US INCOME TAX!

I usually break even with withholdings anyway. As it should be.

But the beauty of democracy is that I can pretend my money goes solely to programs I like, and the fighter jets are financed by the vast mid-stream majority of Bush-voters who are actually keen on that sort of thing. Now if only the vast mid-stream majority would learn to apply that imaginative trick to WIC payments and the NEA budget.

(Besides, if I had that extra $60 in interest I guarantee at least $40 of it would wind up with some institution I approved of even less.)

All I know is that I withhold a certain amount from my paycheck in addition to the monies withheld out by the state and the federal government. Every February or so, I sit down with a tax form and a glass of water and do some math. My status as a full-time student lessens the amount of tax I actually owe to the US, thanks to the Lifetime Earning Credit. All this means is I "get money back". Yay for me.

I like Nitsuh's justification - it's the same sort of reasoning I'd apply, had I ever really thought about where the money ends up.

Up there, in my "nonsense" post, I was saying that folks withholding enough extra cash that they end up receiving a significant refund would be better off just investing the extra cash somewhere else and pay the taxes when they're due. From what I understand, that's what Ally & Samantha were saying at the beginning of this thread - to paraphrase, it's STUPID to withhold more money than necessary when you're just losing the opportunity to USE that money. But, then, Ally comes back w/ "if you're withholding enough to get a "big chunk of change", then you wouldn't pay your taxes all at once," which seems to contradict what was stated previously. If that's not the case, feel free to try & set my tax-law-ig'nant self straight.

uh.

What happens if you file late? Should I board up the winders fer the g-men?

Tax extension info

can't wait for my refund :D :D

No, not filing for an extension.

What happens if you simply late?

The problem with filing for an extension is that you have to make an "estimate", and if you can do that, you might as well file.

Witness relocation info

Definitely a lol to be had there + bonus lol w/it being a "dance-theater anarchist's utopia".

I did my federal, but what do I need to do for NY state? When is that due?

april 15.

turb0tax or some other online filing thing will have your shit done in like 20 min. no need for extensions.

another year, another extension.

Don't worry, taxes are voluntary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg

What happens if you file late?

You end up paying penalties (which accrue like compound interest) on top of any tax you owe. You are much much better off filing an extension. As long as your estimate is close (I think within 10% of actual), you don't have to pay any penalties.

There is no way I can get w/in 10% of actual. I mean come ON. If I can get that close, I might as well file.

Yeah the only reason I've ever filed an extension is because I was missing some critical forms/info (K-1, etc). The one time I ended up paying penalties though, it was really not worth it. I would have been better off overestimating, paying, then filing to get the refund, rather than nearly double my tax burden in penalties + interest.

Willful failure to file is a criminal misdemeanor and in some cases a felony

File even if you owe, even if you can't pay, even if you claim crazy deductions. Get an extension but do not fail to declare income to the IRS. You'll pay either way. IRS keeps track of this and technically when, not if, they find you, you could get audited, penalities, probation, criminal record (fraud is considered moral turpitude).

I paid four months late in 2006; doesn't appear to have been a problem.

Jaymc the IRS doesn't give a shit.xls. That is terrible advice. Filing late is against the law.

Sorry perhaps you meant you filed timely but paid late. If so, my bad.

Whoa--I was thinking that state came a few months after federal. May have to file an extension. I think I have to fill out extra paperwork bc I moved here in the middle of the year.

No, I meant I filed late. And it wasn't meant as advice. Just saying what happened. I wouldn't do it again, but the fact of the matter is that I was fully prepared to be penalized and I wasn't; in fact, I mistakenly overpaid and so I got a big refund check.

History of nonfiling;

Repeated contacts by the Service;

Substantial tax liability after withholding credits and estimated tax payments;

I think I may be OK here, felicicop.

I believe I may GET money back, since I ought have massive tax goodies from the fact that I'm now a homeowner.

Colleague of mine claims 15 deductions, to my 2.

I think i still need to pay last year's, too. Ah well.

Suit yourself.

And although I did work in the Criminal Tax section of the DOJ, felicicop is not my name.

If you ask a question, please do not insult the people who answer.

Apologies, surely.

How many peeps did you arrest who were late by a month on filing, tho?

haha, no worries. They'll probably just ask you to surrender while you're at the County Clerk's office trying to get the tax lien removed from your house.

Surrender what? My anal virginity?

^^Man I wish I had a tasty record like this one back in the days I worked at Justice.

Not to brag this close to deadline, but, I've had my taxes done for the past three years through a program at UMASS. I'm sure one exists at every major college/university that has an Accounting major.
The only requirement is that you're under $100,000.00, basically. And, whatever, if you're making that much money you should hire an accountant.
It's a really good resource for people filing complicated tax returns, and the students get credit, and the more complicated the situation the better for them. Also, it looks great on their resumes.

So, for those who missed out this year, seek out this program at your local college/university! They will do the whole thing for you, help you find loopholes, FOR FREE!
UMASS is still going to file tomorrow night (it's also a 4:30 - 7:00 Tues. - Thurs. program. You do have to wait in line when it gets close to the 15th.). But, whatever, they start offering the services in February.
They also file extensions. This means nothing to anyone on this thread who's panicking - but, I'm just saying...think ahead and find some really good free options!

