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Another [Tax] Thread for 2012 Tax Returns
ceres
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
When the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator Mod Emeritus
It's about that time. Have tax questions about 2012? Or maybe tax answers? Just have a hard-on for government forms in general?
Post about it here. You can make a new thread too, but it's probably easier for everyone to find answers to questions already asked if it's all in one place.
Just in case this needs to be said, and I don't think it should, no one here is going to help you cheat on your taxes, nor is this the place to editorialize. If you want to talk about how you hate paying them or anything that isn't how-to, there are other places to do that.
I will try to gather generally useful links in the OP as usual.
Post about it here. You can make a new thread too, but it's probably easier for everyone to find answers to questions already asked if it's all in one place.
Just in case this needs to be said, and I don't think it should, no one here is going to help you cheat on your taxes, nor is this the place to editorialize. If you want to talk about how you hate paying them or anything that isn't how-to, there are other places to do that.
I will try to gather generally useful links in the OP as usual.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
ceres on
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The IRS emphasized that returns claiming other education-related items, such as the student loan interest deduction and the deduction for higher education tuition or fees, can be filed beginning Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Here are the additional forms that will only be accepted by the IRS in mid-February or March 2013
Form 4136 Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels
Form 4562 Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property)
Form 5074 Allocation of Individual Income Tax to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Form 5471 Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations
Form 5695 Residential Energy Credits
Form 5735 American Samoa Economic Development Credit
Form 5884 Work Opportunity Credit
Form 6478 Credit for Alcohol Used as Fuel
Form 6765 Credit for Increasing Research Activities
Form 8396 Mortgage Interest Credit
Form 8582 Passive Activity Loss Limitations
Form 8820 Orphan Drug Credit
Form 8834 Qualified Plug-in Electric and Electric Vehicle Credit
Form 8839 Qualified Adoption Expenses
Form 8844 Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Employment Credit
Form 8845 Indian Employment Credit
Form 8859 District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit
Form 8864 Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit
Form 8874 New Markets Credits
Form 8900 Qualified Railroad Track Maintenance Credit
Form 8903 Domestic Production Activities Deduction
Form 8908 Energy Efficient Home Credit
Form 8909 Energy Efficient Appliance Credit
Form 8910 Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit
Form 8911 Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit
Form 8912 Credit to Holders of Tax Credit Bonds
Form 8923 Mine Rescue Team Training Credit
Form 8932 Credit for Employer Differential Wage Payments
Form 8936 Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit
The reason why the tax hit was less substantial is because you are not paying self-employment taxes on the business income. You must categorize the income as self-employment income if the net earnings from that employment income were $400 or above.
Hm. You'd think that'd throw up some red flags on turbotax, wonder why it's letting me put that.
I know that filing separately isn't the answer -- we make roughly similar salaries, and the only big deduction we have is mortgage interest, property taxes, and mortgage insurance premiums.
Any ideas as to how to how to avoid this next year? Not that I want our paychecks to shrink anymore than they already did from the payroll tax holiday expiration, but I'd like to not be surprised by this again next January...
Switching it to 0 helps, but a lot of the tax calculation goes into the whole "I am keeping the same status throughout the year."
So if you change status, you tend to get hit. Same goes with a job where you make vastly more at halfway through the year. This is why I always file 0, always. Better to get a big refund than owe a huge amount, and the pittance of interest I'd earn off a grand.
But it seems weird to me that setting both allowances to 0 would result in underwithholding. The IRS-dictated way of doing it is to take all the allowances on one spouse's W-4 (the higher income earner I think) and set the other spouse's W-4 to 0 allowances.
*Edit: To clarify, you lose certain deductions/credits if you choose MFS, but if you MFS your individual AGI is reduced so if you need to deduct outsized expenses (medical expenses, theft losses) then it's easier to hit the percentage of AGI required to claim those particular deductions. In the online/software tax prep I've used they always let you try MFS before you send in your form to file jointly.
I've had it come around and bite me in the ass because some payroll places are terrible at calculating taxes, or are using old guidelines, or, factor it based off a salary and not your actual hourly wage (if I get $25,000 a year, but worked a ton of overtime but for some reason they only figure it out based on your salary and consider OT a "bonus").
