Federal income tax - refund or paying?

[pinkytoe]

I am home today doing income taxes and am not happy with the final tab. After monkeying with it all I can, we still owe $1300. Lst year, we owed $300. I am curious what other simpletons are getting back or paying. No details just the bottom line.

[bae]

I always arrange my affairs so as to owe as much as possible on April 15th without incurring penalties. No sense loaning the government my money interest-free for much of the year.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I've owed many many years, but really recently I think I've got my exemptions down enough that I'm actually getting money back. And it may just be just less stressful than come April realizing "ack! ack! I owe $1000!" (which puts me in no end of a grumpy mood - cursing everything).

I've never been able to itemize in my life (not that favored by the IRS gods I guess) so beyond a few specialized deductions that you can take without itemizing (ok they amount to traditional IRAs when I've done them and lifelong learning credit - and that *is* *it*), there's nothing special about my taxes most of the time. It's just how much taxes you pay when you are paying the standard deduction (which folks who itemize or folks with lots of dependents may not be aware of, but it's a lot of taxes).

[dmc]

I would like to get down where the standard deduction would work for me. Due to real estate, medical insurance, and charity, I always itemize. Maybe if I wasn't paying $15,000 for medical insurance and $5000 in real estate taxes, plus Charity in between I could claim the standard deduction.

I generally pay a little, I like to keep it close. With interest rates as low as they are its not worth the trouble trying trying to keep it under the penalty line.

[ApatheticNoMore]

The part I pay of employer provided health insurance is actually pretax right off the W2. It already reduces my taxes, entirely without itemization, that's how employer provided health insurance works. Charity - yea I give away to charity here and there and throw away the receipts, it's not going to beat the standard deduction all by itself (sorry but no I dont' give over $6,200 to charity), maybe I should give the recipts away to someone who could use them. I wish rent was deductable.

[pcooley]

We used to get about $2000 back every year, but last year, we owed around $700 to the state, and this year it's the same. I think my going back to work part time has kicked us into another tax bracket. But for whatever reason, if we just rely on filling out the 1040 form the way it asks, (even if we claim no deductions, which is what I did for this past year), it only takes a couple of dollars out of each biweekly paycheck for state taxes. Last year I thought it was some kind of fluke. This year, I filled out a new 1040 form asking them to take $30 out of each paycheck for state. Our federal taxes ended up with our having to pay $40 this year.

[rosarugosa]

Our income situation has changed a lot over the past few years, so I've been fiddling with our withholding. Our refund last year was way too big, so I adjusted and put more in my 401K and more into automatic savings, and we're still getting $1400 back, so I might fiddle with it a bit more for next year.

[Lainey]

Got back around $1,225 from federal. That's about typical for me, and it just goes into savings.

[Tammy]

We get a thousand or so back and I like it that way. It's a cushion in case things change, and interest is so low it doesn't even cost me much to loan it to uncle sam for a few months.

[Rogar]

I have been paying every year for the last several and end up having to make quarterly payments for the next year's estimated taxes. Most of this is due to the fact that I've been transferring some funds from my regular IRA to a Roth IRA each year, which counts as income that is taxed. I try to transfer as much as I can each year without being bumped into a higher tax bracket.

[Blackdog Lin]

For many many years we have arranged our financials so as to get a decent refund every year - call it ~$2000. Some years much more. And for all those years I heard and read as to how we were so stupid, to give the govt. a free loan of our monies. I just always thought of it as an easy enforced savings plan.

Back then, okay, yeah. I was losing us monies with my easy savings plan. Now, not so much. Nowadays, my method works. Low risk savings. I get a (largish) check. And don't have to worry myself about CDs vs. mutual funds vs. govt. bonds vs. .....stuff beyond my ken.

[Teacher Terry]

The last few years we have paid so I upped what came out of our checks so now we are getting $1600. Oh well better then paying.

[goldensmom]

No sense loaning the government my money interest-free for much of the year.

We have sources of income that are not taxed throughout the year so we end up paying. Most people I know see their tax refund as a savings account but as <bae> points out, I see no sense in letting the government use my 'refund' money interest free. I'd rather settle up at the end of the year.

[jp1]

I usually have it worked out so that I just about break even. This year I didn't sell any investments so I was over withheld. Got $700 back from the state. $300 back from on the federal.

[razz]

I budget the payment amount to cover the interest, dividends etc and have tax taken off pension amounts so it is all manageable.

[Miss Cellane]

I'm paying about $50. Some years I'll get about $50 back. As long as I'm at or under $50 either way, I figure I'm doing okay.

[AustinKat]

I have several little odd streams of income, most of which don't have tax withheld, plus I'm self-employed, so it's always something of a guessing game. This year we guessed well: got a whopping refund of eighty-nine bucks.

[Float On]

Paying $1250 fed and $1044 state. Actually expected it to be worse than that.

[Spartana]

Well as the ultimate simple liver I didn't pay any state or federal taxes. Zero, nada, none, zip, etc... I have structured my income (or rather it was structured that way by the current system) so that the taxable portion of my income (approx. $11K) is at or below the amount needed to pay taxes after taking the standard deduction and exemption. The rest of my income is either tax-free or tax-deferred.