Just finished my taxes...

[Regular Guy]

anyone else within 48 hours of striking?

or...are you way done (or way not done)...

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 4/16/2007 4:42:03 AM
Author:Regular Guy
anyone else within 48 hours of striking?

or...are you way done (or way not done)...

should have em done this afternoon.
have to pay in so not in a hurry to send it in.

 

[njc]

We finished them up last night. We usually dont wait so long... OH WELL!

 

[Dee*Jay]

State refund hit my account on 2/21 and Fed refund hit on 2/23. We were unexpectedly captured by the AMT last year (which our accountant told us about on April 14th -- can you say break out the checkbook and pony up?!) so I made a point to have it done EARLY this year just in case I had to write another big fat check...

 

[Cailet]

ooh.I did mine this morning too!

 

[jcrow]

wow, i received my refunds by end of february. i''m an early filer.

 

[Skippy123]

We owed taxes and we filed eary but just now paid them. It was more than I expected us to have to pay.

Oh well.

 

[Miranda]

We received our refund about a month ago. We got a chunk back. I really hate that. The government takes enough of my money. I don''t like them having money I could be earning interest on. I''d rather pay a little bit. Taxes make me grumpy!!!!!

 

[oshinbreez]

I did my taxes mid Feb. I always try to get mine done quick and have it out of the way. David grabbed his paperwork this morning as he was going out the door. Hopefully he will get his done tonight.

 

[Mara]

ours are 'way done', our acct does them in feb as soon as we get our paperwork turned in, because we usually get a large amount of $$ back.

it's so funny, they have been done for so long when i see things on TV about taxes being due now i am always like 'whaa?'...i think i somehow think that they are due in feb now. haha.

 

[Kismet]

Date: 4/16/2007 11:02:25 AM
Author: Miranda
We received our refund about a month ago. We got a chunk back. I really hate that. The government takes enough of my money. I don''t like them having money I could be earning interest on. I''d rather pay a little bit. Taxes make me grumpy!!!!!

I''m with you there. I always owe a little bit too. It goes against the grain to let the government have an interest free loan of my money.

 

[Cehrabehra]

we picked ours up yesterday from the accountant and I''m taking them back in today for e-file. Its my fault... they called over a week ago to let us know they were done and I totally forgot until saturday late afternoon when I caught a newspaper that said, "two more days" and I went oh crap!!! LOL

I miss the days of the EZ file. our taxes have gotten so complicated...

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 4/16/2007 10:37:00 AM
Author: jcrow
wow, i received my refunds by end of february. i''m an early filer.

we used to be.... and I was so smug about it LOL Now its not just about us anymore, tax forms for estate monies come from another state and we start asking for them in january and last year we didn''t get them until april 12th. We had to file an extension. This year we got them about a month ahead but between that and all of the rental property stuff, the home business stuff, the capital gains and a few other things, it just gets very crazy and we do it ourselves THEN take it in to have it done. Costs like 600 bucks to have our taxes done by someone else just to make sure that we''ve done it all correctly. Its so confusing.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 4/16/2007 12:05:42 PM
Author: Kismet

I''m with you there. I always owe a little bit too. It goes against the grain to let the government have an interest free loan of my money.

we keep trying to get in the red just a *hair* but haven''t quite gotten it down yet. Every year it changes. I think last year we paid and this year we got back about 4x what we paid last year.

 

[jcrow]

Date: 4/16/2007 12:12:11 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Date: 4/16/2007 10:37:00 AM
Author: jcrow
wow, i received my refunds by end of february. i'm an early filer.

we used to be.... and I was so smug about it LOL Now its not just about us anymore, tax forms for estate monies come from another state and we start asking for them in january and last year we didn't get them until april 12th. We had to file an extension. This year we got them about a month ahead but between that and all of the rental property stuff, the home business stuff, the capital gains and a few other things, it just gets very crazy and we do it ourselves THEN take it in to have it done. Costs like 600 bucks to have our taxes done by someone else just to make sure that we've done it all correctly. Its so confusing.

yeh, mine isn't complicated at all.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 4/16/2007 12:32:23 PM
Author: jcrow

yeh, mine isn''t complicated at all.

enjoy it while it lasts!! I remember doing them in like an hour... when the dh was military he made so little that we always got all of our $$ back at the end of the year and didn''t pay taxes at all. They make the print extra big on the form just to make it fill up the one page LOL In a few years you''ll have forms that are in such small type you need reading glasses to catch the fine print LOL

 

[snlee]

We''re an early filer as well. Our taxes are way done. We filed and got our refund in February.

 

[chrono]

Yup, did ours 2 weeks back but held back the check since we owed (again).

