Have you started taxes yet?

[HeatherC]

Dh sat down yesterday and started doing our taxes just to get a rough idea of where we stand. With the new tax changes, it looks like we may actually owe a couple hundred dollars this year instead of getting a refund like we always have.

While disappointing, we were not really surprised because we have read that a lot of people may now owe something unless you changed your withholding last year which we did not.

Still a bummer though.

Anyone else started theirs yet?

 

[Meriweather]

no....still waiting for forms and then we will make an appointment with our accountant.
We had an inheritance this year which will throw everything off. We'll owe.....probably a lot.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Yes. We filed on Friday.

 

[Christine]

Dh sat down yesterday and started doing our taxes just to get a rough idea of where we stand. With the new tax changes, it looks like we may actually owe a couple hundred dollars this year instead of getting a refund like we always have.

While disappointing, we were not really surprised because we have read that a lot of people may now owe something unless you changed your withholding last year which we did not.

Still a bummer though.

Anyone else started theirs yet?

Yes, I completed mine about 90% yesterday. It was all very strange.

We made about $10,000 less in 2018 over 2017. During the year, when I got my extra money in my paycheck due to the new tax law, I promptly increased my withholding. I always have to pay every year so I'm really careful to ensure that I keep upping my withholding so I don't get penalized. So on top of my usual increase, I did the second bump up of withholding once I figured out the extra I was getting.

My gross pay decreased, my taxable wages (AGI) increased over 2017, and, of course, I still owe (can't manage to get close to having them net out to zero). My effective tax rate for 2018 did go down in 2018 over 2017, so there's that, but the whole thing was perplexing.

All of my donations to charity this year were apparently not enough to exceed the standard deduction and my state taxes were disallowed so I think that's why my taxable income was increased. For instance, last year, with itemizing and using my other taxes, I had close to $38,000. This year, I only got the $24,000.

 

[wgeo]

Yeah, I use Turbo Tax every year and we knew with the new tax changes that we would end up owing more and we do. But there is some confusion over some of the changes and apparently a lack of guidance from the IRS (at least that's what the CPA on the phone said when I talked to Turbo Tax for multiple hours last week). It's gotten to the point where we've had to send TT our tax forms and they are sending it up the chain quite a few people to figure out how to fix their system to apply to cases with our with the new tax laws. So now we wait. Either way though, as expected, we will be paying instead of getting a refund this year. bummer

 

[wgeo]

All of my donations to charity this year were apparently not enough to exceed the standard deduction and my state taxes were disallowed so I think that's why my taxable income was increased. For instance, last year, with itemizing and using my other taxes, I had close to $38,000. This year, I only got the $24,000.

Yeah we had the same issue with charitable donations this year, and our taxes went up becaue of it. A number of non profits that I work with are very concerned that once people see the change on their taxes this year that we will see a reduction in donations this year. No idea if that will happen or not, but it's a concern at this point.

 

[Christine]

Yeah we had the same issue with charitable donations this year, and our taxes went up becaue of it. A number of non profits that I work with are very concerned that once people see the change on their taxes this year that we will see a reduction in donations this year. No idea if that will happen or not, but it's a concern at this point.

I was wondering the same thing. I will tell you that I put a lot of work into my charitable donations. I donate tons of like-new clothing each year and, for tax purposes, I record each thing I donate. I clean it, sometimes dry clean depending on where it's going, carefully fold and pack it up. It's a lot of work. This year I donated some furniture that we barely ever used as it was in a formal living room, but I made sure it was vacuumed and in good condition. We do have a truck so we loaded it up, took it to Goodwill, waited in line, helped them offload etc. It's a hassle but it's better than wasting things. I'll admit, I love and need the tax donation.

This year, I am less inclined to go through all that, especially with the clothing. It's just as easy for me to take it to the dump and put it there for their "pickers." I doubt I will because I think my stuff is nice and could help someone, but it's tempting.

 

[lorimay]

Yes, we like to do it quickly, my parents and sister have had theirs "stolen" a few times.

