Tax Refund Plans

[JeepMonkey]

Do you have any plans for your tax refund check?  Assuming you don't have to pay.

I am thinking about buying a 350Z, so it will probably either go towards the purchase price or buying an upgrade of some kind.

[HaRuMaN]

I'm getting $8 back from the feds... so my wife and I might go hit up the dollar menu at McD's...  lol 

(I can't really complain, last year we owed close to 3 grand)

[Ginsu Victim]

I'm getting $8 back from the feds... so my wife and I might go hit up the dollar menu at McD's...  lol 

http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/cheeseburger-take-2-day-1/
to
http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/cheeseburger-take-2-day-11/

[HaRuMaN]

I'm getting $8 back from the feds... so my wife and I might go hit up the dollar menu at McD's...  lol 

http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/cheeseburger-take-2-day-1/
to
http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/cheeseburger-take-2-day-11/

I hate you.   

[HaRuMaN]

If you're getting a huge enough refund to consider a down payment on a sports car, you really need to sit down for 10-15 minutes and decrease your withholding.

^ I'm with stupid ^

I don't like giving the government interest free loans...

[Ginsu Victim]

If you're getting a huge enough refund to consider a down payment on a sports car, you really need to sit down for 10-15 minutes and decrease your withholding.

^ I'm with stupid ^

I don't like giving the government interest free loans...

Word.

[JeepMonkey]

I am not getting a large refund.  I try to get as close to even as I can.  Most years it is pretty close, but I worked a lot of overtime last year that gets taxed at a higher rate than it should.

I definately don't like to let the government hold onto anything of mine that I don't have to.

I will either put it towards the money I have saved up for the car or splurge and put it towards some aftermarket parts.  It will just depend on the car I get.

[jamesjones626]

i was getting 4 dollars back from the feds then i decided to itemize so now i am getting a little over 900.  But about 500 of that is going back to state.

[Flake]

If you're getting a huge enough refund to consider a down payment on a sports car, you really need to sit down for 10-15 minutes and decrease your withholding.

^ I'm with stupid ^

I don't like giving the government interest free loans...

Meh, while this is fundamentally true, it really doesnt add up to much assuming your a typical American saver.  Lets say you get a fairly large return of $8,000.  Lets say you adjusted your withholding and invested those excess funds throughout the year in a money market savings account transferring the excess of $333 ($8,000 / 24 per periods in a year) immediately via direct deposit.  Assume your money market account pays interest at an annual rate of 1.5%.  For simplicity sake multiply $4,000 * 1.5% = $60 in interest income for the entire year (I used $4K instead of $8K because your not depositing the $8K on January 1st and this assumes a average annual balance).  If your in the 25% tax bracket your only netting $45.  Not much of a benefit.

Now there are other options you have like increasing your 401k contribution and then adjusting your withholding so that you have roughly the same take home pay per paycheck.  Or you could roll the dice in the market with those excess funds as well.

My point is for some who only maintain a money market savings account, it actually probably benefits them to receive a large chunk of money in the Spring rather than an extra $333 per pay period which they will likely spend on other worthless crap like Ipads  .

[JeepMonkey]

Keeping the money every paycheck and investing it in a conservative .75% to 1% will not yeild a big gain.  I even went as far as considering (i forget the code, 00, 99?) having no taxes taken out of my check automatically and paying token payments every quarter then pay the remainder at the end of the year, but even this really didn't really produce big gains.

The two main reasons I like having my money every pay period:
1.  I am good with saving money.
2.  Without getting too P&R here, there is no garauntee that the gov't/IRS will send you a refund check.  I believe it was the state of Kansas that suspended refunds one year because the state was way in debt.

[Vanguard]

I believe it was the state of Kansas that suspended refunds one year because the state was way in debt.

California's been sending out IOUs.

[pinballwizard79]

I say keep your dough out of spite like Seinfeld.

