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Your [Tax] Questions Here: 2016 Edition
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 the 2016 tax season!
Over the last year we've laughed, we've cried, we've donated too much money to various different causes or maybe that's just me, but now it's time for all of us to come together as one and see if we need to itemize.
As of the 31st of January, you should have received your W-2. If you haven't, now is the time to go down to your HR department and rattle some cages, or wherever they keep HR where you work. If you're a business owner or contractor it's time to scrape out all the receipts from the bottoms of your pockets, bags, laundry rooms, and desk drawers, and the fact that those places are where all my receipts end up is probably why I don't own a business.
Ask your tax-related questions here, and hopefully someone will be able to help with the answers.
Sites and Software (federal)
Sites and Software (state)
Other Resources
Over the last year we've laughed, we've cried, we've donated too much money to various different causes or maybe that's just me, but now it's time for all of us to come together as one and see if we need to itemize.
As of the 31st of January, you should have received your W-2. If you haven't, now is the time to go down to your HR department and rattle some cages, or wherever they keep HR where you work. If you're a business owner or contractor it's time to scrape out all the receipts from the bottoms of your pockets, bags, laundry rooms, and desk drawers, and the fact that those places are where all my receipts end up is probably why I don't own a business.
Ask your tax-related questions here, and hopefully someone will be able to help with the answers.
Sites and Software (federal)
Sites and Software (state)
Other Resources
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
ceres on
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Note that I am still missing a form or two and haven't logged in yet, so I'll have more info when I do.
They have "Individual", "Business", and "Professional". One of the things I really like about them is that you don't pay until you actually file, as in you're about to electronically sign and hit "send". For personal filing, you can start with the free form and it'll tell you if it's worth it to itemize. You can also leave it in the middle and do something else and come back and it'll save your info, which has been pretty helpful for me. :P
So for "Individual", if you're just filing a 1040EZ or a 1040A it's free, +$15 if you want to import last year's stuff because you didn't file through them then. For homeowners, or people who have investments or need to itemize, prices have gone up quite a bit from whatever it was last year to $25, with state filing being an additional $35. So it's still worth it to me, I'll just grumble about it. I have student loan interest, a ton of medical bills, that sort of thing, so I'll likely need to end up itemizing this year.
For self-employed, freelancers, and contractors, that $25 goes up to $40.
For "Business", it ranges from $40-60 plus whatever state filing is if you want that. What you pay depends on your form.
"Professional" looks like the kind of thing where you're filing on behalf of a bunch of other people, and I think that's charged differently, and separately per file.
The site is taxact.com, you can hit it up if you're interested. I've just found it easy and helpful and I've been using them since like 2010 or something so they have all my stuff. If you're struggling with getting through your forms it's almost certainly worth giving a spin since you don't pay anything unless you use them to file.
I did that and got my refund in like 3 days.
It's either standard (a big bucket that the IRS gives everyone) or itemized (if you don't think the bucket they gave you can hold all your shit) deduction.
If you own a business they'd be business expenses and you'd get them on your return using the standard mileage rate. Then you'd also get the standard deduction.
If you don't and had to drive around like a jerk working for the man and they were not reimbursed by your employer then you choose between itemizing and taking them or getting the standard deduction.
You would have to have driven a shit load thought.
Find it here https://www.irs.gov/uac/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free
You should file jointly. IRS considers your status as of the last day at the end of the year.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Was it MO state lottery that you received the winning ticket from? The offices in the middle of this page would be who you want to talk to.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
My father died several years ago and he and my mother had most of their stuff listed in both of their names, and I believe but am not sure they typically filed taxes jointly. We had the estate go through probate and handled by a lawyer specialized in such matters and it closed out a few years ago, and I don't recall there being too many issues. We tried to get all the accounts and property and such that was in their names switched over to her name.
Anyways, fast forward a couple years to the 2016 tax season, and she got a form that a credit card account in my late father's name and SSN (not including my mother's name) was having the debt canceled. I'd guess it was a 1099-C form, but my mother and brother were working on it so I don't have it in front of me. The amount discharged was less than $2000, but over the $600 minimum.
My mother doesn't have any recollection of this account, nor of receiving any bills for it in recent years. We don't know if it is something my father had and just hadn't paid off before he died (he died suddenly), or even if it is fraudulent, like by ID theft. My brother is also leery about contacting the bank that issued the card to get more info on the account, as they clearly fouled up by not handling this at all during the probate period or the years since, and we don't want them thinking they can send debt collectors to hound my mother for it. But, understandably, we are confused as to the tax implications of this as discharged credit card debt can be counted as taxable income.
