Tax Refund is half of what we got last year!

[MickeyManiac]

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!

DS turned 17 last year and guess what...we owe $1000! I sure wish we could have the deduction through HS graduation. This year is the most expensive yet!

 

[disynut]

Oh this just about makes me sick. We have had to pay the last two years, so I opened a savings acct just for taxes so it wouldn't hurt as bad when property taxes/April taxes came around. Now after seeing all these posts I'm betting we're gonna have to pay more this year...

 

[aprilgail2]

I'm getting back 25.00 less than last year- I took some unpaid days from work for FMLA so made a bit less than last year.

 

[Donnainnj]

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

I believe the credit did not start until 1998, oh and at that point it was $400.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

OP, if you used the same CPA as last year, their tax program probably generates a comparison between 2010 and 2011 that you can look at to see where your difference lies. I always go through our 2-year summary to see what our differences are. For example, my husband got some extra Army pay in 2011 so our taxable income went up by several thousand dollars, and that resulted in our tax liability going up by over $1000. However, the Army withheld taxes at a flat percentage higher than what we pay overall, so we get back more than we did last year because we paid in so much more. When I look at my 2-year summary, I can see how it all shakes out. You could even have the CPA email you the summary to look at before they e-file so you can make sure you didn't forget to submit any documentation.

 

[tar heel]

OP -- If you bought a new home last year, you probably deducted closing costs, which can be substantial if you escrow taxes.

When you say "contributions," do you mean the amount of taxes withheld or donations to charity? Doubling the latter is only going to make a small difference unless you're talking about a lot of money.

Your DH working more could be a major factor. If any of his work is self-employment or contract work, then you're talking a lot of money.

 

[Green Tea]

If you had claimed any of the home energy tax credit that will be a difference this year since the credit is straight cash back to you.

 

[MELISAZACK]

Ours is 1700 less this year too.. its killing me this is the least we ever have gotten in 15 years together.
I think the work credit is part of it.
but I have to wonder if my DH ssd payments are also affecting us.
I made 10k more this year myself..
dh gets ssd payments and his old employer pays him $525/month on top of that so it comes to the same amount that his LTD payment was prior to SSD kicking in.. (if that makes scense) i realized this year that the employer never taxed that amount all year and I don't know if they should of???? anyone have insight on that.
however this year they are not taking fed tax or state but they are paying the EIT 1% to my township off it.. and my township says they shouldn't be applying that...what a mess.
I am going to try and run the taxes as married filing sep and see if that works better for us.

 

[puffkin]

The Making Work Pay credit was the reason for our decrease this year! Still got a refund, but would have been nice to get the same as last year considering pretty much everything else was equal.

 

[rigs32]

Most people don't realize the vast majority of the "tax benefits" from owning a home only play into your taxes if you itemize AND the house expenses/interest are large enough to bring your itemized amount over the standard deduction.

If you live in a place that still has reasonably priced housing (like I do), you're likely better off just taking the standard deduction.

 

[njmom47]

Grrr...we paid last year (first time ever in my life!) because dh's new job didn't take out enough tax in 2010. I make less than him, and my taxes deducted were way more than his, so that didn't surprise me that we had to pay. I made sure it was corrected last year. Maybe I should let my cuz (CPA) do our taxes this year. I was hoping for a decent refund. Maybe not!

 

[daughtersrus]

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

I don't think that's true. If I remember correctly, the tax credit started as $400 in 1998. My DD's were born in 1986, 1990 and 1994. We didn't get to claim the credit for 18 years for any of them.

Plus, the last year that you get the credit is when the child is 16.

 

[nowellsl]

I like to break even on my taxes, no refund, no having to pay. Last year I got back $20! Which was great. I adjusted my withholdings due to the fact that the making work pay was going away this year, and now I'm getting back $500, which is about what I had taken out extra. I don't know why, because I figured my taxes would go up without that credit, but they didn't!! Now I'm gonna have to change my withholding again - I'd rather have the extra in my paycheck than let Uncle Sam have it all year!

 

[Leshaface]

OP here

Okay so Dh talked to our CPA. The reason for our low return is because last year he was taking one class, which helped with out with last years return. This year he had no school, which didn't help. DH made a lot more money this year than last year (actually more than I thought ) and that's why our return is so low. Our CPA told him he went through our taxes twice because it didn't look right, but still came up with the same numbers.

What's so crazy (DH is a teacher) is that the other two teachers that he works with, makes about $15000 more than us, has two kids, makes no donations, but one is getting $6400 and the other is getting $7000 (they spend their lunch time talking about this). How is that even possible?!

I do trust our CPA but am wondering if I should run the numbers online still before we e-file? I'm not really good with numbers and not sure if I could even do it myself online What would you do?

tar heel - sorry, I meant tithing and misc donations.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Ugh, you are all not making me feel really good right now. We're married, no kids and no house.

Last year, even with claiming zero PLUS adding in $75 more in taxes each paycheck, we owed $2700. I forgot about Making Work Pay thing going away. This is awful, no wonder people cheat on their taxes when they can.

 

[hopemax]

What's so crazy (DH is a teacher) is that the other two teachers that he works with, makes about $15000 more than us, has two kids, makes no donations, but one is getting $6400 and the other is getting $7000 (they spend their lunch time talking about this). How is that even possible?!

Don't confuse what someone owes or gets back as a refund as what someone's yearly tax burden is.

If the teachers are getting that much back, the simplest explanation is that they have more taken out of their paycheck each month. The "giving the government an interest free loan" scenario. Although, they could have deductions and credits that you don't have (maybe their mortgage interest deduction is more than yours - are they living in a newer bigger house than you, maybe they max out an IRA, decreasing their taxable income, have student loan interest to deduct, etc)

 

[julirina]

I do trust our CPA but am wondering if I should run the numbers online still before we e-file? I'm not really good with numbers and not sure if I could even do it myself online What would you do?

Turbotax and TaxAct are both very easy to navigate. It's in question/answer format and pretty much idiot-proof. I'm no tax whiz but I do ours every year with no problems. It's free to plug your numbers in; you dont pay unless you file. It might take an hour or two, but what do you have to lose? At least if you come up with the same figure as your CPA, you'll know you can do them yourself next year and save the accountant fee!

 

[tyniknate]

My DS turned 17 on Jan. 15th of this year. That means we still get the credit for last year, right?

 

[girli565]

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 also happened to me and my husband. Our return was about $800 less than it was last year and my accountant told me it was because of this.

 

[sammielynn]

This year I'm having to pay $2935! My Father died in August and I got some payouts from his IRA"S. They are taxed big time! The money I got put me in such a high bracket that I don't get any sort of credit, not even a educational credit for DS20's tuition. Better luck next year, I guess. Now if is house sells this year we will have that to contend with on next years taxes.
Word to the wise. If you have a parent in a Nursing Home and you have their Power of Attorney and they have IRA's take the money out as soon as you can. We waited because we wanted to money gain some interest to help with Dad's bills. If the money had come out before he died we would not have had to pay any taxes, because taxes would have been based on his age and income.