Tax Refund is half of what we got last year!

[Leshaface]

I'm so confused right now. I just got a call from the secretary at our CPA's office and she told me what we'd be getting back...we're getting back 60% LESS than what we got last year!

Has there been any changes this past year?

That said, this was our first FULL year that we've owned our house, so the interest we paid towards is more. DH's student loans interest was $850. We made double the contributions we made last year. We both claim 0. No children. Not much of a increase on my income in 2011, however, now that i'm thinking about it, DH worked more in 2011.

We really thought we'd be getting a better refund this year because of the house. Should I get a second opinion through H&R?

 

[mickeyplanner08]

You can plug all your numbers in to Tax Act or Turbo Tax online for free-you only pay if you actually use them to file. So, grab your documents and plug them in and see what you find out. It really is pretty simple to do. Good luck!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Interested in hearing your responses as mine went down about 45% from last year. I'm really glad now that I didn't act on reducing my withholding last year! Before I submit it, I'm gonna go over my return with a fine-toothed comb.

 

[SnowWtch]

I know that they did away with the Schedule M "Making Work Pay" for 2011. For DH and me that's an $800 difference in what we got back last year vs. this year.

 

[sleeperclan]

I know that they did away with the Schedule M "Making Work Pay" for 2011. For DH and me that's an $800 difference in what we got back last year vs. this year.

THIS!! Plus for us, our DD turned 17 last year and we lost one of the child credits...our return was also half of last year's. But, it's still a return!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

I know that they did away with the Schedule M "Making Work Pay" for 2011. For DH and me that's an $800 difference in what we got back last year vs. this year.

oooohhhh, THERE'S most of my difference. I forgot about that.

 

[daughtersrus]

THIS!! Plus for us, our DD turned 17 last year and we lost one of the child credits...our return was also half of last year's. But, it's still a return!

We had the same thing. My DD turned 17 last year as well. For us, that was a big thing. She is disabled so her care is actually a lot more than a "normal" child. There's no deduction extra deduction for a disabled/blind child. Only disabled/blind adults with income.

 

[PatsMom]

We had the same thing. My DD turned 17 last year as well. For us, that was a big thing. She is disabled so her care is actually a lot more than a "normal" child. There's no deduction extra deduction for a disabled/blind child. Only disabled/blind adults with income.

Read up on the rules for claiming an adult as your dependent. Although if your daughter is getting SSI, it might not be possible. But there are situations where if you are supporting an adult, you can take a deduction for them. I was able to deduct my father for his last few year's when my husband and I were taking care of him.

 

[Maniacmous]

I ran into this last year - got married and first year filing jointly - got next to nothing back after a significant amount the previous few - the marriage penalty hit us really hard, despite us both not changing our withholding from single.

 

[Leshaface]

You can plug all your numbers in to Tax Act or Turbo Tax online for free-you only pay if you actually use them to file. So, grab your documents and plug them in and see what you find out. It really is pretty simple to do. Good luck!

Did not know this. I'll try this when I get all my forms back from my CPA. Guess i'll hold off on signing anything until I check everything out. Thanks!

Interested in hearing your responses as mine went down about 45% from last year. I'm really glad now that I didn't act on reducing my withholding last year! Before I submit it, I'm gonna go over my return with a fine-toothed comb.

We were very surprised that it was this amount. Especially because our contributions were more than double from last year.

I know that they did away with the Schedule M "Making Work Pay" for 2011. For DH and me that's an $800 difference in what we got back last year vs. this year.

This probably does make a difference. Didn't know this, thanks!

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm letting DH get a hold of our CPA when he gets out of work. I'd call myself but today has been a very stressful day with my pregnancy and don't want to add this to my list. I should be thankful we're getting anything back, but it's not what we expected. We were really hoping that it would be AT LEAST the same amount as last year so we can pay off one of his 3 student loans. Thanks for listening.

 

[daughtersrus]

Read up on the rules for claiming an adult as your dependent. Although if your daughter is getting SSI, it might not be possible. But there are situations where if you are supporting an adult, you can take a deduction for them. I was able to deduct my father for his last few year's when my husband and I were taking care of him.

DD is 17 and not currently getting SSI because it's based on parent income /assets. Once she turns 18, we'll have to apply and see if she will qualify.

 

[njmomtoone]

I'm so confused right now. I just got a call from the secretary at our CPA's office and she told me what we'd be getting back...we're getting back 60% LESS than what we got last year!

Has there been any changes this past year?

That said, this was our first FULL year that we've owned our house, so the interest we paid towards is more. DH's student loans interest was $850. We made double the contributions we made last year. We both claim 0. No children. Not much of a increase on my income in 2011, however, now that i'm thinking about it, DH worked more in 2011.

We really thought we'd be getting a better refund this year because of the house. Should I get a second opinion through H&R?

Same thing happened to us! We made about $7K more, and our deductions went down abotu $3K.

 

[bcinohio]

We just did out taxes and they were $900 less than less year. Our son was 17 last year so we lost the child tax credit for him. You would think they would at least let you claim it until they are out of high school. At least I still have a few years left for my younger son!!

 

[Southernmiss]

THIS!! Plus for us, our DD turned 17 last year and we lost one of the child credits...our return was also half of last year's. But, it's still a return!

This is us also. Our Fed refund went down by $1200.

Don't they realize teens are more expensive than babies?

When it was just DH and I and we both worked full time, we always paid, so any refund is better than no refund.

I did hope our refund would be higher this year, but that's just not the case and I think the days of big refunds ($2500 or so) for us and lots of hardworking other taxpayers are long gone.

 

[PatsMom]

DD is 17 and not currently getting SSI because it's based on parent income /assets. Once she turns 18, we'll have to apply and see if she will qualify.

I have been looking into this for my severely handicapped niece. She can't get SSI either because of her parent's income and assets but it is my understanding that at 18 she will qualify since she will be considered too disabled to work. If she should achieve a level where she can work, her ability to earn income will be limited.

To claim an adult, I believe you had to contribute over half of their support. Their income from investments and wages has to be very limited, but SSI or social security will not disqualify you from claiming her. Won't make a difference this year since she is 17 but it could next year when she is 18.

 

[runwad]

We just did out taxes and they were $900 less than less year. Our son was 17 last year so we lost the child tax credit for him. You would think they would at least let you claim it until they are out of high school. At least I still have a few years left for my younger son!!

Ya really why aren't they still considered for the child tax credit till 18???? Geez

 

[Avonlady1001]

I know that they did away with the Schedule M "Making Work Pay" for 2011. For DH and me that's an $800 difference in what we got back last year vs. this year.

Forgot about that! That makes up most of our decrease from last year to this year. I feel better now that there's a reason. I just couldn't figure it out. Thanks!

 

[ilovemk76]

Ya really why aren't they still considered for the child tax credit till 18???? Geez

Because you got to claim them when they were <1. So you got to claim them for 18 years.

 

[runwad]

Because you got to claim them when they were <1. So you got to claim them for 18 years.

Well then you should be able to claim them for 19 years while they're still in high school!!

 

[ilovemk76]

Well then you should be able to claim them for 19 years while they're still in high school!!

Or they could make you wait until the child has had their first birthday before you can claim them.