What are you going to do with your tax return money?

[El Jefe]

Inb4 taxreturnsareforthosewhodontknowhowtoinvest.
inb4Ialwaysendupoweing
inb4youareanidiotifyougetmoneyback

Anyways, for those of us who are getting money back, what are your plans for it? I fortunately am going to be getting almost all the money I spent out of pocket finishing my BBA last year, roughly 2500. I am going to take $500 and put it into my portfolio (small, but growing), take another $500 and put into my rainy day fund. I think I will take $1000 and pay down some bills we have (couple medical bills and pay some towards my wife's school loan). I will probably use $150.00 of the leftover to take my wife to Texas De Brazil (freaking love that place), I also need to replace my windshield in my civic which got cracked this winter, I will probably buy a couple books and a couple DVD's. I also need to buy some points for my 53 Ford Jubilee, and I would like to buy a Fiskars X27 axe, because I have a 40 foot ash tree cut down and sectioned, but not split. Plenty of others things to consider as well.

What about you guys?

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by sedated

I don't think the people touting the "its a mistake to get a refund" thing are putting it in a savings account for 1% interest. They invest in something with a higher return.

I can see the benefit - profit off the money rather than letting it sit around doing nothing. But I know nothing about investing so haven't tried it.

This. In my case it is the % of my operating note.

Originally Posted by kepp

Explain this to me then... When I added in my wife's W2 (she earned 25% of what I earned in '14) our federal return dropped by 60%. I don't see how that could have happened unless all our taxable income was taxed in the higher bracket.

Here's the deal. Your wife's withholdings assume that she is the only one making money. So if it is a low wage, it will not withhold very much because most of it would be eaten up by the standard deduction. So when your wage fills up the lower tax brackets, and her wages are taxed at a higher rate, you're under withheld. It doesn't matter which dollar fills the exemptions and the brackets, but the higher the income, the more withholdings there are. And since your wife's wages are low, the percentage is low.

I run into that with some part time work I do. But I don't care enough to change it. If you want to change it, figure up how much % of gross wages your tax was, and then compare that to your wifes, and have her withhold the difference.

Example using totally arbitrary numbers.

Gross wages: $100,000 (both you and your wifes gross from W-2)
Taxes Due: $30,000 (what's due plus what was withheld)
Tax Rate: 30%

Wife Wage: $25,000
Taxes withheld: $2,000
30% of her Gross: $7,500
Difference: $5,500

have her withhold an extra 458.33 per month and that should get dang close.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Frosty

I have a side business that is highly variable on whether I get income or not. I can make anywhere from nothing (like last year) to $7-8,000. Since I don't know if I am going to be finding any work or not (engineering consulting), I maxed out my withholdings to cover the unplanned income. It can mean large returns but it also prevents any unpleasant surprises come tax season.

Be sure you keep track of expenses. If you don't make anything, be sure to keep track of expenses and carry over the loss.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Be sure you keep track of expenses. If you don't make anything, be sure to keep track of expenses and carry over the loss.

Yeah, I actually had a $75 loss this year.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DaFace

It would take a pretty extreme situation for it to matter a lot. If Option A is to get a $6k refund and Option B is to invest $500 per month at 10% interest (which would be REALLY good for a conservative investment), you'd end up with about $6300 at the end of the year (in very rough numbers). So your best case scenario is making an extra $300, and for most people, it'd probably be closer to $30.

Yeah, I assume Dave Ramsey or someone once said "it's an interest free loan to the government!" and now that's the cool thing to say, even though no one actually does anything with that money, except maybe spend it.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by notorious

This

I will take at least 3-5% on thousands of dollars instead of 0%.

For people that don't have the discipline to save, overpaying is far better, though.

And that's what it comes down to

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by notorious

It does suck.


But, with the choice of making what I do now and paying, or making what I used to and getting scraps back, the decision is easy.

Exactly

[ShortRoundChief]

Personally, I wish that they'd roll with a schedule of deposits like they've had every other year.

This update once a day shit is for the birds. I got bills to pay hookers to rent and blow to..uh...blow.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Yeah, I assume Dave Ramsey or someone once said "it's an interest free loan to the government!" and now that's the cool thing to say, even though no one actually does anything with that money, except maybe spend it.

I'd still rather spend it on what I needed to keep work coming in if I were self employed though. Like advertising or a new computer, a tablet etc.

[TimBone]

With my tax return, I'm going to neg rep Coochie Liquor. Y'all should do the same!!

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I'd still rather spend it on what I needed to keep work coming in if I were self employed though. Like advertising or a new computer, a tablet etc.

If you were self employed and got a refund, it would mean you made less money because the estimates based on prior years income were overstated. You'd need to reinvest it, or at least replenish operating capital.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

Most of us middle class people without kids won't get much, so probably not much of anything.

Now if I was a poor, uneducated dipshit on the earned income tax credit with 5 or 6 mouth breathing kids to my name, I'm sure I'd be doing all kinds of crazy shit like buying big screen TV's, guns, new vinyl furniture etc.

True, if I didn't finish my BBA and get the Federal educational credit, I wouldn't have got much at all. I actually owed $39 to the state.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Got my return deposit today and I've already paid off two credit cards.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Got my return deposit today and I've already paid off two credit cards.

My payment comes out Monday. It's not too bad this year.

[ShortRoundChief]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

Most of us middle class people without kids won't get much, so probably not much of anything.

Now if I was a poor, uneducated dipshit on the earned income tax credit with 5 or 6 mouth breathing kids to my name, I'm sure I'd be doing all kinds of crazy shit like buying big screen TV's, guns, new vinyl furniture etc.

Heh.

I don't know if you're just trying to be a dick or it comes natural but I will throw my intellect up against yours any day of the week.


Signed,
a poor, educated dipshit who got eic due to 1 kid

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

Most of us middle class people without kids won't get much, so probably not much of anything.

Now if I was a poor, uneducated dipshit on the earned income tax credit with 5 or 6 mouth breathing kids to my name, I'm sure I'd be doing all kinds of crazy shit like buying big screen TV's, guns, new vinyl furniture etc.

Middle class here, no kids. Pretty substantial return for me.

(Of course, it's because the wife and I actually withhold extra because: 1. we had to pay our first year together, and that ****ing sucked; and 2. we like a big fat check this time of year to take care of larger projects like paying down debt, house repairs/upgrades, or buying things like cars outright.)