Nosey

[Planogirl]

I get 15 days but it's hard to schedule so much as a week much less more. So far I haven't been able to snag a week and that's through June! Yes, I will be quitting this job when I can - this is crazy and doesn't work for me.

 

[momma2kiddos]

I'm self employed and I am no where near travelling 14 times a year! LOL As a matter of fact, finances took a turn for the worse over the last 6 months so I had to cancel both trips for 2010. Things seem to be looking up again so we're planning for 2011. Me and BF are on again and off again but when we're on again, his income adds to our budget and he works for the government and he makes a nice penny. I figure once I finally get him down to Disney one time, we'll be able to do it at least twice a year! LOL

 

[Heidijs]

Try four years without a raise and now talking about furloughs due to poor revenues in our state! You won't see my kids working for the state.

Yep, they're talking furloughs here too...I honestly wouldn't mind a couple weeks off unpaid but my problem is, my other half works for the same city so we'd both get nailed yeah, I don't see a raise in 2011 either the way they're talking...

 

[Heidijs]

I'm sorry, I should have read my post before replying. It was much harsher than I intended. There are a lot of intricacies in how head of household can be claimed, who can claim children & how credits work in your type of situation. When I read your post & someone commenting on it, I thought of the many people I've dealt with who try to "use" the system and claim things a little differently than they should to get a better tax deal than they really ought. I'm sorry I implied that this applied to you. I'm a little jaded after years of dealing with people and taxes and often see the worst when people give scenarios.

Again, I'm sorry to have implied that you had bad intentions or had cheated the government, though more power to anyone who can keep as much as possible of their own money out of the government's hands legally. That's always my goal!

No biggie...when I tell people what we get they're like but when I explain we're not married and have 3 kids between us, daycare, mortgage...that explains it...our CPA told us if we got married we'd probably lose 1/3 of that...so here we are, 9 years later and still not married! and yeah, I've sat down and figured it out and we both get about 80% of our federal back...

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

No biggie...when I tell people what we get they're like but when I explain we're not married and have 3 kids between us, daycare, mortgage...that explains it...our CPA told us if we got married we'd probably lose 1/3 of that...so here we are, 9 years later and still not married! and yeah, I've sat down and figured it out and we both get about 80% of our federal back...

Yep given your situation, I was just guesstimating how much you'd lose in your refund if you were married. That is what seems wrong to me, a tax code that is set up which in a way discourages marriage. Reason for that is the tax code is still living in the 50s, when Ward goes to work and June stays at home. Not all deductions are double for married taxpayers, items phase out sooner, and the ability for one to itemize and the other take the standard deduction (which is not allowed even for Married filing Separately), and probably going back to tax tables where the income isn't doubled for married vs. single or married filing separately.

As a CPA given your situation, what would concern me is taking the Head of Household when your partner is taking 100% of the mortgage interest, plus probably 100% of the real estate taxes. To have HoH status you must pay more than half of the expenses for keeping up the home. That is why only one of you may claim that status. I'm guessing you take the standard deduction, while he itemizes. I think these items are why some CPAs are commenting, because the scenario sounds a bit "aggressive" from a tax standpoint.

People will say they got rid of the "marriage penalty", but this is a prime example of it, one person being able to take all the itemized deductible items (except for the partner's state & local withholding), while the other takes a standard deduction. It used to be even further biased when the tax tables were lopsided. You would have people divorce the last week of December. Get married and file their taxes in January. Then pocket or take a nice trip on the tax savings.

Noticed you mentioned daycare expense. Do either of your workplaces have a dependent care plan? That was a nice little benefit for us. DW now can withhold up to $5,000 per year to pay for daycare. That $5,000 is not subject to income taxes, and also is not subject to Social Security taxes.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

DH is self-employed with seasonal work & I'm a stay-at-home mom. We don't go unless we have the cash to pay for it!

 

[Heidijs]

Yep given your situation, I was just guesstimating how much you'd lose in your refund if you were married. That is what seems wrong to me, a tax code that is set up which in a way discourages marriage. Reason for that is the tax code is still living in the 50s, when Ward goes to work and June stays at home. Not all deductions are double for married taxpayers, items phase out sooner, and the ability for one to itemize and the other take the standard deduction (which is not allowed even for Married filing Separately).

As a CPA given your situation, what would concern me is taking the Head of Household when your partner is taking 100% of the mortgage interest, plus probably 100% of the real estate taxes. To have HoH status you must pay more than half of the expenses for keeping up the home. That is why only one of you may claim that status. I'm guessing you take the standard deduction, while he itemizes. I think these items are why some CPAs are commenting, because the scenario sounds a bit "aggressive" from a tax standpoint.