Long story short, she has a form listing credit card debt canceled in 2016 in my late father's name who died and had his estate closed out years ago. Normally canceled credit card debt can be considered taxable income, but it isn't in my mother's name so we were guessing that she wouldn't need to list it on her 2016 taxes, but were not totally sure. If she paid the taxes on this outright it would only be a few hundred dollars, so we'd rather not go back to the lawyers to deal with it.
nah, you're spot on. It's basically her choice to live there and to maintain the primary home so far away from the tax home. Because she's an employee she unfortunately does not get any kind of travel expenses. travel, meals, or hotels.
One: I got a letter from my synagogue's ECC about donations I've made, for tax purposes. The list is every bit of money I spent there in 2016, the overwhelming majority of which is spent on sending him to school there, but I guess it all goes to the same fund and they are a 501(c)3. They barely break even every year, too.
It's four figures and I would really like to be able to claim it, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to count it as a straight donation just because the letter says "thank you for your generous donation!"
Two: I had a baby in August, go me I guess. I know we can claim everything that came out of pocket for her birth (which was complicated), but can I also claim what was spent on my midwife, who didn't end up able to do the actual delivery due to the many complications, but did a significant amount of the prenatal care and coached me through the birth? A lot actually ended up being covered, but I'm still looking at about $9k-ish total.
Can't speak for #2, but for #1, the short version is you're out of luck. For charitable contributions, if you receive a good or service in return (in this case schooling), you are required to subtract the value of that service from the deduction which essentially would be whatever is on your tuition bill. Alternatively, it might not qualify as a "donation" in the first place, but it's a moot point, as the math works out the same.
On #2, yep, everything you described sounds deductible. The main caveat is that you can only deduct medical expenses that exceed 10% of your AGI. So if you have wages of $70,000, you'd lose the first $7000 or so worth of medical expenses.
I know it's too late now, but if you have a health insurance plan that qualifies as high deductible, using a health savings account is usually the way to go. You can deduct the contributions, and then pay for medical expenses tax free.
Congrats on the baby!
When you say "school" do you mean preschool/child care, or elementary school? If it's preschool you can claim it as part of the child care tax credit, and if so they really really really need to break down "donations" into child care versus other things. Being small and broke doesn't justify bad accounting practice.
I don't think you can claim the child care tax credit if you're a stay-at-home-mom or your self-employment income doesn't exceed a certain threshold. We certainly couldn't because Mrs. DoctorArch stays at home with one child while the other goes to preschool.
But @tyrannus would know for sure.
True, the child care tax credit is linked to employment. I was just holding out hope that Ceres isn't totally screwed.
You don't need to submit it, but you do have to make a declarative statement. I just got my 1095-C this past week, but I filed a while back.
You can claim an exemption for each month you were unemployed.
Are we talking about the penalty for not having health coverage. If so, I don't think this is true. The exemption is based on household income for the year. If you're unemployed all year, you'd obviously be below the threshold for being required to have insurance, yeah. But if you have a good job half the year, and are unemployed for half, you may still be required to have it all year.
Technically my daughter, due to extreme competence on the part of my husband's HR department, still isn't on his plan. They aren't letting us do it till open enrollment now which is... nerve-wracking. If you're a dependent and you're unemployed and don't have insurance, does it count against the household?
Unfortunately, yeah. The way it works is that you take the household income for the year, and if it's high enough that the family is required to have insurance, you calculate the penalty based on the number of uninsured family members for each month.
Here's the list of exemptions I like to refer to: Hardship Exemptions.
It wouldn't be an automatic exception, but you might be able to try the form referenced in #14, and just describe what happened. Maybe if the employer could write a quick letter explaining that it was their fault, that would increase the chances of getting approved.
I'm active military and stationed in Missouri, but I'm a resident of Iowa and pay Iowa state taxes (and property taxes as I own a home there). My state tax is refunded to me at filing (a law Iowa passed in 2012 for active duty personnel).
I paid 1990$ into Iowa and received 2405$ back. This seemed odd to me and check my passed 3 years and I have always gotten more back then I have put in. Ranging in amounts from 25 to 150$. But getting almost 500 more then I put into Iowa seems odd to me.
I did pay almost 4000$ in property tax though. Would that have anything to do with it?
Other then that issue this year was a good return! My wife didn't work all year as she is in nursing school and my kids are in daycare. We got back more this year then the year my 1st was born and we bought a house when they were still doing that bonus for purchasing a home.
― John Quincy Adams
I think it's ok to charge for a replacement copy, though.
I made $3500 and it says I owe $367, so that seems normal? Or maybe I should hit up a professional?
(I only did it on weekends here and there, thankfully.)
Also, I heard something about a new car credit?