just fyi, for anyone who has a tuition waiver / scholarship / etc, turbotax online appears to not know how to properly handle a 1098t. It keeps saying the waiver is taxable income. You can maybe hack around it by answering some questions non-intuitively, but H+R block's software seems to do it correctly.
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.
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.
yup, however turbotax doesn't seem to handle the fact that it is possible for the scholarship to be tax free, just assumes that it isn't. TT didn't have a problem the past 5 years I've done my taxes in grad school, but they changed something this year.
Is there a difference between having your deductions at 'married taxed as single' vs leaving it at single when filing jointly and married?
Are you referring to withholding on your pay (i.e., W-4)? In that case, nope Single and Married But Withhold At The Single Rate result in identical withholding. They really only need two options on the form (Single or Married), but I'm sure they added that third option to make it easier for people ("... But I'm not single, why would I check 'Single'?").
Or are you talking about actually filing your return? If you're married, your only two options are Married Filing Joint or Married Filing Separately, Single isn't an option. And the tax rates are actually different between Married Separate and Single.
just fyi, for anyone who has a tuition waiver / scholarship / etc, turbotax online appears to not know how to properly handle a 1098t. It keeps saying the waiver is taxable income. You can maybe hack around it by answering some questions non-intuitively, but H+R block's software seems to do it correctly.
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.
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.
yup, however turbotax doesn't seem to handle the fact that it is possible for the scholarship to be tax free, just assumes that it isn't. TT didn't have a problem the past 5 years I've done my taxes in grad school, but they changed something this year.
They broke other taxable-vs-nontaxable stuff in the online version as well this year. I ended up having to go with the desktop version (where you can just override it and type directly on a form if it's being stupid).
0
Options
sportzboytjwsqueeeeeezzeeeesome more tax breaks outRegistered Userregular
No I meant on pay. Should I wait before filing my taxes because of the end of year congressional shenanigans?
For your withholdings on your paycheck, there is no "married filing singly" vs "single", just a number of deductions that you have elected to take. The amount of deductions you choose is just a number. You generally don't want it too high (or you end up with a tax bill), but if you chose "1" and got married, it won't "hurt" you or anything.
Walkerdog on MTGO
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
So my wife was at college for half of last year, and technically earned wages in another state (via telecommute) - does that make her a resident of the state? I'm guessing yes, as far as tax purposes go, although she never changed her DL or registered to vote in that state. What do we put down as the "date of residence"? When she moved into her apartment, or when she started working?
What state are we talkin here
College/telecommute work in Indiana, we live in California now.
If anybody was having a similar issue to me (no PMI on your 1098) try to look at account statements online. I had a pdf letter from Chase letting me know that a law changed and they can't list that on the 1098 anymore and telling me what the total was.
I am a 27 year old college graduate that makes $140,000 a year and I currently have $127,000 in student debt through the US Government. I recently consolidated my loans via the Dept. of Education. I graduate in May, 2012 and started work in June, 2012. I claimed 'Zero' on my W2 to try and maximize my refund. A few general questions.
1) Should I bother hiring someone to do my taxes for me? It should be pretty straight forward return with Turbo Tax right?
2) I cannot claim my interest paid on student loans as a deduction because I make too much money, right?
3) I cannot claim my girlfriend who is in graduate school (whom I pay all 'living expenses' for) as a dependent because she made more than $3,500 last year in part time work, right?
Any other tips for my filing would be appreciated.
I told her today I will now refer to her as my "Financial Dependent" - she didn't seem to have a sense of humor about it. Well hope I can get some money back from Obama.
Sooo, I'm having to do state income taxes for the first time this year. Previously I lived in Nevada and Washington, and have never had to deal with them. I just went through H&R Block's free online filing like I have for the last 5 years, and put in all of my state information (NY), but then I got to the screen saying "let's finish your state taxes!" I'm guessing they're just trying to sell me something I don't need, but I do want to make sure I don't need to do anything else as far as filing for state taxes go.
Does putting in my state information on my federal return count as sufficient, or do I need to swing by the library and pick up a state tax form, or something of the like? I only paid a handful of dollars in state taxes due to only working here for a few months.
0
Options
kaliyamaLeft to find less-moderated foraRegistered Userregular
Sooo, I'm having to do state income taxes for the first time this year. Previously I lived in Nevada and Washington, and have never had to deal with them. I just went through H&R Block's free online filing like I have for the last 5 years, and put in all of my state information (NY), but then I got to the screen saying "let's finish your state taxes!" I'm guessing they're just trying to sell me something I don't need, but I do want to make sure I don't need to do anything else as far as filing for state taxes go.