Some places are really shitty for some reason.
It is the only freelance income I have for the entire year.
What can I do other than arbitrarily claim the sum? I have no way to contact the person who paid me. I ask because I do now know the exact amount paid in calendar year 2012, only the total amount paid between 12/11 and 01/12
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
I'm guessing that's the problem. My wife changed jobs this year, and although her salary didn't change significantly, she did go from one permanent job, to a temp-to-perm through an agency, to being hired on full time at the new place, so she ultimately had three separate payroll companies who each had a chance to mess things up.
I'll chalk it up to payroll shenanigans this year and not change anything going forward. Worst case, we'll owe a similar amount next April, and I'll at least plan for it this year instead of get blindsided. Thanks.
Whenever you received the cash is when you pick it up as income. I would wait to file and see if the person sends you a 1099 (they should). This will, however, be only if you gave them enough info for them to furnish one of those to you.
You can book some standard expenses that you used to generate the income, but be sure you can support the expenses with actual documentation, e.g. receipts, mileage logs, etc.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
I think what I'd recommend in your case is either for one of you to change your status to "married but withhold at single rate", or just have them hold a little extra from each check. $50/check should do it.
Can you look through your December and January bank statements?
With the current tax brackets, which were extended for at least another year, there aren't many situations where married filing separate is better. The only obvious thing that comes to mind is if one spouse has a prior tax liability, and you don't want the IRS to take your entire refund.
It's worth noting that if you live in a community property state (there are 9), both spouses have to split everything (income, deductions, etc) down the middle, which will likely negate any potential benefit.
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
You should get some sort of optimization option as well; like an alert that "MFS WOULD PRODUCE x.xx in TAX SAVINGS" or something.
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
i have to wait for more info to be available from vanguard, and hopefully they'll fix it by the time i'm ready to file.
Question 1. My brother, his girlfriend, their daughter and her two kids from a previous relationship live with my parents. Neither my brother or his g/f have jobs and my parent's have been supporting them all for several years now. Can my Mom claim the two kids who aren't my brother's on her taxes? What if their father wants to claim them instead, does that matter? Does he get them if he wants them because he's their Dad? Is it a matter of who files first?
Question 2. My step daughter started her first job this past year in August. Her mother said that she should file taxes for herself, I told my step daughter that it doesn't make much sense to me because her father gets a lot more back in taxes claiming her as a dependent than she would filing her own taxes (she made less than $1,000). She then said that her Mom said she could file and still be able to be claimed as a dependent on her father's taxes. It doesn't sound right to me, but what do I know?
Thanks,
Jazaray
Typically what is done is when you file a nonresident New Jersey return, it takes your total income off your 1040 and then takes your income earned in New Jersey and calculates tax on that. Then you have your NJ withholding deducted from your New Jersey balance due. On your New York return, it also does this same pro-rating, but you get a credit for any taxes you paid to New Jersey on your New York return. You do not, however, get more credit than what the New York tax would be on that New Jersey income.
I don't know turbotax, but that is the procedure.
EDIT: It might be that some tax programs cannot do nonresident returns just yet. I believe TaxAct is one of these.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch01.html
There are cases where your scholarship can be taxable. Refer to Table 1-1 in the above publication for details. Check to see if you have answered anything that may trigger this.
As an aside, when claiming qualified education expenses for the purposes of education credits, If you pay qualified education expenses with certain tax-free funds, you cannot claim a credit for those amounts. You must reduce the qualified education expenses by the amount of any tax-free educational assistance and refund(s) you received.
Question 1) Was Form 8332 filed? Otherwise, the father may not actually be entitled to the exemptions.
The dependency rules for qualifying child are as follows:
1) Relationship - Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant (for example, your grandchild) of any of them, or Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant (for example, your niece or nephew) of any of them.
2 Age - They gotta be below 19 at the end of the year, or below 24 if they are a full-time college student
3) Support - this seems covered.
4) Residency - the kids have to live with Mom for half a year, but here's where it gets a little tricky.
she can file her return but say "hey I'm a dependent", get her withholding back, and have the father claim her as a dependent.