Your accountant should handle all of it for you. I'm not sure what the taxable event is with your stocks if you aren't selling it, unless you are making a shit ton in dividends. You typically are only taxed (excluding reinvested dividends) when you sell. I'd prefer to pay at the end of the year in lieu of giving the gov't a free loan. That said, I also wrote a fat check to the IRS this year, so there is no incentive to do estimated payments.

I have an S Corp that passes through, but I only take dividends at the end of the year (don't need the income to survive based on previous years' savings), so I claim $0 each quarter and claim everything 12/31 and have not had to pay estimated taxets or AMT.

4/12/2018 9:14:09 AM

My wife use to be a 1099 so she had did estimated payments, and it was tough making those quarterly tax payments. We just had to make sure we set the tax money aside to make each 1/4 payment.

She's now has an S-corp with a w-2 through her own company, but will probably also do estimated payments or additional withholdings. it's the first year of the S-corp so still figuring that out.

4/12/2018 9:21:25 AM

^you aren't required to, but may be helpful if you don't have as much in savings. Before I was making good money as a 1099, I just put 35% of each check into a separate bank account and that allowed me to instantly feel like I had money I could play with while ensuring I had enough to cover my tax obligations. After I made more money and started to save more (didn't need money this year to cover all expenses), it made it even easier to just have one distribution and quarterly taxes. That said, I'm 100% commission, so I could make 90% of my money January 1 or December - totally random. Flexibility is key.

4/12/2018 9:44:50 AM

I'm an S-corp and don't pay quarterly. I split my income into thirds...1/3 into my personal account, 1/3 into business checking, and 1/3 into business savings. Don't touch the savings until the end of the year to pay taxes...then split the left overs back into personal and business checking. Wash, rinse, repeat. Has worked out pretty well so far.

4/12/2018 9:45:42 AM

^Assuming you still mail in $0 for the first 3 quarters are far as reporting goes?

4/12/2018 11:05:09 AM

yup

4/12/2018 12:00:36 PM

Quote :

"Your accountant should handle all of it for you. I'm not sure what the taxable event is with your stocks if you aren't selling it, unless you are making a shit ton in dividends. You typically are only taxed (excluding reinvested dividends) when you sell. I'd prefer to pay at the end of the year in lieu of giving the gov't a free loan. That said, I also wrote a fat check to the IRS this year, so there is no incentive to do estimated payments."

In early 2017 i changed who was handling my investments. Closed one account and moved all of my money to a new one. Could this have been the big event? I didn't receive any dividend payments or anything. It was all done internally through the accounts. Even my new CPWA handled closing the first account and the transfer of the funds.

Quote :

"I'd prefer to pay at the end of the year in lieu of giving the gov't a free loan. That said, I also wrote a fat check to the IRS this year, so there is no incentive to do estimated payments."

If i am setup to make estimated payments and I decide not to is there any penalty? I keep reading about late payment penalties, but then it seems like most people never report actually getting them

4/12/2018 12:04:25 PM

ok, so exploring this more it looks like my big hit is from the closing of one account and opening of the other. I'm getting hit with capital gains taxes from the sell of the shares associated with the closed account.

4/12/2018 2:04:21 PM

Did you sell the shares and transfer cash, or did you transfer the shares?

The first is taxable, the second isn't.

4/12/2018 2:27:45 PM

i'm guessing the shares were sold since the new account has a completely different list of funds?

4/12/2018 3:43:26 PM

Yeah, if you're holding different funds than you were before then they were probably sold and the cash transferred. When your cpwa starts bragging about how much he's making you, ask if he's made up for the tax hit you took moving the money.

Was it a retirement account or just a regular brokerage account?

4/12/2018 7:10:25 PM

^jeez, isn't that the truth.


normal brokerage account.

4/13/2018 9:24:51 AM

Anytime you go from broker to broker the new broker is going to want to put you in his funds to pay for his boat. Since you don't know who actually sold the shares (the old broker may have just transferred your funds in kind to the new broker where the new broker then liquidated creating the taxable event and bought his own selected funds) it's hard to know who to yell at. Chances are the old broker liquidated as they probably had you in 37 funds and they charge $50 to close each one so he can pay for his boat. These types of situations and unknowns would be mortifying for me.

