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I owe Uncle Sam money this year, any way to avoid this?

S

SeductivePig

Senior member
Quick facts:

I made $77k last year with bonuses, etc. I get reimbursed for mileage to my client (52 miles roundtrip), but not mileage to my home office (66 miles roundtrip).

My employer required me to commute to my home office twice a week despite having another office 5 miles away from where I live.

I contributed nothing to my 401k and nothing to an IRA, so now I owe $300.

Had no medical expenses, no student loan interest, etc.



My question is, can I use the commute to my home office as a business expense? Technically I had somewhere closer I could've gone but my job required me to travel that far. That would be close to 66 miles * 2 days/week * 48 weeks = 6336 miles, x the standard mileage rate of .56 cents/mile = $3548..

I paid a bunch of money for maintenance so I actually lost money with gas + maintenance on my car, even after reimbursements.
 
Why not be thankful you only owe $300 and not $3000 and be glad you had some decent (accidental) tax planning?
 
I think you can still put $5,500 into an IRA for last year, up until tax due day sometime in April, IIRC. Throw a few thousand into IRA and the $300 goes away.

Oh, and the shame of not making six figures on ATOT. Everyone makes much more than that here, don't you know?
 
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You should be able to deduct business travel, and other expenses. Whether it's worth it or not, I don't know. Looks to me like you nailed it. A zero balance is ideal, but owing the government by a small amount is better than them owing you.
 
drebo said:
Why not be thankful you only owe $300 and not $3000 and be glad you had some decent (accidental) tax planning?
Click to expand...

I have $166k of student loans. Quite frankly, the government is making billions of dollars off of people like me who did things correctly, so I have zero incentive to play nice with them. They allow banks to get loans at low interest, but they won't even let a person who is steadily paying off his loans refinance to a lower rate.

I think you can still put $5,500 into an IRA for last year, up until tax due day sometime in April, IIRC. Throw a few thousand into IRA and the $300 goes away.

Oh, and the shame of not making six figures on ATOT. Everyone makes much more than that here, don't you know?
Click to expand...

Problem with the IRA is that I can't get a deduction since my AGI is above $70k.

You should be able to deduct business travel, and other expenses. Whether it's worth it or not, I don't know. Looks to me like you nailed it. A zero balance is ideal, but owing the government by a small amount is better than them owing you.
Click to expand...

I am a consultant, so I mean, I feel like I should be able to expense having to travel 66 miles roundtrip when I have another office just 5 miles away.
 
crazypraveen said:
I am covered by a retirement plan at work but I choose not to make contributions, so I thought I can't deduct?
Click to expand...

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/05/032305.asp
401(k) and 403(b) Plans If you make salary-deferral contributions to a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, you are considered an active participant for the year to which your salary-deferral contributions apply. If you are eligible to make salary-deferral contributions but elect not to, you are not considered an active participant for that year.
Click to expand...
 
crazypraveen said:
I have $166k of student loans. Quite frankly, the government is making billions of dollars off of people like me who did things correctly, so I have zero incentive to play nice with them. They allow banks to get loans at low interest, but they won't even let a person who is steadily paying off his loans refinance to a lower rate.



Problem with the IRA is that I can't get a deduction since my AGI is above $70k.



I am a consultant, so I mean, I feel like I should be able to expense having to travel 66 miles roundtrip when I have another office just 5 miles away.
Click to expand...

You borrowed 166K+ from the government from a scheme which must make a loss and you have the temerity to bitch about taxes. Some peoples self entitlement astounds me. It is $300 just pay it.
 
crazypraveen said:
I am covered by a retirement plan at work but I choose not to make contributions, so I thought I can't deduct?
Click to expand...

http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Are-You-Covered-by-an-Employer's-Retirement-Plan?

Defined contribution plan (profit-sharing, 401(k), stock bonus and money purchase pension plan) and any contributions or forfeitures were allocated to your account for the plan year ending with or within the tax year;
Click to expand...

If you AND your employer put ZERO in, you can deduct the IRA, from the looks of this.

Oh, and does your employer match any on your 401k? If so, why wouldn't you get at least the match amount in there?
 
Puppies04 said:
You borrowed 166K+ from the government from a scheme which must make a loss and you have the temerity to bitch about taxes. Some peoples self entitlement astounds me. It is $300 just pay it.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'll delete this thread and pay the government $300 since you asked me to. Happy?

