^^Yes, the federal was accepted when I resubmitted. Under the right numbers, I get a refund of $50. When the state knew my income but didn't have my federal deductions, it said I owed $200. I got the federal straightened out, had to send a letter in about the correction to the state, and my numbers still weren't getting accepted. I called the state on April 13. They said that there had been some kind of income correction for 2008. That seemed weird to me but I didn't have time to get it straightened out so I just paid the $200. A few days later, I got the $50 in my bank account. I took that to mean that the 2008 stuff was incorrect, they finally got my refund right, and I paid $200 for no reason. I just want to know if I can subtract that $200 from this year.

2/6/2012 9:59:28 PM

You paid the $200 to correct 2008. When you did that they released your 2010 refund. You can deduct the portion of the $200 that was used to pay tax, you cannot deduct any part used to pay a penalty or interest. They should of sent you a statement detailing the interest and penalty associated with the $200 you owed.

2/6/2012 10:12:00 PM

OK, thanks for the info.

2/6/2012 10:53:59 PM

Can I still file the 1040-ez if I contribute to an IRA?

2/7/2012 5:36:31 PM

Yes

2/7/2012 5:47:29 PM

Thank you. I remember doing so last year and have been filling in where it asks for Roth contributions but didn't want any lingering implications and have something sneak up on me down the road.

2/7/2012 6:01:40 PM

Is this contributions to a Roth or Traditional IRA?

Contributions to a traditional that are deducted on the return cannot be done on a 1040ez. There is no space for adjustments on that return. You may also be eligible for the Savers contribution credit. This credit is available for a Traditional or Roth IRA depending on income and you can't file this on 1040ez either.

Not sure what David is talking about.

2/7/2012 10:12:17 PM

Oops. I just always assume roth if I see IRA.

2/8/2012 9:07:08 AM

ok so i just called to check on that 2008 debacle and they said I've already been assessed and don't owe anything. o____O

I basically just faxed in my W2s from that year. They were telling me I owed like 800 after penalty and non-payment. I still should have owed something small like 30 or 40 bucks had I time traveled back to 2009.

2/8/2012 12:59:28 PM

So, with Roth IRA, you are able to contribute 5k/year. This is called principle.
You are allowed also to take out your principle at anytime, penalty and tax free.

With a traditional IRA, would I get the same ability to take out my principle without penalty.
Trad. IRA is tax deductable, so I expect that taking out your principle will absolutely require you to pay taxes on it. But just trying to see if distributions of principle would not be charged an additional penalty over and above the tax itself.

Anyone know? Just looking for a way to defer taxes on some income, but still have it available to use if I decided to start a business in 10 years or something like that.

2/8/2012 1:43:19 PM

Only early withdrawals without a penalty are buying a house, if you become disabled, college expenses or if you have to pay off tax debts

And of course if you roll it over to a new qualified retirement account

2/8/2012 2:12:34 PM

I have both a regular IRA and a Roth.

2/8/2012 2:49:50 PM

Roth's won't affect your tax filings (assuming you didn't take any growth distributions this year), tax defered IRA's will unless you contribute through your company 401k and it's not considered in taxable earnings to begin with.

^^there could be other ways to get at the funds w/o penalty, but none that will likely help for his situation.

2/8/2012 3:34:48 PM

yeah, just listed the most common

2/8/2012 3:52:12 PM

Quote :

"I have both a regular IRA and a Roth."

If you contributed to the traditional IRA and its tax deductible you will need to file 1040, I don't think you can do 1040A either. Also, look at form 8880 and see if you can get the savers credit.

2/8/2012 9:53:12 PM

Quote :

"They had a big write-up about http://www.onepricetaxes.com/ in the N&O this weekend. Company is Raleigh-area based. $15 for all tax returns. I am going to try them out this year, but I am not sure if they can handle my side business (consulting work). It would be nice to not have to pay $75 to Turbo-tax plus the additional fee to file for NC."

Quote :

" Please let me know how this works out for you. I have W2s and 1099s, so mine is kind of complicated. I've always used TurboTax's $75 offering, which covers those bases, and have been very pleased outside of the cost. I'd switch in a minute if this is legit, but their site doesn't have screenshots of their online software, which is disappointing. "

I've used Taxact for the last 3-4 years (had a side business/1099's the whole time) and I've been very pleased with it. It's never over $20 and that covers federal and state e-file.

Why pay $55+ more? Is there something shitty about Taxact I don't know about?

