2009 Taxes

[redcap]

Anybody else done their 2009 taxes and been burned by the stimulus payment to us taxpayers in terms of less witholding?

[RobinQuillonsHair]

Yes.  Although I wouldn't say we were burned.  If we were wise we would have banked the amount we owe and earned .25% on it!

[redcap]

You are, of course, correct. But those who chose to believe the Messiah and thought they were actually getting something must now ante up. I had to pay more than I expected.

[lexiconic]

I actually ended up with more than expected, because our withholding was too high.

[redcap]

Well, have a party, lexi. We only have witholding from one of our four sources, and when it was adjusted for the individual to get more each check it went too far. We also had a surprise from the wife's former employer. We didn't even know we had it.

One thing that hurts us is that every extra causes us to pay taxes on more of our SS too.

[lexiconic]

That's tough, having to pay taxes on the SS.

I have children now, so things work out ok. When we had the business and no children, I always had a fairly big chunk to pay at the end of the year. It's never pleasant.

[redcap]

Yeah, last year, because we took some out of retirement accounts to move here, we paid the max on SS. This year is much better. But it won't be long until we have the mandatory withdrawals on our retirement accounts.

[Wiener]

We haven't figured our out yet but after looking over last years and what they withheld for this year.  I may have to pay in for the first time in my life which I may add just pisses me off to no end.  This tax break, Frakking joke that it is, should have at least withheld what you would owe from the way you filled out your W-4.  Hubby had withholdings for one, and I took withholdings for one and we have a child, and I still think we may end up paying in.

[RobinQuillonsHair]

You are, of course, correct. But those who chose to believe the Messiah and thought they were actually getting something must now ante up. I had to pay more than I expected.

We got $800.  I don't consider that to be nothing.

The Messiah doesn't process my paycheck.  I knew when I got my first paycheck under the new tax laws that not enough was being withheld.  I could have made a two minute telephone call to the processor and changed my withholding amount.  But I didn't.  Personal Responsibility. 

[redcap]

Now, let's be honest. Nobody got anything. All that was done "to help the economy" was take a little less each payday. But, at year's end the tax owed remained unchanged.

Of course one should have known that.

By the way, there are some who will wind up owing and even owing enough to have to pay a penalty. A penalty because the government decided to not take as much as they had been.

Now when the bankers change their rules to induce penalties we call it all kinds of names. Why would you say the government should be exempt?

[RobinQuillonsHair]

The government is not responsible for how much money you have withheld from your check.  You are.

I just checked.  The difference in my pay from the time the laws changed exceed the amount I owe in taxes.  I'd say I got something.

[molmarsa]

We got $800.  I don't consider that to be nothing.

The Messiah doesn't process my paycheck.  I knew when I got my first paycheck under the new tax laws that not enough was being withheld.  I could have made a two minute telephone call to the processor and changed my withholding amount.  But I didn't.  Personal Responsibility. 

I did take the four minutes and called my employer and my husbands employer and had a significant amount taken out extra. We didn't miss it then and lucky to see a small return. Any year you don't have to pay is a good year!

[molmarsa]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I was told that those people that took advantage of the cash for clunkers program have to claim the $5,000.00 as income and pay taxes on it. Supposedly they were sent 1099's! Now that is not right, was that explained to them up front? Is this even true? Has anyone else heard this?

[redcap]

The government is not responsible for how much money you have withheld from your check.  You are.

I just checked.  The difference in my pay from the time the laws changed exceed the amount I owe in taxes.  I'd say I got something.

You are wrong. You got NOTHING. The end net is ZERO. The total tax owed is the same regardless of witholding. All that changes is when you have the money.

And, if you think that it is only you who controls how much is taken out of your check, try not having any taken. The government tells the employer how much should be taken. TRUE you can increase that to cover your total expected tax liability, but you might run into several roadblocks should you try to have less taken.

My end point is the government changes the witholding tables to GIVE you more money. Then the end tax liability is the same as it was before. It is a political scam. Both Regan and Obama pulled it and the public sucked it up.

[RobinQuillonsHair]

Wrong.  We qualified for an $800 tax credit.  When mine and my wife's pay went up I calculated that we were getting too much money, i.e. the extra pay would exceed $800.  I failed to make the adjustment at the time and now I owe the difference.

We will pay $800 less in taxes then we would have last year.