People will say they got rid of the "marriage penalty", but this is a prime example of it, one person being able to take all the itemized deductible items (except for the partner's state & local withholding), while the other takes a standard deduction. It used to be even further biased when the tax tables were lopsided. You would have people divorce the last week of December. Get married and file their taxes in January. Then pocket or take a nice trip on the tax savings.

Noticed you mentioned daycare expense. Do either of your workplaces have a dependent care plan? That was a nice little benefit for us. DW now can withhold up to $5,000 per year to pay for daycare. That $5,000 is not subject to income taxes, and also is not subject to Social Security taxes.

I don't know much about it, but I do claim HOH and I claim my daughter as well as daycare expenses...we're both on the mortgage and taxes...but he claims them...I'll have to ask her about that HOH issue. I assumed I could because I also claim a dependant I support...she said I would get the bigger tax break vs him. I'd be surprised if she did it and wasn't supposed to but I will mention it...I'm almost 100% positive I claim HOH...I thought she said he couldn't because with his two children, mortgage interest, taxes...he's maxed out or something or another...I didn't get that part...or maybe it was because in order for him to claim it, he'd have to claim our daughter and then I'd get the worse end...and his children do not live with us and maybe that had something to do with it...we've never "changed" how we claim either...we've been doing this since day one. Hopefully we never get an audit and find out it was all wrong!

 

[Heidijs]

I don't know much about it, but I do claim HOH and I claim my daughter as well as daycare expenses...we're both on the mortgage and taxes...but he claims them...I'll have to ask her about that HOH issue. I assumed I could because I also claim a dependant I support...she said I would get the bigger tax break vs him. I'd be surprised if she did it and wasn't supposed to but I will mention it...I'm almost 100% positive I claim HOH...I thought she said he couldn't because with his two children, mortgage interest, taxes...he's maxed out or something or another...I didn't get that part...or maybe it was because in order for him to claim it, he'd have to claim our daughter and then I'd get the worse end...and his children do not live with us and maybe that had something to do with it...we've never "changed" how we claim either...we've been doing this since day one. Hopefully we never get an audit and find out it was all wrong!

Yes, I could do that at my employer as well but my tax preparer did the figures and it would only save me about $100 a year doing this...it wasn't worth the hassle of me having to submit the forms every week to get reimbursed...she said if we had two kids in daycare some day, then it would definitely be worth it...but for now it's not worth the hassle...plus our payroll lady at the time was a total moron and would screw it up and I'd end up waiting days on end to get reimbursed...

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

I don't know much about it, but I do claim HOH and I claim my daughter as well as daycare expenses...we're both on the mortgage and taxes...but he claims them...I'll have to ask her about that HOH issue. I assumed I could because I also claim a dependant I support...she said I would get the bigger tax break vs him. I'd be surprised if she did it and wasn't supposed to but I will mention it...I'm almost 100% positive I claim HOH...I thought she said he couldn't because with his two children, mortgage interest, taxes...he's maxed out or something or another...I didn't get that part...or maybe it was because in order for him to claim it, he'd have to claim our daughter and then I'd get the worse end...and his children do not live with us and maybe that had something to do with it...we've never "changed" how we claim either...we've been doing this since day one. Hopefully we never get an audit and find out it was all wrong!

Hopefully you never get an audit right or wrong!

 

[Heidijs]

Hopefully you never get an audit right or wrong!

I'll definitely bring it up when we see her. As far as I know too, we don't ever "claim" our real estate taxes...I've brought the stuff in for her and she says they don't do anything with that for taxes... it never gets entered in anywhere or if it does, it doesn't effect our refund...just our mortgage interest, which is in both our names...I dunno.

 

[St. Germain]

This partially explains why so many international visitors are able to take longer vacations:

Average paid vacation days/year:

Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days
Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO).

I'm an American and we only take 7-10 day WDW vacations but that's more due to the fact that my wife isn't the Disney fan that I am. I work for a university so I'd have the time but make a little less than the private sector. However, on average I think we have more paid time off, better benefits, and maybe a tad more job security. It's a trade off, similar to the trade off that the countries listed above make as a culture. Sure, they pay more in taxes and probably bring home a little less (though that's not always the case) but they get more time to spend with their family. We have friends in France who spend almost a month every summer with family at a beach house on an island. They're not rich by any means either.

Not making any judgments here, just pointing out that different people/cultures prioritize different things I guess.

 

[MelissathePooh]

DH is a professor and I'm an RN - work PRN. He teached Tues - Thurs, I work weekend nights. When he has breaks I try to add extra shifts and then we can travel during his big breaks (fall, holiday, spring, summer). Last year we were able to put 68 days on our AP. We have owned DVC since 2002 and my mother lives in Clermont. It really doesn't cost us much more to go than to stay home.

