Tax Return 2011 Plans

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MBAVisionary

Recycles dryer sheets
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May 13, 2008
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149
Location
Somewhere, USA
Young Dreamers. What are you doing with yours and why?

I plan to use mine to pay off a big chunk of what's left on my car loan and my 0% credit card before September rolls around and I owe the fine folks at Citibank more money!! A few years ago I used mine to buy a computer that I really didn't need. How growing up changes your purchasing habits... :)

Of course I make the assumption you don't owe the IRS or your respective state / local governments money due to withholdings or other factors.
 
This year I'll have to send a large check to the IRS, so... Not looking forward to April 15. I might get some money back from the state but they are broke so who knows when I'll get the check. At any rate, any money I get back will go towards paying down the mortgage.
 
There is no joy in Mudville.
Writing checks to the state and the feds.
 
I never saw getting a tax refund as anything good. All it meant to me was that either I lacked getting some income I thought I was going to get (i.e. cap gains distributions to which I had already had some wage income taxes withheld for), or I made a mistake with my estimated taxes and overpaid them.

Since I ERed, I have zero income taxes withheld so I pay just enough federal income taxes during the year (and through the following mid-January) to be in a "safe harbor" to avoid underpayment penalties, then pay the rest in April. For my state income taxes, I prepay most of them by the end of December so I can deduct them on the next federal income tax return instead of waiting another year.
 
Due to my upcoming 3 week vacation and an unexpected $1000 condo assessment I haven't maxed my Roth yet like I usually do. After a couple grand in tax returns I should be able to max the Roth and still have at least 6 months cash in E-fund. So, as always, it'll go into savings of some kind. I tried adjusting my w-4 so that in 2010 i'd be close to even but I ended up paying in and didn't like that so I changed it back this year and should get a couple grand.
 
I expect a larger than normal refund this year. It'll go to the kid's 529 fund since Roths and 401k are max'd.
 
Last year I owed some (not a whole lot) for both Fed and State and expect to owe some again this year.
 
I have not determined if I am getting a refund or owing money...

If I get a refund... it will go into the MM account to fill it up for next years property tax...
 
MBAVisionary said:
Of course I make the assumption you don't owe the IRS or your respective state / local governments money due to withholdings or other factors.
Click to expand...

When loaning money interest-free is concerned, I prefer to owe them rather than the other way around.
 
MBAVisionary said:
Young Dreamers. What are you doing with yours and why?
Click to expand...
I'll answer this in two parts...

Young Dreamers...I'm young at heart and only 52. ;)

What are you doing with yours and why?...Please don't leave me openings big enough to drive a tractor trailer through. :LOL:

Seriously, now...IF I get a refund, I will be banking it for the spring to continue the multi-stage house window replacement project I have embarked on. Little by little, I need to replace these ridiculously [-]engineered with a hangover[/-] designed 1977 vintage casement windows that leak energy like a sieve.
My contractor (also a friend) is not charging me very much for the labor :D and understands I can only budget for a few at a time.
 
Awesome to see that you guys are being practical about the whole thing. Most of my friends are blowing theirs. I have never tried adjusting my withholding. Guess I'd rather have the government owe me a little money than the other way around.
 
Its a bit of a crapshoot as to whether I will owe or not. DW's business unexpectedly tripled in 2010. While we can avoid fed and state income taxes via a solo 401k, we are still on the hook for the self employment taxes. Since we have not paid in over the course of last year, that might eat some or all of what would otherwise be a fed refund. The states are always a mystery. I work in one and live in another and they don't play nice with each other, so mysteries abound until I fill out the returns.
 
Hopefully I won't get a refund. Like every year, if all goes well I will owe Fed, and I know I will owe State. If I unfortunately get a refund, it'll go right back into saving/investing...
 
My $31 federal refund is going to pay my $256 state tax owed! These are not final numbers - I estimated off final pay stubs, 1 of 3 W-2's, tuition statement, and Dec. banking statements - but think it's pretty darn close! My goal has been +/- $250 (between state & federal), and I am happy to have accomplished that (not thrilled about paying taxes in first place, but it's a necessary evil for where & how I chose to live)!!
 
I was hoping to get a small refund but from a quick trial run it looks like I will owe several hundred to the feds. If that holds true when I do the real return, then I'll probably end up owing the state a few hundred also.

If I owe, I'll write a check and mail it as close to April 15 as I can. If they owe me, I file as soon as possible, do direct deposit, and then it gets shuttled into cash flow / savings / investing just like any other income.

2Cor521
 
Using mine to pay down the business credit card to a more reasonable level, as most of my return for the last two years has come from losses on my K-1 anyway.
 
If I get a refund I'll top off my savings for my next used car. My 2000 Corrolla is still going strong, but it'll happen eventually.

This is my first year filing taxes on my own after a divorce, so I'm not sure what things are going to look like.
 
No debt besides mortgage (and plan to sell the house in about 12-15 months). Sooo....

It's all going into the bank to help make the move easier.
 
Will be getting about $4500 back and it will go into the highest low yielding savings account I can find. Got an unexpected boost when I found out my first 20k of pension is state tax free. Obviously, I over payed and its my money being returned to me, but it still feels better than a Christmas present when I get it. Would fritter it away monthly if I didnt do it this way.
 
Just found out I'm getting a little over $1000 back. Not a huge sum, but enough to accelerate my get out of debt plans. I think using it toward my 6.99% auto loan (principal payment) might be the best decision. Credit card is 0% until September and student loan balance is too high for it to make a difference.
 
We are getting a whopping $72 from the Feds and $7 from the state. We used the standard deduction this year so it was easy to calculate and adjust our withholding. We carried over and are lumping deductions into 2011 which should allow us to lower our witholding a little this year. Targeting to hit the final tax bill within $200 or 1%.
 
Haven't played with Turbotax yet this year. Preliminary estimate is that I may have a small federal refund and owe a little to the state.

Any refund I get will be minimal and will be rolled into next year's estimated taxes. One of the joys of quasi-self-employment... For what it's worth, you can set up monthly EFTPS payments instead of paying quarterly. This makes the payments more like having a second house payment and less like having a root canal every three months.
 
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