I ought have massive tax goodies from the fact that I'm now a homeowner

I was counting on this magical bonus but ended up owning over two grand. Granted the owing was based on screwed up withholding following job changes for me and the wife, but the homeowner thing didn't seem to shit for me regardless.

^ to DO shit for me

Yeah, er, I'm kind of over $100,000.00.

I would file online except that I have an employed wife and a home, and I really don't want to fuck things up this year.

$100,000.00 isn't quite as fantastically rich as you might think it is, especially w/a huge mortage on a home in SF.

Yeah in the spirit of not fucking things up, just curious, why are you so reluctant to just take 20 minutes and sign and mail the extension? Even if your estimate is wrong, that can be fixed later.

The problem is that I have no idea how close to accurate the estimate has to be to pass muster.

I would still assume you would be able to hire an accountant. You probably hired a few people to help you close on that home.

Congratulations! It's a great place to live - sorry if my reccomendations weren't pertinent.
xpost

Seriously, any retardedly wrong estimate is better than ignoring the filing deadline altogether. You would have until August to just pay H&R Block to sort it out.

Is it? The IRS is a big black box to me.

DUDE FUCKING GET A CLUE PUT DOWN THAT YOU OWE $20K AND DON'T BREAK THE FUCKING LAW

jesus

how much could you have gotten done towards making a better estimate all this hours instead of freaking about it?

i.e. listen to felicity!

Surely you have some - didn't you use your phone/computer? Paper? Internet connection?

Yeah, those usual items were there, but I didn't buy any business equipment or do any business related travel. My quarterly payments were a bit lower than usual and my income was up just a bit. It's not a monster-sized tax hit, but it was noticeable -- especially since I usually applied my refund to my quarterly estimated payments, which covered 1.5 of them. This April I have to pay a few hundred for 2012 AND make the first 2013 quarterly payment in full.

do you have an IRA?

No...I need one.

Never too late, they say.

you have until April 15th to start and contribute to a regular IRA, though you could always do a SEP-IRA, which has higher contribution limits, and if you file an extension you have until the extended date to contribute for tax year 2012.

I LOVE HOW THIS THREAD TITLE IS IN ALL CAPS AS THOUGH TO CALM AND SOOTH YOU THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT TIME

ha what a world!

i am literally filling in a form

i had to read a multipage table until i found my "tax", which i then copied to line 15

What kind of taxes do you have to pay

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxation-of-Nonresident-Aliens

Looks like you're taxed the same way we are. Wow

Careless tax preparers who throw a typo into your return, overreporting your estimated payments and leaving you with an additional surprise tax bill — classic or dud?

you or someone you paid?

Someone I paid. I've been using this firm for 15 years and this is their first mistake, and the IRS isn't charging any interest or penalty, so I'm going to let it slide this time, but damn, irritating.

could be a lot worse

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/analysis-donald-trumps-tax-plan/full

I want to post about this but not clutter up the general mourning/analysis thread.

He wants to increase the standard deduction to $25k (for single people, didn't specify for head of household status whether it would be higher and somewhere between single and married filing joint as is traditionally the case). One of my recurring problems with the tax code is that the cost of living in the U.S. is so varied, and the standard deduction seems based on the cost of living in cheaper areas. Having to explain to someone making $25,000 in San Francisco or NYC that the government doesn't consider them low income because you can live fairly comfortably on that in Tennessee, is not something I enjoy as a tax person.

no kidding

I'm trying to find out how much, under the GOP plan, my taxes will actually be reduced, and the best I can come up with is like, $1k. and I'm pretty high upper middle class incomewise. who is going to see all these big cuts?

Everybody who makes over $415,051 per year who will immediately see their tax rate fall from 39.6% to 25%, for starters

Unless they are a sole proprietor, in which case it drops to 15%

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonynitti/2016/11/09/president-trump-what-does-it-mean-for-your-tax-bill/#7cc751c4b8b6

That's how you stick it to the elites, duh.

see the thing that was confusing about the trump tax plan is that it mentions "pass through businesses" - a sole proprietor is not a pass through business. Partnerships and S-Corps are pass through businesses. Does he actually mean pass through businesses or all businesses?

if trump doesn't know, then no one else knows. I'm pretty sure he has no clear idea what he's going to ask for, let alone what he'll get from Congress.

the Forbes piece has different information than the taxpolicycenter one. The bracket rates have changed.

Both analyses are arguing that it will encourage people to be independent contractors and not employees, which I don't think is entirely true, and is dependent on income level. Self-employment tax isn't going to go away under this plan, so for those who actually have self-employment income from their businesses, it's the 15% tax + 7.65% (the employer portion of FICA taxes). I guess that's great if you're in a high tax bracket, but for people who would be in the lower brackets, it wouldn't make much difference.

I feel like the reason this point is in his plan is not to encourage small businesses and entrepeneurship, but to give rich real estate investors tax breaks on the income from Real Estate partnerships that currently doesn't benefit from reduced capital gains rates.

will I still be able to deduct tons of shit because I'm a musician and count everything as a 'business expense' outside of my actual high paying day job?

that's all I care about

Yes, and I'm sure the Trump Administration will reduce funding to the IRS for examinations, audits, and enforcement as part of its starve the beast strategy.

another article that only addresses a couple points of the plan

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/13/501739277/who-benefits-from-donald-trumps-tax-plan?