Income Taxes & Refunds

[Gryffindorian]

It'll be that time of the year again! I already received my W-2 from my employer and had my taxes done at H&R Block. Altogether, I'm expecting a refund from the Federal and the State of CA of $1,100 within the next several weeks. Not too shabby, I guess.

What say you? Do you do itemized or standard deduction? Do you do your own taxes, or do you have a personal accountant or preparer?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have my accountant do everything. I figure, I'd end up paying the same bill for tax software (no way in hell I'm doing this manually), so why not make sure it's done right?

Besides, an accountant can represent you if you get audited. Good luck getting a computer to do that.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've always done my own, because my financial situation just isn't very complicated. This is actually the first time in a while that I'll only have one W-2 (I guess I'm finally content at my job and don't feel the need to get another one).

I usually do mine on TaxACT.com, which is free for federal and, like, $15 for state.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I usually get a few hundred back from the state and a little bit from the feds. I try to keep from overpaying much without risking underpayment. No sense giving the government thousands of dollars' worth of interest-free loans every year.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I prepare them myself using free tax software/websites. Perhaps if my financial situation got really complicated I would hire someone else to do it, but I really prefer to have control over my own finances. And at this point they are very easy for me to do. I don't itemize, it's worth more for me to take the standard deduction. I don't have kids, a house, an inheritance, or anything else really. It's just me and my checking and savings accounts.

I like to complete my taxes as early as possible. I am annoyed that I haven't received my W-2 yet.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah. Pretty much the only deduction I have to itemize is my student loan interest. It's not even worth it.

 

[1001001]

We have a CPA do our taxes. Always.

We usually come pretty close to breaking even. Last year we owed a little, this year we're hoping for a little back. We'll see.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

$200-$400, but only because I claim 2 exemptions for withholding.

I like to get as much every week as I can. It's easier for me to budget, rather than looking forward to a big payout once a year.

 

[RoJoHen]

I like to get as much every week as I can. It's easier for me to budget, rather than looking forward to a big payout once a year.

I'm the opposite. My tax refund is almost like a surprise savings account that I only get access to once a year. Spread out over an entire year, that money would likely be squandered.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ But you wouldn't squander a windfall? I know I would, so better for me to have it spread out.

 

[RoJoHen]

^ But you wouldn't squander a windfall? I know I would, so better for me to have it spread out.

Not at all. Small amounts of money throughout the year would probably be spent on things like food and beer. My tax return, because I get it all at once, usually goes towards paying off debt.

Or, a few years ago, I filed the same month that I moved, so I was able to use my refund for my security deposit.

I usually don't save my refunds, but they definitely go to better causes than they would if I got the money in smaller amounts.

 

[propita]

We go to a CPA. My husband has changed jobs a number of times in the last 10 years. Invariably, either too much or not enough has been taken out--there's no predicting. One year, we rough-estimated paying $6000 and were happy our CPA told us we owed less than $4000. He was surprised at our smiles until we told him what we had thought. The next year, we got almost $3000 back.

Lately, Husband has been teaching a class at night. They don't take out taxes. Bother!

Any refund goes towards our IRAs anyway.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I do my own, in recent years using Turbo Tax. Most of my income is Social Security now, so I don't owe Federal taxes, just a bit to the state.

The only year I didn't do my own was sometime in the 90s, because there was a change that I didn't understand. Got home from H&R Block and re-read what they had filed and caught a big mistake. When I went back to have them correct and resubmit it, they tried to charge me for the extra work!

 

[FPAlpha]

More than 1000€

Mainly due to me having to drive about 80km each day to work and back which is in part deductible in german tax law.

Also i finished my 2 year advanced training program last year (i passed.. yay! ) and the fee for the preparation course and materials is also deductible as additional expenses.

Usually i did my taxes myself because my financial situation is not that complicated but this year a colleague of mine, who has studied this at the german IRS and knows how all this works, will do my taxes as soon as my yearly summary from my employer arrives.

Part of it is already planned for.. minor maintenance for the car and a PS4 (if i can get one)

 

[nureintier]

How much income tax refund do you normally get from State & Federal?

I couldn't vote because I'm self-employed and pay taxes back to the gov't this time of year (which is different from getting $0 back). ^_^

I do my own, mainly because it doesn't cost me money.

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah, the poll lacks the "I owe money back to the government" option.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Right after I made my previous post about being annoyed that my W-2 hadn't arrived, it appeared in my mail. Yay! Let's try this again. I would very much like for my $1,000,000 check to arrive...

 

[Captain Ice]

Up until two years ago, I did my own every year. However, my Dad's passing in 2011 left my brothers and I with some tax issues that we did not understand, so we all went to pros in 2012 and 2013 since some of the tax implications of Dad's passing would be on the 2011, and others on the 2012.

Not sure if I will go back to the pro this year or not. Figure I have a couple more weeks before everything arrives before i have to decide.

I shoot for being somewhere between getting $500 back and owing $250. This year, any money gained here will go to my car fund.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I've finished my taxes now and I should be getting about $2,400 from the federal government and about $60 from the state, yay!

 

[JoeZhang]

Just out of curiosity - why in the US do employees do their own tax returns?