Tax question
 

So apparently making more money and being single is a bad thing? Last year I got back a little over $2000 from federal and $500 from state. This year I made a crapton more money, I paid a crapton more money into both federal and this stupid state I live in, and I am only getting back $800 from federal and I owe a whopping $1804 to this retarded state! WTF! I so PO'd! I filed the tax myself like I did last year but haven't submitted the form yet. Should I go to a professional? I feel like I need to find some random chick and marry her just for the BS tax break that married couples get. Or go buy a cheap house and rent it out although it would be my "permanent residence". I'd appreciate the wisdom you guys and gals have to share since I have only filed taxes on my own 4 times lol

Did you change your dependant status?

That's all I can think of, unless you were self-employed / contract.

Major thing is where you live and how the tax laws change for that year. I can easily see the federal being lower, but owing for state is a bit tough but I do not know the tax laws where you live.

Hmmm good point I will go recheck but I think the status is still single. I claim 01 on both state and federal. Should I claim 00?

Do not go to H&R Block!

We paid $200.00 for them to do our taxes(2005). The IRS kicked it back, with corrections. H&R Block, made several errors! We didn't owe that much more, but it was like $200.00 for poor incorrect service! I used Turbo Tax since then, no problems or errors!
This **** hole state, has change the tax rates, we also will probably have to pay!

Did you use Turbo Tax?

Yes sir I did and I used it last year as well. I am just really confused how taxes work. The way I see it is I am punished for being single. I am so confused on this. I don't like the females who work for the agency I do because they are... manly. lol but seriously my coworkers who are married to fellow agents have 2 incomes which are both really good. They get huge returns and with dual incomes, they bank! I am single and get raped on the rent for my condo, raped on taxes, and have 1 income. What did you do to not owe before you got married? Honestly even if I broke even for next Id be happy. Any advice for next year? Can I write off the tax I paid for my Z?

Living in cali does suck this time of the year, cali is in the hole majorly and is attempting to get some money.

I doubt if you made any errors! It guides you along very well!

But re check just to be sure!

Claim 00 if you have no dependents and no mortgage. If you claim 01 and have no state deductions you will get screw-ed over.

Being married doesn't get you any tax breaks unless you start reproducing, and believe me that will cost you a whole lot more in the long run. Most of the deductions for married filing jointly are simply double what the single person deductions are. The main benefit is if your spouse is making less money then you effectively are "averaging out" your 2 incomes for tax purposes. Besides tax the only other financial benefit of being married is that you are only making one rent/mortgage payment.

In the long run being married costs you a lot more than being single, first you have to pay for the wedding, the honeymoon, and 7 years later there is a 50% chance that you have to pay for the divorce and several years of alimony. :icon14: So the moral of that little story is don't do it, unless you are 100% sure that it is Mrs Right and you are willing to work on it staying that way.

Oh, and yes, you can deduct any sales (and excise) taxes that you payed on your car. The program should have explicitly asked you that question unless you filed 1040EZ.

I think I am going to switch back to claiming 00 like you said. The thing that bugs me is that when I got my GS-09 grade the difference between 00 and 01 for state was only about $14 each check, which is wierd that it would effect me like that. Federal however was much more. I still dont understand though. I paid over twice as much money as I did last year into both fedral and state and I made a little under twice what i made last year. Oh well, lessons learned. A) Dont get married apparently. B) this is probably going to happen every year so I need to expect it and get money aside just for this. Fortunately with all the money I saved for the Z that I didn't spend will cover these taxes and my FI CBE and LTH!! well thanks for the responses though guys I appreciate it. :D

Welcome to the higher tax bracket, the more you earn the more you pay percentage wise. :tiphat:

It helps us all be more equal.



:D

Cali is hurting for money...heck 2 years ago they said my mom owed them money from the $1million dollar house that she sold. Fact is we have been living in an apartment at that time. They also taxed her $6000 from the previous year, but she never work during the year that they claimed she worked. Damn ******** put my parents in a big hole and they had to borrow money from a friend just to eat and keep up with the apartment dues...and my mom is an RN

Tax break for married couples doesn't mean crap in this state. Most of the time I get money back from the Feds because I claimed ZERO during the year but owe the State most of the time.

Plus I pay property tax for my car every 6 months which is close to $300.

I was lucky enough to marry into my tax debt. Long, complicated, SAD story short, wife now/GF then mom passed away and she couldn't continue making house payments. Had to let it foreclose. Well, neither of us knew of the new law that went into effect that year of you must claim the "erased" debt as income for that year...2 years later, we get a letter saying we owed over 10K to the Feds and 3K to the state. I did ALOT of digging and calling and couldnt find a loop hole...this is how my turbo went away ;( $1600 and I'm done with these crooks.