That moment when you are doing your taxes...

[gogreengowhite]

and the software says you owe $4,000. FOUR THOUSAND freaking dollars.

WTH?!?!

We only made $10k more than last year and we only owed $600.

Please share in my misery, what was your biggest tax surprise?

ETA: What did you do to correct going forward?

I moved my deductions to 0, should I also take most/all of the additional out throughout the year?

[moolarkey]

Owing over $7,000

[audette]

Last year we owed penalties for underpayment on our taxes. That sucked.

This year, well, it'll be a while before we can do our taxes. We need to get a bunch more forms before we can begin the process.

[Deleted]

Well there was a poster last year who owed much more than that.

How much were your withholdings and deductions compared to last year?

[Deleted]

I am not great at estimating our taxes exactly. Too many moving parts. We usually owe a few thousand, but always well under the threshold amt for penalties. This year i think we'll get $ back. Hopefully since I upped my withholdings at the end of the year signify tky.

[pamela]

$7k+ year before last. We had an extra $500/ month withheld until life changes settle out.

[Deleted]

I got an $1800 tax bill last May from underreporting while married. Apparently we underreported because XH cashed in some retirement accounts I was unaware of him cashing in, so they were penalized and unclaimed income.

That is still a mess. He said he took care of it, but of course he didn't. I recently filed an innocent spouse relief form, so I hope that goes through. In the meantime, I'm hoping he files his taxes ASAP and gets a big refund, because they'll take the payment from whoever files first. I think there is a big chance his refund won't cover it, so I hope the innocent spouse thing goes through. If not, I don't get my refund (which, ironically, looks like it will be around $1800 this year).

I'm not planning on actually filing for my refund until after the tax deadline, unless I find out this has been cleared up sooner. Which sucks, because I could really use the money NOW.

[FishChicks]

In 2010 our tax bill, including 2009 federal and state and 2010 estimated tax payments, was right around $45,000. DH's company had converted to an S-class corp late in 2009, and that whopping tax bill was the result. In March I had just put down 20% on a house in HCOL, so I nearly died when that number came up on Turbo Tax in April.

[Deleted]

The first year I started freelancing, I owe $9k. That sucked ass.

[Deleted]

I hope this doesnt happen to me. Im sorry you owe. Any chance there is something you forgot?

[gogreengowhite]

Jan 20, 2015 20:25:54 GMT -5 FishChicks said:

In 2010 our tax bill, including 2009 federal and state and 2010 estimated tax payments, was right around $45,000. DH's company had converted to an S-class corp late in 2009, and that whopping tax bill was the result. In March I had just put down 20% on a house in HCOL, so I nearly died when that number came up on Turbo Tax in April.

You win! You win! I'm sorry for complaining!

[gogreengowhite]

Jan 20, 2015 20:43:51 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I hope this doesnt happen to me. Im sorry you owe. Any chance there is something you forgot?

Potentially but I think that $10k moved us out of some credits.

[FishChicks]

Yeah, it was an experience I hope never to repeat. I'm fairly certain DH feels the same way given the language I used and the volume of my voice when using said language! He had told me the conversion to an s class corp would have "little impact" on our taxes.

[gogreengowhite]

Jan 20, 2015 20:53:21 GMT -5 FishChicks said:

Yeah, it was an experience I hope never to repeat. I'm fairly certain DH feels the same way given the language I used and the volume of my voice when using said language! He had told me the conversion to an s class corp would have "little impact" on our taxes.

I can't even imagine this conversation in our house. Rage! So much rage!

[thebulldog]

Jan 20, 2015 20:26:58 GMT -5 @melissainabq said:

The first year I started freelancing, I owe $9k. That sucked ass.

This happened to me too. I changed full time jobs, starting freelancing and somewhere along the way owed $5k. I was soooo pissed.

Sent from my SM-G900P using proboards

[Melissa W.]

We owed $5k one year. It sucked because DH had it in his head we were getting back $5k. It was basically a $10k heart attack..it sucked. Now I estimate in September to see where I think we will fall.

[mokes]

We owed ~$22k last year. Not cool. We both had extra taken out this year, but I suspect we'll still owe.

[msmerymac]

You can also check "married but withhold at the higher single rate" in addition to claiming zero to have more taken out.

[agnes]

Oh shit. I hope this doesn't happen to us! Last year we owed a combined federal and state $1k. We made over 10k more than last year, but I did up my 401k contribution, and are now both married filing at the the single higher rate.

[Deleted]

Grrrrrrr, the tax code is confusing AT BEST so I completely commiserate with you 

Darn you, Uncle Sam!!!!

We have to do the withholding like a single person and then some extra to not get nailed by the govt every April and it stinks.

[Deleted]

Jan 20, 2015 20:51:01 GMT -5 gogreengowhite said:

Jan 20, 2015 20:43:51 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I hope this doesnt happen to me. Im sorry you owe. Any chance there is something you forgot?

Potentially but I think that $10k moved us out of some credits.

There are very few credits that have a sheer cliff dropoff. Most phase out. I stand by my earlier questions - have your deductions changed or your withholdings? The "amount you owe" is nearly irrelevant as a year over year comparison. A real comparison would be your total tax liability from last year to this year.

