BG Tax thread 2016

[Buffy]

So....I file 1040A or 1040 EZ every year....

I need a 1095-c this year? Does my company have a requirement date to get it to me by? My w-2 has to be mailed by 01/31, anyone know about this? It's required to do your taxes even for a 1040 form...

[Tyche]

Employer sends out two copies. One to you, one to irs.

One to you, Same as W2, end of January.

One to be sent to irs (from your employer, not something you worry about) by end of February.

[galkaindaclub]

I live in NY and work in CT, started on Dec 28th, is it correct to only see withholding from CT on my pay stub? Also, I should be filing with both states correct?

[Buffy]

You do have to file in both states, and if one state is higher than the other, you have to pay the difference. I think you file in CT as your primary cause that is where your business is, then file in NY as your secondary and if NY is higher, you gotta pay the difference to NY. This happened to my parents in Virginia/North Carolina, but there may be special rules that apply, so look into it more I think.

[Minions]

The company I worked at ceased to exist last year (August?). What are the odds of me getting my tax paperwork and not having to postpone filing and jump through many hoops?

[Kalmado]

For the last five years my brother in law has done our taxes, but we moved and are deciding where to have them done. Quick and dirty of our situation for this year is we have w2s, unemployment, mortgage, life insurance & 401k, school. A situation happened five years ago before my wife and I were married where (long story short) Meijer f'd her and now her state taxes get taken every year. Because of this I always file Married Injured Spouse. My question is should we just go to H&R Block or should I do the taxes myself? I've done them myself when it was just me and w2s. Advice?

[tyven]

You could try doing them yourself, a lot of the options walk you through each step and will ask if you need to claim all of those things you listed. I use freetaxusa.com, only because I've been using it since like 08 so its easy since it saves all my shit

YOUR BOY OWES 2.5 RACKS THIS YEAR THANKS A LOT COMRADE OBAMA

[Wulfgang]

I find H&R Block during tax season to be pretty bad; they bring in a ton of underqualified idiots to deal with the volume during this season. You're better off just finding a local tax accountant who has a spot for you in their calendar; they will generally do the job much better. I've used TurboTax for every filing except for one where I had an extremely unique situation and doing it wrong would have been an insta-audit. If you have a basic tax return, TurboTax is a-ok.

[Fondue]

Tfw single man with no deductions

[Melena]

If yours is just basic shit like Wulfy said, Turbo tax goes great. I've been using it the last few years and all I have is married and student loan interest deductions, but the deluxe which includes a free state form also covers Mortgage and a bunch of other shit. If you are scared to do turbo tax, then I suggest a private person. If you like in the east bay of california, PM me and I can refer you to the person who used to do mine and my dad's.

[Kalmado]

I'm Michigan. Forgot, I need to also submit for my small business. Sounds like we'd be better served to go to a cpa or something just to ensure no errors.

[Churchill]

You could try doing them yourself, a lot of the options walk you through each step and will ask if you need to claim all of those things you listed. I use freetaxusa.com, only because I've been using it since like 08 so its easy since it saves all my shit

YOUR BOY OWES 2.5 RACKS THIS YEAR THANKS A LOT COMRADE OBAMA

If you pay money you need to get yourself someone to do your taxes for you. 100% guaranteed that not only will you not pay any money but if they look at your previous filings they'll get the government to send you money for those too.

[killerx]

So....I file 1040A or 1040 EZ every year....

I need a 1095-c this year? Does my company have a requirement date to get it to me by? My w-2 has to be mailed by 01/31, anyone know about this? It's required to do your taxes even for a 1040 form...

Did mine already with turbo tax since I had mine through work says I didn't need the 1095 since they already report it for me I guess.

[JigglyJam]

Waiting on some investing paperwork in order to do mine. Then will have to figure out how to claim I got married but with a non-resident alien.

[Wulfgang]

If you pay money you need to get yourself someone to do your taxes for you. 100% guaranteed that not only will you not pay any money but if they look at your previous filings they'll get the government to send you money for those too.

Haha not sure about that exactly, but a good accountant will always be the best option. However, if you're single, do not own a home, do not contribute obscene amounts to charity, etc., there's only so many levers even a great accountant can pull. I've owed taxes every year since college, used a great accountant in the DC area once for filing and twice for reviewing (ended up still filing the TurboTax forms in the end) and there were no material adjustments they could make really. Itemized didn't even come close to surpassing the standard deduction.

This is only relevant to those owing taxes on basic W-2 earnings. If you're owing taxes because of capital gains on investment accounts, then yes, the sky is the limit when it comes to the financial engineering a really good accountant can finagle with investment accounts. However, you generally need to do that finagling on a proactive basis before the tax is incurred.

[synistar]

401k & an IRA are the only tax shelters for those without a mortgage to pay. I get yelled at my CPA wielding mom about tossing more into the 401k when I'm already going 12% each check.

[Wulfgang]

I meant more along the lines of filtering investments through anonymous trusts in the Cayman Islands / etc. to avoid the capital gains tax. Not really applicable to BG folks for the most part.

[LinktheDeme]

401k & an IRA are the only tax shelters for those without a mortgage to pay. I get yelled at my CPA wielding mom about tossing more into the 401k when I'm already going 12% each check.

Unless you're doing this to drop down a tax bracket you're generally not going to get anything back from a traditional 401k(unless you don't make any real money that year the phase out amount is really low iirc), although a roth or an IRA might.

[Nesssie]

My husband I maxes out our 40k1 and IRA every year to bring our income down for the 20% saver's credit but it sucks. We live pay check to pay check. We do have an emergency fund in case something breaks in our house. The saver's credit wipes out or tax bill so we get a full refund.

[kuronosan]

It always baffles me how I increase my withholdings every year and yet still almost end up owing money. Fucking ridiculous. Thankfully with school and a child I'm in the positive this year but I swear I'd be owing if it wasn't for that.