Fed Tax Refund ? ~ It's improving!

[kydisneyfans]

Remember that TurboTax has not updated the software 100% to reflect the last minute changes regarding the $800 credit for last year. You can submit your return to them, but they will not forward on until mid-Feb.

Make sure you do the online updates as they occur, the $800 may be missing if the update has not been completed.

 

[aaarcher86]

Remember that TurboTax has not updated the software 100% to reflect the last minute changes regarding the $800 credit for last year. You can submit your return to them, but they will not forward on until mid-Feb.

Make sure you do the online updates as they occur, the $800 may be missing if the update has not been completed.

I did mine last night with TurboTax. I think the only update I was missing currently is part of what I file for a home business or home office (something like that). Should be available on Thursday.

 

[mom2my3kids]

we are getting a bit less, because our daughter turned 17 back in september..

 

[PrincessDreams2]

Well I've tweeked it a bit and it's gone up *and my amount due to UT has gone down ~ I was filing single so I changed to Head of Household ~ I was just claiming my kids for EIC *letting my ex claim them* but you know what, they are with me 95% of the time, I haven't had child support reevaluated and he makes a lot more than he did when we split 6 years ago. I will let him claim 1 kid *hey we have 2 and I can share but he doesn't need both ~ as I said earlier I look forward to the day I owe/get less, it'll mean I'm making more ~ he has a good income, so I don't see it as a bad thing that he owes more. Plus he and his 2nd ex wife chose to stay married till the end of the year *married in March of last year and split in Sept.* so they could file jointly - she has 2 kids herself. I've called and of course he didn't answer so I left a message saying "I'm claiming one, I hope you haven't already filed."

Unless your divorce decree specifies who gets to claim your children, from what I am reading here, you are entitled to the exemption each and every year as far as the IRS is concerned. And, you should ALWAYS file Head of Household - even if you are nice and let your ex claim your children in any tax year, you can still file HOH on your return even without claiming the children as dependants. If you just recently started filing HOH, I would consider amending your previous returns if I were you.

Personally, I wouldn't let him claim the kids, but that is just me. They live with you. You are in the right as far as the IRS is concerned.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Unless your divorce decree specifies who gets to claim your children, from what I am reading here, you are entitled to the exemption each and every year as far as the IRS is concerned. And, you should ALWAYS file Head of Household - even if you are nice and let your ex claim your children in any tax year, you can still file HOH on your return even without claiming the children as dependants. If you just recently started filing HOH, I would consider amending your previous returns if I were you.

Personally, I wouldn't let him claim the kids, but that is just me. They live with you. You are in the right as far as the IRS is concerned.

It says ~

Petitioner *ex* is entitled to claim the following minor child(ren) as dependent(s) for tax purposes: CRM *DS* providing the Pet. is current on all child support *he is* and other financial obligations herein. Respondent *me* is entitled to claim the following minor child(ren) as dependent(s) for tax purposes: LAM *DD* providing the Res. is current on all child support *I pay none* and other financial obligations herein.. At such time as there is only one remaining minor child that can be claimed as a dependent for tax purposes, the parties shall claim this child on alternate years.

So we each get one ~ which I'm fine with.

And yes I always file HOH

 

[*Seanaci*]

Remember that TurboTax has not updated the software 100% to reflect the last minute changes regarding the $800 credit for last year. You can submit your return to them, but they will not forward on until mid-Feb.

Make sure you do the online updates as they occur, the $800 may be missing if the update has not been completed.

That's good to know. I was plugging in all of our info today...and found our refund to be like 1K less than last year. I plan on pulling out our return from last year and looking at the info (W2s specifically) to see how much more we made this year than last. AND also waiting till mid February to file (especially now with this tidbit of info, thanks).

Also, does it make a difference whether it's filed jointly (DH and I are married, he has the full time job and taxable income; I am a homemaker/SAHM and babysit a few days a week) vs filing head of household?

 

[momof1princess]

I'll look into it tomorrow, I have a copy in my desk drawer at work. Honestly they stay no more than 2 nights at his house a month.

*former legal secretary weighing in here* not sure how it works where you live, but in my state (alabama), if you're the custodial parent, and there's nothing in your divorce decree that specifically states you split or share income tax deductions each year, you should be claiming both children every year. your ex shouldn't be claiming either one, unless you allow it; and frankly, IMHO, you shouldn't. you're giving him money that YOU should be getting back. this is definitely worth checking into.

i'm also a child of divorce, saw my dad maybe once or twice a month, if at all, and my brother and i were always claimed by my mom on income taxes. good luck, OP! i hope when you're done, you're getting a lot more money back!

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

If you itemize your deductions, you can not file until Mid February because of the last minute changes. If you do not itemize, it is not supposed to affect you.

 

[jme829]

we are getting a bit less, because our daughter turned 17 back in september..

My dd was 17 in March...what is the deal with this? I noticed when I was filling out our forms (we use freetaxusa) that we lost $1000 deduction . I assume this is why.

 

[Schachteles]

I did HR block and it said the 800$ tax credit was available this year too... hope it was right because the software told me to take it

That's great to know! I do my taxes by hand and the 1040 books aren't available yet. So, I didn't include it with my original estimate last night. It's hard to run your taxes with no instructions. Of course, I was just doing a ballpark figure. Now, I can hopefully count on $800 more...

I know if you itemize your deductions you can't submit yet because of the last minute tax changes, so I am hoping my rebate will increase, because it isn't what I hoped it would be. The "Making Work Pay" credit is $400 for singles and $800 for couples, we are eligible, but I didn't see it have any effect on my refund

 

[saving4myfamily]

Also, does it make a difference whether it's filed jointly (DH and I are married, he has the full time job and taxable income; I am a homemaker/SAHM and babysit a few days a week) vs filing head of household?

My situation is similar to yours, so I was wondering about this too. It looks like it's for only unmarried people.

"You can claim the Head of Household (HOH) filing status on your tax return if you are unmarried, have cared for a dependent for over half the year, and paid more than half the cost of maintaining a home."

 

[bdcp]

Didn't we have less federal taxes taken out beginning in 2010. I forget the name of it when it happened, but you were to get about $24 more per pay period. That might be where some of the difference is coming from. You paid less in than the year before

No, that was 2009 or even 2008, it wasn't 2010.

It's also a little early to be doing your taxes as this year everything wasn't going to be finalized until Feb sometime since all the info from the Hill got to the IRS late. You might want to wait a little bit and make sure you download the most current info through Turbo Tax before you file.

 

[disneychrista]

My dd was 17 in March...what is the deal with this? I noticed when I was filling out our forms (we use freetaxusa) that we lost $1000 deduction . I assume this is why.

Yep the child tax credit is only good for children under age 17 (meaning they must be 16 or younger). Kinda sucks that we have to continue to pay for them but do not get the credit.

My oldest DD is 20, lives at home, does not go to college so I no longer get the dependent credit for her but I am paying for basic living expenses (rent, food, etc).

 

[mom2my3kids]

My dd was 17 in March...what is the deal with this? I noticed when I was filling out our forms (we use freetaxusa) that we lost $1000 deduction . I assume this is why.

Yes once they turn 17 then you lose the child tax credit, you still can claim them as a dependent but lose the other..sucks but what can we do..