Did my taxes today - owe $1,500. Yeah!

[disneysteve]

I got my taxes done today. As you know, I'm one of those who is totally against getting a refund. It's my money and I want it in my pocket, not the IRS' pocket. Last year we just about broke even. I owed $150. This year, it didn't work quite that closely but we owe $1,500, which is perfectly fine with me. I'm happy to be paying money that has been earning interest all year, rather than reclaiming money that should have been mine in the first place. I would have liked to owe less, but overall, this is fine.

Hope everyone else made out well in the tax department this year.

[MonkeyMama]

Congrats! I got $200 back and I hope to owe instead next year - woohoo. LOL. Everyone else thinks we're crazy you know.

I actually thought I would owe $200 so $200 back was a-okay. I Certainly wouldn't want any more back though.

[tinapbeana]

another ower here... DH thinks i'm nuts trying to come out at 0 or owing money... i think once he starts to actually look at the interest our money earns rather than just filing the statement i give him, he'll start to see the light...

[frugalmomof1]

I actually got $3,100 back from federal and state. We had a lot more deductions and credits than usual this year (car donation deduction, credit for energy efficient windows & doors, extra interest from Home Equity loan, etc.) As soon as I figured my refund, I changed my filing status, and put the extra money in my paycheck into a separate savings account.

I didn't want to make too much of an adjustment, as I know I will be on disability for at least 8 weeks this year. I don't think that I would want to owe, but I definately don't want that big of a refund again!!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Ugh ours was bad this year getting back $5k, last year we owed close to $10k.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

Everyone else thinks we're crazy you know.

Fine with me.

[tabbycat31]

I"m a tax preparer. I had a client owe $40 and she literally burst out in tears. She was counting on her tax refund $$$ for a vacation. That said, I've never had an upset client due to a large refund. Most people are jumping for joy at a large refund. I have clients ask me all the time about their withholding. I tell them that there's no right or wrong way to do things, but it's a matter of personal prefrence. I also tell them that if it means an extra $20 a paycheck, most people will fritter away that $20 instead of saving it or using it wisely. I tell them that if they're disciplined to save that extra $20 then change it. I also have a chart of paycheck amounts and what the (federal) withholidng will actually be depending on filing status.

I personally claim 0 on my W-4 because I've changed jobs so often, and I expect to have self employment income this year (jewelry sales).

[scfr]

Well done, disneysteve! I'm with you all who prefer to owe, just as long as there's no penalty involved!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by scfr

I'm with you all who prefer to owe, just as long as there's no penalty involved!

True. No penalties here. And I like to keep my owing under about $1,000, but I'm not complaining.

[scarygirl]

Call me dumb, but I don't get this. You were happier owing ten grand to the government? I owed close to $1000 in taxes one time and it about wiped me out..

I love my tax refund.

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

Ugh ours was bad this year getting back $5k, last year we owed close to $10k.

[cicy33]

I am one of those people that will "fritter" away the $20 extra bucks. It is safer to have it held in savings for me. not to mention we are the ones that generally get back more due to child tax credits and what not. so there is no real way to budget that as our stuff changes so much from year to year. my husband is a self employed contractor and we always have to pay in self employment tax so I would prefer to get a nice refund then to owe them money. I currently claim married and 1. then we have 2 more kids to collect at end of year.

[meaghanchan]

I got pretty close to even- owe $65 Federal, getting back $300 from the state.

[usnavy_233]

This year: Got back almost $5K
Lat year: Got back around $7K

I know it sounds like I'm paying out a ton all year, but most of my refund is from child tax credits from my two youngins. I'd rather be at $0-500 refunded than to pay out all year and get back $5K. My wife on the other hand....

[crabbypatty]

We are getting a large refund this year. Last year was financially different for us and we didn't adjust withholdings accordingly. We've since adjusted the withholdings and hope to come much closer to breaking even next year.

[autoxer]

Last year I got ~1200 back, so I changed my witholding to break even, but I didn't expect it to be this even. I got $13 back from the federal government & I owe $12 to the state government.

[creditcardfree]

We received money back too. I thought I had adjusted our withholdings correctly, but with the move we had more deductions. I have increased the withholdings and I think we will still get over $500 back next year from federal. Changing states, though, it looks like we will overpay extensively and I can't do anything about it. Iowa seems to withhold the same amount for any withholding over 3!! I'm claiming 7, but it didn't decrease the amount they withhold. Crazy!!

Steve, at least we know you have the cash to pay Uncle Sam!! Others aren't so lucky.

[HiImSeth]

We got around $3700 back. We've always liked to get our refund but after hanging out here a bit and finally taking control of our finances I understand the importance and value of getting NOTHING back or actually owing. This year we're making some changes and hopefully we'll do much better next year.

[JanH]

This is the first year we've owed in a while. Until I read this thread I thought that was a bad thing. I learn something new all the time on this forum!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by creditcardfree

Steve, at least we know you have the cash to pay Uncle Sam!! Others aren't so lucky.

Just one more reason to maintain an adequate emergency fund.

[Scanner]

I like oweing too.

My wife likes the refund though and yes, she knows that it's better to have it in our pocket but it's psychological.

I don't know where I'm going to come in at this year. I'm guess we get some back, not much, but some.