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

Yes, I could do that at my employer as well but my tax preparer did the figures and it would only save me about $100 a year doing this...it wasn't worth the hassle of me having to submit the forms every week to get reimbursed...she said if we had two kids in daycare some day, then it would definitely be worth it...but for now it's not worth the hassle...plus our payroll lady at the time was a total moron and would screw it up and I'd end up waiting days on end to get reimbursed...

Yeah, it all depends on how much you're paying in daycare. I have two boys in daycare, so we're spending over the $5,000. We do get the daycare credit on amounts above the $5,000 (but only the next $1,000 as the credit is capped at $3,000 per child), but the credit is less than the tax rate. So for it saves us about $850 in federal, state, and payroll taxes, per year.

Luckily, we don't have to deal with the payroll department at her work for reimbursements, as we have to submit them to the benefits company, and get the check back in 1-2 weeks, which can be submitted as often or infrequently as we want.

 

[Heidijs]

Yeah, it all depends on how much you're paying in daycare. I have two boys in daycare, so we're spending over the $5,000. We do get the daycare credit on amounts above the $5,000 (but only the next $1,000 as the credit is capped at $3,000 per child), but the credit is less than the tax rate. So for it saves us about $850 in federal, state, and payroll taxes, per year.

Luckily, we don't have to deal with the payroll department at her work for reimbursements, as we have to submit them to the benefits company, and get the check back in 1-2 weeks, which can be submitted as often or infrequently as we want.

I think my total daycare bill was $5300 this year.

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

I'll definitely bring it up when we see her. As far as I know too, we don't ever "claim" our real estate taxes...I've brought the stuff in for her and she says they don't do anything with that for taxes... it never gets entered in anywhere or if it does, it doesn't effect our refund...just our mortgage interest, which is in both our names...I dunno.

Property taxes are an itemized deduction. And in many states, you license plate fees can also be an itemized deduction. License plates based on the car's value are deductible, if they're based on weight or a flat fee, they would not be deductible.

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

I think my total daycare bill was $5300 this year.

You being single though, it may make more sense to go with the credit as your preparer has figured, as I wouldn't know what your actual marginal tax rate, nor what your state rates are. The daycare credit ranges from 20%-35%, so it could be that the credit rate is higher than your tax rate. This is where single can be advantageous over being married as well. The table for determining the credit rate is the same whether you are married or single. Single person has $25,000 income, they get a 30% credit rate. Married couple each make $15,000, they get a 27% credit rate.

For payroll taxes, if you were able to withhold $5,000 for daycare, you'd save $382.50 in FICA.

 

[Heidijs]

You being single though, it may make more sense to go with the credit as your preparer has figured, as I wouldn't know what your actual marginal tax rate, nor what your state rates are. The daycare credit ranges from 20%-35%, so it could be that the credit rate is higher than your tax rate. This is where single can be advantageous over being married as well. The table for determining the credit rate is the same whether you are married or single. Single person has $25,000 income, they get a 30% credit rate. Married couple each make $15,000, they get a 27% credit rate.

For payroll taxes, if you were able to withhold $5,000 for daycare, you'd save $382.50 in FICA.

My taxable income is around $38K. I know she commented if we were married, we could kiss the daycare part goodbye and probably wouldn't get any of it back...but then it would benefit more to have it pre-taxed by my employer...

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

My taxable income is around $38K. I know she commented if we were married, we could kiss the daycare part goodbye and probably wouldn't get any of it back...but then it would benefit more to have it pre-taxed by my employer...

Yeah, if married, it would more likely than not be much more beneficial to you to have it go through a pre-tax benefit plan. In that case you'd probably save somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,385 in federal, state, and payroll taxes. That would be based on having 1 child in daycare, paying more than $5,000, having $5,000 withheld for daycare, a marginal federal rate of 25%, and a Minnesota state marginal rate of 7.05% (ouch).

 

[Heidijs]

Yeah, if married, it would more likely than not be much more beneficial to you to have it go through a pre-tax benefit plan. In that case you'd probably save somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,385 in federal, state, and payroll taxes. That would be based on having 1 child in daycare, paying more than $5,000, having $5,000 withheld for daycare, a marginal federal rate of 25%, and a Minnesota state marginal rate of 7.05% (ouch).

Yep...and sadly, that's why we're not married...

 

[BradyBz12]

Wow, I've seen some threads go off the rails before, but I've never seen one about vacation planning take a sharp turn into Accounting!