Taxes Suck!!!!

[scout man]

Just did my taxes on turbo tax. I was hoping to get enough money back this year to get gears and a rear locker... well it turns out thats about how much I owe :erm:. I worked a full time job from jan 1st to august 7th, had a couple months of unemployment, and about another 1/5th of my income came from contract work... which killed me. No more scout anything for a very long time thanks to taxes! Anyone else in the same boat as me?

[Brody]

Hey Steve

Console yourself with this thought:

Some of the taxes you are going to be struggling to pay and that will take away from doing or finishing stuff on your Scout, will, most assuredly, go in part to some more trail closures. With more trails closed because you are paying your tax money, there will be fewer trails to contemplate driving on, which, in turn, means that finishing projects on your rig can now be put off without too much trouble...:fing:

Just trying my best to put some happiness into your tax situation.:D I owe money this year, too. Since we are barely making monthly expenses and putting food on the table and, incidentally, have no money and no job, I don't have a clue where the money is going to come from.:eek:

[JeffX]

Hey Steve

Console yourself with this thought:

Some of the taxes you are going to be struggling to pay and that will take away from doing or finishing stuff on your Scout, will, most assuredly, go in part to some more trail closures.....

Oh no you didn't! http://www.long-boy.com/images/smileys/thefingerpop.gif

I usually owe taxes. I'm a little scared to do mine this year. It's amazing how they manage to take half your paycheck and still want more. My take-home income isn't much more than when I made half as much.

.

[Mporter]

Yeah I was looking forward to getting some money back, but im in the early stages of turbo tax and it already says i owe stuff.

[Chris]

Bummer to all who have to pay. Since Barb retired mid-year our income is lower than it's ever been and we'll get a return. I'm pleased because we also need it more than ever!

[SubaCool]

I like Tax Act :D That and keeping it simple (one W2, filing jointly :p)

[scout man]

Since we are barely making monthly expenses and putting food on the table and, incidentally, have no money and no job, I don't have a clue where the money is going to come from.

thats my problem too Pete. When you live paycheck to paycheck and barely make ends meet, a large bill from the government just hurts. You would think being unemployed would lend towards some sort of tax benefits, but no, you even have to pay taxes on the money you got from them in the first place. I guess the credit card bill will just have to get a little higher.

[Hypoid]

I've had to pay in a few years now. No interest free loans to the gubberment from this kid!

Like the rest of you, I'll be shaking the money bush pretty hard to see if anything falls out.

[Pathrat]

Yes, taxes suck. It does indeed suck when you start to make more money but don't really get to enjoy the benefits because your percentage withheld increases and you get to pay in April too.

What I did last year when I owed a bunch was take advantage of the credit card "convenience checks" with the three month no interest period. You can borrow for three months, usually, and spread the tax burden out a bit. I made sure I would be able to pay it though, that is key so you don't increase your debt load. It might be a good option for some.

[Warrlord]

I haven't done mine yet but I know I'll owe huge. My income dropped considerably last year & so did my wifes so for most of the year, I claimed more on my W4 so I could bring home a little more money every check to pay my bills & still do something fun once in a blue moon. I have less than 6 years before my house is paid off so the mortgage interest deduction will barely make a dent. We've considered selling the house & with the money we'd get after the balance is paid off, we could pay off all our bills & have a few $$ left over. I just don't want to live in an apartment after living in a house for so long although that'd be less $$ than renting a house. We got too much stuff we don't wanna get rid of so I'd need to rent a storage space..........defeating the purpose of needing to live cheap. With the market the way it is, the house wouldn't bring what it would've 2 or more years ago if it'd even sell in a decent time frame at all.

All I know is, I'll be calling the IRS to work out a payment plan. Yes Steve, TAXES DO SUCK!

[Rob]

We've considered selling the house & with the money we'd get after the balance is paid off, we could pay off all our bills & have a few $$ left over.

Just remember you'd have to pay capital gains taxes on the equity you have in the house if you sell it and don't buy another house. That would be a big bite out of whatever you get for it. And this is a bad time to be selling.

