# Income Taxes! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534 "2012-01-05T19:33:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/21 "2012-01-06T21:35:49Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’m not even expecting all the forms I need to arrive until mid-February. Right? We just ordered W2, 1099, and a few other forms from the IRS and I just received a post card that they aren’t presently available. So, we get to wait until those are shipped to us to get together the stuff to do our own taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/22 "2012-01-07T04:28:49Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > TurboTax holds your return until the IRS is ready to accept it. I suspect other software can do that too. TaxAct does the same, and we’ve used them for several years. I can file and submit my Federal now, and almost did tonight: but can’t file state until another week because the forms aren’t available. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/23 "2012-01-07T04:49:59Z")
Wow. I can’t even file until late April as I have to wait until after the Czech tax deadline (March 31) and then wait to get all the data from my Czech tax guy, forward it to my US tax guy and hopefully get it all back by May. I live overseas so extensions are easy, but my taxes generally run to 50 or 60 pages and cost more than a month’s income to prepare it’s my biggest single expense line item on my business. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/24 "2012-01-07T08:15:02Z")
Dancing in the street and singing We Don’t Make Enough Money Anymore to Have to File. The perks of poverty. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/25 "2012-01-07T17:51:44Z")
What’s a tax refund? I had to file an estimate and pay quarterly, so any surplus on 2011 taxes had to go toward first quarter 2012 estimate. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/26 "2012-01-07T18:00:14Z")
Given the complications of the vast DrumBum financial empire - US dollar payroll working overseas, property taxes in the US, etc. - mine gets done by a very nice KPMG lady in San Francisco and is seldom completed before the April 15th deadline. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/27 "2012-01-07T18:29:41Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Nothing. You lose. > If you’re expecting a refund you lose because you essentially let the government borrow money from you that you never owed them in the first place. > If you owe the IRS you lose because you just paid them money back you could have continued borrowing interest free till April. > The winner is the person who pays back what they owe at the latest date possible. While that’s true from the most stone-cold logical standpoint, it’s utter garbage from a psychological standpoint, and here’s why: It’s been proven over and over again that the negative impact of losing something is far greater than the positive impact from gaining something. So if you get a small refund (I’m thinking a couple hundred bucks here - if your refund is many thousands then maybe you do need to re-visit your withholding schedule and tighten it up), then the interest you would have earned on that is utterly negligible, as others have noted. But you do get a nice little psychological uplift from having gained that “extra” money all at once in the form of a refund check. Whereas if you have to **write** a check to the IRS at the end of the year, you’re losing something you already had in your pocket, which is much more psychologically devastating. Sure it’s all “your” money either way, but the psychological impact couldn’t be more different. ETA: not to mention the stress looming over your head, knowing you owe someone money while you bite your nails for the deadline to come. Totally not worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/28 "2012-01-07T21:37:01Z")
I have an investment that has to send me a K-1. I file in April. I always wonder if people like Hampshire make sure that anything they don’t need to cover today’s bills are in a money market savings account - or better investment - because you wouldn’t want to loose the fractional pennies in interest. Or if they are just inconsistent about not wanting to use the governments “no interest - but that isn’t that much less than your bank” vacation savings plan and make taxes worth doing motivating technique. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/29 "2012-01-20T18:39:31Z")
OK, so I did my SO’s and my taxes both on Sunday, January 15th, using Taxslayer\*, both of us got the OK confirmation from the IRS on Wednesday morning and supposedly our tax returns will be direct deposited to our accounts on this coming Wednesday (January 25th). Pretty quick. For those of you who have not used an online tax preparation, it is really, really easy to use! My SO’s tax returns are simple, but mine are far more complicated. Still, these programs are very easy and user-friendly - they walk you through, step-by-step. Much cheaper than going to your local tax preparer! Even if you have a complicated tax return with mortgages and multiple incomes, etc. I would be surprised if it takes you over half an hour to do (assuming you have all of the documents you need to fill in the blanks!). - No, this is not an ad for Taxslayer, although I have used them for about 8 years or so. I am sure you can get the same, easy fast service from TurboTax or any of the other major online tax services. Some online places are “free” (check the IRS website for a list of those) for some people with simple forms, but ours cost $9.95 each for the more advanced version of the software usage. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/30 "2012-01-20T20:57:19Z")
**DMark** , I think you’re advice is good for folks with more simple returns, but sometimes those programs can really mess you up. Last year, for example, some friends (husband and wife) were bragging to me that they were getting an $8500 tax refund. I asked if they wanted me to double check what they’d done on Turbo Tax so they don’t get audited and they agreed. Turbo Tax let them take a whole mess of credits that they made too much to qualify for. Like, egregiously. They definitely would have ended up getting audited. When I did their return, they got like $3500 back, which certainly isn’t bad- though it is no $8500. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/31 "2012-01-20T22:29:20Z")
Got my W2 last Thursday, filing paper as my federal refund is one whole dollar. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/32 "2012-01-21T01:05:56Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Got my W2 last Thursday, filing paper as my federal refund is one whole dollar. Damn. I haven’t gotten _either_ W2 yet, or one of my student loan interest statements yet, so I can’t file for a while yet. I’ve gotten a $1 refund twice, ftr. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/33 "2012-01-21T02:05:23Z")
I filed on Tuesday the 17th and ended up getting $580 back. I’m usually spot-on and get back less than $100. The most I’ve ever gotten back before now was around $300 in the 90’s. Don’t know how I could possibly have screwed up an EZ, so I’ll take it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/34 "2012-01-21T02:27:16Z")
I reduced my federal withholding last year from filing 0 to filing 1 in hopes of minimizing my refund. It was nice to get back 1k in April, but it’s nicer to have that money as I go along. I think I may actually owe some tax to the state this year though, because Illinois increased state taxes I think. Believe it or not, I overpaid less than one dollar to the state last year! So that was a mulligan. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/35 "2012-01-21T15:54:40Z")
Still waiting for 1099 from fromer slavemaster and the 1098 from school. Some day I hope to worry about the 15% bracket… ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534/36 "2012-01-24T07:08:15Z")
Just prepared my taxes (yay for Turbotax!). Getting a $700+ federal refund. Pretty big considering I decreased my federal withholding last year, \*and \*the MWP credit is gone. But I simply don’t feel comfortable increasing from 1 exemption to 2 exemptions. I feel it’s too big a risk I might owe money next year. I was happy to discover the deduction for interest paid on student loans. Since I just started paying my loans back this year, almost all of it went to interest. That increased my refund by over 10%. I owe $17 to [Illinois](http://taxes.about.com/b/2011/01/18/illinois-increases-tax-rates-for-2011-through-2025.htm), though (I’m lining the pockets of Blago’s prosecutor, aren’t I? :p). I was looking through my state withholding and found out my employer listed me claiming 1 exemption. I bumped it down to zero, so I should break even again at tax time next year. I’ll probably be putting my refund right back into my car, though. ☹ Ah well, it’s better than having to charge it or beg my mom for money. If I’m lucky, I might have enough left over to get a snazzy new video card! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/income-taxes/608534.md?page=1)