 

[Kitty 34]

no....still waiting for forms and then we will make an appointment with our accountant.
We had an inheritance this year which will throw everything off. We'll owe.....probably a lot.

This.....waiting for forms and we owed a lot last year so in no hurry to get 'em done this year.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I'm afraid to I don't make much money, but between receiving a bonus at work last February and then my son's back pay for his SSI I'm afraid I made a little bit too much and it put me into a higher bracket. The thing that sucks about the back pay is that it's not even mine to spend--my son used a bit of it over the summer to splurge on some back to school stuff that I couldn't have afforded on my salary and the rest is in a savings account for him, but I'm still expected to pay taxes on it if it pushes my income up too high. So...guess I'll wait another week to find out the bad news. We're celebrating his 16th birthday today!

 

[sam_gordon]

I was wondering the same thing. I will tell you that I put a lot of work into my charitable donations. I donate tons of like-new clothing each year and, for tax purposes, I record each thing I donate. I clean it, sometimes dry clean depending on where it's going, carefully fold and pack it up. It's a lot of work. This year I donated some furniture that we barely ever used as it was in a formal living room, but I made sure it was vacuumed and in good condition. We do have a truck so we loaded it up, took it to Goodwill, waited in line, helped them offload etc. It's a hassle but it's better than wasting things. I'll admit, I love and need the tax donation.

This year, I am less inclined to go through all that, especially with the clothing. It's just as easy for me to take it to the dump and put it there for their "pickers." I doubt I will because I think my stuff is nice and could help someone, but it's tempting.

But you don't need to go through all that work to donate something. We've donated a bunch of clothes, and yes, we make sure it's washed, but we don't dry clean, or carefully fold it. It will go in a box or a garbage bag for easy transportation, then off to Goodwill it goes.

 

[kdonnel]

Yes, we like to do it quickly, my parents and sister have had theirs "stolen" a few times.

They can apply for a filing pin from the IRS. No need to rush at that point.

 

[Skellingtonj]

I just dropped ours off with my mom, who has done my taxes every year.

 

[trip]

We filed ours on Friday. Ended up owing more than we wanted - the payment won't be made until April.

We didn't adjust our W-4, mistake on our part I know. Wish they would have just left the withholding alone, we had them set up the way we wanted.

 

[Floridaman999]

I've started them but I'm waiting til April to finish them.

 

[lovin'fl]

My DH sat down and did a quickie check yesterday too. We will break even. In years past we got a decent refund. But we also moved and downsized our mortgage by a lot (64% less). So we were worried about having to pay a big amount. Very pleased to see break even.

 

[easyas123]

I was concerned about doing them, we owed last year. We had a income increase this time around and I figured we'd really be hammered....we ended up getting a small bit back from state & federal which has me very mystified!!!! I e-filed ours and they were accepted so ????? I guess I did it correctly. We used H &R Block online program.

 

[kdonnel]

I got caught off guard when I did not get the child tax credit the year my daughter was 17. The 2018 tax year is the last year I get the tax credit for my son. That is a $2000 swing in the wrong direction of taxes owed. I have adjusted my 2019 withholding to compensate.

As for this year, I try to either owe or get very little back, I don't like the idea of giving an interest free loan to either the state or federal governments.

The first pass at my taxes has me owing $1075 to the federal government and getting $1071 back from the state. I have tried over the years to fix my state taxes so I don't get so much back but have yet to find the right withholding combination so I have given up and my strategy has been to make the state return pay for the federal return. I file in late February, wait for the state to deposit my refund, and then pay the federal prior to April 15th.

 

[NC Disney Dad]

I filed ours on Thursday and helped my brother-in-law file for the first time on Friday. Set him up with a TurboTax account and walked him through what I was doing so he should be able to do it himself next time.

 

[cmarsh31]

Meeting with our accountant tomorrow. Quick run through TT shows a much smaller refund than normal (my DH's pay has always been weird & bonus-based, so it's hard to adjust to accommodate) but hopefully we won't owe anything. We're getting hit hard by the SALT changes but the change in the income brackets may have helped to mitigate that a bit.