4/13/2018 11:22:04 AM

The quarterly est taxes seem annoying. I'd avoid them unless you face a penalty.

[Edited on April 13, 2018 at 7:10 PM. Reason : ]

4/13/2018 7:07:55 PM

Sorry all to bump this...but isn't there one for this year or that is a continuous thread?

Thanks!

1/29/2019 1:14:39 AM

i can claim a dependent this year...i'm guessing it won't matter though due to the higher standard deduction?

1/29/2019 2:37:50 PM

I still haven't received my tax return from 2018....it was set to go out in July...has some code beside it. Typical BS as always.

1/29/2019 11:36:11 PM

Doing my shit on TaxSlayer today and I get to the end and it's like "hey, there's a problem with your dependent's info. You didn't indicate citizenship."

I go plug that in and all of the sudden my return doubles... apparently it wasn't including the tax credit until they knew he wasn't an illegal. Thanks, TaxSlayer.

[Edited on February 1, 2019 at 8:04 PM. Reason : I also got divorced this year so I didn't know what in the hell to expect.]

2/1/2019 7:53:30 PM

What forms do i need to send to my CPA to get my income limit/Roth IRA issues squared away? I log into Vanguard and they don't have any tax forms available. I'd really rather get this over contribution penalty out of the way now.

2/11/2019 8:27:29 AM

It's your MAGI, which is 95% of the time your AGI.

2/11/2019 10:03:49 AM

^^ Time to do a back door?

2/11/2019 7:42:24 PM

What's the best/cheap way to get this done? Buy your own software? Saw I can get the H&R Block software for $20 on Slickdeals.

2/12/2019 9:19:58 AM

Anyone used taxhawk before? I’ve done my taxes the last 14 years on taxact but they want nearly 90 bucks to do them this year. My taxes aren’t too difficult (one w2 and schedule C) and I assume I won’t itemize this year because of the increased std deduction. Taxhawk says they’re free unless you buy support

2/12/2019 1:04:25 PM

Jeeze, $90? I might have to switch too

This do any work for you? https://slickdeals.net/f/12673351-taxact-sale-basic-state-15-premiere-state-37-50-deluxe-state-35?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1

[Edited on February 12, 2019 at 1:21 PM. Reason : ]

2/12/2019 1:19:02 PM

HAS ANYONE gotten their refund yet? ANYONE!

2/19/2019 3:55:03 AM

If you have kids, no.

I will be getting ours this week tho.

2/19/2019 9:22:05 AM

Have kids. Got fed refund last week. Still awaiting state.

2/19/2019 10:58:52 AM

So I have dependent care cost in 2018 but filling out my tax it said I do not qualify for dependent care cost. I followed the flow chart https://www.irs.gov/pub/xml_bc/15004m01.gif and I ended up at the end as "May be able to claim". Anyone knows why it is 'may be'? what would make you not qualify when filling form 2441?

2/20/2019 9:17:06 AM

Doesn’t it phase out after a certain income

2/20/2019 9:31:40 AM

Well I also took the IRS Interactive Tax Assisitant to determine and it said I am qualify up to $6000, it didn't ask anything about income. And most information about income is if you make over 43$K then you are rate at 20% of total up to 6000$ spent which is 1200$ in credit.

2/20/2019 11:42:30 AM

Are dependent care benefits on your W-2 box 10? If so, that counts against your credit.

2/20/2019 1:47:24 PM

^nope. But for 2019 I will since I opt in for DCFSA this year.

2/20/2019 3:18:57 PM

Have you actually gone through Form 2441 yet?

Because of DCFSA, I only got $200 credit last year for both my kids together.

