OK, mine have been done and the rebate was deposited last Friday. But for those of you who procrastinate - today is the day!
I know and I feel stupid for having waited until this week. I usually owe money so I figure there’s no rush. But when I finally did my returns this week, I found out I’m getting a refund.
I took mine to the post office last night. I’m going to make Uncle Sam wait until the last minute for that check !!
The CPA did end up saving us about $3,000, so I’m glad I used them this time. We still ended up paying in (an amount between $5 and $10 k) but that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes.
If you’re 100% sure you’re due a rebate, you can do it late. The Fed does not penalize you for not taking money back on time, only for not paying it.
I did ours ages ago and we got our federal refund back right away. Unfortunately, North Carolina is having a little trouble coming up with the state refunds! Waiting, waiting…
In an unusual example of not procrastinating, I did mine waaay back at the beginning of this week. 
I know everyone likes to complain about the tax system being so infernally complicated, but I ran into an example this year that seems particularly nefarious. I was using a tax software program, so at least I got some guidance, but…
Had to calculate my state and local taxes paid last year for something I was doing this year. There’s a worksheet for that. There’s also an alternative method I could have used which involved saving up all my receipts and using the sales tax for the year instead of the state and local.
I did not use that sales tax method, and did not save every receipt over the course of the year. So I used the worksheet. At the end of the worksheet, the program says “now you have to go back and calculate the sales tax method ALSO, even though you did not use that method in 2009, to calculate 2008’s taxes, so that we can compare the method you could potentially have used to the one you actually used and adjust your taxes paid in 2009 to reflect taxes you might have paid through a method you did not use in 2008.”
Almost done. They accepted the online return sometime overnight. Now I have to print the paperwork for a payment plan (it’s not that much, but more than I have, my deductions got screwed up somehow this last year) and send that this afternoon, and I’m set.
E-filed earlier this week. My Federal refund will cover what we owe the state of California, with enough left over for dinner. That’s just about the best result I could ask for.
I read that three times. Not only do I still not know what it means, but now I’ve forgotten where I live.
I was going to do my taxes on Sunday. I started, then realized I could no longer do my state return until I did my federal. And I couldn’t do my federal unless I knew my 2008 AGI. And I couldn’t find my 2008 return. The only tax records I have are my 2005 W-2, and I have no idea where I put anything else. And it’s not like I live in a huge place, so it’s fair to say that I looked all over. I guess all of my previous returns went to the same place where socks go. Well, I figured I could just call the IRS and find out what it was. I’ve done that before. But they’re not open on Sunday. So Monday I call, and get a recording. “If you need to know your 2008 AGI or PIN, press 1.” I pressed 1, and after keying in a bunch of shit, I got my PIN. But not my AGI.
When the hell did we start needing our previous AGI? We didn’t have to do that shit back in the good old days of 1040EZ.
So I decided to log on to irs.gov and see how far I could get. I was soon dumped to a page where I had to choose from like 2000 different third party software packages to file from. How the hell could I choose one? What did I use last year? I had no idea. Having no other basis on which to choose something, I picked one with a name I liked. That was my Very Scientific method.
Welcome to my labyrinthine nightmare.
So I open this software, and it’s asking me for a user name and password. Huh? Even if I did use this software before, how am I supposed to know how I logged in last time? Well, my user name MIGHT have been tdn, and my password MIGHT have been 123456. So I typed those in.
“Welcome back, tdn!”
40 minutes later, and I’m done.
I wonder if Bill Clinton’s pal will get his done on time.
http://www.time.com/time/2007/presidential_pardons/10.html
Finished ours in January. Submitted ours and my MILs on the first day of eligibility. My company gives us our W-2 on line as soon as they can. They rock!
We used to go to the Post Office on April 15th and watch the insane traffic as people were dropping off their taxes. It made for great entertainment.
We have a CPA come out to the house 2 or 3 weeks before. He’s kept everything from the year before so he’s got a rough guide of our income and liabilities, we give him this period’s numbers, he plugs it into his laptop, asks some questions, tells us what we owe and he E files it for us on time.
It used to be an aggravating chore. Now, not only has he saved us some real money and provided good advice about how to structure and prepare for the next year, he also makes it such an easy, relatively painless experience. On average we’re done in a little over an hour. I’ll never do it any other way.
I did mine in early March.
Just got my son’s in the mail yesterday, and my daughter’s today. My son paid in 58 cents, and will get a dollar back due to rounding. Free 42 cents!
My daughter had zero US income, as she is an ex-pat student. But she had foreign income, so she had to file (nothing to pay, just to file).
For the first time ever, I filed before April 15th. I did it yesterday. I’m in no rush, I’m not getting a refund.
I’ve never quite understood the American system of tax so…silly question perhaps…does absolutely everyone who works in the USA have to compile and file their own tax returns?
By that I mean, you keep all your wages during the year but have to pay a chunk to the government come April? And so have to calculate tax deductables etc.
Generally speaking over a certain amount of income and you have to pay. The more you make, the higher a taxable bracket you fall into. Usually a percentage is taken out each pay period that approximates your obligation. At the end of the year you compare what you owe to what you’ve already paid in and that determines if you send in a final payment or get a refund.
What you gross minus allowable deductions equals your taxable income and the bracket that falls into is used to calculate what you owe for the year. Allowable deductions include things like charitable contributions, IRAs, a portion of your mortgage payments, etc. If you’ve already paid more than that you get a refund. If not you owe the difference by April 15th. Some people file an extension but it’s not the right to delay payment, just to delay filling out the form. You still have to pay what you expect to owe by 4/15.
The self-employed are supposed to pay taxes periodically throughout the year. Sometimes one doesn’t pay in enough and owes a big chunk at the end of the year.
You don’t have to do your own. You can pay someone else to do them for you. And the IRS will spot check your calculations. Last year and this year then sent me back more than I had asked for. This year they sent a letter explaining why. I’ll be filling out Schedule M next year.
I did my federal returns the first week in February. I did a quick and dirty run-through of the state forms and discovered that I’d have to pay, rather than getting a refund. So I did the final calculations last night and mailed it in. It was less that I’d gotten in the first draft, and not much, really. But if I’m paying, I’m not doing it early.
My parents tried to efile, and found out someone had declared them as dependents, and they have to paper file. This doesn’t make sense to me.
Same in Canada, although both up here and down there you don’t necessarily pay a chunk to the government; they may pay you a chunk if all your deductions mean that you have overpaid tax during the year. In Canada it’s simpler; strictly speaking you have to pay both federal and provincial tax, but unlike the states (as I understand it) you don’t have to send stuff to two different places; all the forms go to the feds and they deal with it (not sure about Quebec).
Also both up here and down there, you can hire someone to figure things out or buy a computer program to do it.