Flake correct me if I am wrong but for the first 5 months a person owes the IRS their "effective" APR is about 45% right? I mean they compound their interest DAILY @ 0.05% + 4.5% monthly in "fees" which are stacked in the daily impound I think & that's only after you pay someone (like you) a load of dough to go itemized & etc. "Guilty until itemized as innocent" I always say.

I sure am glad the government is stealing...I mean regulating the private financial sector to death & protecting the consumer from their mortgages & credit cards....they need to save Americans money so they can pay their 45% APR's to them while the state pays out returns 7 months late (IL paid me late as hell last year...yes I have multiple W2's from multiple states due to legalities from multiple licenses & etc) as they print money to death since 1913 to destroy our wealth. Fiat paper for life hommie!

Anyway Im pissed now & not buying ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- because of that lame wedding.....next year though its all about the storm trooper 

Who the hell gets a sports car with their tax return?

[Ed_McCarron]

Downpayment on a pop-up camper.  Hoping to have at least a few cheap long weekend vacations this year.

[Hoopz]

Downpayment on a pop-up camper.  Hoping to have at least a few cheap long weekend vacations this year.

Have a custom van to pull it?  Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George catches his parents rockin' that van in Central Park.   

[Ed_McCarron]

Nah.  No custom van here.  Ford Escape.  Not much of a tax return, so not much of a camper.

[Ginsu Victim]

We're wanting to put in a privacy fence. Currently our backyard has no fence at all and we're tired of people walking through it.

[javeryh]

Kids' college funds.

[HaRuMaN]

We're wanting to put in a privacy fence. Currently our backyard has no fence at all and we're tired of people walking through it.

Get a pit bull   

[edge10]

We're wanting to put in a privacy fence. Currently our backyard has no fence at all and we're tired of people walking through it.

Get a pit bull   

He (probably) doesn't want to kill the neighbors, he just doesn't want them walking through the yard.

[Hoopz]

We're wanting to put in a privacy fence. Currently our backyard has no fence at all and we're tired of people walking through it.

Get a pit bull   

Ok, Tommy.   

[HaRuMaN]

We're wanting to put in a privacy fence. Currently our backyard has no fence at all and we're tired of people walking through it.

Get a pit bull   

Ok, Tommy.   

Hoopz got my reference 

[Hoopz]

We're wanting to put in a privacy fence. Currently our backyard has no fence at all and we're tired of people walking through it.

Get a pit bull   

Ok, Tommy.   

Hoopz got my reference 

I was installing some glass the other day and.... Ah, never mind.

I took my little lapdog to PetCo a few months ago.

This young couple brings in this monster of a dog that's snarling and lunging at ours.  Very thick leash and practically dragging the owner (small guy) across the floor.  His wife says,

"don't worry, he's only half pitbull!"

 

Please tell me that you or your wife aren't the type of people who drive with their dog in their lap.  Please. 

---fudgesicle---, even if it isn't true, tell me that anyway. 

[wp34]

D9800

[daywane]

large upright deep freezer

[drventure]

Pay back the money I borrowed from myself to push into my IRA to get the exact same amount back as a refund.

Anybody else here paying attention to the fairtax movement? (or is that going to get me in the P&R section  )

www.fairtax.org

[shmokes]

Why wait until April to eat steak?

Because $333 gets you steak and videogames and movies, while $8k takes you to Europe or pays off a giant chunk of debt or replaces every component in your home theater.  It may seem silly to use the government as an interest-free piggy bank, but as already mentioned, the amount of interest is pretty negligible, and there's something to be said for putting your piggy bank on a shelf that's out of reach.

[pointdablame]

Why wait until April to eat steak?

Because $333 gets you steak and videogames and movies, while $8k takes you to Europe or pays off a giant chunk of debt or replaces every component in your home theater.  It may seem silly to use the government as an interest-free piggy bank, but as already mentioned, the amount of interest is pretty negligible, and there's something to be said for putting your piggy bank on a shelf that's out of reach.

True, but there's something to be said for having some self control too. 

My tax return wasn't very large this year, but it'll be going towards a set of new wheels for my car.  Just need to pick some tires now....