Does putting in my state information on my federal return count as sufficient, or do I need to swing by the library and pick up a state tax form, or something of the like? I only paid a handful of dollars in state taxes due to only working here for a few months.
Uhh, filing your federal return has nothing to do with your state
Tax return.
Just popping in to say F you IRS for delaying returns processing on the following deduction inclusions:
Form 3800 General Business Credit
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 Creditl
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
Just popping in to say F you IRS for delaying returns processing on the following deduction inclusions:
Form 3800 General Business Credit
Form 4136 Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels
Form 4562 Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property)
...
For what it's worth, I would blame Congress much more than the IRS. If Congress didn't wait until the very end of the year to decide 2012 tax laws (and even into 2013), the IRS could easily have been ready in time.
+2
Options
ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
Not that this is the thread for blaming anybody. It's enough to state that the delays are happening and leave blame for the mumbled rants you do in your sleep.
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
Sooo, I'm having to do state income taxes for the first time this year. Previously I lived in Nevada and Washington, and have never had to deal with them. I just went through H&R Block's free online filing like I have for the last 5 years, and put in all of my state information (NY), but then I got to the screen saying "let's finish your state taxes!" I'm guessing they're just trying to sell me something I don't need, but I do want to make sure I don't need to do anything else as far as filing for state taxes go.
Does putting in my state information on my federal return count as sufficient, or do I need to swing by the library and pick up a state tax form, or something of the like? I only paid a handful of dollars in state taxes due to only working here for a few months.
Uhh, filing your federal return has nothing to do with your state
Tax return.
This is what I have no experience in. Since there were fields in which to enter state tax information, I thought maybe that information is submitted as well, but it's more likely that H&R Block (in my case) just uses that information to auto-fill a state return that you need to pay for? Are there any online services that do state taxes for free, or am I better off just mailing in a form?
Sooo, I'm having to do state income taxes for the first time this year. Previously I lived in Nevada and Washington, and have never had to deal with them. I just went through H&R Block's free online filing like I have for the last 5 years, and put in all of my state information (NY), but then I got to the screen saying "let's finish your state taxes!" I'm guessing they're just trying to sell me something I don't need, but I do want to make sure I don't need to do anything else as far as filing for state taxes go.
Does putting in my state information on my federal return count as sufficient, or do I need to swing by the library and pick up a state tax form, or something of the like? I only paid a handful of dollars in state taxes due to only working here for a few months.
Uhh, filing your federal return has nothing to do with your state
Tax return.
This is what I have no experience in. Since there were fields in which to enter state tax information, I thought maybe that information is submitted as well, but it's more likely that H&R Block (in my case) just uses that information to auto-fill a state return that you need to pay for? Are there any online services that do state taxes for free, or am I better off just mailing in a form?
Your hunch is correct. Most tax programs collect the state data when you're entering federal for two reasons: 1) taxes paid to the state are deductible from your federal taxes if you itemize and 2) so they can fill out the state forms when you get there. Turbotax Freedom will prepare federal and state taxes for free if your AGI is under $30k. If you make more than that, you can either buy the state add-on for your current software or fill the forms yourself.
Just popping in to say F you IRS for delaying returns processing on the following deduction inclusions:
Form 3800 General Business Credit
Form 4136 Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels
Form 4562 Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property)
...
For what it's worth, I would blame Congress much more than the IRS. If Congress didn't wait until the very end of the year to decide 2012 tax laws (and even into 2013), the IRS could easily have been ready in time.
Yes, I know it's Congresses fault, but it's just annoying when you have to wait a month after being proactive and completing your return.
So if we have our w2s and that's all we're going to need can we file now or are there potential changes that we should wait for?
If your entire tax situation is covered with just W-2s, you're good to go. The only things that aren't ready right now are things that you would already know about if you qualified for them :P
0
Options
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Okay, through some stupidity on my part, a divorce, losing the "dependent" tag for my kid, and a bunch of other crap, I owe the government tons 'o money.
My question is this: What are my payment options here? I don't have the kind of liquid cash available that I owe them, and I'd prefer not to have some kind of lien put against me. I've never owed taxes in my entire adult life, so this is kind of new to me.
Something I've always wondered: I live in WA state, land of regressive sales tax only. (Thanks, Obama) All the peeps with state income tax get to deduct it, and point to their W2s to prove how much they paid.
