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2011 Income Tax Refund - How much did you get?

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L00PY said:
And if you can do the math just right, you want to owe the government just under $1,000 in taxes come April 15th (or the 18th with Emancipation Day). That way the government has essentially given you a free loan for that amount over the year. Of course the vast majority of tax payers can't handle budgets / savings / basic finances, so this is usually not the best case for most.
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i would like to do that but i don't know how. i end up getting back around $4-5k every year.
my accountant does my taxes. i am single, own my own property plus an investment property.
i don't know what my deductions are. i think i put a '1' somewhere.
 
It took way longer than I thought it would for someone to spurt out the words "interest-free loan". I'm with what another poster typed, that I see it as somewhat of a forced savings account. Sure, there's no interest on it, but I like the big check at the beginning of each year.
 
Finally got my 1099 yesterday and my W-2 today.

This may be a dumb question, but it doesn't say on the W-2 that I was hired mid-year so it looks like I make less than I do. How does the IRS know 😕
 
Ran some numbers last night and looks like I will be paying about $1500 fed, but getting 3k or so back from state.

rcpratt said:
This may be a dumb question, but it doesn't say on the W-2 that I was hired mid-year so it looks like I make less than I do. How does the IRS know 😕
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If I am understanding your question right, the answer is that it only matters how much you actually made in a year.
 
Pantoot said:
Ran some numbers last night and looks like I will be paying about $1500 fed, but getting 3k or so back from state.

If I am understanding your question right, the answer is that it only matters how much you actually made in a year.
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Well I'll throw a party if that's correct but I swear somebody told me that wasn't the case.
 
rcpratt said:
Finally got my 1099 yesterday and my W-2 today.

This may be a dumb question, but it doesn't say on the W-2 that I was hired mid-year so it looks like I make less than I do. How does the IRS know 😕
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IRS doesn't care how long you have worked, only how much you have made in total for the calendar year.
 
$625. All because of student loan interest. I believe in the whole no interest free loan to the gov't thing... but at the same time, I don't put the extra money I get every pay that would otherwise go to the gov't in any sort of savings account, so it's kind of moot.
 
Engineer said:
IRS doesn't care how long you have worked, only how much you have made in total for the calendar year.
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True, but payroll deductions usually base the amount off an annualized income. So if you were unemployed all year and then start in December and get paid $15k a month, you will get dinged pretty hard by payroll even though you don't owe much in tax. Payroll will take an amount off your cheque that would reflect an annual income of $180k.
 
I have most of the docs I need to file, 1099s from school and mortgage bank, W2 from current employer. Still waiting on W2 from my previous employer. Then I file. Not sure how much I'll get back exactly, should be a decent chunk because of the write off on the mortgage interest and the Lifetime Learning Credit. Goal is to pay off my orthodontic procedure and my Home Depot CC, leaving me debt free aside from the house. Again.
 
About $1700 federal and -$20 to the great Commonwealth of PA. No idea yet on local taxes, but I owed them about $200 last year.

Student loan deduction boosted the refund nicely, and I will probably be using it to pay off an extra month of my loan, and when my bonus check comes from work (taxed separately at a higher rate than my paycheck IIRC) then it is finally new laptop time!
 
silverpig said:
True, but payroll deductions usually base the amount off an annualized income. So if you were unemployed all year and then start in December and get paid $15k a month, you will get dinged pretty hard by payroll even though you don't owe much in tax. Payroll will take an amount off your cheque that would reflect an annual income of $180k.
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Yes, I explained the same thing earlier to someone who received a big bonus. The tax tables simply look at a one week or two week period, project your income from that to the full year, and deduct the approximate taxes to cover your expected amount of yearly tax.

As for my taxes, I'm waiting on one W2 and some bank stuff. I'm pissed off anyway as my last employer had a job in Idaho and after doing it, we found out that part of the terms of working for the State Government of Idaho is that we would have to declare that portion of income in Idaho and file Idaho state taxes. While legal, it's a crock of shit. Now I have to figure out Idaho taxes and pay extra to file there. On top of that, the tax rate is higher. Bullshit.
 
Not sure - but most of it ends up going into the fund to pay for this year's property and HOA taxes.

High property taxes are due to the assholes who voted to give more support to schools so they could afford to allow and teach illegal mexicans non-english speaking classes.
 
Got 1 1099 yesterday and 1 today.

Waiting on 3-more and two W-2's and will then figure out how much to put in my SEP in order to pay the least.
 
Owed $7000 last year because we couldnt itemize (renting) and had no deductions other than standard. Not wanting that to ever happen again, I bumped up withholding to an extra $100 per paycheck for both me and the wife. I could care less if the gov't is holding on to some of my extra money, not like the 0.01% I am getting in the bank is going to make a difference.

Just got my W-2's this year and it looks like we will get back about $4000 fed and $900 state from just the W-2's.

Of course in December I also added my name to my parents home, since they are retired and cant take advantage of the ~$25k mortgage interest and ~$15k tax deductions. Using these deductions and itemizing, I think I'll probably get closer to $12k -- of course the difference that comes from the mortgage and tax will go back to my parents, but it will be nice to see money coming back for a change.

Once I put those in and get all the piddly 1098's from savings interest, I'll report back with an accurate figure and see how close I came with my guess
 
I am sure I will owe. Same story every year. Pay 110% of last year, figure out a guesstimate in April, send in extra money, file extension, finish taxes in September/October.
 
$725 and $120 refund, direct deposit to my bank. Used Turbo Tax. Had to pay $19.95 to the State of IL to e-file though.
Received refunds direct deposit 1/29, a week after filing. 😛
 
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