[Volcom]

We had a fairly large return this year. 3 years into a new house, 2 young kids, full time daycare, etc... help with the return.

[Warrlord]

Just remember you'd have to pay capital gains taxes on the equity you have in the house if you sell it and don't buy another house. That would be a big bite out of whatever you get for it. And this is a bad time to be selling.

Yeah, that's been figured in already. That's only part of why I'm not chomping at the bit to do that. What we'd have left over wouldn't be that great but it'd be more than we have now.

[Haku]

Steve and Company,

Remember you can file for an extension, so that will give you another couple months to get the money together. Bummer that you didn't get a return though. I didn't think you worked enough contract work to make you have to pay out, but I guess you probably get raped on it, since they probably have a bunch of "sole proprietor/self-employed" surcharges and stuff.

One other thing to mention, and I know I've mentioned this to you before, is that the first $2400 of Unemployment is tax free for 2009 (not sure about 2010 though), so make sure that turbo tax took that into account. I can't remember if it did for mine or not, but that will put you in a completely different tax bracket. Might be worth your while to figure out if you can deduct more then the "Standard Deduction" if you add up business expenses and such.

Guess we'll have to pull out the "cheap but usefull" Scout mods for a while.

JH

[Pathrat]

Taxing unemployment is, in my opinion, nonsense. Tax those who have to apply for benefits? Oh yeah, that is the population that can endure a tax burden.

[Rusty]

The best way to control a population is to opress it, and to think that fighting taxes is what gave us our "independence". Just my opinion

[Chris]

Taxes provide things like unemployment comp. ;)

[Pathrat]

The best way to control a population is to opress it, and to think that fighting taxes is what gave us our "independence". Just my opinion

I like your thoughts, but I will not be taking up arms this year. Instead, I will be rolling over and taking it. Just my way of contributing to the problem. :rolleyes:

[Fordguy77]

I have always just signed up to have my taxes taken out of the unemployment before i get payment, i might take a little less home, but i have never had to pay anything in taxes back to the gov yet.
Steve and Company,

Remember you can file for an extension, so that will give you another couple months to get the money together. Bummer that you didn't get a return though. I didn't think you worked enough contract work to make you have to pay out, but I guess you probably get raped on it, since they probably have a bunch of "sole proprietor/self-employed" surcharges and stuff.

One other thing to mention, and I know I've mentioned this to you before, is that the first $2400 of Unemployment is tax free for 2009 (not sure about 2010 though), so make sure that turbo tax took that into account. I can't remember if it did for mine or not, but that will put you in a completely different tax bracket. Might be worth your while to figure out if you can deduct more then the "Standard Deduction" if you add up business expenses and such.

Guess we'll have to pull out the "cheap but usefull" Scout mods for a while.

JH

[scout man]

mine are taken out upfront too, what I ower from is my 5 1099 MISC forms from contract work.

[Fordguy77]

mine are taken out upfront too, what I ower from is my 5 1099 MISC forms from contract work.

ah that really sucks.

[Haku]

I have always just signed up to have my taxes taken out of the unemployment before i get payment, i might take a little less home, but i have never had to pay anything in taxes back to the gov yet.

I actually do the same thing too. I actually got the biggest tax return I've ever gotten this year, but that is mostly due to loosing my ass on taking money out of a Mutual Fund and being able to deduct the loss out of my income this year. Hopefully Steve can figure this out, since despite the contract work, I think what Turbo Tax is saying he owes is a bit excessive.

oh, and Chris, technically "our" taxes aren't taken out for UI, but rather the our employers taxes are taken out, and I think its dependent on how many people they put into the situation of needing unemployment. Hence the reason why they tried to talk me into quitting a couple weeks before they canned me. The fact that they were still paying me afterwards was kind of nice to know actually. It was pretty pathetic that I was actually making more money on Unemployment then my former co-workers were making over that winter.

