So we're finally doing our taxes... we don't usually wait this long to do them.
I think we waited last year because I couldn't figure out at first how to figure out how to figure capital gains from a stock sale that I did.
This year, however, was just procrastination plain and simple.
For one thing, I noticed that I made about $5000 less this year than last year. That's actually quite a big cut, over 10%. Two, I didn't have to worry about any capital gains.
But since I refinanced my house and didn't use that money to improve my house, I had to jump through some hoops to figure out how much of the interest went to my original mortgage and how much went to my refi. And I had to fill out the AMT form because of that, even though the AMT amount was still zero.
Sigh.
Anyway, even though I know that overpaying my taxes is bad (since I don't make any interest on it) I'm getting a pretty good chunk of change back from the feds, and a much smaller one back from the state. And then there's that whole stimulus package thing coming in May which will almost double my federal refund.
And Oregon had their kicker check this year as well (right before Christmas, heh!)
So have you filed your tax return yet, or do you wait until the last minute?
TinSoldier posted on Feb 23, 2008
| views: 212
Comments
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secretlife said on Feb 23, 2008....
no, i haven't even begun to get my papers together, and i had said i would do it this weekend.i don't do them myself.normally i write the check and mail them on 4/15 around 11pm. -
the_infernal_optimist said on Feb 23, 2008....
We filed on the 12th. It's easy to not procrastinate when it's as simple as ours are so far. (When you have no money, and don't own a home or anything, there's not much to get complicated with! ;-))
~Infernal
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TinSoldier said on Feb 23, 2008....
secret - heh. I considered having my taxes prepared last year but I buckled down and figured them out anyway.
infernal - I remember those days! Well, I still don't have much money, but I do have my own home and because my son got braces this year we were also able to take a deduction for medical.
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dailyachesandpains said on Feb 23, 2008....
Mr. Daily is claiming that he started doing them. The company where he works sent out the forms on the last possible day. In MA you are now REQUIRED to have health insurance. Nobody told us how we're supposed to prove it when filing. One person said his company will do it, another said that our insurance provider will, another said that his company and/or our carrier will send us proof with a unique number on it. The thing is, if you don't provide proof of health insurance you get penalized on your refund and you will OWE if you're not getting a refund. We also had a re-fi too.
I just can't wait until May for the bonus. We're usually just waiting for the direct deposit from the IRS to go through by now. Mr. Daily will get his corporate bonus in March so I hope this year will be a good pay-day year! I just want a new pair of shoes!
Daily
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Eilan said on Feb 23, 2008....
We haven't had them done yet. We normally have them filed by the end of the first week of February, but we're slacking this year. -
uniquely-ironic said on Feb 23, 2008....
No motivation to file before April 15th. See Mr7's blog. -
Lucytorial said on Feb 23, 2008....
Australian tax is paid as per your income, at the end of the year we hand over our group certificates or our yearly income statements and we either get money back or we have to pay more.
We don't do ours until usually Oct of each year thats the deadline, financial year starts in July and ends the following year in June.
I am a lazy so and so and still have not done my returns for three years, however I have to this year or I know I will get into trouble with finding the damn certificates I need.
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TinSoldier said on Feb 23, 2008....
Eilan -- Heh. That's usually the time we have them done as well. As soon as we have all of the paperwork.
uniquely-ironic -- We usually get some amount of money back, or if we would have to pay extra it's nice to know it well before April 15th so we can plan accordingly. Since we live paycheck-to-paycheck, if there was some kind of tax surprise it wouldn't be very nice to find out at the very last minute.
Lucytorial -- You run your own business right? I know in the US that entrepreneurs and business owners have a lot more complicated tax times than do us wage slaves.
In the US, for most workers, income taxes are taken out of your paycheck every pay period, based on your estimate of how many deductions you will have. At the end of the year (April 15th, for us) you figure out all of the incomes and the outgoes and find out whether you paid too much or get some back.
I think that the system is rigged so that most people get some back. Indeed, most people see getting a tax refund as some kind of windfall, like winning the lottery or something.
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lfbno7 said on Feb 24, 2008....
I have been procrastinating because finally I don't have to do it in January to apply for college financial aid. My kid's a senior. And I was almost done until they asked about medical and dental expenses. Oh shit. We spent thousands at the dentist in 07. Monday I have to call the dentist and find out how much it was. -
silverwhisper said on Feb 28, 2008....
not yet, but soon.
ed
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