Thanks Lisa, you’re always a gem with good info.
There’s another thread over in GQ that’s got some additional commentary worthwhile for those afflicted with a substantial April hit.
Not to mention the deduction for mortgage interest. Get rid of that one and you’ll drop property values by at least 20% in one fell swoop. It’s too late to kill the monster. You can only hope to contain it.
Last year was the first one where I had to pay taxes on my new S-Corp. Of course I had a CPA take care of it for me. I had so much paper work that it cost almost $3.00 in postage to mail it.
Haj
You know, I don’t mind paying taxes. I really don’t. I can completely understand that the government needs money to keep, uh… governing.
What I truly loathe, though, is just how difficult it is to figure out how much tax you need to pay. I can’t believe that there’s an entire industry set up to do the math for us. Each year my taxes get just a bit more complicated, and each year I can more easily see the appeal of a flat tax.
I’m also a little upset at my return for this year. I was actually going to get a decent amount back this year, which would’ve gone towards buying a house. Unfortunately, my wife’s behind on her student loan repayment*, and so the government’s going to seize our refund. All of it- even what would be my portion. We weren’t even married when she went to school- hell, I know that I didn’t sign anything concerning her loans.
[SUB]Fine! You can take the education back! It’s not like it’s doing her any good![/SUB]
Yes. Given what I’ve seen the past few years. Just keep telling them that they’re actually paying less in tax and that this is better, and besides, don’t they know there’s a War on Terror going on? You’ll easily see people go along with it.
You file Joint, you assume all the good & bad stuff that comes with it. There is no “what would be my portion”- it’s all “joint & several”. so that means they can take “your half” for her student laon, or in another case “her half” for “deadbeat dad back child support”. They can do that because there is NO “her half” or “my half” once you file Joint. “Innocent Spouse claims” are an exception, of course.
Ah, actually, my research on the subject shows that I’d only have to pay for her “half” of the taxes if we’re in a community property state. We married in Texas, so I have to pay for her student loan. They certainly can’t grab the money directly from me- the only way they can get the money from me is if I overpay on my taxes, which happened this year. The same thing with child support- the spouse’s paycheck can’t be garnisheed, no matter how much in debt the NCP is. At least, that’s my understanding. Why is it suddenly fair game when it’s money that’s been mistakenly sent to the IRS?
And tell you what, if they’d let us file as anything other than “joint”, I’d be glad to do so. I’d be saving a heck of a lot of money (normally, this year is an exception, and the only year in which we’d benefit from filing joint).
[QUOTE=Lightnin’]
Why is it suddenly fair game when it’s money that’s been mistakenly sent to the IRS?
[QUOTE]
Federal taxes aren’t used to fund child support. They are used, however, to fund student loans. Your wife is behind on repaying her debt and the “bank” would like their money back.
And while I admire you for wanting to buy a house, I cannot fathom why you see your tax refund as “extra” money when your wife’s debt is going unpaid.
Uh-oh.
Seriously, I do my own taxes. I don’t mind so much, except for Capitol Gains tax. I hate the 1099-B. I hate Accenture for the Stock they gave my wife. I hate Accenture for selling little bits of it to pay tax withholdings, because I have no effing clue as to when they effing bought it for us. If they would just put that little bit of information on the 1099-B, there would be a lot less cussing from my office every February.
This year, with a move in the bag, plus W-2s for at least three states, and all the assorted expenses, I’m going to a CPA. Not H&R Block. I can fill out dialog boxes on the computer, too.