2/20/2019 3:35:02 PM

so random story that I am sure someone will TROLL me on...but I applied for a job with the NCDOR...
two days later this guy called and told me my tax refund from 2015 was too much...and they will send me a bill. WTF.
So I ask and they say they make sure they are in compliance...now I get a letter asking for my federal forms from 2016 and 2017 from a Tax Auditor with the NCDOR in the mail and if I don't respond in 30 days there will be a delay or reduction....

I don't even know where my 2018 taxes are let alone my 2015....I read the rules...I see they can do 3 years..but what gives on someone who got back less than 1k each year in the first place?

2/24/2019 11:39:46 PM

Quote :

"I don't even know where my 2018 taxes are let alone my 2015....I read the rules...I see they can do 3 years..but what gives on someone who got back less than 1k each year in the first place?"

Not sure why one wouldn't keep digital or paper copy of every single tax return you file for a host of reasons but this is simply one of them. When you get audited, you will find the burden of proof is on you and your CPA to refute the IRS' claims. Also, your refund has nothing to do with anything, your tax liability does. At the time, even if you owed in $1k, and they have now determined that you owed in $2k as your tax liability was $1k more, you still owe the additional $1k. They don't care about the reconciliation of what you paid in and what you get/owe at tax time and why would they? The whole 3 year look back thing is also not something I'd consider the gospel. Assume they can look back as far as they want because if they want to look at something they will, 10 minutes ago, one year ago, 20 years ago, doesn't matter.

3/26/2019 11:10:39 AM

^^ er so moral of the story is don't apply for a job with NCDOR?

3/26/2019 11:50:20 AM

Pretty sure the IRS can request 6 years worth of financial records

3/26/2019 3:53:40 PM

So i had to remove over contributions from my Roth IRA for 2018. What should my strategy be for 2019 Contributions? Should i contribute a minimal amount throughout the year and wait until next tax season to figure out the remaining contribution available?

3/27/2019 4:04:42 PM

that's one approach if you think you'll be close to the limit

the other option is to do a back door roth. There is no income limit to an after tax traditional ira, and then it can be converted to a roth with no penalty.

3/27/2019 8:51:19 PM

Yeah, back door is the way to go

3/31/2019 2:26:13 PM

Quote :

"So i had to remove over contributions from my Roth IRA for 2018. What should my strategy be for 2019 Contributions? Should i contribute a minimal amount throughout the year and wait until next tax season to figure out the remaining contribution available?"

Since you've already removed your Roth contributions for 2018, you should put them in a Traditional IRA (while you still can for 2018 - if you haven't already filed your taxes). I typically leave my Traditional contributions in for a month or two to ensure there is a statement that shows the money started in Traditional. Then you convert the money in your Traditional over to a Roth. You will have to pay taxes (when you file next year) on whatever gains you have during the short time time as Traditional, but since the initial contribution came from after-tax funds, you won't have to pay anything additional on that larger portion.

If you have not already filed, on your taxes you'll need to fill out form 8606 to confirm your non-deductible contribution to a Traditional IRA and establish your basis.

Assuming you convert your 2018/2019 contributions during 2019, next year you will receive a 1099-G to report the conversion (looks like early distribution but don't get scared of that) because as long as you established the basis starting in the Traditional (Form 8606) you'll only be responsible for any gains (usually minimal if you convert after only a couple months).

I just went through all of this for the first time and looked to Vanguard for full assistance to ensure I was reporting everything correctly.

4/1/2019 11:29:05 AM

Finally sent mine in the mail last Friday. Baby #2 was born last May and I'm getting a huge return federally. Thinking I should reduce my dependents for purposes of withholding throughout the year.

Also, I nominate the 8889 form (HSA) for being the most ridiculous. Every year I do it I feel I'm reading the instructions six times to make sure I do it right.

What's everyone's take on how they changed the forms this year? 6 schedules vs. having 80 lines on 2 pages?

[Edited on April 10, 2019 at 9:44 AM. Reason : /]

4/10/2019 9:42:07 AM

I filed this past Saturday. Paying my nanny legally is such a pain. Schedule H FTL.

4/10/2019 2:09:45 PM