I just finished my taxes

usually by 1st of Feb. Have never owed the Feds and only rarely the state

63 yrs old

You shouldn't be bragging about getting a refund, OP. That means the IRS has been holding "your money" for the past year.

The IRS will not begin accepting 2020 tax returns until February 12.

How fascinating! PLEASE tell us more!

I'm with you, OP, I knock that stuff out right away and get my return.

Yeah, what R2 said, you could have taken that refund money to the bank and earned .002% or whatever you get nowadays.

By the time I get all the paper work from banks and brokers, I file online first week of March every year. Last year got State refund on March 20. Federal, April 3.

OP is so basic

You really shouldn't be bragging that your taxes are so simple

How does one get a tax refund?

Are complex taxes the sign of a complex man R8?

I'm ok with being basic in this regard and many others.

I do mine as soon as possible, too. I haven’t been able to submit mine yet this year, because my state hasn’t finalized something. The H&R Block site I was using put up a red flag when I tried to submit. It doesn’t matter though because I owe the state, and like someone already mentioned, the IRS won’t start processing until February.

I need to start by seeing if my W2s make it to the right mailing address...

The IRS is telling people to expect delays in receiving refunds--even by direct deposit.

[quote] Refunds will likely take longer to process this year (estimate is two to four weeks for direct deposit – longer for paper checks) assuming no verification issues. This longer processing along with the required PATH Act delay for EITC and ACTC returns means the first direct deposits should not be expected until sometime in the first half of March.

Look guys, that's great. I want a refund. How do I get a refund?

How can you finish taxes if they won't be processed until February 12?

We usually start travelling for the winter around mid January so we have been filing extensions. Too many times while working I would file fairly early then have a company make a change to a 1099 and I would have to refile. Now I wait until summer to file.

If you want a refund you need to use a W-4 form and change how much your employer withholds from your pay.

I'm a single person with no dependants so if I want to pay my taxes evenly I claim 1 on my I-9 form. If I want a refund I claim zero. Back when I was young and dumb I claimed 9 so I could get the most money on pay day. I didn't save (of course) and it took almost two years to pay off the tax bill.

Waiting for one more form (HSA 1099). They say it will be available 2/1.

The IRS just sits on the return until 2/12 R15. Same thing happened to me last year. I filed on 2/3, and they didn't accept the return until almost two weeks later.

I said that on a tax thread last year or the year before, R2, and was excoriated. I was told repeatedly that everyone uses their refund as a "savings account" because that's how it's supposed to be. Maybe it was just a troll but it was really bizarre, I thought most DLers had more sense than that.

[quote]I need to start by seeing if my W2s make it to the right mailing address...

Post office is so fucked up right now. We're still getting Christmas cards postmarked before Dec. 25, from all over the country.

My sister sent me a Christmas card from St. Louis post marked December 12th. It arrived in Pennsylvania January 21st.

[quote] I want to pay my taxes evenly I claim 1 on my I-9 form. If I want a refund I claim zero

I-9 is an immigration form and has nothing to do with taxes.

Congratulations, R2 and R20. You are the people on the commercials during the golf tournament who did everything right. Enjoy your wakeboarding or vacations or whatever and leave us alone.

Oh right R23, the W4 is the form you fill out for withholding. When you start a new job HR will also ask you to fill out the I-9. I got them mixed up.

I realized yesterday that I’m getting a pretty big refund. I lost my job in May and ended up withdrawing a significant amount from my 401K. Because of the Cares Act, I’m not going to be hit with the 10% early withdrawal penalty. AND the amount I withdrew can be split between 2020, 2021 and 2022 income. Since they already withheld 20% in federal taxes, I’m getting 2/3 of that back this year.

Of course I’ll owe those taxes back in 2021 and 2022. But if I die before then, whoopie I’m rich!

I understand the argument of not letting IRS keeping your money but getting a refund is something that many can look forward to every year. And really, how much it would earn if you put it in a savings acct, if at all. So it's nice getting a lump sum and the fun speculating of how much it will be.

It's dependEnts, guys (not dependAnts).

OP, put a little of your refund aside for a good dictionary. You too, r18.

[quote] with no dependants

Oh, dear!

No, I have not filed my tax returns yet. I have probably overpaid. I don't give a shit if the IRS is holding the money instead of me.

Good for you, OP, if you are done with this task.

I don’t like to be reminded how much the government takes from what I have earned and hands out to other people.

Mine is completed. E-Filed even though it won't be accepted until Feb. That's okay - IT'S DONE!

Have to file early to claim the $600 stimulus I never got.

The form you complete and file is a RETURN, the money some taxpayers get back is a REFUND.

And a refund means the government made interest on your money and you didn’t.

OP, question:

Other than you, who hives a flying fuck?

Well, I give a fuck.

Granted, not a flying one, but still.

R34, is right, you are all potentially giving up tens of dollars every year.

IMO, most people are not disciplined enough to keep cash in savings to pay taxes. Hence, you might as well overpay a little bit.

In my case, I am required to pay estimated taxes, quarterly.

WHET Tax Troll, EA?

The current national savings account interest rate is .05%. On my $2500 refund it would have earned $1.25 over the course of a year

Exactly, R40.

What are taxes?

[quote]How does one get a tax refund?

By overpaying all year to Steve Mnuchin.

Okay so to all the people saying the government is holding taxes and making money off it. What should a single person with no dependents claim? If I claim one dependent I might have to owe. How much should I set aside in case I do?

I've always claimed zero dependents and have always received refunds. Try claiming one dependent and see what happens.

I'm so risk averse that having to owe would stress me out R45. I am seriously considering doing it anyway though

There’s no reason to use a 3rd party site unless you have a complex return.

3rd party like turbotax?

[quote]You are the people on the commercials during the golf tournament who did everything right. Enjoy your wakeboarding or vacations or whatever and leave us alone.

I'm disabled after an accident and have no income, nor do I get any kind of government support, R24, so fuck off. This board is full of people who have (or pretend to have) two homes and millions in retirement, and you come after me for giving standard everyday advice about income tax, thinking it makes me some snobby rich guy? You're a moron.

Sorry to lump you in with the bad people, R49. Usually when poor people are told to pinch their pennies properly, it's the rich who do it. You present yourself as having more "sense" than everyone else, so maybe you can see why I would think that.

I mean, obviously people are spending the money either way, so what, the only complaint is that they are giving up potential interest they could have earned on the money? That's silly.

Sorry, to bang on about this. It just reminds me of when George W Bush wanted to dump Social Security into the stock market, and said that people were being held back because they didn't have access to capital. Or this past year when Mnuchin said that people should just borrow money. These types can't imagine a world where you can't get cheap credit and where you wouldn't be speculating with most of your cash. The world of DL is poor people scared that they will owe tax, and grateful to get a refund. Its the closest us peons will get to a bonus.

[quote] Usually when poor people are told to pinch their pennies properly, it's the rich who do it.

I’m not rich and I do advise poor people to pinch their pennies properly. Pennies add up to dollars, but they don’t fall from heaven, they have to be saved.

Like that old expression, “if you watch your pennies the dollars will take care of themselves”?

And maybe if you have no income, R49, then it's not your place to weigh in how other people manage their income taxes. You obviously can't relate.

It's not like I haven't adjusted a W-4 before. It's not an exact science.

R0

[quote] I'm a salaried employee with no dependants

Oh Dear.

[quote]Its the closest us peons will get to a bonus.

Oh, dear (times two).