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Oh hi it's that time of year again [2011 Taxes Thread]
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Unless your parents make very very little, there is probably more tax benefit to them claiming you and either splitting the difference or giving it all to you. That's what my mom and I did when I started working.
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
I use it to double-check math and for detailed digital copies, even now. I've switched over to filing online, but it makes me feel better having it.
There's a threshold of like $800 I think before you need to file it.
yeah, the kid doesn't have to file. Here's the list for when they do:
The child has unearned income (from investment interest, gains, and so on) above $950.
The child has earned income above $5,800.
Gross income is greater than the larger of $950 or earned income (up to $5,800) plus $300.
Net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more.
I've got a 1099-DIV with a significant amount of income on it. But the 1099-INT instructions say it doesn't need to be filled out for less than $10. I'm wondering if that's per form from financial institutions or total.
If I remember right, the rule is that banks don't need to send you a 1099-INT if they paid you less than $10. But technically you are supposed to report it, even if you don't get a form and it's only $3. I'd be surprised if very many people actually do report it, but just an FYI.
Oh right, I remember now. This is correct. Of course you should always report EVERYTHING just to be safe, but practically speaking I doubt you'd be audited over $3.
(NOTE: I am in no way advising you to perjure yourself on your tax return. Hello IRS agents visiting this thread!)
I'm in graduate school and I lived off Stafford and GRAD PLUS loans, how the HELL do I get my hands on this shit? I live with my girlfriend and am independent without any dependents.
EDIT: I looked at the websites and saw the rules and regulations, but I guess I'm at a loss when I just have loans and no real income or any W2 or anything?
See tyrannus's post at the top of the first page and check out qualifying relative. Essentially if she:
- lived with you all year
- is not a qualifying child of anyone else
- you provided over half of her support
then you can claim her as a dependent.
Ah so once her disability dries up I can claim her? Assuming she has no/shitty job.
Assuming that you had any out-of-pocket tuition expenses (loans count as out-of-pocket), your school is required to send you a 1098-T indicating this. If your tuition is entirely paid for by a fellowship or grant, which is often the case for graduate students, they don't have to send you the form and you're probably not eligible for any of the credits in that case anyway.
I work in the game industry and a coworker told me she believes we can write off purchases like TVs, game consoles, and games since they are research.
Can one of the tax gurus confirm this?
Are you an employee (i.e., do you get a W-2) or an independent contractor (1099)? Because if you're an employee, anything like this would have to go on Schedule A, meaning you could only take deductions for the amount that exceeds 2% of your AGI. Whereas if you're a contractor and you file a Schedule C, you could potentially deduct the entire thing.
That said, I think this would be kind of a gray area. Any expenses that are exclusively for business use can be deducted. But it would be difficult to argue that TVs, video games, etc. are used exclusively for business. That's assuming they're in your home; if you have an office or something, that's different.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, TVs and other big things (probably even game consoles) should really be depreciated. Which just means that you couldn't even take it all in one year, you'd have to spread it out over 5 years.
I'm an employee.
So I need to calculate my AGI and then only deduct the amount that is over 2% of that? Does that mean I still need receipts for all of them, but I leave off some of them?
I mean, I guess you could fight it.
You put the entire amount down and then subtract 2% of your AGI. But check out schedule A (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sa.pdf) lines 23 - 27. They walk you through the calculation. Yet another hurdle I forgot to mention is that you'd need to itemize to take advantage of any this. If you don't have a mortgage payment or any other really large itemizable expenses (health expenses, property tax, etc.), this is all moot (because you'd just take the standard deduction).
By the way, the spreadsheet that Kipling posted at the top of this page is pretty awesome. It lets you type things in and just see what happens.
Nice, I'd love to see a Rolex show up on a depreciation schedule. What is that, 5 years or 7? I guess you'd have to argue that you need to know what time it is to do your job...
Indeed. Although when are you guys getting married? As long as you're married by the end of the year, you file a joint return, which is better overall than just taking her exemption.
Not for a while, we're broke (well not broke, but saving money for a wedding is a ways away).
Not that I would suggest doing this just for tax purposes, but you can get married at the courthouse or whatever for just the cost of a marriage license. That's what my wife and I did; it was for an unrelated reason, but there were some pretty nice benefits, notably that auto insurance was much cheaper.
My biggest worry(and it might be baseless) is that somehow, someone got a hold of it.
According to this, you should contact the IRS if you don't get it by Feb 14: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106470,00.html. Although it wasn't technically due until Jan 31, and plenty of employers are late.
The wife and I live overseas, and have been since September (this year). We're both paid a US salary, by a US entity.
Virginia was our state of residence.
What taxes do we have to pay? I've heard we don't have to pay all of state, but it depends when we left.
You can certainly do that all year, trying to stay really current with your income and deductions so that you have a good estimate as to what you'll owe at the end of the year. But if you don't mind getting a bigger refund, I would just err on the side of saving more for taxes. For example, by lowering the allowances on your W-4 at your job (assuming you're an employee) or paying more in estimates (if you're a contractor). Because in the end, the biggest factor in determining how much you owe or get back is usually good old lines 62 and 63 on your 1040. If you want to make sure you don't owe at the end of the year, make those numbers bigger.
tails Gets trolled