I just don't think I'd ever announce on a public message board how much money we were getting back in taxes. Or how much I had in the bank. Or how much I make. There are things I don't even tell my family (other than my husband of course). I certainly wouldn't be announcing it to the world.
OMG, I was thinking the exact same thing..... It's okay NOT to share all details of your life ! Some things are okay left in the privacy of you and your husband.....
We are getting a large tax return this year but that's due to high medical bills last year. My point is that sometimes large tax returns happen and it doesn't mean you should change your deductions the next year. If we did we would owe about the same amt next year.
However the op may be in a different situation
Come on now...we all are thinking the same thing...no one wants to say it, though??? EIC and child credits - they didn't actually pay this in BUT, they are getting $$$ back - OR someone else's money! Makes me mad, too. We pay in- year after year, adjusting our withholdings evey year, just so we can break even and NOT have to pay in! This year...we hit it just right!! got a whopping $521 refund and I don't need to tell you what we DID pay in I was watching the Today show earlier in the week when someone asked the question what to do with their $9k refund and even the "experts" (Deutsch & Snyderman) said their was NO reason anyone should be getting that kind of a refund! I thought we were poor. Apparently not poor enough!
I agree that although this will help the OP *if* they actually use the money to pay down debt...had they used the monthly amount to stay out of debt, they would have been even further ahead, however minimally. Now is the time to make some adjustments to how your taxes are withheld, op. And folks...sometimes this kind of thing can come from changes in income IF one of the earners is self employed-or both. These days, quarterlies change pretty radically from year to year.
Wow my tiny, and I mean tiny refund from fed will pay half of what I owe in state taxes.
Sorry, I can't stand when people get more than they pay in at all.
I wonder if she remembered to report the 7 grand that they settled with Citbank over a $14K credit card debt? It should have been declared as income on their taxes.
Wow, you experts have no idea why anyone would get a refund like that. Where is the rule that states someone is definitely getting more than they paid in if the refund is large? A coworker of mine gets about $9k back every year. Would one of you tax and finance experts please tell me how my coworker gets the automatically assumed EIC with a $90k income between himself and his wife? I want to know how he qualifies and I don't with a lot less income since obviously he is getting EIC because of his high refund...
I'm getting a pretty large refund (not 9K) and its not from EIC or a large withholding, but because of the ridiculous amount we paid for college tuition in 2011. Of course the refund will go for 2012 tuition, 1 down, 3 to go!
That just means his withholdings are TOO HIGH... At 90k, appropriate withholding should be approx. 10%. So, if he's getting that kind of a refund...tells me his withholdings are more than 10%. If said co-worker wants to lend their money to the government, interest free for the year...oh well!
And unless the OP fills us in on their financial habits we don't know if they would apply that extra $700 a month on their debt or only do it when they have it in a lump sum.
My guess is the latter.
The bank interst argument does not hold water with today's interest rates.
This may have been true yars ago but not now, how much do you really think can be made off the interest ? The last sign for a savings account in my bank I saw was .3 % for under 10K, so what are they really missing out on?
That is a lot of money to get back but certainly possible. We got back 5 figures this year in part because we have an S-Corp and all business expenses and (losses) are filed as part of our personal earnings (losses).
My spouse also get a five figure bonus last January and again this past January and has worked a ton of overtime. All our attempts to adjust deductions have been thrown for a loop because of that automatic 28% withholding on bonuses and overtime. Basically anything for her over 16-17 hours over overtime goes straight to withholding. My spouse had 39 hours over overtime on the last check and the withholding is just insane.
Our CPA suggested more deductions this year and we will examine again at the end of April to see how we are doing.
We also get a larger than most refund. Although I'm not going to say how much on the DISboards! Although, it may change next year as this was the last year we could claim our DS who graduated Hs this year and left for the Navy in August.
I know there are neigh sayers out there; but I am self employed and DH always claims Single 0 just in case I owe taxes at the end of year. ( I don't pay quarterly). So for us, this way is the best.
OP, here. We do not have any extra withheld from our taxes during the year, and we have never, ever be able to get the EICredit, because we make to much. We file for farm taxes. And yes, I did turn in a 1099 on that citibank account I settled. Now I can use some of this money to settle on the other two from Chase. Hey, at least they are going to get something instead of nothing. But I am going to shoot for around 35% on these two accounts instead of 50%.
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