I GOT MONEY!

[Infidel]

Yes, I made a mistake on my 1040A and according to the IRS forgot to claim $3,300 in exemptions. Not quite like winning the lottery, but it is still warm and fuzzy news.

It's kind of funny. I saw an option to allow the IRS to do my math for me with the caveat of no direct deposit, or I could do it myself with direct deposit.

I did it myself so I could get my refund sooner; apparently, I also did it wrong so the IRS corrected it for me and sent me my extra money--about $600 extra. It's kind of funny, even if you do the math yourself, the IRS still does the math for you and corrects any mistakes. This is the second time I messed up my 1040xx and got a better refund because the IRS has better math skills than me. Now if only I didn't owe Virginia every year. It makes me want to move back to Texas sometimes. Unless they re-instituded income tax back there.

When I was in the navy I'd tease my roommates. State income tax? What's that? In virginia I hate it. I might not hate it so much if I didn't end up having to pay extra every year while the US goverment keeps sending me money. It also annoys me that my taxable income for Virginia is much more than for Federal.

For the last few days I've been biting my nails over the extra $600 that was deposited into my bank account. Should I spend it or will it be taken out just as quickly? I wondered. Today I get my explaination letter.

Basically, I misread line 26. It started. "If you were displaced by katrina" or something to that effect, so I stopped reading. Apparently I shouldn't have, because at the end of the line it said, "otherwise, multiply $3,300 by the number of exemptions clamed on 6a."

*blush*

[keatonatron]

I never really understood the people who got all excited about their refunds (I'm not saying you're one of those people--I'm changing the subject slightly). I got my first refund ever 2 years ago, because my previous employers were always spot-on when it came to estimating how much to withhold for taxes. It was an unexpected $300 which is always nice, but no reason to go splurging like so many people do around this time of year.

You know, whenever you get a new job you can tell them if you want them to withhold extra money. If you really like this feeling, you should tell them to withhold an extra $50 from each paycheck. Just forget about it, and when Spring rolls around you'll be set to receive a check for $1200+!

[Mike Cash]

Most of my working life has been under the Japanese system of the company doing not only the withholding, but also the filings and the refunds. I never touch any of that stuff.

Last year, for the first time, they failed to take out enough taxes and they hit me up for some cash. About 5,000 yen or so, I think it was.

This year, I got 9,600 yen back. While I was busy thinking what to waste it on my wife got 3,000 of it. And before I could spend the remainder the accounting guy at work phoned me up and said due to an error they had refunded too much and I needed to return 6,000 yen.

[Harisenbon]

Mike, way to go! A big 600 yen!

Ahh, to be rich and carefree. =)

[Hatori]

[quote]Infidel wrote:
For the last few days I've been biting my nails over the extra $600 that was deposited into my bank account. Should I spend it or will it be taken out just as quickly? I wondered. Today I get my explaination letter.
[quote]

I'm no adult, so just don't listen to my stupid talk unless you want to.
I think you're getting the money because the government want to increase the economy because you'll buy stuff, blah blah blah, government gets money and our world seems flourished.
Of course, I do not understand the fundamentals of taxes, so I just may not make any sense... lol. I was so amazed to see that the US Illinios tax is 6.5% when I was looking at what I bought at the store recently... lol.

[Harisenbon]

I think you're getting the money because the government want to increase the economy because you'll buy stuff, blah blah blah,

Actually, tax refunds are generally from when you pay too much in taxes over the year. The money is rightfully yours, you just generally screwed up the math somewhere when a) filling out your forms or b) assuming how much you'll be paying in taxes for the year. But, even though the money is yours to begin with, because it comes in a nice lump sum, it feels a little like christmas for adults.

In this case, as Infidel pointed out, it was the former, as he forgot to make some deductions.

[Infidel]

keatonatron wrote:
I never really understood the people who got all excited about their refunds (I'm not saying you're one of those people--I'm changing the subject slightly).

Two things required for this fuzzy feeling.

1. Amount refunded must be big enough for a meaningful purchase that could not be made under normal circumstances.

2. Amount must be bigger than can be easily saved quickly.

Both are really a matter of your income level. If your income level is low, then it is hard to save money and the refunded money is outside my budget, thus it is "free money" as far as my budget is concerned. Since my material needs are small, that refund is enough for my once-a-year major purchase.

On the other hand, If I had a job that paid better, the tax refund would be smaller and it would be easier to make purchases like this without it and besides, people that get paid well would be better off banking the difference instead of increasing their withholding. Especially when they would need to withhold a much larger amount to create a refund worth getting excited over.

I think you're getting the money because the government want to increase the economy because you'll buy stuff, blah blah blah, government gets money and our world seems flourished.

While this has happened before--a couple of years ago I got a check for about $250 because the goverment decided to increase everyone's refund to stimulate the economy-- this is not a standard tactic.

[hyperconjugated]

I was refunded 160 euros last
december. The only income I've had
were the student financial aid checks
that are taxed with fixed rate whatever
the case. Appreciated.

[Hatori]

Thanks for explaining a bit more about tax refunds. I hate thinking about taxes in math class because I'm always so confused... lol.
But, I've got a tab going on for walking my neighbors' puppy this week... hehe. So, I've got money too! :D Plus my twenty hard earned dollars! XD