Your TAXES

[Iowagriz]

Proportionally compare the wife's w2 from 2022 to 2023 to see if the new w4 form caused there to be less out of her checks.

[SoVT Joey]

Don’t bother with taxes. Government doesn’t pay their bills why should we

[BC.]

Working on 2023 taxes and trying to figure out why we are owing so much. No major changes for my job. Good amount of INT income as expected, but was already very much negative prior to entering that income. Wife started a new job end of 2022, that was less total income for 2023. Only thing I can figure is she had to use the new W-4 form when starting new job and that isn't withholding the correct amount. Anyone else seen issues with new w-4?

Yes…totally different, getting killed…talked with a lot of other people/ same. Nobody seems to know why? Our profession(s) has us basically on a fixed income, so there really is no changes.

I have been doing my own for the past 10 years….my numbers/amounts/refund/payment were so different this time around……I actually stopped and took them to an accountant to do…..hopefully he can explain what the hell happened/changed.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Don’t bother with taxes. Government doesn’t pay their bills why should we

US has never missed a payment on it’s borrowed money.

This is like saying everyone who takes out a mortgage is some sort of deadbeat, even if they are making their monthly payments.

[Danno]

W4 withholding is always dicey with 2 incomes. And yes, it could very well be the new form, but you need to do what Iowagriz suggests.

Or just compare your AGI from the 2023 tax form with the AGI from the 2022 form, and compare what was already withheld on each form. You'll at least be able to see whether your total adjusted income went up or down, and whether you were having the same amount of taxes withheld.

[406]

Yeah, Iowagriz has a good suggestion. Looks like it is about half of what it should be. The IRS W-4 calculator claims she should input a dollar amount of around 40% of gross on line 4a(additional income) to fix things for 2024...who would ever think to do that? We didn't make that much in dividends/interest. That is with standard deduction and 3 kids.


I guess I get to pay a penalty for first time ever this year.

[SoVT Joey]

US has never missed a payment on it’s borrowed money.

This is like saying everyone who takes out a mortgage is some sort of deadbeat, even if they are making their monthly payments.

they have never missed a payment because they keep kicking the ceiling higher and higher. It’s not like a mortgage, it’s like a home equity line that you make a minimum payment on and then keep asking for more.

[Hood26]

There should be a W4 for couples. Not some stupid ass worksheet table where the numbers need massaged.

[J. Barron DeJong]

they have never missed a payment because they keep kicking the ceiling higher and higher. It’s not like a mortgage, it’s like a home equity line that you make a minimum payment on and then keep asking for more.

Well, they’re not a damn household, so no analogy is actually going to hold perfectly.

Point is, they pay their bills. Please pay yours.

[Toadman]

Don’t bother with taxes. Tesla doesn’t pay their bills why should we

FIFY

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxe...rs/ar-BB1jScX3

[axebiker]

We got CRUSHED last year - paid in over $16K, while neither of us claimed any deductions. My brother had his in-house tax accountant double-check, and the basic message - you need to up your W4 withholdings. ALOT. Can't figure that out - it's like being set up to fail by the government and making us even more in their control. Middle class relief? Bullshit. Empty campaign bullshit. The country makes sure the poor get poorer, rich get richer, and balances it all on the middle class who can't "hide" their investments in BS shelters. Basically the middle class is simply the harder-working poor.

I expect the same will happen this year even though we're adding another 5%+ to our collective withholdings.

[neufox47]

Thankfully I spent $11k on solar and another $5k on a minsplit, so that should drop the amount I owe by $5k.


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[bfree]

The married W4 can't be perfect because they don't know how much your spouse is going to make.
Now I'll be the first to say the W4 could be improved, but y'all will be better off the sooner you realize you need to do a mid-year check-in, estimate your taxes for the year, and adjust your W4 accordingly.

I owed about 1k this year, which is pretty much right where I wanted to be. No free loans here.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Rant away about tax policy and the regular folks with W2 income pay a lot of income tax. While you got your hair on fire, maybe look at all the other (sales, excise, registrations, fees, property) taxes you pay also. Its a big reason we are in this political loop. "the government has enough money, burn it down! We need more money, the people are hurting, we need to help them".

But that's mostly got dog shit to do with tax planning. You can get pretty close just doing a pro forma 1040Ez. Or estimate your income, if you are married substract $30k, look up the effective tax rate from that income bracket. And calculate your withholdings.

[m2711c]

get a divorce… problem solved.


you’re welcome.

[Hood26]

Well, they’re not a damn household, so no analogy is actually going to hold perfectly.