From my quick readings of the forms it seems like you could deduct sales tax, but you'd have to like... save receipts for everything? For a whole year for everything I've bought? That seems ridiculously stupid. Is this how it actually works?
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
There should be a table value* for state sales tax if you haven't kept receipts (I've used table values for the last 7-8+ years). Understand that if you get audited you would need to back up your deduction with receipts.
*Edit: e.g. if your AGI is between x and n then your table value for sales tax deduction is p.
Isn't that only for deductible spending? Like, you can't take the sales tax off of buying fast food or something, but, if you need a computer for work, sure.
not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
My understanding is ALL state sales tax is deductible, as is other govt mandated taxes (e.g. property taxes, which in addition to real estate property taxes are the vehicle-value-related portion of your tag fees). Haven't checked to see if state/federal gas taxes paid is also schedulable but wouldn't be surprised if it was.
Oh okay, that's easy enough. Though it claims my burden was only about $800.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
I think it applies to all states, but I've only ever had to file from Texas. We don't have state income tax, just property tax and sales tax. I figured the logic was that if income was used to pay taxes levied by the state then you could deduct it from federal AGI, but hopefully a real tax preparer type could weigh in.
Edit: Back the truck up. Looks like you cannot deduct BOTH state income tax AND state sales tax. In that case you'll probably want to deduct your state income tax I would imagine.
You can deduct sales tax, which is either based on actual expenses, or something that is auto calculated OR general income taxes. This will be part of your itemized deductions
Oh okay, that's easy enough. Though it claims my burden was only about $800.
Yeah, the tables aren't all that generous, but considering it saves you the trouble of actually adding up a year's worth of receipts, it seems fair. For what it's worth, I do a bunch of individual tax returns every year, and I think I only have one or two clients that actually add up their receipts. The one year I did myself, the total was maybe only 10% more than what I got from the tables.
You can deduct sales tax, which is either based on actual expenses, or something that is auto calculated OR general income taxes. This will be part of your itemized deductions
Yeah. For almost all people in states that have an income tax, you're better off taking the income tax deduction.
If you itemize in a state with no income tax, there's a table you can use to look up a "standard" amount of sales tax (aka the one that won't get you audited) if you don't want to keep all your receipts over the year.
A quick run of the numbers show that my wife and I would have had to have spent over 2/3rds of our AGI on sales-taxed purchases to have the sales tax deduction match our state income tax.
a5ehren on
0
Options
mrt144King of the NumbernamesRegistered Userregular
I owe about 660 this year. Can I defer the payment till next year when I'll be getting a sizable return (thanks to my wife not working this year)
0
Options
kaliyamaLeft to find less-moderated foraRegistered Userregular
For my student loans I have four accounts with Great Lakes. They break down into Subsidized and Unsubsidized versions of Stafford and Graduate PLUS loans. I received a total of four separate 1098-E detailing the various amounts of 'student loan interest received by lender'. These numbers were the same when I accessed the Great Lakes borrower website.
Then, after consolidation, I received another 1098-E from the Department of Education via 'Myfedloan.org' which had a fifth amount for 'student loan interest received by lender'.
When filing my federal taxes, TurboTax seems to want me to put in each number separately for each loan interest received. Is this correct?
I am in the business of saving lives.
0
Options
kaliyamaLeft to find less-moderated foraRegistered Userregular
For my student loans I have four accounts with Great Lakes. They break down into Subsidized and Unsubsidized versions of Stafford and Graduate PLUS loans. I received a total of four separate 1098-E detailing the various amounts of 'student loan interest received by lender'. These numbers were the same when I accessed the Great Lakes borrower website.
Then, after consolidation, I received another 1098-E from the Department of Education via 'Myfedloan.org' which had a fifth amount for 'student loan interest received by lender'.
When filing my federal taxes, TurboTax seems to want me to put in each number separately for each loan interest received. Is this correct?
Why wouldn't it be? Each accounts for a separate interest payment.
Posts
yup, however turbotax doesn't seem to handle the fact that it is possible for the scholarship to be tax free, just assumes that it isn't. TT didn't have a problem the past 5 years I've done my taxes in grad school, but they changed something this year.
Are you referring to withholding on your pay (i.e., W-4)? In that case, nope Single and Married But Withhold At The Single Rate result in identical withholding. They really only need two options on the form (Single or Married), but I'm sure they added that third option to make it easier for people ("... But I'm not single, why would I check 'Single'?").
