Poll:2019 Federal Tax refund - more or less? poll

[braumeister]

Sorry.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle.

 

[rk911]

thanks.

 

[obrienta]

We got less back because our dividends and capital gains were much more (3X) then we planned. And playing with the new tax brackets and deductions added another variable.

 

[jjbychko]

I have come across this type of poll elswhere this year because the tax law changes for 2018. A smaller refund could me you withheld less throughout the year. The real question is "was your effective tax rate higher or lower do to the tax law change".

 

[fvfire]

More tax, less refund. Effective rate increased 1.45%

 

[msanniee]

Changed exemptions to zero and got less of a refund before supposed tax cuts. Guess I wasn’t wealth enough to benefit.

 

[PaddyMac]

Now in semi-retirement, with our income going down, this is the first year we managed to qualify for the ACA subsidy at 397% of the poverty level. It meant selling $11K from our brokerage and moving this into our 401k tax deferred. But then we got an $11K tax CREDIT. Wooop-de-doo!

 

[Ginny]

I sold a home in S CA so I have to pay the feds, but not much!

 

[meleana]

About the same

 

[HMMY]

I do volunteer tax prep. Many of our clients used the service last year, so I know what they earned and what they got a year ago. My repeat clients are getting smaller refunds or owing money. I think this is primarily due to the change in the IRS withholding tables. They did not notice that their paychecks may have been a little larger; however, they did notice their refund was significantly smaller. We personally owed about $3k more, but when I saw my husband's W-2, I realized he was under withheld.

 

[TEO]

Same as last year, no refund no taxes.

+1

 

[candidman]

I live on a pension, and I have no deductions, and always took the standard deduction. I always wounded up owing federal about $450, and I never adjusted my pension to have more taken out so I could break even. This year I owed federal only 220, which is better than 450 I guess. I plan on paying federal about 20 extra a month so I can break even starting next year.

For state, I always got back around $320, however around 420 back when I officially retired at 47. Anyway, after I turned 56, I was able to get a full refund on state taxes. But if I didn't qualify for the full refund, I wound have gotten back 420 from state this year, 100 more than what I was usually getting, and closer to what I was getting when I first retired.

Now, I'm contemplating whether to pay state taxes every month, since I qualify for the full state refund. I know it's best to have the money in your hand, than to let the state have it for a year, but I'm not sure if I could hold on to it, without blowing it, or using it for an emergency. My full refund is enough to pay my property taxes. That's what I plan to use this extra money for. I know it sounds crazy, but continuing to pay state taxes every month is one way I know I can't get my hands on it for at least one year.

So I guess I'll have to answer slightly more.

 

[Winemaker]

I always plan to pay by April 15th since college. Paid a penalty or two but I didn't/don't care.

 

[robnplunder]

Now in semi-retirement, with our income going down, this is the first year we managed to qualify for the ACA subsidy at 397% of the poverty level. It meant selling $11K from our brokerage and moving this into our 401k tax deferred. But then we got an $11K tax CREDIT. Wooop-de-doo!

LOL! I had to sell a few MF under water to ensure I still get ACA subsidy. It was close. If I made $6k more, I wouldn't have.





So far, the poll results indicate a few more percentage of people are getting more money back. It's time to blow the dough!

 

[meleana]

Now in semi-retirement, with our income going down, this is the first year we managed to qualify for the ACA subsidy at 397% of the poverty level. It meant selling $11K from our brokerage and moving this into our 401k tax deferred. But then we got an $11K tax CREDIT. Wooop-de-doo!

I am not understanding this. How can you be retired and put money into a 401K? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[audreyh1]

I am not understanding this. How can you be retired and put money into a 401K? That doesn't make any sense.

He/she said semi-retired.

Not so sure about the tax credit part. Reduction in MAGI sure.

 

[meleana]

He/she said semi-retired.

So you can take money from your bank accounts or brokerage accounts and put them in your employer's 401K?

 

[easysurfer]

TBD - Haven't done my taxes yet. Maybe by St. Patty's day .

 

[statsman]

So you can take money from your bank accounts or brokerage accounts and put them in your employer's 401K?

I read the comments to mean ramping up 401(k) deductions from the work check(s) and using the brokerage accounts for living expenses.

 

[dvalley]

Refund doesn't mean anything. The effective tax rate is where it's at i.e. tax amount owed divided by your AGI.

For me:
2017=12.9%
2018=14.7%

AGI about $6k more than 2017.

 

[SecondCor521]

Possibly of interest:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/average-tax-refund-is-now-slightly-higher-than-last-year/

"Americans' tax refunds are no longer shrinking. The latest data released by the Internal Revenue Service show that the average tax refund issued through the third week of February was $3,143. That's slightly higher than the average refund at this time last year, which was $3,103.

Prior to this week, tax refund amounts were down significantly from 2018, leading to alarm on social media and criticism of the 2017 tax cuts, and prompting the Treasury to say "comparing weekly data is misleading and confusing."

 

[Dash man]

Our refund was substantial because of a late restricted stock of transaction with withholding. But our effective tax rate dropped from 33% last year to 7.28% this year. We made less income, but kept a lot more of what we made!

 

[audreyh1]

I read the comments to mean ramping up 401(k) deductions from the work check(s) and using the brokerage accounts for living expenses.

Yeah - hopefully they have that part figured out.

 

[DisneyDreamer]

I owed more than I thought I would, over 1K...so now I have to pay quarterly estimated taxes to avoid the penalty, according to Turbo Tax. Effective tax rate went down a few points to 11%. I'm happy about that.

What I found interesting was the much touted "one-page" 1040 actually required me to file (and print) more supporting forms and documents than before.

 

[Live Free]

Effective tax rate went up 2.7% versus last year. I guess I'm one of few losers in the new tax laws. We actually had a slightly lower income in 2018 as well but not by much. But our effective tax rate did go up, I'm assuming because we live in a higher property tax state, though I didn't do any analysis yet.