Is it just me or....

[rainbabies]

What Heidi said. We use our fed return to pay the state. I traveled to house hunt...caught up on some bills, and put tires on our tahoe.

Tax Money!

I got laid off for 6 weeks last year during GMs bankruptcy and when we returned, I got a 3% reduction in pay. These two things equalled us being in a lower tax bracket! YEAH!!!!! We finally were able to claim the astronomical amount of student loan interest we pay and also my husband's tuition expenses! We have been out of school and married for 4 years. The first year, we had to PAY $5,000! OUCH The second, we got back $800, the next we had a baby and got back $1300, this year.... drum roll... $8000 back!! YEAH!!!!! I realize that is my money and its not like its being GIVEN to us... but boy does it make us happy to get it back! Of course, with my husband quitting his job in 3 weeks to leave for medical school, we used it to pay off our credit card and his car. Oh well! At least we're less in debt!

Lacy

[MarissaNicole]

Lacy that's awesome - very smart decision to have a little less debt and a paid off car!

We haven't filed ours yet but they are done and we are getting a significant chunk of change (but not 8K!). We will add it to our rainy day fund which we need in case I cannot find a job right away.

[Vishenka69]

We haven't got a refund in years, it was so long ago, I don't even remember the last refund check we got.

Kris, have you thought of switching accountants? I can't believe you owe so much each year. I was prepared to shell out thousands this year but we only owe $900 to the feds. Since we're the ones paying, I don't mail the taxes until early April.

[reciprocity]

What Heidi said. We use our fed return to pay the state. I traveled to house hunt...caught up on some bills, and put tires on our tahoe.

yup, same here - we will probably break even (which is why I haven't really rushed to do ours yet - but who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!)

[oceanchild]

New homebuyer credit here!

We were going to use it to by a piano, but my ILs said we could have theirs, so it will probably hit the savings account for the time being.

We got a great check back this year! It will probably be the last big check since my husband has a job now (1st yr EM resident). Since loans are in deferment, we are using most of it for fun. Saving for a ski trip in Jan, paid off our couch we bought when we moved, I get some for a spa day, and my husband gets some for his '67 Mustang he is rebuilding. The rest goes into savings. I'm glad everyone is doing good things with their refunds.

Tara
- Wife of an EM resident (only 3 more months of Intern year)

[JaneDoe]

We "only" had a balance due of $7800 to the feds and the state, which compared to last year is a real bargain. Our total tax payments for the 2009? Over $60,000! It's painful. We have to be really careful every quarter to make sure the money is set aside for the quarterly payments -they really sting.

Enjoy your refunds now!!! They won't last forever!

[SoonerTexan]

Typically our federal return pays the taxes we owe to the state.

Texas gets a lot of bad press for being backwards, etc., but there is one beautiful part--NO STATE TAXES!!! Wahoo!

Unfortunately, I still have to pay most of what I'm getting back to Oklahoma I couldn't believe I paid 1k in taxes this year as a full-time college student. It was a very sad day when I figured out 12k of my shiny new paycheck for my upcoming new job isn't really mine....

[PrincessFiona]

Texas gets a lot of bad press for being backwards, etc., but there is one beautiful part--NO STATE TAXES!!! Wahoo!

True, but property taxes are a killer in TX. MN has a state tax but we pay much less in property taxes.

[medpedspouse]

TX's sales tax is alo high....still, I am glad I do not have to do state taxes.

I just spoke to our accountant today and we're getting a nice, fat return! YAY! We got dinged big-time 2 years in a row, so dh put his exemptions up really high last and this year to make it almost certain that we wouldn't end up owing (therefore actually making our take-home be LESS than it was his first year out of training!). Clearly he overdid it, b/c we're getting nearly 2 paychecks (net) back! Still, awesome to hear as we're about to head off on our trip, and I am always so scared about anything financial that I was sure we'd end up owing a ton and then have to live on water and crackers on our trip.

Still, I'd prefer that we deal with any excess funds rather than letting the government sit on them, so we're also getting advice from the accountant on how to properly set our exemptions so that we won't owe, but will get back a much smaller amount.

[SuzySunshine]

True, but property taxes are a killer in TX. MN has a state tax but we pay much less in property taxes.

For some odd reason we end up owing MN more when we get a fed return so we changed our federal with holdings when R was born but not the state - now the state owes us.

[DCJenn]

We got ours and it's in the savings account to pay the f-ing property taxes in June. We pay three times as much property tax in Texas as we do for the house in DC. (granted the TX house is bigger and we have more yard but holy moly it's painful.)

Jenn

[houseelf]

I have been reading that with many state budget deficits that it may take a loooooong time to get a refund. Anyone worried about this?

Kelly