 

[jcrow]

Date: 4/16/2007 12:37:17 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Date: 4/16/2007 12:32:23 PM
Author: jcrow

yeh, mine isn''t complicated at all.

enjoy it while it lasts!! I remember doing them in like an hour... when the dh was military he made so little that we always got all of our $$ back at the end of the year and didn''t pay taxes at all. They make the print extra big on the form just to make it fill up the one page LOL In a few years you''ll have forms that are in such small type you need reading glasses to catch the fine print LOL

great... something to look forward to

 

[Beacon]

Ours have been in since early April. Expecting refund from Fed, but had to pay state. Why???? The *Use Tax* cause I am too honest about the jewelry I bought on line. I felt so dumb telling my accountant - I asked her "am I about the only one who reports this stuff?" She said no, more people are reporting it now, especially since the state of CA now has huge instructions for it on the actual tax instructions (which we never see cause the accountant does it).

It still frosts me, but since it was large purchase I figure it is so easy for the State to find it if they want. Too honest

 

[Tacori E-ring]

ahhh...ours are so complicated! We both own two businesses. DH owned 13 houses in 2006. A few were sold. Plus now we are married! He has SOOO many write-offs (which is good but gets so confusing!). Both my businesses were done by a CPA (gotta love trade!) but DH insists on doing ours himself! Blah!

 

[scarleta]

Mine are at the accnt office right now.

 

[Gypsy]

Our were filed a couple of weeks ago. I''m expecting the refund anyday now. Found a great new accountant and with the deduction of the moving expenses... since I moved for the job... it turned out pretty well.

CA is insane though. I''m getting like a 100 bucks back from NJ... because they are SANE. CA just helped themselves to an interest free loan of a HUGE chunk of my money. Oh well, at least they are giving it back.

 

[FireGoddess]

Did ''em last week. We owed so I wasn''t in a hurry. But I figured better get ''em done before we move and lose all the paperwork in some box!!

 

[poptart]

Mine were done by a CPA a couple weeks ago. I don''t trust myself or anyone else without a degree in accounting to do them, lol. Out of site, out of mind. I just got my return in the mail today! I haven''t opened it yet though...

*M*

 

[firebirdgold]

Ok Ok, I''m not totally done yet! I worked on them during our no-internet weekend getaway and I was missing a bit of info. I just have to go back and fill it out and then efile them. (Thank god for that!)

Having to pay taxes is not a big motivator for doing them early!

DH got a refund and did his months ago! Which he is not loathe to remind me.

Those ads for turbotax are hysterical and just a bit too on target.

 

[Maisie]

How does the tax system work in the States? In simple womans language please lol as I am not the brightest button round!

You all know by now I am in UK, we pay tax on our income before we get paid every month. And we pay tax on everything we buy over £18 (I think) so its added on to prices already.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Oh Maisie, you have no idea the complexity of the question that your asking... I will do my best to address the utter basics of our tax system...

At a Federal level you get taxed on your income right out of your paycheck. All but a few of the states also have a tax, as do some municipalities, and those taxes come out of your paycheck too. The are other deductions for Social Security, Medicare, and a few more that I'm sure I'm leaving out. (This is assuming you are employed by someone else and they are responsible for administering your payroll. If you are self-employed things are different.)

So, all year long you are taxed on a periodic basis (i.e., payday). Then, annually, by April 15th of each year (or on the next business day if the 15th is a weekend) you have to submit to the Internal Revenue Service a tax return that shows your income and the tax you paid during the year. If you "over paid" you are due a refund; if you "under paid" you owe the difference. You also have to submit a state and/or municipal filing if applicable, and again either pay or get a refund.

Federal tax rates are tiered; generally the more you make the higher the rate you pay. State tax rates for the most part are a flat percentage. There are things you can deduct from your income, like mortgage interest and property taxes, and there are other things that need to be added in, like dividend and interest earnings. And some things get taxed at different rates than others (long term capital gains vs. short term capital gains for instance).

When you purchase things you pay a sales tax based on the local rate, either where you purchase the item or, if it's an internet purchase, sometimes based on your home location's tax rate. (There is a lot of debate around the whole internet tax thing though and I'm not going there with a ten foot pole; my statement relates for instance if you buy something from a store that has a physical location in your state, say Borders Books and Music, and therefore they charge you tax based on where you live and not where the item is being shipped from.)

The ins and outs of our tax system are so complex so that is just skimming the very top of the surface. There is SO MUCH MORE TO IT than this brief description. It gives me a headache to even consider our tax structure and I hope I haven't confused or depressed you with an attempt to describe how it works over here..

 

[Kismet]

At the federal level, individuals are taxed on their (calendar) yearly income. It''s a self-assessed system, meaning that individuals are responsible for figuring out their own taxes, informing the government and paying it over. Most employees have most or all of their taxes withheld from their weekly/monthly/whatever pay. Self-employeed individuals usually have to pay quarterly. Additionally, some of the states also require income taxes as well, using varying methods of calculation.

 

[Skippy123]

Also, there is property tax on your home (if you own a home); you pay that yearly to the county. Blah

Don't you love all the taxes we pay. What is the percent you get taxed Maisie?