Have you started taxes yet?

[kdonnel]

No I fully understand that. I think you're trying to talk about something I'm not. I responded to a poster talking about giving the government, by way of how someone structures their withholding, an interest free loan rather than taking that money that would have gone to the government and putting it into an interest-bearing personal account. Some people don't prefer to do that if they prefer a larger sum at the end rather than small amounts each paystub in addition to interest-bearing accounts not having much interest. Just depends on the person and how they prefer it.

I must have misunderstood your post. I thought you were infering that with the withholding changes, a large refund was no longer possible.

 

[Christine]

Okay, put my 2018 numbers into 2017 Turbotax. Even though my income was lower this year, I made out better in 2017 than in 2018--I don't mean refunds by any means. My tax bill (total federal tax) was $600 less done under the 2017 taxes over 2018.

The biggest head scratcher was my state. If I used the 2017 software, I would get $432 refund back from state. In 2018, I owe state for the very first time at a whopping $64.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I must have misunderstood your post. I thought you were infering that with the withholding changes, a large refund was no longer possible.

Oh no that wasn't what I was meaning

 

[kdonnel]

Okay, put my 2018 numbers into 2017 Turbotax. Even though my income was lower this year, I made out better in 2017 than in 2018--I don't mean refunds by any means. My tax bill (total federal tax) was $600 less done under the 2017 taxes over 2018.

The biggest head scratcher was my state. If I used the 2017 software, I would get $432 refund back from state. In 2018, I owe state for the very first time at a whopping $64.

Is your states taxes based off federal? Georgia had to adjust the state tax structure to match the federal changes or Georgia residents would have been hit with a large tax bill in 2018. Perhaps your state was in the same boat and did not 100% adjust as needed?

 

[Christine]

Is your states taxes based off federal? Georgia had to adjust the state tax structure to match the federal changes or Georgia residents would have been hit with a large tax bill in 2018. Perhaps your state was in the same boat and did not 100% adjust as needed?

I believe this may be the case and I thought I heard that my state might be making some adjustments, but at this point (Feb) I'm not holding out much hope.

 

[Darcy03231]

Just did mine this morning. Income was about the same as last year (slight increase). Taxes came out to about $1500 less than last year, so a win for us.

 

[lifesavacation]

Finished my taxes today. Owe $$ Argh....I usually even out between state and feds (owe money to one, get a similar refund from the other) but this time, I owe more than I'm getting back.

SINK and got a raise this past year. Itemized deductions but my SALT was capped at $10K (and I paid about $17-18K so blech).

Yeah the 10k cap is going to hurt us as well. Our property taxes are out of control.

 

[LilyWDW]

Taxes were finally approved and my refunds will be hitting my account Monday/Tuesday. So that is nice. Right before my birthday!

Is there an easy way to figure out withholdings? I am getting a promotion at the end of the month with a pretty big increase in pay and want to be sure I don't mess anything up. I want to maximize my pay checks but also don't want to owe much. Right now they are all set to 1.

 

[Turksmom]

Taxes were finally approved and my refunds will be hitting my account Monday/Tuesday. So that is nice. Right before my birthday!

Is there an easy way to figure out withholdings? I am getting a promotion at the end of the month with a pretty big increase in pay and want to be sure I don't mess anything up. I want to maximize my pay checks but also don't want to owe much. Right now they are all set to 1.

There is a new withholding calculator on the IRS site. It walks you through questions and tells you the #s to enter on a new W-4.

 

[mjkacmom]

DH just did them, the changes cost us $4000 not itemizing (he did it both ways). Most homeowners is NJ will be feeling the pain. No reason not to pay off the mortgage now!

 

[starry_solo]

Yeah the 10k cap is going to hurt us as well. Our property taxes are out of control.

Yes they are.

 

[runwad]

@LilyWDW
https://apps.irs.gov/app/withholdingcalculator/

 

[aprilchem]

Just did ours - the changes saved us $2000 over last year's taxes. Our tax rate went down, plus we got to claim the child tax credit (which we've never been able to claim before).

 

[Ben E N]

Woohoo. Just got my tax return today. Less than a week from submitting it to getting it, and before any potential government shutdown later this week. Now to flip that money into Disney annual passes...

 

[LilyWDW]

There is a new withholding calculator on the IRS site. It walks you through questions and tells you the #s to enter on a new W-4.

@LilyWDW
https://apps.irs.gov/app/withholdingcalculator/

Thank you both! I will check this out asap.

 

[skyblue17]

Just filed last night. Learned a lesson last year, after inputting into TurboTax, they wanted to charge me $79 to file. Instead went to H&R Block online, where it is only $15 to not only file both federal and state but also hold onto your records so that it's an easier process the next year. I got more back than I expected for both! Which just makes me worry something went wrong, lol. But I'm happy to have them in before the potential shutdown.

 

[Turn the Page]

I just dropped our taxes off at the post office today. I'm hoping our return gets to the IRS before the government shuts down again.

We got about $2800 more back this year than we did last year which is good. Everything is earmarked so we will feel flush for all of about a day and a half then it will all be gone to its various locations and we won't feel so flush anymore. Oh well, such is life.

I have to play around with DH's withholding this year as well. He also got a major promotion at work last month with a huge salary increase so we need to look and see if we should change it or not. What may make it difficult is he got a pretty decent raise on his weekly salary but the bulk of the increase will come in tri-annual bonuses. I'm not sure how we account for that.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

No, but all the stuff is gathered up.

 

[jerseygal]

Yeah the 10k cap is going to hurt us as well. Our property taxes are out of control.

Agreed, out of control! Retirees find it difficult to live in the tri state comfortably. The Tax Reform just put the "icing on the cake" for us...headed to a no income tax state, Florida for semi retirement. Tired of shoveling snow and virtually half a year of unfavorable weather.

 

[Christine]

Just filed last night. Learned a lesson last year, after inputting into TurboTax, they wanted to charge me $79 to file. Instead went to H&R Block online, where it is only $15 to not only file both federal and state but also hold onto your records so that it's an easier process the next year. I got more back than I expected for both! Which just makes me worry something went wrong, lol. But I'm happy to have them in before the potential shutdown.

Wow, pricey. I generally buy my TurboTax at Costco in January when they have the $10 off. I think I pay $39 for it and it gives me 5 free federal e-files and one free state e-file. That's about the cheapest I can get it, I think but I may look at H&R block if the total price is only $15! I hate to pay to e-file and I won't do it if it's not free. I always owe money so I'm not going to pay to send them my money!!

My adult children use H&R Block online and it's free for them (both state and federal) because their AGI is below $66,000. I think this will be the last year that both of them fall under that income level.