Reply With Quote
Since the income was so low,( and I'm assuming that there aren't any other w-2's in the mail) you qualify for EIC. If i'm not mistaken, I believe it's an extra $300 added to what you would already be getting.
It wont, they'll just subtract from this year's return.
If you owe this year, then the same happens.
Some people that know the next year of earnings is going to exceed the tax threshold of return will rollover this years return to the next.
They do this to anticipate a tax payment.
Youre just the opposite.
Since the income was so low,( and I'm assuming that there aren't any other w-2's in the mail) you qualify for EIC. If i'm not mistaken, I believe it's an extra $300 added to what you would already be getting.
It doesn't work that way when being a dependant of someone else.
I thought you were the booksmartest of all of us.
Seriously, you are going to have to do taxes for the rest of your life, so you may as well start now. It'll take you 1 hour, 2 at the most.
2 hours/$339 = $170/hr. Sounds worthwhile.
Why doesn't he get his social security payments back too if he's a low income earner, or are they superannuation contributions?
PS That 1-2 hours was based on our tax forms. They are a lot longer than one page like the W-2!
You never get SS back.Why doesn't he get his social security payments back too if he's a low income earner, or are they superannuation contributions?
I guess I don't understand what "social security" is in the US sense - here you make one tax payment that goes into consolidated revenue and is used by the govt for everything from hospitals, education and defence to soc sec payments.
On top of that there is compulsory superannuation (equivalent to your 401ks I guess), and medicare levy (sliding scale up to 6% - used to force people on middle and high incomes to get private health insurance).
Social Security tax is mandatory and taken out of everyone's check. Currently I believe it's 6.2%.
The concept is that you get it back in the form of monthly SS payments when you retire after age 65. However, most people believe that SS as we know it will be gone by the time we (people my age) get to retirement age. Therefore, many people believe we are paying it for nothing.
Gotcha, basically it's payment towards a pension. And you're right, in all probability it won't be there. Thanks for the explanation!
Australia brought in a new system of compulsory superannuation in the early 1990s, funded half by your employer and half by the government, with allowance for individual workers to add extra payments voluntarily tax free. All of these funds have to go into approved superannuation funds and cannot be taken out until age 60. The government did this to avoid the problem of unfunded pensions, but there was still a $60bil gap in the books, so they sold off public assets (Telstra, the govt telco, specifically) to fund those future pensions.
Ruff--
Social Security is 6.2% and you stop paying it once you hit $102,000 in wages.
They also take out 1.45% for Medicare which never caps out.
In CA, the state also takes out .8% for disability and caps out at $86,698 in wages.
This is on top of Federal income tax and State income tax (if the state you live in has it...TX doesn't).
These are 2008 figures.
The Employer has to pay into Unemployment funds (these aren't deducted from employees wages). The employer has to to pay .8% to the federal government in FUI up to $7000 per employee. For state UI, the rates vary depending on the company, but in CA the employer pays up to $7000 per employee and in TX, they pay up to $9000 per employee. Since the employer pays these funds, this is how you get money if you have to go on Unemployment. I currently do payroll for CA and TX, but have done them also for AZ, UT and AL, and each state has different rates.
There are other things companies can pay into and deduct from your wages, but these are the only things I'm required to deduct and pay. Then every week, I have to take the taxes I deduct from paychecks and pay those to the Feds and State (CA) and if I'm late, I get a nice little penalty with interest.
Hope this helps!
And thats where the latest generations fall short in the big picture. Instead of taking a few minutes to learn about something or educate yourself on real world things that can directly affect your life most teen or 20 somethings would rather ignore it until its screaming down your back for attention.
I suppose most of you are waiting not to complete the form but for the little trophy that comes with it.....everyone gets a trophy right, its only fair.
I think there is a sizing contest somewhere on the internets, shouldn't you be there? I'm sure you'll get a trophy for it.
So you took what I said personally instead of looking at my statement as a generalization of my observations of your generation as a whole? Makes sense.
The funding gap in the United States for our limited pension and socialized medicine program for seniors is $50 trillion over the next 30 years. Yes, you read that number correctly.Gotcha, basically it's payment towards a pension. And you're right, in all probability it won't be there. Thanks for the explanation!
