Right Quicken / Turbotax version ?

[KM]

I discovered that I'm going to be paying Louisiana taxes for a very long time even though I don't live there any more. One of my pensions (non-qualified) comes from from a Louisiana company and I have to file an LA non-resident tax form. That's a real bummer that I didn't expect

Alan,

How did you find this out? DH works in a neighboring state and I have been eagerly awaiting the day he retires and we no longer have to pay non-resident tax - but he will receive a pension. It never occurred to me we would have to pay income tax on that to them too...

I did start googling to see what I could find out about it (Maine) and haven't found much. So I am wondering if there is something unique about your pension, and if so, what it is and how you found out about having to pay the tax. I dont like the idea of it - but if I am going to have to pay it, I would rather know now than later. But I am not sure I want to call Maine and ask them either......

 

[Alan]

Alan,

How did you find this out? DH works in a neighboring state and I have been eagerly awaiting the day he retires and we no longer have to pay non-resident tax - but he will receive a pension. It never occurred to me we would have to pay income tax on that to them too...

I did start googling to see what I could find out about it (Maine) and haven't found much. So I am wondering if there is something unique about your pension, and if so, what it is and how you found out about having to pay the tax. I dont like the idea of it - but if I am going to have to pay it, I would rather know now than later. But I am not sure I want to call Maine and ask them either......

I won't go into the historically complexities of why, but my pensions from the company consist of a qualified pension paid as an annuity from an insurance company plus a non-qualified pension paid directly from the company. The qualified pension is reported on a 1099-R and the other is reported on a W-2 with the income reported in box 11, so no SS or Medicare is paid on it.

The company told me that they had talked with the LA IRS and had to withhold LA taxes on this. I then went onto the LA tax site and confirmed it for myself.

 

[KM]

I won't go into the historically complexities of why, but my pensions from the company consist of a qualified pension paid as an annuity from an insurance company plus a non-qualified pension paid directly from the company. The qualified pension is reported on a 1099-R and the other is reported on a W-2 with the income reported in box 11, so no SS or Medicare is paid on it.

The company told me that they had talked with the LA IRS and had to withhold LA taxes on this. I then went onto the LA tax site and confirmed it for myself.

Interesting....so it sounds like the company paying the pension knew to withhold the tax. So I am guessing DH could probably talk to the whomever produces the pensions checks for his company. I did go to the Maine tax site, but it didn't seem particularly clear to me.

Anyway - thanks for the heads-up. Just one more thing to figure out before we retire....

 

[Alan]

Interesting....so it sounds like the company paying the pension knew to withhold the tax.

Correct.

Trust me when I say that if I had received the non-qualified pension with no State tax withholding, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to discover if I should have been paying some

 

[jazz4cash]

Our situation is pretty simple. We have a few Cap Gains, but the most complicated issue we face is multiple overlapping higher education credits, deductions, etc. Last year I downgraded to TT Basic, thinking that I could always upgrade. Worked out very well and I could not tell much difference in the cap gains or eduacation steps. Funny when I was using Deluxe, it never offered me a refund to downgrade to basic.

Another reason for choosing basic is that our state (MD) offers free online efile for everyone.

 

[Ronstar]

Timely thread! I decided to do my own taxes for the first time in 30 years - to save money. Everyone has told me " Get Turbotax". But I didn't know about the versions until reading this thread. I've reviewed all the options on their website.

I assume the software is only good for the current tax year. If so, what are the advantages of buying the cd over just using the online version? Just curious - I'll probably buy the cd for the piece of mind.

 

[Alan]

Timely thread! I decided to do my own taxes for the first time in 30 years - to save money. Everyone has told me " Get Turbotax". But I didn't know about the versions until reading this thread. I've reviewed all the options on their website.

I assume the software is only good for the current tax year. If so, what are the advantages of buying the cd over just using the online version? Just curious - I'll probably buy the cd for the piece of mind.

There is a 3rd option - download the product so you can use it off-line, but don't have to mess with a CD/DVD

 

[haha]

I discovered that I'm going to be paying Louisiana taxes for a very long time even though I don't live there any more. One of my pensions (non-qualified) comes from from a Louisiana company and I have to file an LA non-resident tax form. That's a real bummer that I didn't expect

I just wish I could say."One of my pensions", or even just "my pension". It has an excellent ring to it.

Ha

 

[Alan]

I just wish I could say."One of my pensions", or even just "my pension". It has an excellent ring to it.

Ha

I am extremely fortunate and thank my lucky stars every day that I have 4 private pensions from 2 different countries, plus SS from 2 different countries when the time comes.

 

[MichaelB]

My mother has a similar situation. It is good fortune now but when they were earned it meant working in the public sector (both parents) doing things that paid less than equivalent private sector jobs. Compensation foregone for public service is viewed much differently today but was very much a sacrifice - and personal choice - a generation ago (especially military) and I view these pensions today as well earned, although I admit to a subjective view.