JH

[scout man]

It was pretty pathetic that I was actually making more money on Unemployment then my former co-workers were making over that winter.
Jerk

Thats the reason my employer fought my unemployment so hard, going all the way into an appeals hearing (which I won). They had lost of 48 people in 35 months, at least 21 of which were fired. (the company employs 16 people on average. I am fairly confident my firing bumped them into the next tax bracket is why they fought it so hard.

My dad works with a tax accountant and when I go home next weekend to visit I am going to take my stuff to hiim and see what different numbers he can come up with. As of now about 25% of my contract income is going to the government, and I just dont think that sounds right.

[Fordguy77]

Oh ok that makes sense. In my case though its several employers last year i had 9 W2's. and the year before that 11. I have agree about that making more on unemployment than when working at certain places. Sad world we live in indeed.

[Chris]

technically "our" taxes aren't taken out for UI, but rather the our employers taxes are taken out

Yes, employers pay into the unemployment insurance but do not cover its entire costs. The cost of extended benefits are paid in their entirety 50/50 by the state and federal gov't. The same applies to the temporary emergency unemployment compensation which is funded by the federal gov't. I stand by my statement that we are paying for UI with our taxes. It's pretty much like social security which we pay in to while working and draw when retired. As is well known the amount paid in comes nowhere near covering what's taken out in benefits. Taxes cover the rest, we do pay for these programs with our taxes.

[scout man]

Well, then, thanks Chris for my paycheck this week. I appreciate it :D

[Chris]

My pleasure Steve! I'll be thanking all of you in a couple years when I start collecting social security for the rest of my life. :D





Yeah, yeah, yeah - or until they stop paying to satisfy you young folk who have to fund it. :lmao:

[scout man]

yea, i've been paying into social security my whole life and will never see a penny of it. This is my way of getting my money back from you money grubbing old people!

[Chris]

Well I've been paying in too you know. Ignore the fact that it'll take less than 2 years to get every penny back and I'll continue to collect. :lmao:

[Medic-5150]

I was due for a 1k return from the feds. After I reported my ROTH IRA they took it all out and I end up with a net return of 14$ after I pay CA state taxes. Taxes blow. No need to worry Chris, I put a few thousand into your SS account for ya last year. I'm doing my part to take care of the geriatric population!

[Aaron]

I'm taking it up the ying yang again this year. I thought I was doing a good thing when I bought a new house and kept my old one to rent it because that would give us a bit of a loss every year to take some $ off of our income. WRONG! Evidently uncle sam doesn't like that. They come up with Passive Activity Income which means you can only deduct as much as you make on a rental unless you are in the real estate business. So, my house rented for 10 months at 1300 per month. I pay 1700 per month in mortgage. Thats a $4000 write off right? Nope.

In addition, we put almost half of my wifes paycheck into 401k this year cause thats a good thing on your taxes, right. Well, that meant that her employer took out almost no taxes from her check which means that when added to my income, we now owe a crap load of cash... Time to change the W4 so I can have an even smaller paycheck.

As for paying it, the last couple of years we've take a 401k loan out so we could spread it out over 6 months or so and the interest all goes back to us. This year we are going to take a much larger 401k loan and pay down some debt and pay taxes. Problem being I'll be paying down debt much faster than I was before so I'll be VERY poor for the next 18 months.

Kroger hotdogs and kirkland hamburger helper is on the menu kiddies. Get used to it!

[WINKY]

I have never had to pay the government taxes during tax return. Always get money back. But then again i claim 0, but i learn to live within that.

[ROKTAXI]

I also have the Chris syndrome. After paying into SS since 1958, the Feds say I can now draw SS. Started a year ago Feb. After 51 years of involuntary withholdings, I could have made 10 times the income if it were put into a simple savings plan from the start. Can't imagine what you young whippersnappers will get when you retire. Start putting a few bucks away in a savings account that you DO NOT touch until you are ready to retire. Forget the stock market. Only the lucky will benefit. After loosing lots of bucks in this last financial fiasco, we took all our 401K's that were in the stock market and put them into IRA CD's. No one's paying for my SS. I put much more into the system and getting back only a fraction of what I put in. I'm also paying for those that put almost nothing into SS and getting more than me. As the commercials say: FEED THE PIG!

