[Mountaindewed]

My mom said I was overreacting when I said that my paychecks were higher then usual and that my state and federal taxes were messed up. She said I was fine and that I wouldn’t owe anything. Now there is all this talk on the news about people either owing money in taxes, or not getting as big a refund as they expected. I am freaking out right now. I am in one of the high tax states. But I didn’t make that much money since I only work part time. Of course my uncle who does my taxes is not responding to my calls. I’m really nervous about this.

[SlumberKitty]

IDK. I haven't done my taxes yet. But I claim single and none so they take the most out of my check. I hope I still get a refund.

[Mountaindewed]

I would be fine even if I didn’t get a refund. I just don’t want to owe a lot of money. This one lady on the news owed $10,000. I don’t even have half that amount of money.

[sarahsweets]

Our tax preparer told us last year that due to the upcoming changes we would have to have an additional 25-30$ withheld from each biweekly paycheck to avoid getting screwed and it saved our butts. She did our taxes and we are getting around 3000$ and she quickly scanned things with the old withholdings and if we hadnt done that we would actually have owed around 600$!

[Nammu]

This was trumps tax plan for the working poor and middle class, not to withhold as much money so people thought they had more money and spend more money then when tax time came reality slap ya in the face. But if ya make over 250,000 a year or get all yer income from investments ya really do get a tax break. You were right Mountain Dew to suspect yer check was too big.

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

My mom said I was overreacting when I said that my paychecks were higher then usual and that my state and federal taxes were messed up. She said I was fine and that I wouldn’t owe anything. Now there is all this talk on the news about people either owing money in taxes, or not getting as big a refund as they expected. I am freaking out right now. I am in one of the high tax states. But I didn’t make that much money since I only work part time. Of course my uncle who does my taxes is not responding to my calls. I’m really nervous about this.

Since you only work part time--I bet you don't owe. When you are single--no taxes on the first 12,000 you make then the rates are 10 or 12 percent on the money earned above $12,000 until you make over $38, 700. The people who are getting burned are the ones who itemized (had a lot of deductions--especially in high tax states because you can no longer itemize more than $10,000 a year in property/state income taxes--this will make it even harder to pay for shelter in California, NYC and Hawaii). If you made less than $20,000--it is not going to be bad for you. Ten percent of $8,000 equals an $800 tax bill. Using that knowledge, look at your last paystub for 2018 and see what your total earnings were and see if you paid 10 or 12 percent on all earnings over $12,000. Also look on your last paystub to see how much income tax has already been taken out.

[Mountaindewed]

I made $11,000 last year. Should I owe? If I do How much if anyone would know.

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

I made $11,000 last year. Should I owe? If I do How much if anyone would know.

I am not a tax expert. My knowledge is just based on doing my families taxes but, from what I have read in the news, you probably will not owe so if you paid anything in then you should get a refund.

[Mountaindewed]

Originally Posted by Nowinners

I am not a tax expert. My knowledge is just based on doing my families taxes but, from what I have read in the news, you probably will not owe so if you paid anything in then you should get a refund.

Thanks. That’s what my mom told me too. I’m just stressed about my financial situation in general so these news stories are just kind freaking me out even more.

I just found out a few minutes ago I’ll have to pay $164 for one of my prescriptions and it’s all just really stressful right now.

[eskielover]

It is best to just break even when it comes to taxes....not owing/ not getting refund. Giving the government your money interest free through the year to get a refund makes bad business sense. Stashing that extra even in a savings account over the years would add up & then could be transferred to a higher interest bearing account when high enough & keep putting the extra money into an almost untouchable account & you would come out much farther ahead in the long run.

I don't pay, I don't receive but when I did, my break even worked & would have worked better if my H hadn't been so financially irresponsible. I had my accounting BS degree so I usually won the battles.

[divine1966]

When I was single (divorced to be exact) and had no dependents anymore I always owed simply because I make too much. Now when I am married we file joined and we get some back. We only get some back because my husband pays spousal support to his lazy ex. Otherwise we’d get nothing back. Again supposedly we make too much. No we dont. Roll our eyes.

[LiteraryLark]

Last year I owed a whole $3. And I worked mostly part time.

[WishfulThinker66]

Your employer should be providing you a tax form at time of hire and annually thereafter. On this form you can dictate how much you want taken off your paycheque for income taxes or confirm the default deductions. I have always chosen a higher amount to ensure I don't get a surprise come time to file my income tax return. I always then get money back. I recommend you doing the same when you get the form next time around. If your employer doesn't provide you with it, ask for it. I am unsure about rules in your country but in mine an employer is required to provide you with one.

[WishfulThinker66]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

I made $11,000 last year. Should I owe? If I do How much if anyone would know.

It is completely impossible to tell you this.

[Mountaindewed]

Ok I was just asking.

