MM December randoms

[quesyrah]

I need to find a tax preparer. We have to file my parents taxes for them for the first time this year. I’m nervous that we’ll miss something!

Our taxes are easy- one W2 and we take the standard deduction.

[ohgillian]

Dec 9, 2021 20:20:27 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

I need to find a tax preparer. We have to file my parents taxes for them for the first time this year. I’m nervous that we’ll miss something!

Our taxes are easy- one W2 and we take the standard deduction.

Turbo tax? I just pay for the highest level where you can do a video chat with a tax preparer or even a CPA if you need help. 

[quesyrah]

Dec 10, 2021 9:16:22 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Dec 9, 2021 20:20:27 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

I need to find a tax preparer. We have to file my parents taxes for them for the first time this year. I’m nervous that we’ll miss something!

Our taxes are easy- one W2 and we take the standard deduction.

Turbo tax? I just pay for the highest level where you can do a video chat with a tax preparer or even a CPA if you need help. 

We’re going to start there and hope it goes okay. I didn’t know turbo tax had that option- I’m definitely going to look into that!

They can deduct a portion of what they pay for their assisted living facility (They have dementia and I moved them in last spring) and since we’ve never deducted anything I’m nervous to get it wrong. Their facility apparently sends a statement at the end of the year showing the breakdown of their costs and what they paid. So at least I’ll have documentation.

I’m hoping this means a refund for them! They need all the money they can get because their bill is $$$$

I’ve looked through their past taxes and it looks like they typically get a very small refund.

[ohgillian]

Dec 10, 2021 15:42:41 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

Dec 10, 2021 9:16:22 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Turbo tax? I just pay for the highest level where you can do a video chat with a tax preparer or even a CPA if you need help. 

We’re going to start there and hope it goes okay. I didn’t know turbo tax had that option- I’m definitely going to look into that!

They can deduct a portion of what they pay for their assisted living facility (They have dementia and I moved them in last spring) and since we’ve never deducted anything I’m nervous to get it wrong. Their facility apparently sends a statement at the end of the year showing the breakdown of their costs and what they paid. So at least I’ll have documentation.

I’m hoping this means a refund for them! They need all the money they can get because their bill is $$$$

I’ve looked through their past taxes and it looks like they typically get a very small refund.

The standard deduction for people who file”married filing jointly” is currently pretty high - I think it’s $25,500. So for itemizing to even make sense, their itemized deductions would have to be bigger than that - which is the case for very few people. Also, for the medical deduction, you can only deduct amounts that are more than 7.5 % of your AGI. The good news is that you can just enter everything and Turbo Tax will tell you if they should itemize or not!

[quesyrah]

Dec 10, 2021 18:21:38 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

Dec 10, 2021 15:42:41 GMT -5 quesyrah said:

We’re going to start there and hope it goes okay. I didn’t know turbo tax had that option- I’m definitely going to look into that!

They can deduct a portion of what they pay for their assisted living facility (They have dementia and I moved them in last spring) and since we’ve never deducted anything I’m nervous to get it wrong. Their facility apparently sends a statement at the end of the year showing the breakdown of their costs and what they paid. So at least I’ll have documentation.

I’m hoping this means a refund for them! They need all the money they can get because their bill is $$$$

I’ve looked through their past taxes and it looks like they typically get a very small refund.

The standard deduction for people who file”married filing jointly” is currently pretty high - I think it’s $25,500. So for itemizing to even make sense, their itemized deductions would have to be bigger than that - which is the case for very few people. Also, for the medical deduction, you can only deduct amounts that are more than 7.5 % of your AGI. The good news is that you can just enter everything and Turbo Tax will tell you if they should itemize or not!

Hmm, I guess we have a lot to learn.

Their bill is about $16,000 a month so I just assumed it would be enough to deduct.

[awkwardpenguin]

quesyrah, I probably would look for a paid preparer if you're inheriting their tax situation. They'll know what to look for and be able to understand what has been done on past tax returns. They'll also know the rules around what is and is not deductible for assisted living. It's somewhat complicated and if you're not feeling confident about Turbo Tax I would find someone to help you. It will be money well spent.

[midwestmama]

DH sold his truck yesterday (was paid off, so we put the entire amount in the bank for now), so now we're a one-car family for a few weeks. He ordered a new truck, but it won't be delivered until late January. We're going to rent a car for the month of January because it often happens where both kids have to be different places at the same time and we don't always have solid backups to get one of them to where they need to go.

I'm not really excited about selling the truck (because it's paid off and it's been a good, reliable vehicle), but we sold it for a few thousand $ less than what we bought it for 5 years ago, so that makes me feel a bit better about the sale. DH is buying a mid-size truck (Toyota Tacoma), so it should be very reliable and will have a decent resale value when he wants to sell it. (Because he can't seem to keep a vehicle long-term. I think he's owned 10-12 vehicles in his driving years, and he's 41. (For the 15 years we've been married, I'm counting all the vehicle purchases that he initiated.)) We'll save some $ in gas going from a full-size truck to a mid-size truck and will get a small refund on our insurance for the 5-6 weeks or so that we're down to one vehicle. We'll have a small loan for the new truck, but will plan to pay it off with DH's bonus in March/April.

On a separate note, I'd like to make some donations to some of our favorite charities/non-profits before the end of the year. I've just been waiting to see if some of them have a few days where there are matching donations.

[ohgillian]

A few months ago I stopped working with my personal trainer ($35/session x twice a week = about $280/month) and got the peloton app ($14/month) and I'm really thrilled with the change. Sorry to my trainer but I think I like the app better. So it's a MM win for me.

[chpmnk1015]

Hope everyone hit the goals they were hoping to this year!
Came short on 1 but not by much and then one other was a stretch but at least made progress towards it..happy...especially w being unemployed 6 months.
Already working on some for 2022