Taxes!

I owe the Feds $80.07. Haven't tackled NY State yet. Hopefully I will be due $80.07 and all that will be lost is everyone's time.

Doing ours myself this year. Man, it's a lot more of a bitch now than it used to be - joint filing where my wife works in ny but we live in nj. Itemized deductions didn't turn out to be larger than standard so that simplifies things a bit but I'm still trying to figure out the multi-state thing.

For folks who do their own, about how long does/did it take you?

I think my federal took me like four hours, which is sort of ridiculous, but almost all of that time was me chasing red herrings or panicking. Like I spent a lot of time worrying about either deductions or payments I later realized I didn't have to worry about.

A couple of hours fed/state both. Pretty straightforward, really.

i really need to do this. maybe tonight, if i haven't had too much to drink.

I did mine on TurboTax over a couple beers!

aw, fuck. this weekend i guess.
There is no way i'm ever doing my taxes. I would rather pay an obscene amount of money to someone else.

I got my refund back ($1000!) about a month ago. :)

yeah I just did my state one in like 20 minutes so I obviously spent way too much time on the fed. But like I said, I spent most of the time freaking out about complexities that were not actually relevant. Also some confusion about my wife's educational expenses.

Weirdly, it looks like we'll be getting more back from the state than the fed thanks to the property tax deduction for tenants.

AGGHHHH
Goodbye $1800, I'm sorry we never really got to know each other.

the whole working in two different states thing turned out to be a huge hassle, but I mailed all three returns yesterday. Will get a decent chunk of money back. Hooray!

yup, i owed the feds a bunch. even with a decent state return and the economic stimulant, it's still in the red.

Do you have to deal with crazy musician tax issues? I've heard those can be a bitch.

yup, that was the whole problem (i started a thread on IMM about it).

I've never made enough money from music to have that problem.

So if your spouse sets her withholding based on her being the only one with a job, it's a really good idea to change those numbers after you get a job a couple of months later. Especially if you get everything direct deposited and therefore don't give more than a cursory glance to the details on your pay stub after the first one when everything appears OK. You might end up paying the Feds $2200 or so.

fuck fuck fuck.
New York people, can anyone recommend an accountant?

this was the first year since I got married that we didn't owe a bunch of money.

I got cursed with a one-off 1099-MISC last year. Fuck fuck fuck.
(The payment preparation is over at least. Still.)

That said, this is the first time I did my taxes online. The coolest part was the third-party site name: TAXSLAYER!

my bank rejected my direct deposits of my refunds this year; fuck you WaMu!

What? On what basis?

We've finally got our tax appointment tonight. Normally I'd do it myself, but with buying a house we figured we'd get some pro help this year.

I don't know. I'm pretty confident I had my routing number correct.

How does everyone do their taxes online? I did mine online a few years ago, via some company I don't remember liked to on the IRS website. It was all 'Free free free' until I had typed everything in and they charged me a fee for direct deposit or speedy processing or some bullshit. Has anyone else had such an experience?

Wish they were still doing the telefile. That shit was golden.

Big estimated payments based on a fat '07
+ a lean '08
= estimated payments for '09 are COVERED
(with a remainder of $39)

OK, here is a question. If I am new to the US tax system have been paid as an Independent contractor and will receive a 1099, do I have to file estimated taxes forms or can I wait till year end?

You can wait until the end of the year, but depending on how much you end up making an additional penalty and interest could be assessed.

I believe the next estimated tax payment date is Sept 15th, so you have a little time to get with an accountant and figure out your best move. I can't remember for sure because I sort of have a break from paying quarterly estimates this year. (I made so little money last year that the quarterly estimates I paid were enough to cover last year's taxes and this year's as well. ;_;)

It's true, the next installment date is 9/15, and then 1/15/2010 for the final one.

I am unlikely to owe much in terms of taxes as I won't earn a significant amount this year and I think I can count co-pays on medical treatment against tax. I want to stay legal though as I have no desire to be unceremoniously tossed out of the country.

If you're 1099'd you can deduct any health insurance premium you pay from the amount you made too, in addition to any direct medical expense (copays, OTC drugs, prescriptions). Also, lots of other business types of expenses (check out Schedule C). You could just send a token amount in with the proper form (1040-ES voucher) on 9/15 - it only has spots for how much you are enclosing, not how much you think you might make.

The penalty for not paying enough in estimated tax is also based on your previous year's tax. If, as you say, you are "new to the system" then presumably your previous year's tax would be 0, and theoretically you wouldn't get charged a penalty for making no estimated tax payments.

If you're 1099'd you can deduct any health insurance premium you pay from the amount you made too

yes, but being self employed, (which is what being 1099-ed means) you are subject to two different taxes: regular tax on the income tax, and self-employment tax, which is 15.3% of your net income from that 1099 income. Health insurance premiums count against regular income tax, but not self-employment tax.

, in addition to any direct medical expense (copays, OTC drugs, prescriptions).

not really - these deductions go somewhere else - and are the same for people paid as employees

True, schedule C costs vs. itemized deductions for the med expenses. That extra 7.8% of self-employment tax (plus the B&O state tax) almost always makes me rethink the whole "owning a business" deal. I did get some interesting info from Costco (of all places) about a small business/sole proprietorship 401K that looked worth investigating.

Okay, after doing further research, Ed's situation might be more complicated, if he's not a US citizen. Basically, the US system is set up so that an individual shouldn't be paying social security to two countries ... I don't know how it works in other countries - but it is possible that you might be exempt from Self-Employment tax.

I did get some interesting info from Costco (of all places) about a small business/sole proprietorship 401K that looked worth investigating.

But can't you just get a SEP? I think they are actually more flexible (i.e. if you file an extension, you have an extension to make contributions. You can't do that with a 401k as far as I know).

Maybe, I've never been in a position to think about contributing until this year - lots of options to check out I guess. I'm familiar with 401ks from stints of employment, but don't really know anything about SEPs or Keoghs etc.

SEP stands for Self-Employed Pension. A friend of mine who's been self-employed for a long time has one. He really likes the fact that he has that extra time to contribute. I think it's somewhat like an IRA - where you have until the filing deadline to make contributions - except with a SEP, if you file an extension you also have that extra time to figure out how much you want to contribute.

I'm not sure whether this sole proprietor 401k would allow you to deduct the contributions directly from your earnings (like an employee one does). If so, that would make it pretty attractive, because I'm pretty sure the SEP contributions wouldn't reduce your self-employment tax, just the regular income tax, like an IRA.

Done!

Turbotax <3 <3 <3

i also turbotax'd 2day !

OK, I never heard of this Making Work Pay Credit:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=205922,00.html

I got a check this week, which apparently is actually mine, as a result.