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April 15th is over. How did you come out for the 2013 tax year?

How did you come out for the 2013 tax year?

  • Overall I paid in more than 50% in taxes.

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Overall I paid in more than 20% but less than 50%.

    Votes: 10 40.0%
  • Overall I paid less than 20% but more than 10%.

    Votes: 4 16.0%
  • Overall I paid less than 10% but more than 5%

    Votes: 2 8.0%
  • Overall I paid less than 5% but more than 0%

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Overal I didn't pay any taxes.

    Votes: 7 28.0%
  • I am just guessing. I didn't calculate it. I could be lying.

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • I calculated it my answer. My answer is true.

    Votes: 2 8.0%

  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
As it is I feel that I'm getting more than my money's worth in peace of mind.

I agree with you. I think $48.79 is a very small price to pay for peace of mind.

I hear stories about the 'good ole days' when banks paid 10% interest and charged 35% to borrow money. I believe this was the 1900's through the 1920's or something like that. Now the banks pays 0.5% interest and charges 2% to borrow money. Lots of people pretend that people are irresponsible when they fail to save or spend too much. They do not take into consideration the changes to the money supply that has taken place in the last 100 years.

Saving money can arguably be irresponsible. Refusing to use credit could arguably be irresponsible. It's not a slam dunk argument but it could easily be argued whereas it would have been impossible to make that argument when banks paid 10% and charged 35% to borrow.

Does that make any sense? Some people love to hold on to the past even if it means they are screwing themselves over.
 
I call people who do this 'awesome' or 'dedicated'. It's very impressive to keep up with all of that mess. I have personally never been able to itemize because the standard deduction is around $12,000. My mortgage balance is only $19,260.33. The biggest deduction that I could get would be $1,155.62. I only donate around 10% of my income to charitable causes but sometimes I give that to individuals. That is less than $4,000. Even if I spent all $33,500 of my income (which I don't) the sales tax would only be $2,345. I am a long ways from reaching $12,000. I don't think it pays to itemize unless you have a really huge mortgage.

I have a pretty healthy mortgage as well as a home based office. Not sure how much difference this will make but might as well give it a shot.
 
What am I doing wrong that I need to change?

Here is my personal situation:

Income from all sources = $33,016.66
Federal Income tax, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes = $3,018.66
Federal Refund = $5,116.00
North Carolina Income tax = $1,133.16
North Carolina refund = $456.00

My federal taxes were at an effective rate of -6.35%
My state taxes were at an effective rate of 2.05%
My overall effective tax rate was -4.30%

I voted for the 6th and the 8th option.

so you are part of Romney's 47% who need to get their life in order

I think you forgot to answer my question. What do I need to do to get my life in order? Which part is out of order?
 
I paid $2x,xxx total in Federal, State, SS, and medicare for 2013. My gross was still only 5 figures as well...
 
Yes. I had an accounting teacher that tried to tell us that it was dumb to get a tax refund. I just smiled and pretended that she was a genius. After all, her logic was sound but low interest rates really rips that logic to shreds.

$1,000 for 12 months = $7.50
$1,000 for 11 months = $6.88
$1,000 for 10 months = $6.26
$1,000 for 9 months = $5.63
$1,000 for 8 months = $5.00
$1,000 for 7 months = $4.38
$1,000 for 6 months = $3.75
$1,000 for 5 months = $3.13
$1,000 for 4 months = $2.50
$1,000 for 3 months = $1.88
$1,000 for 2 months = $1.25
$1,000 for 1 month = $0.63

It probably would have been around $48.79 but that is a reasonable penalty to pay for a forced savings account in my opinion. Someone with more money and/or more discipline than me might disagree. I can see the logic either way but it is dependent upon the past spending habits of the individual.

For most broke or undisciplined Americans it is a wise thing to use the federal government as a savings account. Most refunds aren't $12,000 so the argument becomes weaker if the person is getting a $6,000 refund.
Since savings in a form that is fast to withdrawal are rather low interest rates, it isn't much when looking at it in that aspect. However, when inflation is high, your money lent to the government has lost a rather high degree of spending power.

I target my paycheck deduction to be as close as possible, and err on the low side. This year, after already paying more than $10k in federal taxes, i also wrote them a check for $53. I wrote state a check for $11.
 
However, when inflation is high, your money lent to the government has lost a rather high degree of spending power.

Yeah. That hasn't happened since the late 70's. I was born in 1979. I have no recollection of seeing that type of problem. Our past experiences influence our future behavior.

I have never seen high inflation in my entire life and the early part of my life I wasn't even paying attention to things like that. Would I be stupid to expect high inflation? Yes.

Your experience my be different than mine. I would say that 40 years without high inflation kind of sets a precedent to the fanatical and thorough observer.
 
i also wrote them a check for $53. I wrote state a check for $11.

This is referred to as two perfect tax returns.

A perfect tax return is one where you get back less than $100 or you owe less than $100. I'm just saying that the benefit of doing this is diminished with the low interest rates paid by banks. Investing in stocks, mutual funds or even CD's isn't aviseable if the time frame is less than a year. The only loss on capital is what you would have gained in a savings account.

In the late 90's banks were paying 3.0% on savings accounts and 5.0% on CD's.

It is arguable that it is no longer entirely disadvantageous to loan your money to the government. If you live paycheck to paycheck chances are, you will spend the money that you don't pre-pay in taxes. This is the only way some people can save $5,000. You can't make a very strong argument that they are getting screwed if the bank is only paying 0.75%.

Surely that makes sense.
 
I have a pretty healthy mortgage as well as a home based office. Not sure how much difference this will make but might as well give it a shot.

Do you know anybody that has claimed a home based office? It can be a huge headache if you close the business or move. It could also cost you a lot of tax-free money if you ever sold your house.

Talk to others before claiming a home based office. Consider the short-term benefits versus the long-term drawbacks.
 
I itemize, but never thought of adding sales tax. I will be talking to my CPA about this. I keep every receipt I have for each year. Thanks for the tip.

I'm pretty sure they did away with it this year.
 
Here is my personal situation:

Income from all sources = $33,016.66
Federal Income tax, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes = $3,018.66
Federal Refund = $5,116.00
North Carolina Income tax = $1,133.16
North Carolina refund = $456.00

My federal taxes were at an effective rate of -6.35%
My state taxes were at an effective rate of 2.05%
My overall effective tax rate was -4.30%

I voted for the 6th and the 8th option.

I dunno. I made some money (about 80k). Paid some money (i dunno, never looked at it). I have enough to live on so I am happy. Next year my deductions will be better and I should have more money coming into the house hold. Which is nice, I would like to do some travelling.
 
Do you know anybody that has claimed a home based office? It can be a huge headache if you close the business or move. It could also cost you a lot of tax-free money if you ever sold your house.

Talk to others before claiming a home based office. Consider the short-term benefits versus the long-term drawbacks.

Just sold my previous home and bought a new one in another state. We are moving at the end of May. We are not closing the business but the move will disrupt business for about a week. As far as Tax implications, I guess I will find out this Coming January.
 
Did better than expected with investments so ended up having to write a pretty big check to Uncle Sam. Boooooo!
 
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