Australia brought in a new system of compulsory superannuation in the early 1990s, funded half by your employer and half by the government, with allowance for individual workers to add extra payments voluntarily tax free. All of these funds have to go into approved superannuation funds and cannot be taken out until age 60. The government did this to avoid the problem of unfunded pensions, but there was still a $60bil gap in the books, so they sold off public assets (Telstra, the govt telco, specifically) to fund those future pensions.
E20, I've been doing my taxes for years and since you are in college like me, I'm sure that you don't make enough in wages to file on a different form than the 1040EZ. I has "EZ" at the end for a reason, it takes no time at all to fill out, you can do it while you're on the crapper for christ's sake. Pretty much what happens is, you make money, the government taxes you, and then they give you part of that tax money back each year. Last year I got a $400 check, this year it's a little bit lower since I didn't work during the summer months.
It might seem like a waste of time to you, but if you don't file that form, you're throwing away $339 of your own money when you think about it. You might think you don't need the money, but why not just file it and put the money in a savings account or something? You never know when you might need some extra cash or something.]
It also doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with the tax filing process since it becomes longer and more difficult once you have real income and assets like a house. I even think there are some places you can take your W2 to and they'll give you the money today, so you don't have to wait, but they'll probably charge a small fee like $20.
Um..don't you HAVE to file regardless? I know some people will argue that you don't.
The Government and state knows you got a W-2 and/or 1099. As I previously stated, every employer HAS to report new employees as well as Independent Contractors. It will eventually catch up to you if you don't file. Trust me, I get garnishments all the time for back taxes or child support.
Didn't you say you are a pre med? How in the can you not know what a tax statement is?
Just take your to the building with the sign that says "H & R Block" Walk up to the lady at the desk and say "i need to get my taxes done."
You might have to answer a couple basic questions, but they'll do all the work and they'll just take what you owe them out of your refund. Thats the a-lazy way to do it, but it is nice getting a $300-$400 check a month or 2 later for basically doing nothing.
By the time you get the return, you'll be like "oh yeah! my tax return!"
trust me.
there is no point in throwing money away.
If the IRS owes you a refund, or you owe no taxes, you are not required to file.
That's why so many old fossils living on social security and some bank interest don't have to file returns.
I didn't know that.
But how do they know if you owe no taxes or are getting a refund if you don't file?
Good question. Thats what I was wondering. Because right now I am a college student who works party time. I have owed the last 2 years, but my dad is telling me I might get something back this time. Oh and incase you are wondering my dad claims me and he gets a nice return, becasue he helps for college expenses. Otherwise I'd be getting the money in my tax return since I'm the one who actually lives it.
The IRS has the majority of your stuff on file unless you get a lot of your income via cash/checks. They certainly know how much tax you paid via withholding. If you worked a job where you get a W-2 then they have your earnings too. They can use what they have on file to calculate an estimated tax due given your earnings and investment income and if they think you owe money (and you don't file) you will eventually get a bill with penalties and interest. But if they think they owe you, you won't hear jack unless you file ...
yeh and when the IRS owes you money or a damn refund, or miscaculation; funny how they caculate the interest owing on it....LAME
AND for ppl or taxpayers like you who dont know about the system, when you tried to avoid ur obligations, they will have a easy time chasing you instead of going after large corporate organizations who avoid taxes, due to the lack of power/resources of the governing body IRS. This applies to nearly every government tax governing department.
if you work and paid tax, or employer deducting it out of your payments, when you recieve your annual income slip that shows the record how much you earn for the year and amount of tax paid.....add it all up to get ur gross income for the year, then the tax paid during the year is deducted out at the end when caculating the amount of tax paid per dollar, then you have them rebates which should decrease ur tax payable amount.
Thanks to everybody for the responses, appreaciate it. (I mean it).
I have one question, once you file your taxes, what is the expected wait time? Because I see that there is a direct deposit option available.
The earlier you file the better.
E-file w/direct deposit generally gets you your money back in 2-3 weeks.
Paper returns, 2-3x as long.
I just filed with turbo tax...they tell me 9-12 days with my direct deposit.
I filed it online....it was a snap and they took no fees out.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