Point is, they pay their bills. Please pay yours.

Yup, private debt and public debt are not the same and it’s annoying to hear the fallacious arguments work on folks.

Good advice on the mid-year check and the mocked up 1040EZ. We will be sure to do that this year. I think we are closer to having ours dialed. Basically each of us needs to have $1k withheld every month for the Fed.

I agree with the sentiment of the middle class squeeze. It is happening and it’s bullshit, and the ironic thing is it keeps getting voted for both directly and indirectly, but alas is what it is for now.

Regarding W4 modification we know what the spouse makes, so it should be easier to communicate that to both employers and have the form filled out better. The W4 right now is fucked, but it is what it is.

I think I have moved to a new phase with all frustrations out of my direct control; It is what it is.

[Danno]

Yeah, in simplifying the W4 dramatically, they got it "right" for some but it has no nuance.

I filled the new form out post-divorce because I wanted to change my withholdings, and I will say it pretty much nailed it, I only owe a slight bit due to a small amount of untaxed income (interest/dividends/etc). But I always used to give myself a buffer, using "Single 0" even if the correct withholding via the form was "Single 1". Now you have to give yourself that buffer by actively telling your employer to withhold a specific extra amount from each check.

[Flounder]

As DINKS we started getting hosed in our withholding over a decade ago. Since then we’ve been paying quarterly taxes. I’d rather keep the money for 3 months until I need to pay. I’ll earn the 4.3% interest and pay as late as I can. Painful sending in those checks every three months but it’s better for us.

[Core Shot]

Oooh. Yeah. Nailed witholding or even better got a refund of your own money.

The system is fubar. And that new and improved form is so useless

But yeah. If you under withhold don’t piss that money away on Disney land and stupid shit. The feds will make you pay. Don’t go all Wesley snipes.

[nickwm21]

Your yearly reminder that we landed on the moon…. and this is the best the feds can come up with?

Lock the 7 smartest tax economists in a room - it’d take them 20 minutes to come up with a better system.


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[Flounder]

Lock the 7 smartest tax economists in a room - it’d take them 20 minutes to come up with a better system.

But then the rich would dump a ton of money lobbying politicians to make sure it was never implemented.

[Core Shot]

Your yearly reminder that we landed on the moon…. and this is the best the feds can come up with?

Lock the 7 smartest tax economists in a room - it’d take them 20 minutes to come up with a better system.


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Walter Blum would like a word with you
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/...asional_papers

Lately in the car I keep hearing about wealth taxes.
Yeah. Fuck the rich. I get that. And generational wealth.
But holy shite. That’s a tough and expensive idea that the rich will avoid and the slightly better off will be crushed by.
Sorry for ending a sentence with a preposition.
But I get $15 bills for personal property. Yeah I own a couch. And a kitchen table. But it costs more than that for a gubmint worker to lick the stamp and cash my check.

[old goat]

I've avoided having to adjust my withholding since I retired 12 years ago. Until this year. With 7 different income sources the W-4R calculator was worthless. Fortunately one of my sources is a minimum required distribution and I can take that at the end of the year and withhold any shortfall. (My acct says that unlike estimated taxes, withholdiing just has to come out right at the end of the year, not quarterly. Hope she's right.) But I'd really like to get it on autopilot so I only have to figure my taxes once a year, not twice.

[schuss]

We got CRUSHED last year - paid in over $16K, while neither of us claimed any deductions. My brother had his in-house tax accountant double-check, and the basic message - you need to up your W4 withholdings. ALOT. Can't figure that out - it's like being set up to fail by the government and making us even more in their control. Middle class relief? Bullshit. Empty campaign bullshit. The country makes sure the poor get poorer, rich get richer, and balances it all on the middle class who can't "hide" their investments in BS shelters. Basically the middle class is simply the harder-working poor.

I expect the same will happen this year even though we're adding another 5%+ to our collective withholdings.

So in other words you're enjoying the tax cuts and jobs act that raised taxes on the non rich over time while making cuts for the rich immediate and permanent?

[axebiker]

So in other words you're enjoying the tax cuts and jobs act that raised taxes on the non rich over time while making cuts for the rich immediate and permanent?

Uh...huh? I'm not in the Poli-tard world so I have no idea what you're referring to, but I can assure you that we're far from wealthy, and we are "enjoying" NO tax cuts. We work for every penny, and more pennies are taken each year, while the very poor and very rich are able to avoid it. Call me whatever you want, but it's REAL. And I'm tired of it.