How are you handling your return?

[Colleen27]

I could understand if she were in a tough position and couldn't find a job. But she could go to school for free with that income. But she said no, she doesn't want to work that much plus when her grandmother dies she will get $50000. I guess she's planning to live on that for the rest of her life and live in her mothers home when she dies!

She probably couldn't. Here, you have to be working to receive food stamps unless you have a very young child, and post-secondary education doesn't count towards the work requirements. So people stay in the dead end minimum wage jobs and on food stamps/medicaid for years because they can't afford to lose those benefits even if the Pell grant will cover the actual costs of going to school.

 

[canadianjovigirl]

$1700 is still a good chunk of change! I'm actually filing ours tomorrow (thanks to being home from work with pink eye- yuk)!

That it is, but to get that we had to claim a personal business loss of over $55,000 so it didnt soften the blow all to much

 

[Colleen27]

When you are a business owner it is sometimes difficult to predict. Two years ago our combined refund was over $25,000. Last year $1,000 though we earned more. This year we are likely to pay.

Exactly. Ours doesn't vary quite that much, but I have DH's withholdings set at a point that will cover all our taxes, not just from his job but from both of our self-employment pursuits. This year we weren't even close; we got almost $9000 back. But it was an odd year, closing his construction business, putting some money into his side venture, and neither of us making as much at our self-employment as in a normal year because of the adjustment to having him working full-time again. But I'm not changing his W4 because if we had a typical year's self-employment income we'd have gotten less than $1K back and I'd rather a small return than a tax bill when we file.

 

[Bnb0627]

I have an accountant that does our returns and we itemize. An accountant can help you review what you can claim.

To the other posters insinuating that all the people who are getting back large refunds are somehow abusing the "system" in some way... My husband and I both have bachelor degrees, masters degrees, and post grad degrees... We are both full time education employees... We have 5 kids who are well taken care of and who were very much planned for, loved, and wanted, we are not on government assistance and never have been, we live in our own home and have three cars paid off. We invest and are smart with our money. Everyone has different circumstances so please do not assume that those receiving larger refunds are good-for-nothing system abusers. I work hard for every dime I make and I make it work for me as well. See an accountant who is current on tax law to maximize your refund and maybe that will help you dismiss your preconceived notions.

I really hope you aren't including me in that lol. I never insinuated that anyone getting back large refunds were abusing the system. It just happened that on my way into my house those two neighbors were outside talking about their refunds and I stopped to join in. So it was fresh on my mind. Plus my friends and family who are financially independent and have careers and investments don't talk about their salaries or their returns so I was not able to give both examples.

I didn't see anyone say that all people with big refunds must be abusing the system. I also didn't ASSUME by people's response to my post that they ASSUMED that either. They were simply responding to one particular post. So I am a little confused as to why you would think that.

But Anyway if you were including me in that post I hope that clears it up for you.

 

[Shannon30]

We are going to Disney!

 

[Bnb0627]

She probably couldn't. Here, you have to be working to receive food stamps unless you have a very young child, and post-secondary education doesn't count towards the work requirements. So people stay in the dead end minimum wage jobs and on food stamps/medicaid for years because they can't afford to lose those benefits even if the Pell grant will cover the actual costs of going to school.

That's definitely the case for some people but it wasn't the case for her. She only works part time and she did the FAFSA I helped her fill it out. She would have had everything covered I saw the paperwork. She could have taken evening classes for three months. Her mother and I had offered to watch the kids for the two hours she went to school. Now when she was done and got a job making twice the amount she is making now then yes she would have lost some of the free benefits.

 

[chuckabone]

We know lots of people like that and the sad part is it's family. They got thier refund back the other day, and went and got a iphones, new furniture, fancy dinner a weekend vacation and on and on and the part that sucks is that they still owe ME money! You can always tell tax time in our extended family, the trips, the new stuff etc....
I find it funny for some reason that in 2 weeks they will again be waiting for thier paycheck cause they have no $$$.

 

[rockawaybeachgirl]

We know lots of people like that and the sad part is it's family. They got thier refund back the other day, and went and got a iphones, new furniture, fancy dinner a weekend vacation and on and on and the part that sucks is that they still owe ME money! You can always tell tax time in our extended family, the trips, the new stuff etc....
I find it funny for some reason that in 2 weeks they will again be waiting for thier paycheck cause they have no $$$.[/QUOTE

As long as no one is cheating the system (the EIC and other refundable credits are legitimate tax breaks in the current system -whether you agree with them or not - and I don't - is another story), then people can do what they like with their refund. Everyone seems to be so jealous of 'these people', but here is what I took away from descriptions of their lifestyle (generally):
- can't afford own place
- can't afford food without assistance
- lives on minimum wage
- dead end job
- no retirement fund or savings
-limited prospects for the future
- once a year gets a windfall of $6000

Doesn't sound so great to me. We paid over $30k in Federal taxes this year, and I'd do that any day and twice on Sunday rather than trade lives with those in the circumstances described above.

