any tax gurus?

[luvmyfam444]

Finally getting around to file my taxes (I use Turbo tax). I'm looking @ my taxes filed last yr where I owed $2k & this year I owe $9k. My taxable income went up $5k...everything else is seemingly the same. I know I'm being very vague but thought maybe someone could tell me something to check. Or did this extra $5k income but me in another tax bracket so I owe more now & how would I know?

 

[kdonnel]

Did your withholding change? Did you qualify for a tax credit last year that you did not this year due to increased income?

 

[tvguy]

Got $12,000 back last year. My wife worked part time and made $12,000. I owed the Feds $800 and got $900 back from the state, so basically went from $12,000 back to $100 back, every thing my wife earned went to taxes. Fortunately, money was not the reason she went back to work. It was to preserve digitally all work she did in the 42 years before she retired the first time.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Did your withholding change? Did you qualify for a tax credit last year that you did not this year due to increased income?

my total payments from witholdings was $1,385 more this year. I don't see a difference in tax breaks.

 

[luvmyfam444]

Got $12,000 back last year. My wife worked part time and made $12,000. I owed the Feds $800 and got $900 back from the state, so basically went from $12,000 back to $100 back, every thing my wife earned went to taxes. Fortunately, money was not the reason she went back to work. It was to preserve digitally all work she did in the 42 years before she retired the first time.

oh that's terrible.

 

[tvguy]

oh that's terrible.

She didn't have to do it. But this preserved her legacy.

 

[barkley]

Did your withholding change? Did you qualify for a tax credit last year that you did not this year due to increased income?

that was my thought as well, or maybe a lost deduction? the other thing I can think of is if someone is on social security and their other income increases such that it makes their a portion of all of their social security taxable.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Can you do a line by line from last year to this year?

Not to long ago my CPS inadvertently carried over a circumstance from one year into another duplicating a thing that created a mistake I caught. I'd look for some kind of a rollover in the line by line. Maybe a withdrawal such as a 401K, maybe an unemployment check, mistake with not showing insurance that could trigger a fine or payment into a tax lowering account that doesn't apply. Another easy answer is a mistake with the decimal or making a $50 entry into a $5000 entry or missing deductions. Go slowly and carefully.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I second the idea of going line by line. I have an accountant, and she always sends a last year/this year comparison as part of the packet of stuff. Could you have lost a dependent or a deduction along the way?

This year, we got slammed on the kids' trusts. We control them until the kids turn 30 (youngest is 19, so for a while). Normally, they're just "there", but last year, we switched financial advisors. The old guy had the kids in stuff that couldn't be transferred in kind--normally, if you hold, say, Apple stock, and transfer it, you still have Apple stock and no capital gains are incurred. But, we couldn't do that, and the kids incurred capital gains to the tune of $4000+ each for the younger three (less for my oldest--she received some trust distributions and had less in the non-transferrable investment).

Our middle 2 kids also got federal refunds, but owed a nice chunk to state. We're telling them to adjust their withholding. In both cases, they earned a lot more this year over last year, and didn't see this coming. The youngest is getting $2 back. I hope he spends it wisely!

 

[lanejudy]

Turbo Tax shows comparison to prior year so it should be fairly easy to go step-by-step through the return and see where a difference occurred.

 

[sam_gordon]

Did you have a child in college in 2023 and not 2024?
Did you have a child turn 18(?) in 2023?

Agree you need to go line by line.

 

[Allison]

As others have said you are going to have to sit down and do a line by line comparison. It might not have anything to do with your income and the taxes owed on that income. It could be that your withholding went down during the year and not enough was held back during the year.

 

[mjkacmom]

I second the idea of going line by line. I have an accountant, and she always sends a last year/this year comparison as part of the packet of stuff. Could you have lost a dependent or a deduction along the way?

This year, we got slammed on the kids' trusts. We control them until the kids turn 30 (youngest is 19, so for a while). Normally, they're just "there", but last year, we switched financial advisors. The old guy had the kids in stuff that couldn't be transferred in kind--normally, if you hold, say, Apple stock, and transfer it, you still have Apple stock and no capital gains are incurred. But, we couldn't do that, and the kids incurred capital gains to the tune of $4000+ each for the younger three (less for my oldest--she received some trust distributions and had less in the non-transferrable investment).

Our middle 2 kids also got federal refunds, but owed a nice chunk to state. We're telling them to adjust their withholding. In both cases, they earned a lot more this year over last year, and didn't see this coming. The youngest is getting $2 back. I hope he spends it wisely!

Our youngest (22) is getting $1000+ back, he made over $18,000 as a full time student (has a few part time jobs).

 

[disneychrista]

Finally getting around to file my taxes (I use Turbo tax). I'm looking @ my taxes filed last yr where I owed $2k & this year I owe $9k. My taxable income went up $5k...everything else is seemingly the same. I know I'm being very vague but thought maybe someone could tell me something to check. Or did this extra $5k income but me in another tax bracket so I owe more now & how would I know?

Even if that $5k put you in a higher tax bracket, you’d only owe the higher percent on that $5k so it wouldn’t make a $7 difference. If nothing else changed then it sounds like a data entry error.

 

[_19disnA]

I would print out last year and this year's 1040 and check for where there are differences. Compare W2's for any obvious differences.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Our youngest (22) is getting $1000+ back, he made over $18,000 as a full time student (has a few part time jobs).

DD21 already got her federal refund of ~$2300. But owes ~$900 to the state, which they'll take out tomorrow. There goes her Harry Potter Lego Hogwart's set! Easy come, easy go. She puts in a lot of hours at Starbucks--I'm thinking she made $43k last year? Not bad for a full-time college student. I actually wish she'd work less hours, school should come first.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

TurboTax will show you a line by line comparison.