[Chris]

Great diversity here, we've got the "geriatric population" and the "young whippersnappers." :D

I agree with Marty on this point: " Start putting a few bucks away in a savings account that you DO NOT touch until you are ready to retire"

If you have company matching your 401K go for that even though you'll be in the stock market. Again DO NOT touch until you are ready to retire.

Dumb luck saved us from losing in the crash Marty so we're still in the market.

Nobody asked but since most of you are young I'll give you advice - live within your means even when your friends are buying the latest toys on credit and when you're among the geriatric population you'll be much better off.

No, it's not hard to not keep up with the Jones' ;)

[WINKY]

i will be putting $5000 per year into a roth IRA. plus my pension and 401k with %100 match on %3 of paycheck i will be set. But yeah i wont get much on the social security when i grow old... 30 more years.

And follow what chris said, dont use credit anymore, unless its to buy a house. I have been living on cash only for the past 6 years and have no problem. My truck is the only thing i need to pay off and i only owe $9000 on it then i am debt free.

[BlackRubi]

Last year, we got a break because Hannah was born the year before. This year wasn't nearly as good but I didn't owe anything, even after changing how much had them deduct for taxes. The return will cover us for a couple months just in case it takes me a little bit to find a job, which is great. However, business taxes suck giant monkey testes!!! Such a PIMA!!!!

[Rob]

Forget the stock market. Only the lucky will benefit. [/SIZE]

Got lucky a couple times in the market, but had a sharp broker in D.C. Lost a bunch in '87. Finally divested of stocks my wife had. Now it's all in IRA CDs and real estate.


live within your means even when your friends are buying the latest toys on credit and when you're among the geriatric population you'll be much better off.

No, it's not hard to not keep up with the Jones' ;)

It was unAmerican for too long to live within one's means. We're starting to get back to reality. What bugs me is that too many people who lived outside their means get bailouts. Those of use who have always been smart financially get no breaks, except for those we created ourselves.

[Pathrat]

Good points from the old guys. (;))

Yes, live within your means and pay yourself. Keep a pad of savings. I worked my backside off getting credit card free a certain number of years ago once I started making enough money to make ends meet and didn't have to charge the kids' shoes. It feels so much better not to have that kind of burden.

I will add that credit cards are important to your overall financial well-being. You can keep a credit card and use it for planned and unplanned larger expenses, but use it with a plan in mind for how many months payments you will divide your purchase into and how much in interest you are willing to absorb in order to pay off a new set of tires or the blown water heater in your basement. Stick to the plan and while you have this balance, ban yourself from using the card until the balance is zero. It is good to have a back up for funding the unexpected. Another thing this practice does for you is improve your credit score by demonstrating activity with paid on time and paid in full notations.

my .02

[scout man]

Those of use who have always been smart financially get no breaks, except for those we created ourselves.

x2. I lived debt free up untill I lost my job. Now I try reall hard, and still do a decent job, it just seems impossible to stay on top.

[Rob]

x2. I lived debt free up untill I lost my job. Now I try reall hard, and still do a decent job, it just seems impossible to stay on top.

I lived paycheck to paycheck for many years, but I never really needed much: my guitar, a running vehicle, a roof, a good dog and plenty of books and other stuff to read. And I've always been cheap. Then I got married. Fortunately, I married well. Unfortunately, she hasn't worked in a year now. Fortunately, we've managed to save some money. Unfortunately, we're getting closer and closer to retirement age. Life's an adventures. And I'm still having fun, by golly. I just have to budget better for it.

And these days it's getting harder and harder to stay on top. We managed to build a house-of-cards economy in this country and it came tumbling down. I fear that the Great Recession is just the start. And no one in Washington, Democrats or Republicans, is willing or able to fix the underlying problems.

Sorry, rant over.