[aurora]

Jan 20, 2015 20:25:54 GMT -5 FishChicks said:

In 2010 our tax bill, including 2009 federal and state and 2010 estimated tax payments, was right around $45,000. DH's company had converted to an S-class corp late in 2009, and that whopping tax bill was the result. In March I had just put down 20% on a house in HCOL, so I nearly died when that number came up on Turbo Tax in April.

Oh, man, what a nightmare.  H's company converted to an S-Corp in 2014 but they spent a lot of time with their accountant to predict impact on their taxes so I'm hoping I'm not back here in a month with a similar story! 

We don't have nearly enough info yet from our financial institutions to predict our 2014 taxes, unfortunately.

[UnderProtest]

I'm a little worried about this year. Along with moving overseas, my husband got a promotion. The way his company is treating him isn't the norm, so it worries me that they will have screwed something up and we will owe big time.

[gogreengowhite]

BirdGirl

I'll be honest, I was going off of w-2s and then estimating other deductions. I know I'm pretty close in my estimates, but I could have messed something up. You are right, I should pull out last year's info.

I have been processing payroll in addition to my accounting role for over 6 years and I didn't even think to file married but withhold at the single rate. Thank you to the PP that mentioned this.

[UnderProtest]

Jan 21, 2015 4:32:12 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Jan 21, 2015 4:13:55 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

I'm a little worried about this year. Along with moving overseas, my husband got a promotion. The way his company is treating him isn't the norm, so it worries me that they will have screwed something up and we will owe big time.

It would be ironic if they screwed something up, hope you don't get a big surprise like we did. 

I don't even want to think about dealing with our taxes for the next couple of years given how complicated they've gotten: being a two-country household for parts of 2014 and 2015, salaries in two currencies, likely selling our house this year, etc.  I won't even know if a mistake is made on the returns because it took me 30 years to get a not-great grasp on the U.S. tax system; I have no hope of understanding how the U.S. and U.K. systems interact!

Uhmmm, yeah, not counting on that.  We'll blame it on payroll if it happens.

Good thing you have someone to ask about that.  

[les]

Yikes. I hope I don't owe much this year. I wish our tax system were less complicated.

[kaylie]

My second year out of college my employer failed to withhold NYC income tax and I didn't realize it. It was only $700 but that was a LOT back when I was living in the city making under $40K. I cried.

[mskitkat]

I'm so afraid of my taxes this year. I need to find someone, but I'm avoiding it.

[pinkdutchtulips]

Jan 20, 2015 19:56:27 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I got an $1800 tax bill last May from underreporting while married. Apparently we underreported because XH cashed in some retirement accounts I was unaware of him cashing in, so they were penalized and unclaimed income.

That is still a mess. He said he took care of it, but of course he didn't. I recently filed an innocent spouse relief form, so I hope that goes through. In the meantime, I'm hoping he files his taxes ASAP and gets a big refund, because they'll take the payment from whoever files first. I think there is a big chance his refund won't cover it, so I hope the innocent spouse thing goes through. If not, I don't get my refund (which, ironically, looks like it will be around $1800 this year).

I'm not planning on actually filing for my refund until after the tax deadline, unless I find out this has been cleared up sooner. Which sucks, because I could really use the money NOW.

same boat

xh cashed out his SEPIRA and never bothered to have the taxes taken out. never tells me about this and OMG the bill from the IRS ! now bc he's an unemployed transient, guess who they come after bc we filed JOINT those years !  I've got an innocent spouse petition going to *fingers crossed* but I won't be seeing a tax refund for a LONG time otherwise

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2015 13:36:19 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

Jan 20, 2015 19:56:27 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

I got an $1800 tax bill last May from underreporting while married. Apparently we underreported because XH cashed in some retirement accounts I was unaware of him cashing in, so they were penalized and unclaimed income.

That is still a mess. He said he took care of it, but of course he didn't. I recently filed an innocent spouse relief form, so I hope that goes through. In the meantime, I'm hoping he files his taxes ASAP and gets a big refund, because they'll take the payment from whoever files first. I think there is a big chance his refund won't cover it, so I hope the innocent spouse thing goes through. If not, I don't get my refund (which, ironically, looks like it will be around $1800 this year).

I'm not planning on actually filing for my refund until after the tax deadline, unless I find out this has been cleared up sooner. Which sucks, because I could really use the money NOW.

same boat

xh cashed out his SEPIRA and never bothered to have the taxes taken out. never tells me about this and OMG the bill from the IRS ! now bc he's an unemployed transient, guess who they come after bc we filed JOINT those years !  I've got an innocent spouse petition going to *fingers crossed* but I won't be seeing a tax refund for a LONG time otherwise

Ugh I'm sorry. I hate that this is the way it works. I feel like if we are divorced, and the issue was attached to one person's SSN, that should be the person they go after. But I know that's NOT how it works.

At least in my case it's only $1800 and I don't have any kids I could use the money from my return, and don't really have $1800 to spare, but I feel worse for you. Hopefully both of our petitions will be approved.