exhausted and flat broke! And with this view, I can only assume that the bridge to nowhere was paid for by the idiot senator who proposed it.
When everyone rows in the same direction, it’s really amazing how far we can go. I like paying taxes because I enjoy the feeling of being part of a big community full of helping hands. The tax system isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with it.
Big Huge Note:
I am aware that there are gross inequalities in the fairness of our tax system, and that wasteful spending of tax revenue is a shame. I think every system should be continuously aiming to improve, and that our elected officials should be accountable for the failures of the tax system. That said, I still really do enjoy paying taxes and doing my part to make America a better place.
The U.S. Government Just Made Me Its Bitch
Posted on February 20, 2006 by Him
I'm lounging around on this fine President's Day, and I decided to do my taxes. I fire up good ol' TaxCut, enter in all of my data...
...and I owe the U.S. Government $474.
Next year Uncle Sam, please be gentle. Ouch.
Anyone got any good ideas on how to lower that tax bill?
Maybe he fills out a 1040EZ...?
Posted on January 31, 2006 by Him
The world's second richest man, Bill Gates is pretty rich.
(HOW RICH IS HE?)
He's so rich the US has to store his financial data on a special computer because his fortune is so vast.
It has to be pretty tough to fit "47,000,000,000" on line 1 of the tax form.
You think he uses Microsoft Money?
Page: 1
