Buh, wha...? Tax help!!

[lupo pazzesco]

so, I got my W-2s today, and I've been doing my taxes online with one of the free file sites (TurboTax free edition). And I was fully expecting to owe the IRS money, simply because I didn't get a lot of federal withheld, less than $170.

and yet...I get a refund. A relatively high one (For me) Almost $1000. Now, I know I get the EIC, that's not a surprise, since I got it last year and now know what that is, but there's something else called a "Making Work Pay/Government Retiree Credit" has been added, and I don't know what it is. When I go through the requirements, it asks if I'm retired, whether I received an economic relief payment in 2009 (which I didn't, at least not to my knowledge...), and whether I received a goverment retiree pension, all of which I don't have.

So. I'm really confused. While I'm not complaining that the refund is so high, I want to make sure I'm not messing up, and the making pay thing is what's confusing my. My google-fu has yielded confuzzling results. So. Help...? Someone? Anyone??

I'm not looking for an accountant, but someone who knows more and can direct me to info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I was wondering if "economic relief payment" meant getting a check from the first economic stimulus, but that was in 2008.

I didn't get any payment like that either.

Please excuse me a moment. I have dollar signs dancing in my eyes. Yay free money!

Anyhow, if you're using the Turbo Tax free edition, which I always use, I would think you'd be good to go. I haven't had any problems with my returns not being accepted, and I've used that service for a couple years now.

[Broomjockey]

Actually, TaxGuyKarl would probably be able to give you a quick, easy answer. Dude's a genius.

Thank you for reminding me though, that I need to keep a watch out for my T-4s soon.

[lupo pazzesco]

I was wondering if "economic relief payment" meant getting a check from the first economic stimulus, but that was in 2008.

I didn't get any payment like that either.

Please excuse me a moment. I have dollar signs dancing in my eyes. Yay free money!

Anyhow, if you're using the Turbo Tax free edition, which I always use, I would think you'd be good to go. I haven't had any problems with my returns not being accepted, and I've used that service for a couple years now.

I got one of those $300 checks in 2008, too, but nothing in 2009. That was my first thought, too!

Well, I'm going to see if TaxGuyKarl checks this thread, as Broom just reminded me of his genius, and if not, I'll shoot him a PM. I plan on filing by Friday, just to give me time to double check things, cuz I'm anal like that.

[Evil Queen]

You qualify for a bunch of taxx rebates that you may have forgotten about, which would explain why it's so high;

You're still going to school, so you get a rebate for that.
You work, which also gets you a rebate
You also live in what was claffied as a "recovering disaster area" which also gives you a rebate just for your address. I got one last year that was about $400.

But yes, Karl should be able to point out anything you forgot. Your refund does seem a little high. I would have expected it to be closer to $500 since you don't file as HOH (head of household).

[NotSoInnocent]

This year they started doing an automatic tax credit for those who work or have looked for work (Making Work Pay). It comes out to about $400 per person in your household and is to reimburse for expenses paid out for things like job-hunting, work uniforms, transportation and other work-related expenses (IIRC). (I am not a tax prep person.)

I'm dancing on air at the moment because we got a whole bunch of credits this year. (It helps that hubby claims single w/no dep on his w-2 and was deployed to a war zone for more than half of the year.) We're getting nearly $10K back!

[Evil Queen]

Congrats NotSoInnocent! That's a nice number, what are you going to do with the dough?

[lupo pazzesco]

EQ, if I live alone, aren't I automatically HOH...? I've always filed singly, live alone, so...yeah...

Did not know about the recovering disaster area, though. I didn't get it last year. o.0

[Evil Queen]

EQ, if I live alone, aren't I automatically HOH...? I've always filed singly, live alone, so...yeah...

Did not know about the recovering disaster area, though. I didn't get it last year. o.0

Weird because I got it last year. Turbo Tax did it automatically for me.

Filing HOH seems to really only work if you're married or have kids. I've filed both ways in the past and found that not filing HOH is better.

[taxguykarl]

EQ, if I live alone, aren't I automatically HOH...? I've always filed singly, live alone, so...yeah...

