Who Else Is Getting The Big Stiff One On Tax "Returns" This Year?

last (ty2014) year my wife claimed 10 because she worked a lot of ot, we got boned.
this past year (ty2015) we both claimed married 2 and i had a killer year. i should have claimed single 0.
i finally get a great job and even with a good bit coming off my w2 for meals and travel, and despite 10% going in my 401k, we still got hosed. but nowhere near as bad as last year.

so this year wifey and i are both claiming married 0 and she is having 50$ more per pay coming out. once my credit cards are done and paid off my 401k gets bumped up to 20%

 

Isn't even how many you claim, you can ask to have a flat amount taken out per pay period in addition to the usual deductions out of state and/or federal.

 

i know, i learned the tax laws the hard way last year, combined we never hit what we got last year, so being in a higher bracket, i didnt realise that you pay more, but any credit we previously got, went down or disappeared alltogether. for instance, was the child credit, went from x$ per kid to like 500 for all 3. its cool, i know what our liability is, and ill get it paid up front and cruise after that.

its kinda weird, because toward the end of the year if i do ok, i top out my retirement, and that money goes into my check raising my taxable income. so im new to all this.

im just butthurt because i have a killer job and have owed 3 years in a row now because we make too much.

its a hard nut to swallow.

 

I had a similiar experience when I took my second job 7 yrs ago. The 3K a year more put us in a higher bracket, so while we did still get a return it wasn't the usual.

 

I've owed for the past 3 years now being in a higher tax bracket. 2015 tax return: -$1,036.

Is there a support group for tax rape victims?

 

If all my income counted as taxable, my wife and I would be in the next tax bracket. But thankfully, we aren't. I got a sizeable amount back this year. But, I have a kid in daycare, 2 houses I pay taxes on, 3 retirement funds I put money into, I do charity work, and my cell phone is my work phone (amongst other things). A lot of people I know don't want to pay for a licensed pro to do their taxes, but I have benefited from having a lady do mine the past 3 years.

 

I'm sure it's considered the obama tax relief program when you pay in more than ever.
Kinda like Obama care forced Healthcare.

 

about the same with state tax...

 

I always come pretty close to even. Usually owe the state the $40ish "safe harbor" fee for the use tax and get a couple hundred back federal.

Isn't that how it's supposed to work as long as you have your info setup correctly with your HR people?

 

Odd, but in the last 30 years or so, I think I have had to pay in at the end of the year maybe 2 times. All other years, I get money back. Single, no kids, own my home clear.

 

Yes it is. My wife and I are closer this year to being even than we were the past few. She was expecting a huge return for some reason... I was trying to minimize what we got back.

In all honesty, a flat tax should be instituted. 10% across the board. Cut the IRS down to 20% of its current force and you could almost get rid of needing to do taxes every year for the lay person.

 

I agree. Flat tax, no loopholes, exemptions, etc. Everyone pays a certain percentage (I think I read it would need to be about 15% to work in such a scenario), and it's done.

Massachusetts has a flat income tax. One of the few states that does.

 

I think 10% would be ideal. But you have to get rid of the loopholes for corporate taxes too. All people pay, regardless. If you did this, you would actually save the country money. Less government officials making 70-100k+ a year (I'm one of those being military), less paper, less time. Not trying to get political, just saying there are better ways to have a tax set up than what we currently have.

 

Not gloating but I got back a total of $1800 this year. Wife and I, no kids, file jointly.

 

My hope and dream is to owe $1,000,000 in taxes some year