# How Much Are You Getting Back From The IRS? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403 "2011-02-06T16:13:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/41 "2011-02-07T15:07:35Z")
You realize that this information is used by the IRS when you go to check your return status online? It’s not a good idea to put it out in a public forum. ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/42 "2011-02-07T16:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Am I correct in assuming that those getting $2000+ have kids? Or pay a massive amount of student loan interest each year, like me. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/43 "2011-02-07T16:46:32Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Am I correct in assuming that those getting $2000+ have kids? My brother is getting many thousands of dollars from the IRS. He has four kids. Really, it depends on how you fill out your W-4. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/44 "2011-02-07T18:34:58Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you’re getting money back,that just proves you’re lousy at doing your tax witholding calcs. It’s not always that easy to do the tax withholding calculations. In many years I’ve been thrown off because of mutual fund distributions. They are unpredictable, come in December (often at the very end of December), are taxable, and sometimes come to thousands of dollars. Once in a while I end up owing a lot to the IRS. In order to anticipate that possibility I overwithhold on my regular income, so other years, when distributions are small, like this one, I get a big refund. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/45 "2011-02-07T18:47:24Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I’m getting back a five-figure negative number. Gotta love being self-employed. this, but add a zero. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/46 "2011-02-07T20:13:14Z")
I’m getting almost three grand back - middle class mortgage tax break is AWESOME. I’m getting cabinets! ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/47 "2011-02-07T20:25:54Z")
I’m getting $2200+ back (no kids). It would have been a bit more if not for dividend income, but really I am thrilled to have dividend income at all, especially compared to my history of financial misfortune. I suppose I could wiggle my deductions to avoid the interest-free-loan effect, but having been bit in the butt by a big surprise tax bill that I couldn’t afford, I am more comfortable this way. And my gf will be more comfortable with the extra trips to the sushi restaurants. Almost forgot: WOOT! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/48 "2011-02-07T20:45:03Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > I _do_ love being self-employed, even with the higher tax burden and the paying in and everything. The freedom and flexibility are well worth it. > > Kudos to you on getting a five-figure loan from Uncle Sam for 12 months, no interest. 😉 There’s an underpayment penalty if you didn’t pay enough quarterly estimated taxes though, that basically amounts to interest. And if you don’t have the money to pay the April 15 tax bill, that’s of course a big problem. Now you’re taking this year’s earnings to pay last year’s taxes, and of course you have to pay taxes on this year’s earings, lather rinse repeat. I haven’t did my taxes but hope to about even out this year. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/49 "2011-02-07T20:46:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You realize that this information is used by the IRS when you go to check your return status online? It’s not a good idea to put it out in a public forum. :dubious: Care to back that assertion up? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/50 "2011-02-08T18:02:25Z")
We appear to be getting back enough to pay off my car loan (which admittedly is down to 4 months of payments), from the feds. We actually were majorly over-withheld at the beginning of the year due to a mis-processed W-4 with Typo’s payroll. I used the tool with the IRS to estimate and we made the changes it suggested… and we’re _still_ getting back more than last year! Which, considering my first pass through Turbotax showed us _owing_ 2400 bucks (due to a rollover being processed as income when I imported it from Quicken), is quite an improvement. Had a bad scare 3-4 years ago. I had an inherited IRA in a CD. When the CD expired, I had the bank transfer it to a money market account while I thought about what to do next. They treated it as if I’d taken a distribution of the entire amount. All taxable income. Which among other things, destroyed any child tax credits, wiped out some of our itemized deductions, and I think made TurboTax think about the Alternative Minimum Tax. Fortunately, the bank fixed their error. Phew. Otherwise we’d have lost about half the balance of the IRA to taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/51 "2011-02-08T18:06:50Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > I paid in about $300 this year. > > Am I correct in assuming that those getting $2000+ have kids? My brother is getting many thousands of dollars from the IRS. He has four kids. We have kids and that does make a difference, but the real issue is that we’re overwithheld (which can be independent of whether you have kids). Oh - and as we’ve found, even the IRS calculator (which took into account how much we’d already paid at that point) didn’t do the job correctly. I’d certainly rather get a refund than have to pay; at least it didn’t err in the other direction. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/52 "2011-02-08T18:12:11Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > I owe them about $4k. Actually I owe the Feds about $5.5k and the state owes me about $1,500. Still, I can’t keep up with the tax man through my paychecks. I will have to start to pay estimated taxes as well. :::ouch::: (for you and for the others who’ve listed even larger debts). FWIW, you can fill out the W4 to say “x deductions, AND y additional withholding per pay period”. If you’re consistently owing a lot, I’d recommend doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/53 "2011-02-08T19:28:07Z")
I was shocked to discover we are getting back about $3200, about twice what we got back last year. I think there was more withheld from my bonus at work then before, plus we had over $7000 in charitible contributions on top of our mortgage interest, child credits, etc. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/54 "2011-02-08T19:38:48Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > FWIW, you can fill out the W4 to say “x deductions, AND y additional withholding per pay period”. If you’re consistently owing a lot, I’d recommend doing that. Those of us who are self-employed pay our taxes at least quarterly (one can pay them monthly if you so choose). Often it’s a cash flow problem which leaves us unable to pay as much as we need to, so that we end up owing a big chunk at the end of the year; or, we might make more than we had projected, so that the amount paid in over the year wasn’t enough, but we didn’t find out about it until taxes were figured. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/55 "2011-02-08T19:43:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > You realize that this information is used by the IRS when you go to check your return status online? Huh? > [@control-z](#): > > There’s an underpayment penalty if you didn’t pay enough quarterly estimated taxes though, that basically amounts to interest. And if you don’t have the money to pay the April 15 tax bill, that’s of course a big problem. Now you’re taking this year’s earnings to pay last year’s taxes, and of course you have to pay taxes on this year’s earings, lather rinse repeat. The underpayment penalty is pretty small potatoes. And the rest of it is just part of the rigamarole of running a business. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/56 "2011-02-08T19:44:41Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Oh - and as we’ve found, even the IRS calculator (which took into account how much we’d already paid at that point) didn’t do the job correctly. Yeah, that’s what I find. So I’m tired of all the people who always say, “If you get a big refund that means you didn’t figure out your withholding correctly.” I use the IRS forms. They don’t work right for my situation. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/57 "2011-02-08T20:30:39Z")
We will likely owe. We owed last year, despite paying quarterly estimated taxes, and I don’t see that changing this year. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/58 "2011-02-08T20:39:32Z")
I never get nothin’. Any refund I may be due goes to a back debt (child support – I’m not a deadbeat … it’s a long story). I try to rig it so I end up just about even at the end of the year. Usually I end up writing a check for $500 or so. I just budget for that. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403/59 "2011-02-08T21:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > For 2010; > Before my ex wife decided to fuck me over: 4800 bucks. > > Now that she has decided to fuck me over: -500 Happened to me last year only we were still married at tax time (I moved out of the house in late October of 2009). Dear wifey figured she’d get more back if she lied and filed head of household (which is why she didn’t want to give me her social when I filed). She got back four grand and gave some of it to her ex-fiance with whom she has a child. The ex-fiance with whom she broke up because she caught him in bed with another woman. Nice, huh? I was thus forced to file married but separate and had to pay in $525. After the dissolution (around May) I started claiming zero. Still have to pay in about $200. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-are-you-getting-back-from-the-irs/570403.md?page=2)