Overall they say getting a tax refund generally isn't a good thing (free money loan to the government) but I really hate paying at the end of the year. So we try to balance out and get a small refund.
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Not sure what choice. We usually get a refund but we won't this year. DH changed jobs and this year we owe.
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I'm guessing we will get about $300 from federal and $100 from state... hopefully we don't owe.
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I don't mind loaning the government money for free. After all, I loan my bank money for free with my savings and checking accounts. So I always hope for a big refund.
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Not entirely sure. We changed our withholdings for that exact reason (sick of giving the government a loan all year), and this will be the first year we did that. We usually get about $4k back, and changed our withholdings last year mid-way through the year, so I'm guessing it will be like 1-3k? Somewhere in there? I'm really not sure. We haven't filed yet.
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We try to come close to breaking even. We've never gotten a huge refund. It's better that way... but I'm not gonna lie I do get jealous when I hear others get thousands of dollars back!! I just don't understand how or why they do that. Well, I understand how.
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@Anagram: It only makes a difference if you plan to invest that money (which is our method), so I want the interest!
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We will definitely owe because of the way that my graduate stipend is paid. Suuuuucks!
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@Anagram: Yea even though interest rates aren't much, they say it can also be better to wisely budget that money and have it available to you throughout the year. But I think based on the other thread, most people plan to spend it wisely or save it so its not like you're completely blowing it and being frivolous.
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We try to stay close to $0...usually my goal is under $1000 refund between state and federal.
This year I ignored my increased mortgage interest and increased property taxes erroneously and therefore we are getting closer to $2250 back...better than owing I guess!
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@Ajsmommy: The only year we had a really big refund like that was when we did the first time homebuyer refund. That was like $6k or something which we put back into our house.
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@DillonLion: yeah, we don't do that. We already have a set amount of investments and realistically, I know with extra cash we will end up just buying more unnecessary crap. I just think it's weird that the average American statistically has no more than $10,000 in any kind of savings and is living totally paycheck to paycheck, and yet I see that advice on every single forum. Just using some rational deduction skills, I'm guessing there are a whole lot of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck AND owing the government money at the end of the year. It's better for the vast majority of Americans to know their own spending habits/savings and change their deductions so they don't owe.
I have friends every year who file for extensions because they can't afford the payment.
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We are getting about $7K back. Last year we ended up owing over $3K in taxes because 2 years my husband switched from a contractor to full time employee and made more money that bumped our bracket but he never went and changed his withholding percentage so we had a full year of withholding too little. I was convinced he was never going to change it so I started withholding more and he ended up changing his withholdings AND we had a second child so it all added up to lots of money back. Which will go straight to paying for double daycare ...whomp whomp
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Nada. But we only owe around $150 so I'm happy with that.
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We got 7k back last year, so thinking the same or more...? I have no idea why we get so much, maybe I should look into see if we can keep more instead. Buuttt I really don't want to owe and have to pay a lump sum either!
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I always owe since I'm self-employed.
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We are getting about $2700 back total. Less than last year, but I changed my withholdings.
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@Anagram: Yea I would for sure hate to owe. Even a small payment under $1,000 is a pain in the butt (really a stab to the heart). But I also dont understand the reasoning of why you would want have $2k+ returned.
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We owe every damn year, it's so frustrating. We make very similar salaries, both withhold at 0, and still somehow end up owing between 1-2K every year. Stupid tax brackets.
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@Anagram: Agreed! I wasn't comfortable changing our deductions until we knew we'd be responsible with it throughout the year. I literally changed my withholdings, and then siphoned off the difference in my paycheck and added it to my savings without touching it whatsoever. It is pointless if the money just disappears into frivolous expenses for sure. It isn't the right move for most people. I definitely agree with you there.
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We owe $4K every year. No deductions, had a baby, bought a house, still owe! Every year I get a 20% raise, which the govt promptly takes anyways lol.
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Not sure yet! We usually get a couple thousand.
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A couple thousand coming back. Not enough to have fun with but enough I don't want to piddle it away at target. Into savings it goes.
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@Anagram: Um, I hope they figure out the extension is just for filing. It doesn't mean they can pay late.
We're getting back about $2500 this year. I think it's too high, so I adjusted my withholding so it's more like $1k.
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We will owe, because my husband doesn't withhold enough
Every year he plans to change his paperwork to withhold more and every year he forgets...Maybe 2016 will be the one! ha
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i'm hoping we get back around $2k
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I'm really not sure! Lots of weird things last year. Just hoping we don't owe a ton.
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We get around 7k back. We aren't that good at saving monthly, so although it's 'loaning interest free money' it allows us to save a bulk sum each year. So we had nothing but now we have our 4-5 month emergency fund. I don't think that would happen otherwise.
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about 2,500
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I'm pretty sure we are going to owe. I'm employed by a NH company and I live in Maine....NH doesn't have income taxes and Maine does. I didn't pay any yet. So even though I worked part time, I'm pretty sure we will owe.
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It's been very different every year. We've ranged from getting 5K back to owing 1K. This year we basically broke even, with a $200 refund. I prefer it that way - I would rather have that money in my paycheck every two weeks, rather than a random, variable, unpredictable amount sometime in the spring. Then again, I'm a pretty strict budgeter and saver so I don't need the government to do my savings for me.
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@oliviaoblivia: "piddle away at target" - LOL. My life.
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We might end up owing. We made money on the sale of our home, which we bought with money that had been taxed, and took 100% of the risk on, so the government is claiming another big piece of that money.
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I *hope* to get back like $4k++
I *expect* to get back very little, or to owe (hopefully) very little.I honestly have no idea how people get like $4k+ back. It seriously boggles my mind; it just seems so foreign.
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We are getting $3,100 back.
Not ideal--turns out that my husband's exemptions were off. We have already fixed it so that next year we will stay around 0.
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I'm not really sure this year since it will be our first year with having an independent child on our withholdings. But normally we try to set it up so that we are getting less then $1000 back (but don't actually have to write a check).
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We try to keep it balanced so that we either owe a small amount or get a very small refund. Our tax situation has been completely different year to year due to changes in school and jobs and baby so that's been hard. We're getting a tiny refund this year which I'm happy about - it means we got our exemptions right despite two jobs for me, two separate maternity leaves and LO's birth.
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From State and Federal we got about $8k back.
I don't mind putting extra in because it is on a pre-tax basis so my refund comes back on a pre-taxed, which is more money in my pocket. I view it as sort of an investment. Plus, we are in a financial situation where we don't need money in our pockets right now, but if something happened where next year we became strapped it is nice to know that refund is available to us. We owed a bit last year and it was hard.
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we're getting back around $3K and while for this year it's fine, I want DH to fix his withholdings so we even up more next year. we're planning on buying, so that's going to throw a whole lot out of balance, but i would rather have $$ month to month than all at once. i work for myself though, so it's hard to balance it all efficiently.
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We had a lot of life change last year (moved, bought house) so we are getting a big return $7K. We've owed so many years in the past I wanted to be safe but we'll be adjusting our payroll deductions ASAP now that life has settled down a bit!
Every year he plans to change his paperwork to withhold more and every year he forgets...Maybe 2016 will be the one! ha
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