I don't want to owe next year...I don't really want a return, either. Just even, or a little return. What should I claim? I'm married, wife works, we both make about the same amount, her a little more, no kids, have a mortgage, make about 42k a year, total. Any help? We both have two jobs as well. Should we have any exemptions? Are those the same as dependents? Help please!
Joey
How much do you owe? If you're close to breaking even, just leave the exemptions/allowances how they are; it means you're getting the max. amount of $ to use/invest during the year.
e.g. lets say hypothetically you're getting $2k back at the end of the year, that's 2k that you "loaned" to the govt interest free during the year... that you could of invested in stocks, tossed on the mortgage etc.
I owe about 1300 bucks. I've got it set aside, but I don't want to owe next year, but I don't want a big return, either.
Joey
Do the withholding worksheet for the w4, and then claim one less exemption than it says to. One exemption is supposed to be around 1300 bucks per year in taxes so that should get you about right.
paul wrote: .....e.g. lets say hypothetically you're getting $2k back at the end of the year, that's 2k that you "loaned" to the govt interest free during the year... that you could of invested in stocks, tossed on the mortgage etc.
I've heard this line of thinking all of my life. Guess what....real life doesn't work like that. Joey, if you're like 99.99% of people, if you got it, you'll spend it. Sometimes on ourselves, most of the time, things happen that we need to spend it on. I've found that by keep my withholding high, every year I get a very nice check. That gives me a big chunk to pay down on the mortgage, take a nice vacation, add to our meager savings, a few "treats" and make a few more donations to worthy causes. These are all things that we couldn't/wouldn't do otherwise. You learn to live on what you bring home. As far as letting my Gov't have my money interest free- With savings interest(and mortgage rates)being as low as they are, big hairy deal. I can do much more with five grand handed back to me at once,than an extra $100 each week. For example, using that big chunk for a down payment on an income producing property makes a whole lot more sense( and even more deductions) than trying to buy stocks with an extra hundred bucks a week.
Sounds like both of you are claiming being married with zero exemptions. Well that will lead to a you owe. BTDT. Really the answer is for one of you to claim married and zero and the other as single and zero. That should put you into a very small refund/owe area, but most likely a refund as single deduction is greater then being married.
my 2¢ is that the extra $100 - $150 per mo I would get if I tried to come out even would only be wasted... I wouldn't have any idea where it went... just daily spending............ on the other hand if I let the gov have it (yeah I know it's an interest free... therefore interest lost to me... loan) then I do get a $1200 + sized check that can actually be useful... if I were more disciplined with the "extra" monthly income that would be great... but I really do know myself well enough to know that ain't gunna happen....
one other thing to consider, is gains or losses in the market (selling at a gain or loss) will greatly affect the amt of the return or the amt owed....
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/page/0,,id=14806,00.html http://www.taxbrain.com/taxcenter/w4calculator.asp
might be helpful...
From your description, there isn't much you can do creatively. On, you could create a fake second job to go to first and deduct mileage to your regular job, but the amount saved isn't much, and the IRS is pretty good at detecting that one.
Now if you bought a second property and were renting it, then you could get very creative and avoid all taxes completely. Depreciation on investment properties and their expense writeoffs are nice.
minimac wrote:paul wrote: .....e.g. lets say hypothetically you're getting $2k back at the end of the year, that's 2k that you "loaned" to the govt interest free during the year... that you could of invested in stocks, tossed on the mortgage etc.I've heard this line of thinking all of my life. Guess what....real life doesn't work like that. Joey, if you're like 99.99% of people, if you got it, you'll spend it. Sometimes on ourselves, most of the time, things happen that we need to spend it on. I've found that by keep my withholding high, every year I get a very nice check. That gives me a big chunk to pay down on the mortgage, take a nice vacation, add to our meager savings, a few "treats" and make a few more donations to worthy causes. These are all things that we couldn't/wouldn't do otherwise. You learn to live on what you bring home. As far as letting my Gov't have my money interest free- With savings interest(and mortgage rates)being as low as they are, big hairy deal. I can do much more with five grand handed back to me at once,than an extra $100 each week. For example, using that big chunk for a down payment on an income producing property makes a whole lot more sense( and even more deductions) than trying to buy stocks with an extra hundred bucks a week.
Yep, this is what I do/have done. Claim zero, so they take out the max amount of tax.
Although this year I had to file "Married, but filing separately" the wife is self-employed and has $20k+ to write off each year. And the mortgage is in my name, so it's easier for us that way.
I was getting a $1k return until I got my mortgage interest in there last weekend, which it bumped it up to $2500.
That's going to help me pay off a credit card, and start an "E30 project car" fund again.
If that doesn't work, put ~$100/month into savings. If they want it you're ready, if you don't need it you and Mrs. 48442 have a nice weekend out.
Dan
914Driver wrote: If that doesn't work, put ~$100/month into savings. If they want it you're ready, if you don't need it you and Mrs. 48442 have a nice weekend out.
That is pretty well what we did. But it would be nice to not be tempted with the money, and pay down debt at the end of the year.
Joey
$1300 / 26 paychecks = ask accounting to withhold an extra $50 per paycheck.
Trying to get the deduction form to get it right never worked for me. Fixing it with a dollar amount does.
DILYSI Dave wrote: $1300 / 26 paychecks = ask accounting to withhold an extra $50 per paycheck. Trying to get the deduction form to get it right never worked for me. Fixing it with a dollar amount does.
ed zachary. Also, I'd go talk to an accountant (after tax-time this year.) Have them look over your return and see if you should've had itemized deductions. Claiming 0 dependants is great if you can't control your finances. Personally, the idea of giving an interest-free loan to entity that's $13,000,000,000,000 in debt and hoping they'll pay it back doesn't float.
If you have access to a credit union through your employer, then start a CU savings account and get the extra amount you want to save deducted from your pay before you ever see it. As a bonus, it's away from the ATM and checkbook so it's likely to get 'forgotten' and left to quietly grow.
We do that with a typical car payment amount even when we don't have a loan, and usually have a nice little chunk of cash there when the time comes to buy one.
poopshovel wrote:DILYSI Dave wrote: $1300 / 26 paychecks = ask accounting to withhold an extra $50 per paycheck. Trying to get the deduction form to get it right never worked for me. Fixing it with a dollar amount does.ed zachary. Also, I'd go talk to an accountant (after tax-time this year.) Have them look over your return and see if you should've had itemized deductions. Claiming 0 dependants is great if you can't control your finances. Personally, the idea of giving an interest-free loan to entity that's $13,000,000,000,000 in debt and hoping they'll pay it back doesn't float.
if the gov't starts welching on debts, getting your witheld taxes back is going to be the least of your worries
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