Engineer said:
http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Are-You-Covered-by-an-Employer's-Retirement-Plan?



If you AND your employer put ZERO in, you can deduct the IRA, from the looks of this.

Oh, and does your employer match any on your 401k? If so, why wouldn't you get at least the match amount in there?
Click to expand...

Problem is I may have made one contribution and cancelled - if it truly is an absolute zero contribution qualifer, I don't think I can do the IRA.

They do match, but it's a measly $2000 per year, and I'm fully vested after another 2 years - I'd rather take that money and put it into an index fund. My interest payment on my loan is $1250/month so I value cash much more than retirement funding right now.

I look at it from the point of job loss - how long I can survive before I run out of funds for my loan.
 
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Puppies04 said:
You borrowed 166K+ from the government from a scheme which must make a loss and you have the temerity to bitch about taxes. Some peoples self entitlement astounds me. It is $300 just pay it.
Click to expand...

This shitstain borrowed $166k from the government? And he's bitching about $300?
 
crazypraveen said:
Ok, I'll delete this thread and pay the government $300 since you asked me to. Happy?



Problem is I may have made one contribution and cancelled - if it truly is an absolute zero contribution qualifer, I don't think I can do the IRA.
Click to expand...

You may have? What does cancelled mean? Does your W2 state that you have a qualified plant or not (usually checked on the box)?

So now you're saying that you actually did put money into the 401k (did you pull it back out)?

Also, a measly $2,000. You'll fit right in here at ATOT....$2,000 is ass wiping money! :biggrin:
 
Engineer said:
You may have? What does cancelled mean? Does your W2 state that you have a qualified plant or not (usually checked on the box)?

So now you're saying that you actually did put money into the 401k (did you pull it back out)?

Also, a measly $2,000. You'll fit right in here at ATOT....$2,000 is ass wiping money! :biggrin:
Click to expand...

I made one contribution to the 401k and the employer matched when I did that, but that was for one paycheck. Never did it again. And I couldn't pull the money out.
 
crazypraveen said:
I made one contribution to the 401k and the employer matched when I did that, but that was for one paycheck. Never did it again. And I couldn't pull the money out.
Click to expand...

You should change your OP then:

I contributed nothing to my 401k and nothing to an IRA, so now I owe $300.
Click to expand...

It is also interesting that you're worried about $300 to the government when you left $2,000 on the table at your employer, not to mention the tax deferment benefits, in terms of a 401k match. That would have taken your $300 to zero or negative AND put an extra $2,000 into an account for you via your employer. FREE money given away, IMO.
 
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crazypraveen said:
My question is, can I use the commute to my home office as a business expense?
Click to expand...
No, you cannot use your commute as a business expense.

crazypraveen said:
Technically I had somewhere closer I could've gone but my job required me to travel that far. That would be close to 66 miles * 2 days/week * 48 weeks = 6336 miles, x the standard mileage rate of .56 cents/mile = $3548..

I paid a bunch of money for maintenance so I actually lost money with gas + maintenance on my car, even after reimbursements.
Click to expand...
See IRS Publication 463. There is no exception for working at a worksite that is not the closest one to your home.
 
crazypraveen said:
Quick facts:

I made $77k last year with bonuses, etc. I get reimbursed for mileage to my client (52 miles roundtrip), but not mileage to my home office (66 miles roundtrip).

My employer required me to commute to my home office twice a week despite having another office 5 miles away from where I live.

I contributed nothing to my 401k and nothing to an IRA, so now I owe $300.

Had no medical expenses, no student loan interest, etc.



My question is, can I use the commute to my home office as a business expense? Technically I had somewhere closer I could've gone but my job required me to travel that far. That would be close to 66 miles * 2 days/week * 48 weeks = 6336 miles, x the standard mileage rate of .56 cents/mile = $3548..

I paid a bunch of money for maintenance so I actually lost money with gas + maintenance on my car, even after reimbursements.
Click to expand...

I pay my live-in sommelier a little more than what you made. But she puts money into the 401k I provide for her. The deduction is pretax and it lowers her taxable income. You might try that.
 
Quick facts:

Op is retarded and will spend his entire life paying off his debt, then spend any remaining trying to recoup when he should have been saving for retirement because he has absolutely zero mathematical skills to equate why you pay off x loan over y loan or contribute to an investment over paying extra to a loan. Deeeeeeerp
 
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