2/8/2012 10:22:21 PM

This year I learned you can actually pirate turbotax. o______O

2/9/2012 1:11:59 AM

^^For me it has to do more with familiarity than the money. I typically use hr online mainly because the first year I had to file a big boy 1040 I went to a b&m location and had them do it (the online software prompts are almost identical to the ones used in the store by the "pros"). It was also just under $50 every year because I wait for a coupon/special offer to come out.

This year, though, I decided since not much has changed in the last few years that I would be comfortable trying something new. I gave http://www.onepricetaxes.com/ a shot and I thought it was awesome. Since I already knew what all I needed and what I would be deducting (student loan interest, mortgage interest/ins, property taxes, state income tax) I skipped the interview questions. That was my favorite part, being able to skip all the bs questions that I know do not apply to me or serve to remind me to deduct something I already know about. It took me approximately 30 minutes to do my taxes with OPT whereas it usually took about an hour go through hr online. My tax return is standard fare though: married filing jointly, 3 w2s, deductions as previously mentioned. I filed last night around 7 and my Fed return was accepted today at 3am, still waiting on NC acceptance.

2/9/2012 1:11:37 PM

Quote :

"the irs page on "where's my refund" still cant find my filing, that was accepted jan 31st via tax act. the estimated refund date is feb 8th, according to taxact. seems kinda weird that the irs page doesn't find it."

I'm in the same boat.

2/10/2012 11:54:42 AM

Mine had already posted to my account and the IRS page still wasn't finding it.

2/10/2012 11:56:35 AM

They accepted mine on the 6th and said I should get it on the 14th. Happy Valentines Day.

2/10/2012 1:42:32 PM

Yeah the Where's My Refund thing is a piece of shit. Doesn't find mine either and it's been over a week.

2/10/2012 2:26:06 PM

Wow, some of you guys got your refunds back before I even got my W2... and I don't think I'd start getting OCD about checking the refund status after just one week. Not too long ago it was send it in the mail in February - start looking for it in June.

[Edited on February 10, 2012 at 2:48 PM. Reason : -]

2/10/2012 2:46:30 PM

It's my money and I want it now!

2/10/2012 8:15:35 PM

Sanity check...

I just completed my returns through H&R online and wanted to double check something. I moved really early in the year from Virginia back to Raleigh. I paid about $500 in VA state taxes. The software is claiming a return of all $500, I assume based on my total income being below the low income threshold (just with VA income). My federal income is obviously well above just my VA income.

Is that how state taxes are actually considered? Is the income earned in that state the only thing that matters?

2/10/2012 10:47:13 PM

Are you filing part year resident returns for VA and NC? Its possible you would get all your withholding from VA but does not seem likely. What was the income in VA?

2/10/2012 11:06:27 PM

Part year resident in both states for me. 1 month in VA and 11 months in NC. Married filing jointly federal, but married failing separately for VA since my wife moved before I did.

About 10k in VA.

2/10/2012 11:21:18 PM

Quote :

"They had a big write-up about http://www.onepricetaxes.com/ in the N&O this weekend. Company is Raleigh-area based. $15 for all tax returns."

Quote :

"Please let me know how this works out for you."

It worked out great, $15 for doing everything (even e-filing). It took a second to figure out how to go back and edit some things, but it took care of everything. If you do end up using their stuff, put down mrmikeflynn at hotmail dot com for the referral. Apparently I'll get $3

[Edited on February 11, 2012 at 6:17 PM. Reason : ]

2/11/2012 6:14:24 PM

The code REDTAG will give you 60% off at http://www.onepricetaxes.com, making the total only $5.95 for any return. PM me for my email address if you want to give me $3 for a referral bonus

2/12/2012 3:22:24 PM

I've got a question. I worke one job till early July and then moved up to Raleigh and started another job. When using TurboTax after putting in my first jobs W2 info I get a federal refund of ~1,300. When I put in the second jobs W2 I get that I owe $180 for my federal. I calculated the % of fed. tax that I paid and I paid a higher % on my second job than my first. I don't understand how adding the income of another job should make my refund go down. Is this right?

2/12/2012 7:00:10 PM

Yes it's most likely correct assuming you entered in the correct information from your w2s.

2/12/2012 7:14:45 PM

Thats our incremental tax system for you. When you switch jobs like that your new employer has no clue how much you have already made or withheld in federal income tax. For all they know or care this was your only job this year. I bet if you take out the first W2 and only put in the second W2 you will see a similar result.

2/12/2012 8:46:12 PM

Still waiting on SECU to send me 1099s(?) for three accounts. What in the hell takes so long??

