Tax Season!

[dodint]

Did you finish your four year degree prior to 2014? I lost mine because I'm doing grad work, ended up having to do LLC instead.

[mac5155]

Yeah I did. Did that just change this year? I finished bachelor's in 2010, grad work this year.

[dodint]

Yeah, same here. I claimed it last year even though I finished my bachelors in 2011, and was told to go pound sand because of a recent change. I wasn't amused, but then most of my tuition is covered by GI Bill so I can't claim it anyway.

[PensFanInDC]

So do we have to provide some sort of proof of health insurance this year?

[dodint]

With TT, it asked me, but I also have an employer plan on my W2 so the validation wasn't very stringent. I'm not sure what folks that purchase their own have to do.

There were a few screens explaining the new requirements, and then a list of typical scenarios. I selected Employer Sponsored and then it left me alone.

[meow]

So Box 2 on my wife's W2 has nothing in it... what the heck does that mean?

[mac5155]

You gonna have a nice check to write April 14th

[dodint]

Are boxes 2/4/6 all blank?

If so, I'd take a look at her last pay stub from last year and verify that she did indeed pay federal taxes and SS, and if she did, get a new W2 from her HR department.

[mac5155]

If you don't have withholdings... ?

[mac5155]

"Paper copies of your W2 have been mailed to the address listed on file on 1/28/2015. An electronic copy will be available after 1/31/2015"

F YOU DUDE. WHY?

[pittsoccer33]

got my refund today. its never very large (it isn't supposed to be) but it was enough to pay off the last of the christmas bills.

[dodint]

Yeah. The perfect return is $0.00. Always makes me chuckle when people brag about the interest free loan they gave the government all year.

[count2infinity]

Interest free loan? Or secret savings account? I guess it just depends on how you look at it.

[PensFanInDC]

Interest free loan? Or secret savings account? I guess it just depends on how you look at it.

Exactly. We use our refund on big ticket stuff that is harder to save for during the year. We enjoy our hefty refund although this year will be drastically less than it has been.

[Idoit40fans]

I usually owe a little bit, though i should get a return this year. The savings account idea is the way i look at it. The first year i was with my now fiancee i took no exemptions (or maybe 1?)then paid for an all inclusive trip to st lucia with the tax return. It was pretty nice to not worry about designating savings.

That wasnt planned, i was planning on building it up and actually using it for something, like a down payment on a car or something, but i had a better year than expected.

[pittsoccer33]

0% interest paying savings account

why not look into upping your exemptions and having that extra money placed into a money market or laddered CDs or something.

[count2infinity]

I make so little money right now that I don't think it's worth it.

[dodint]

0% interest paying savings account

why not look into upping your exemptions and having that extra money placed into a money market or laddered CDs or something.

Bingo.

Most realistic answer is a lack of discipline. I'm a bad saver myself so I put a lot of money into retirement accounts, I rarely have any real cash on hand.

"Secret Savings Account" is code for "I want my money to do the least for me." If that meets your goals that's awesome, just don't don't pretty up a big return like it's something other than unoptimized money.

[Idoit40fans]

0% interest paying savings account

why not look into upping your exemptions and having that extra money placed into a money market or laddered CDs or something.

Because earning an immaterial amount of money in a cd over that time isnt worth the slightest bit if extra work.

[count2infinity]

I'll pretty it up all I want and you can't stop me.

[dodint]

*shrug*

[ulf]

I'm normally in the "why earn 0 dollars on that money" refund camp. But savings accounts are the same thing at the moment with like a quarter of a percent interest rate. So I don't think it really matters. Only problem is you don't have that money available to you throughout the year.

[Idoit40fans]

I'm normally in the "why earn 0 dollars on that money" refund camp. But savings accounts are the same thing at the moment with like a quarter of a percent interest rate. So I don't think it really matters. Only problem is you don't have that money available to you throughout the year.

Indeed.

[columbia]

The optimal method is have zero withholdings and tap into a short term municipal bond fund to pay the amount due.

I'm too lazy to do that and will get a $1300 refund from the feds.

[dodint]

For me it's a two part issue of importance. The Libertarian side of me wants the money in my pocket up front, not given back to me when the IRS feels like it. The other thing is dispelling the fundamental misunderstanding that many people have of what a tax return is. Lots of people think it's a bonus, and rely on it, and think it's a game to see how big a return they can get. In reality it's their money that they already could've had.

I'm not saying that is the crowd here, because if you're reading a Tax thread on a hockey forum you're probably already in the 99th percentile of people that have an interest in what their money is doing.