Or are you talking about actually filing your return? If you're married, your only two options are Married Filing Joint or Married Filing Separately, Single isn't an option. And the tax rates are actually different between Married Separate and Single.
They broke other taxable-vs-nontaxable stuff in the online version as well this year. I ended up having to go with the desktop version (where you can just override it and type directly on a form if it's being stupid).
For your withholdings on your paycheck, there is no "married filing singly" vs "single", just a number of deductions that you have elected to take. The amount of deductions you choose is just a number. You generally don't want it too high (or you end up with a tax bill), but if you chose "1" and got married, it won't "hurt" you or anything.
TylerJ on League of Legends (it's free and fun!)
College/telecommute work in Indiana, we live in California now.
1) Should I bother hiring someone to do my taxes for me? It should be pretty straight forward return with Turbo Tax right?
2) I cannot claim my interest paid on student loans as a deduction because I make too much money, right?
3) I cannot claim my girlfriend who is in graduate school (whom I pay all 'living expenses' for) as a dependent because she made more than $3,500 last year in part time work, right?
Any other tips for my filing would be appreciated.
2) Yuuuup
3) Yuuuup
Next year I think I can claim her as a dependent cause she won't be working at all.
just don't mention that to her because she will adjust her sex withholding
Does putting in my state information on my federal return count as sufficient, or do I need to swing by the library and pick up a state tax form, or something of the like? I only paid a handful of dollars in state taxes due to only working here for a few months.
Uhh, filing your federal return has nothing to do with your state
Tax return.
Form 3800 General Business Credit
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 Creditl
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
For what it's worth, I would blame Congress much more than the IRS. If Congress didn't wait until the very end of the year to decide 2012 tax laws (and even into 2013), the IRS could easily have been ready in time.
This is what I have no experience in. Since there were fields in which to enter state tax information, I thought maybe that information is submitted as well, but it's more likely that H&R Block (in my case) just uses that information to auto-fill a state return that you need to pay for? Are there any online services that do state taxes for free, or am I better off just mailing in a form?
Your hunch is correct. Most tax programs collect the state data when you're entering federal for two reasons: 1) taxes paid to the state are deductible from your federal taxes if you itemize and 2) so they can fill out the state forms when you get there. Turbotax Freedom will prepare federal and state taxes for free if your AGI is under $30k. If you make more than that, you can either buy the state add-on for your current software or fill the forms yourself.
Yes, I know it's Congresses fault, but it's just annoying when you have to wait a month after being proactive and completing your return.
If your entire tax situation is covered with just W-2s, you're good to go. The only things that aren't ready right now are things that you would already know about if you qualified for them :P
My question is this: What are my payment options here? I don't have the kind of liquid cash available that I owe them, and I'd prefer not to have some kind of lien put against me. I've never owed taxes in my entire adult life, so this is kind of new to me.
From my quick readings of the forms it seems like you could deduct sales tax, but you'd have to like... save receipts for everything? For a whole year for everything I've bought? That seems ridiculously stupid. Is this how it actually works?
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
*Edit: e.g. if your AGI is between x and n then your table value for sales tax deduction is p.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Edit: Back the truck up. Looks like you cannot deduct BOTH state income tax AND state sales tax. In that case you'll probably want to deduct your state income tax I would imagine.
Yeah, the tables aren't all that generous, but considering it saves you the trouble of actually adding up a year's worth of receipts, it seems fair. For what it's worth, I do a bunch of individual tax returns every year, and I think I only have one or two clients that actually add up their receipts. The one year I did myself, the total was maybe only 10% more than what I got from the tables.
Yeah. For almost all people in states that have an income tax, you're better off taking the income tax deduction.
If you itemize in a state with no income tax, there's a table you can use to look up a "standard" amount of sales tax (aka the one that won't get you audited) if you don't want to keep all your receipts over the year.
A quick run of the numbers show that my wife and I would have had to have spent over 2/3rds of our AGI on sales-taxed purchases to have the sales tax deduction match our state income tax.
http://bit.ly/VBOruC item #4
This is a tax thread, not a google referral thread.
Then, after consolidation, I received another 1098-E from the Department of Education via 'Myfedloan.org' which had a fifth amount for 'student loan interest received by lender'.
When filing my federal taxes, TurboTax seems to want me to put in each number separately for each loan interest received. Is this correct?
Why wouldn't it be? Each accounts for a separate interest payment.