[shmokes]

Agreed.  I'd argue, though, that withholding extra is a form of self control.  It's clearly not ideal.  But it's better than nothing (depending on your goals).

[crashwg]

Why is it that so many people wait this long to file their taxes?  I had my refund the first week in February!

[shmokes]

Not to mention that people are just busy with other ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and taxes aren't due until mid-April.

[drventure]

Why is it that so many people wait this long to file their taxes?  I had my refund the first week in February!

I have investments in various places that tend to not send out their schedule K's till the very last possible moment, which means I either have to wait, or have to deal with the joy of filing an amended return when they do come in. Sucks either way.

[pointdablame]

I had my tax return since February, but I only saw this thread today 

[protokatie]

large upright deep freezer

I have found that hiding corpses works much better in chest freezers. Upright freezers tend to allow the body to fall forward and force the door open. This can lead to a big mess. If you want to get an upright freezer, I would recommend also getting a large basin tub to cut the body up for wrapping and storage.

A basement with a gravel floor is also very useful.


And yes, I am a sick little ---smurfette---. 

[shmokes]

This seems like nothing more than procrastination advice to me.  You have to deal with it eventually, and permanently.  The upright freezer just seems like a bad idea.  Katie is no help here.  She seems interested in little more than postponing the inevitable.  

[protokatie]

Deep freezing is very useful to consolidate several bodies at once, instead of having to deal with them piecemeal. Yes you are right tho, you have to deal with them eventually, but it is very useful to have the parts frozen in coolers during transport, it is far less messy, and does not smell like fresh long ham otherwise would.

[drventure]

From Taxes to hiding dead bodies....

Hmm. I knew there was a reason I started hanging out on this board 

[Ed_McCarron]

Deep freezing is very useful to consolidate several bodies at once, instead of having to deal with them piecemeal. Yes you are right tho, you have to deal with them eventually, but it is very useful to have the parts frozen in coolers during transport, it is far less messy, and does not smell like fresh long ham otherwise would.

On the other hand, if you take the extra time to freeze the bodies in liquid N₂, they are much easier to dismember.  Less mess.

[protokatie]

Deep freezing is very useful to consolidate several bodies at once, instead of having to deal with them piecemeal. Yes you are right tho, you have to deal with them eventually, but it is very useful to have the parts frozen in coolers during transport, it is far less messy, and does not smell like fresh long ham otherwise would.

On the other hand, if you take the extra time to freeze the bodies in liquid N₂, they are much easier to dismember.  Less mess.

To do that one must first cut the bodies up. So liquid nitrogen is not as useful as it may seem. Simple freezing works well, as it limits the amount of blood shed, but after the parts are separated the use of LN could be used for storage.

I am forgetting that the primary use of a freezer is to store pizza rolls, but we all need to plan ahead....

[Vanguard]

I was just finishing up my taxes with TurboTax.   I had done them back in January and found out I owed money.   So, I just put everything to the side and made a mental note to finish it up in April.

This morning I ran through the whole program again an verified all my info.   I noticed that I had not checked a box that indicated my wife was a full/half time student last year.  I checked it and what do you know.   I get a $2500 tax credit!!  Something called the American Opportunity Credit.  Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.


Now I'm getting a refund instead of owing.   Wish I'd discovered this in January though.

[Hoopz]

I was just finishing up my taxes with TurboTax.   I had done them back in January and found out I owed money.   So, I just put everything to the side and made a mental note to finish it up in April.

This morning I ran through the whole program again an verified all my info.   I noticed that I not checked a box that indicated my wife was a full/half time student last year.  I checked it and what do you know.   I get a $2500 tax credit!!  Something called the American Opportunity Credit.  Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.


Now I'm getting a refund instead of owing.   Wish I'd discovered this in January though.

I did something similar to that a few years ago.  I had put all the info in and thought I owed them about 3k.  When I went back and double checked everything, I realized that I had not put the kids' social security numbers in (I didnt have them at work).  Instead, I left them blank.  I added the numbers and that's when I got the deduction for them. It made a huge difference.

Glad you caught that.