Also, this may have been already asked (even by me...) but if I had distributions from my HSA, do I need to provide receipts to show they went to qualified medical expenses, or is that only if you get audited? Total was <$1,000 if that matters. Also, if I contributed to my HSA after taxes, don't I need some form to show that I did such and thus deduct from my taxes?

[Edited on February 15, 2012 at 9:43 PM. Reason : .]

2/15/2012 9:40:01 PM

I got my 1099 from SECU about 4 weeks ago. I would call them.

2/15/2012 10:41:38 PM

Quote :

"I got my 1099 from SECU about 4 weeks ago. I would call them"

granted mine was for less than like 100 bucks

2/15/2012 11:38:28 PM

Quote :

"Still waiting on SECU to send me 1099s(?) for three accounts. What in the hell takes so long?? Also, this may have been already asked (even by me...) but if I had distributions from my HSA, do I need to provide receipts to show they went to qualified medical expenses, or is that only if you get audited? Total was <$1,000 if that matters. Also, if I contributed to my HSA after taxes, don't I need some form to show that I did such and thus deduct from my taxes?"

You need to tell the preparer that all the distributions were used for medical. They won't need to see the receipts. Your HSA provider should of sent distribution and contribution information. The distribution comes on a 1099-SA. I can't think of the contribution form # off the top of my head.

2/15/2012 11:53:23 PM

Whats everybodys actual/effective tax rate? Im 13.4%.

2/16/2012 12:06:07 PM

last year it was 31% for me.

2/16/2012 12:36:53 PM

Some fishy shit going on with the IRS. I was supposed to have my refund direct deposited by Tues. In past years it has always been on time. Still nothing as of this morning and the "Where's My Refund" site doesn't work for shit.

2/17/2012 9:22:30 AM

The IRS switched to a new e-filing system this year and there have been huge delays on refunds. They also blame the system on the glitches with the wheres my refund tool. In the future they will be able to process returns and refunds much quicker but in the short term it is causing some problems.

2/17/2012 9:43:13 AM

mine was direct deposited 7 days after the date it said it would be.

that's not too bad really.

2/17/2012 10:05:04 AM

^^so it might be quicker if you paper file?

2/17/2012 10:32:18 AM

The Where's My Refund tool actually gave me a date today. Says an expected date of March 6th. 30 or so days beyond their receipt of acceptance. We shall see...

2/17/2012 11:38:26 AM

H&R filed mine on Fed 3rd, estimated the direct dep date of the 13th for federal and 'we have no idea' for state. Both came in on the 14th

It's a nice chunk towards my mortgage down payment.

2/17/2012 11:48:13 AM

Almost screwed up doing my taxes. A week ago I downloaded the forms and instructions and whipped out an Excel spreadsheet to help me with the calculations. But it was at work and I didn't have all of my W-2s available, nor my children's SSN.

So I used TurboTax Deluxe Online ($29.99+29.99 fee) to do it. When it came to charitable donations, it asked if I had any from previous years that I didn't deduct on those years' returns. Well, each year I've taken the standard deduction. So, I thought I hadn't deducted the charity. I filled them in ($4500 from 2009 and $6000) from 2010, and with 2011's deductions (also $6000), it calculated my return to be around $4500.



I had to chat with a TurboTax rep/tax helper and they cleared it up. It's only if I gave too much to charity each year that I couldn't deduct.

Back to the $1900.

I'm still a little disappointed that it wasn't closer to $0, so I'll have to up the exemptions (to 9) this year.

2/17/2012 5:36:44 PM

Quote :

"so it might be quicker if you paper file?"

Doubtful. The quickest you can get a paper return is 4 weeks.

2/17/2012 9:58:46 PM

Knocked our taxes out today: got a bigger return than expected. I overestimated how much we would pull in via my wife's side/freelance work this year and I always just have her pay extra taxes at her main job instead of doing estimated taxes directly associated with her freelance work. No big deal.

2/18/2012 8:01:08 PM

Quote :

"Whats everybodys actual/effective tax rate? Im 13.4%."

11.5% here

2/19/2012 9:40:03 AM

I'll have to look at the PDF of our report again. I think it was 9.9%; I didn't really pay attention to that when I finished up so I could be off.

2/19/2012 10:28:42 AM

I love how so many people who have done taxes for like 30+ years still don't understand how they work. It's annoying when one of them tries to lecture me on why I should have a "professional" do my taxes simply because I didn't get a big enough refund in his opinion. It's mainly random coworkers who are afraid of using internet tools or software for taxes but it always results in a /facepalm

[Edited on February 20, 2012 at 3:50 PM. Reason : ]

2/20/2012 3:39:10 PM