Did not know about the recovering disaster area, though. I didn't get it last year. o.0WRONG! Head of Household is not married with a dependent. If you have no dependents, you file single.
Actually, TaxGuyKarl would probably be able to give you a quick, easy answer. Dude's a genius.

Thank you for reminding me though, that I need to keep a watch out for my T-4s soon.Thanks.

To answer the query in the OP:
That is the Making Work Pay Credit (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sm.pdf). The form to claim this is Schedule M (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sm.pdf) The credit is, in fact, $400 for a single or HOH making less than $95,000, $800 for a married couple making less than $190,000.

You're all weclome to PM me with your specific questions.

[lupo pazzesco]

Thanks Karl!

Good to know about HOH. Going to PM you about the Making Work Pay thing...

[NotSoInnocent]

Congrats NotSoInnocent! That's a nice number, what are you going to do with the dough?

*sighs* Paying off the new (used) vehicle that we had to buy when our van went balls-up on the highway last month. And then getting the house payments caught up from when I had to put a payment off to go be with my mom when she had surgery in Nov for breast cancer.

And that takes it all. *shrugs*

[Aethian]

NSI Should have gone to the irs.gov website to do a mid year dependent change so you guys could have gotten that money through the year rather then loaning 10k to the government tax free. But then I've been doing a lot of money things (reading, learning, making a path to be debt free) this past month so forgive if I'm preachey.

[NotSoInnocent]

NSI Should have gone to the irs.gov website to do a mid year dependent change so you guys could have gotten that money through the year rather then loaning 10k to the government tax free. But then I've been doing a lot of money things (reading, learning, making a path to be debt free) this past month so forgive if I'm preachey.

That would work if it weren't for one thing... Hubby. I make financial plans... he throws it all down the drain. So I don't mind giving the government a 10K loan when we get it all at once and I can grab most of it before he goes "Oooo shiny!" and spends it. Actually much less than that, only had about 800 taken out over the year for taxes since he's military and was deployed. (Non-taxable pay with bonuses for being deployed. Nice.)

It works for us because I know that we will have "extra" money at the beginning of every year to provide a cushion for when Hubs makes multiple small purchases when there's not enough in the account (overdraft fees for teh lose).

Most of our tax refund gets pulled from the account about 10 minutes after it hits and goes into a savings account that only I have access to.

[taxguykarl]

Actually much less than that, only had about 800 taken out over the year for taxes since he's military and was deployed. (Non-taxable pay with bonuses for being deployed. Nice.)Even nicer: That non-taxable pay can be used for the Earned Income Tax Credit (http://www.irs.gov/publications/p596/index.html) to get your income closer to the optimal range.

[Elspeth]

NSI does what the hubby and I do. If the government has it we can't spend it. This year nice return is going to the 1)ING account (house downpayment here we come) 2) a chuck into our normal savings and the rest is mad money, namely a new tv for the living room to replace the one that went weird last year

Now if the hubby's second job would just let loose with his w-2 I could file the dang thing. I love turbotax online

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

At least you people can do your taxes. I'm still waiting for my W-2s. The swamp likes to wait until the very last minute to get those out.

I could go online and try to print them out, but that would mean I'd have to use (*hiss*) ADP, which never ever works right for me. And the company's help(less) desk can't ever seem to figure out if the problem is on their end or ADP's end.

Shit, I still haven't gotten things straightened out from my fiasco back in October trying to view my pay statements online. I spent close to a week with the help(less) desk, trying different things and passwords, and being told "we can't figure out what's wrong here," and then I came down with the flu (possibly even the pig plague) and missed a week of work, and then when I got back we were balls deep into Christmas and I never got time to get things fixed. One of these days, I ought to get back on that.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Well, the gods smiled on I.P. Freleigh today.

After spending a few minutes fuming about my W-2s not arriving in the mail AGAIN, I decided to give ADP another shot.

After noodling around creating a new password, I was finally able to access all my personal information! Including pay statements and W-2s!

So I printed out the W-2 and gallivanted off to Turbo Tax to do my federal return, and then to my state's department of revenue web site.

Between the two, I'll be getting $980 back. That's about $40 less than last year but I'm not complaining.

As for that Making Work Pay tax credit--it didn't get added on to my refund. I guess it's supposed to just result in me getting a little more every paycheck?