 

[lisaross]

It is going towards my son's BarMitzvah in June....been doing this for the past few years...And the next couple of years return will be going into my younger son's BarMitzvah fund!

 

[gjl]

My refund is going to fund our post deployment 8 night poly CL stay in June! I can't wait to get home in late May and then spend this money on quality time with my wife and kids, making memories at the happiest place on earth!

 

[bamamom]

New roof. Wish it could be something more exciting.... even a deposit in DD's college fund would make me happier. But a storm last week tore off 10+ shingles and the roofing contactors are saying that the roof is too far gone for just a repair. We knew it was coming, but were hoping to hold out a few more years.......

Will your home owners insurance not cover the roof replacement? Then you could use your refund for something else We have had 3 new roof in the last 7 years due to storms all covered by our home owners insurance.


And to another post: I don't like the "earned income credit" either....my experience with those that receive this...its more a way of life than just a tuff year with income. It is my taxes that I have paid in and they did not ...that they are getting "refunded". (Just my two cents and don't want to debate on it.)

Our refund isn't as large as a lot I have read on here... but larger this year that usual ($3600 this yr).
Ours will go toward:

DS new mattress
DS Class ring
pay off small medical bill
rest into savings

 

[Diegosmom]

MY husband is self employed so I get max taken out of my check (claim 0 dependents) and if he had a good year we probably wont get any money back...but with the economy that hasnt happened in a while. He does construction (mostly painting) and stays busy all the time but has to charge a cheaper price cause people just cant afford to do the work otherwise and the price of gas really cuts into the profits...

So last year we got about 4K and I am hoping for at least that (would love over 5k but not sure that will happen) but I havent had a chance to finish our stuff for the accountant (hopefully this week).

Also we get a larger refund because of a child, daycare (although he started school this year so less of a deduction), my school loan interest (last year cause I paid it off yeah) but our major reason for a refund is health insurance. My company does not take out health insurance before tax they take it out after. So I am taxed on that amount (that I dont even see) and we pay over $17,000 a year just for the policy not including our copays and rx and all that...so it sure does add up. Most years we are at 20K in medical...and we dont make a ton of money (about 75K a year between both of us)...so we usually get a decent refund...

So whatever we get will go right to our bills...Dec and Jan have been slow for DH so we arent behind in bills but I am paying most on the day they are do so I will pay ahead on a few and then rest will go to our cc debt (which is at 0% till june)...It wont pay off the debt but it sure will cut it down...

Oh and actually will probably pay off DH truck we only have march and april payment left so probably will just pay it off (then we can reduce his insurance and save money wooohoooo)...

Now I just need to get everything to the accountant.

 

[edk35]

Two kids in college....NEED I SAY MORE. LOL

 

[Colleen27]

And to another post: I don't like the "earned income credit" either....my experience with those that receive this...its more a way of life than just a tuff year with income.

I support the credit but I wouldn't argue with that. For most it is a way of life, not out of laziness (usually) but out of lack of opportunity or because they chose a lower-paying career (not always a McJob - I know teachers, plumbers, carpenters, and social workers who get it, and I got it when I was a single mom working in IT). The cutoff is very close to the median income in this country and the credit goes a long way toward masking the ongoing problem of stagnant/falling wages and rising cost of living for a large chunk of our workforce.

 

[TrueLove's1stKiss]

We just finished paying off CC debt, so we are using our refund towards funding Roth IRAs! I'm super tempted to use it on a family cruise instead, but we have to plan for our future, blah blah, blah! We decided to wait and plan a vacation for 2014!

 

[Mickeyluver37]

My RETURN is getting filed with the IRS and state tax department. I'm not sure what I'm doing with my REFUND yet.

This is my FAVORITE post of the whole thread! I'm glad to find someone else who cringes when they hear of people spending their "return."

 

[TB'sWidow]

We know lots of people like that and the sad part is it's family. They got thier refund back the other day, and went and got a iphones, new furniture, fancy dinner a weekend vacation and on and on and the part that sucks is that they still owe ME money! You can always tell tax time in our extended family, the trips, the new stuff etc....
I find it funny for some reason that in 2 weeks they will again be waiting for thier paycheck cause they have no $$$.

Wow I could have wrote this exact thing. Mary

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We owe a lot this yr. We bought a new house in Sept and took out a large chunk of DHs 401k for the downpayment. I guess we underestimated the amount for them to hold back on taxes. So this yr sucks for us Normally we get back anywhere from $5-6k.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

This is my FAVORITE post of the whole thread! I'm glad to find someone else who cringes when they hear of people spending their "return."

Why? It is a return of excess tax money that has been collected or it is a refund of excess tax money that has been collected. No big deal.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[JaymeC]

Our refund this year is going to savings, savings, and more savings. I'll be cutting back to part time next year and dh will be picking up something part time so that he can finish up school (undergrad) and I can start my grad work. It is not going to be a pretty picture when it comes to our finances, but we both think it will be worth it in the long run.