audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
We are getting a refund for 2008 taxes. I overpaid because my estimated taxes calculations weren't close enough to the actual.
There were two major oversights in my estimated tax spreadsheet:
1. Standard exemptions are no longer phased out to 0. They are phased out to a lower value. The new calculation is explained in IRS Publication 505 (not yet revised for 2009).
2. I was using an old value for the AMT exemption which turns out to have been set much higher in 2008 to $69,950 for joint filers. I guess I didn't catch the increase in 2007 either, but I didn't overpay estimated taxes that year, so I didn't review the numbers.
FYI - In 2009 the AMT exemption was increased to $70,950 American (joint filers)Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 2009 AMT Tax Brackets - The Finance Buff
Download IRS 1040ES to get the new tax tables and standard exemption and standard deduction numbers for 2009 - www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf
Other issues that issue impede my ability to accurately estimate taxes: Most mutual funds do NOT identify qualified dividends until you get your final 1099 forms - well after any estimated taxes are due. So I have to assume the distributions reported are unqualified when I file estimated taxes. I was way off in 2008. Also - foreign tax credit information is not supplied until the 1099s, so I can't use the credit until submit our annual tax return.
Unfortunately, the qualified dividend reporting "problem" is likely to go away in the next year or two as we revert back to the way things used to be.
Anyway - I thought other folks who do estimated taxes might find the information useful.
Audrey
There were two major oversights in my estimated tax spreadsheet:
1. Standard exemptions are no longer phased out to 0. They are phased out to a lower value. The new calculation is explained in IRS Publication 505 (not yet revised for 2009).
2. I was using an old value for the AMT exemption which turns out to have been set much higher in 2008 to $69,950 for joint filers. I guess I didn't catch the increase in 2007 either, but I didn't overpay estimated taxes that year, so I didn't review the numbers.
FYI - In 2009 the AMT exemption was increased to $70,950 American (joint filers)Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 2009 AMT Tax Brackets - The Finance Buff
Download IRS 1040ES to get the new tax tables and standard exemption and standard deduction numbers for 2009 - www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf
Other issues that issue impede my ability to accurately estimate taxes: Most mutual funds do NOT identify qualified dividends until you get your final 1099 forms - well after any estimated taxes are due. So I have to assume the distributions reported are unqualified when I file estimated taxes. I was way off in 2008. Also - foreign tax credit information is not supplied until the 1099s, so I can't use the credit until submit our annual tax return.
Unfortunately, the qualified dividend reporting "problem" is likely to go away in the next year or two as we revert back to the way things used to be.
Anyway - I thought other folks who do estimated taxes might find the information useful.
Audrey