Taxes----yuck

Had our taxes done today......they say we need to up our deductions..do any of you know what it means when you start a job and you have to file either like, single, married, married 1, married 2, etc.......all that stuff has always confused me.......

I'm sorry honey I don't know the answer to your question. When ever I've filled out that form I put down zero because I don't have any dependants. I think that means that I have the highest amount taken out and that's why I get a refund. I've never owed, so I've just kept everything the way it is.

Originally Posted by lookingglass

I'm sorry honey I don't know the answer to your question. When ever I've filled out that form I put down zero because I don't have any dependants. I think that means that I have the highest amount taken out and that's why I get a refund. I've never owed, so I've just kept everything the way it is.

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I'm thinking that if you put down zero, they take out the most taxes, but if you put down married/1, then they take out less, and if you put down married/2, they take out less and so on..........so, the moral of the story is, you either get it in your paycheck and pay at the end of the year, or have them take out to much during the year so you get a refund.....?????

Originally Posted by kittylover4ever

Had our taxes done today......they say we need to up our deductions..do any of you know what it means when you start a job and you have to file either like, single, married, married 1, married 2, etc.......all that stuff has always confused me.......

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The gal told us Susie that if you file married that's 2, If you file Married with one thats 3 I always thought married was one The only reason we got money back and this is the first time in 10 years is because Bob took a large cut in pay, and plus we had taken some money out of investments before and that kills ya. And his Navy retirement comes with no tax out of it so that tax that at the end of the year to when you do your taxes. She said that he should go back to single because he will be making more money now with the new job. I don't care if we get money back as long as we don't owe any. So if your claiming married with 1 thats 3 Its a bunch of crap isn't it.

After finding we owe $1,500 I changed my w-4 from 1 to 0!!! There goes my next few paychecks.... Dh only counts 1 from his I think too! It sucks big time!!

Yeah with all they take out anyway it doesn't seem fair that we end up paying. Personally I think its bull , we work for it pay all year and still owe what's up with that?

The trick is the higher the number of allowances, the less they take out for taxes. If you mark single (or married, but withhold at higher single rate) they'll take out more than if you mark just plain married. If both you and your spouse work, I've heard it's best to mark the married but withhold at higher single rate. The plain married one is mostly for 1-income couples, as I understand it.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

On top of that, you can request that your employer withhold an additional amount. (Line 6) If you work through the worksheet on the W-4 (which can be confusing!) it should help you - but your tax person should be able to tell you how you should change your withholding.

By the way, you can change your withholding at any time - you aren't locked in to what you requested when you first started your job.

You can change the number of "allowances" by filing a W-4 form. The more "allowances" the less money they will take out of your paycheck. You can also specify a specific amount in dollars to be withheld.

Some people like getting the big refund check so they have less "allowances". I don't like to have the IRS keeping my money all year, so I bump the allowances up a bit and try and break even with the IRS at tax time.

My husband always claims 0, and we usually get back a refund. We hafta file two state taxes though, because we live in Mississippi and he works in Louisiana, but we always get back enough from Louisiana to pay Mississippi.

Originally Posted by LSULOVER

My husband always claims 0, and we usually get back a refund. We hafta file two state taxes though, because we live in Mississippi and he works in Louisiana, but we always get back enough from Louisiana to pay Mississippi.

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That sucks BB

I have no idea Susie...

I love taxes though, I am getting $765 back!!

Originally Posted by halfpint

That sucks BB

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Yep, it does

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

I have no idea Susie...

I love taxes though, I am getting $765 back!!

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I hope we get some back

I usually put in 0 then see how I do at the end of the year. But then I forget when I change jobs and it takes me a year to figure out what I did before. It is terribly confusing!!

I've known people that put negative numbers (even more tax with held thru the year).

I'm afraid to start my taxes this year. I'm going to hire an accountant but I still haven't gotten all my papers organized from last year (bought and sold a house, moved states, sold stock, run a small business, etc). But at least we live and work in the same state now. That was fun filing in 2 states each year.

We always had Married 2 plus we each (when I wasn't self employed) had extra $$ held out of paycheck as we always pay in to the feds. You can also look into opening up either a Roth or non-Roth IRA (by 4/16/07) and that can reduce your tax burden too. And if you have a 401K that takes the money pre-tax out of your paycheck we have had 15% of our paycheck put in the 401k.

Well that sounds more confusing than the Canadian system.....but on that note, my taxes are going to be miserable this year...I have employment income in 2 provinces, scholarships in 2 provinces, tuition paid in 2 provinces, self-employment income, cross country move for education (you can write off anything associated with the move).....Looks like Ill be finding me an accountant who can straighten it all out! And hopefully Ill get a couple hundred back at least!