[Mountaindewed]

My uncle is really stressed about his job and he’s not sure when he will get to my taxes. Meanwhile I’m just stressing out even more about it.

[eskielover]

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

My uncle is really stressed about his job and he’s not sure when he will get to my taxes. Meanwhile I’m just stressing out even more about it.

Go to the federal filing site. They have the whole informations on what income & below doesn't have to file & they have the forms to plug in your numbers in. If that is all your income that should be very easy for you to do

Here is the link to the US fed tax form if you are in the US. If income is low & none paid & no return then filing becomes unnecessary.
About Form 1040 | Internal Revenue Service

[Mountaindewed]

I just found out today that I won’t have to pay back some money I thought I’d have to. So I do have money to pay if I owe.

[WishfulThinker66]

Mountaindewed - What deductions were being taken off your pay cheques? Certainly your employer will have been obligated to do this. So know that you have already been paying income tax on each cheque (along with employment insurance and government pension as well). The only way this will not be the case would have been if you had completed a form to waive these things. That is the way here and I am very sure that is how it is everywhere. Forgive me if I am misinformed.

[healingme4me]

One of the best tips, going forward, that I could give you is to fix your W-4s and withhold $10 on Fed and $5 on State. Or more, but back in the early 90s my stepdad made sure that I did that when I started working.

Can you take your W2 and fill the numbers into a free online tax provider? The IRS even has links. That'll put your mind at ease.

To add. You've gotta figure he was fully blue blooded, a union Construction guy who lived through the last major tax reform in the 80s.

To add more. I survived this one. Adjusted my W4s under the guise of plausible deniability. I had more withheld and didn't notice much difference in "more in my paycheck"... We have an employee page at work and I played with my settings to make it so that I saw no changes. I played with single and head of household and withholding numbers. Never trust the government when they say more in your wallet...

[divine1966]

If you only made 11k there is no way you owe anyone any money. What are you stressing about? You can’t live on 11k so who can ask you to pay anything back? I can’t imagine

[Mountaindewed]

Originally Posted by divine1966

If you only made 11k there is no way you owe anyone any money. What are you stressing about? You can’t live on 11k so who can ask you to pay anything back? I can’t imagine

It was just on the Today Show. I was just wondering. My checks did seem higher then usual last year too. I asked my coworker yesterday though and she didn’t have to owe anything and she works more then me.

[healingme4me]

That's a Zero Taxes Bracket. You may find your refund a little less, however, but if your taxes are zero then at least anything paid I would expect would be returned.

Use the IRS Withholding Calculator to Determine the Right Amount of Withholding for You | Internal Revenue Service

Here's a Withholding Calculator. Try to not let the tv frighten you.

Originally Posted by Mountaindewed

It was just on the Today Show. I was just wondering. My checks did seem higher then usual last year too. I asked my coworker yesterday though and she didn’t have to owe anything and she works more then me.

[healingme4me]

Just a note. There's a few credits that are tossed into as standard credits to each and every one of us that file. It all comes down to your AIG and the difference of what you paid in. EZ forms are easy for the simple reason that those filing EZ typically aren't reporting extra incomes, businesses, etc etc.
Many of the stories that you will hear have to do with the radical change to the credit on homeownership and a few other areas. Middle Class took a hit for that despite the W4 mentions at the start of last year. Of course it was a huge code change that was difficult to navigate. There were also changes to numbers surrounding Head of Household.
I still say use the free resources in front of you with your final December paystub in hand. Or even your W2. Having control over your own paperwork can feel rather liberating. And compared to when I first learned to file, technology has come a long way from needing to hit up the post office for a booklet or two and filing by hand and getting it into the mail.

[guilloche]

Mountaindewed - I just did my taxes last night. I bet you'll be fine. You don't do anything special right - like no itemizing, no selling stocks, no deducting anything?

When I did mine, here's what I noticed - the standard deduction for a single person used to be about $6000, but now it's $12000. I didn't itemize this year (I have in the past), so that essentially means more of your income is not taxed.

(Sorry I can't remember, I think your income might have below $12000? If so, you shouldn't really owe anything and anything that was taken out of your paycheck for taxes should be returned).

Anyway, my refund went up from last year because of this.

I really think you'll be fine... but if you're still nervous, you could try doing your taxes with one of the online programs. They'll let you go all the way through the end and show you how much you owe, or how much you'll get back, without you having to pay (you only need to pay if you're going to file electronically through the program).

The ones that I've used have been fairly easy and walk you through everything.

I used "TaxHawk" this year. It looks like it's free for federal anyway, but you might want to just run through it to check your numbers, so you don't feel so stressed, then you can wait for your uncle (I think you said?) to file later if you want him to double check.

Here's the link... I used them last year too, so no complaints. (Other than being a customer, I'm not affiliated with them... and in the past I've used other programs, those would work fine too. I can't remember which ones I used though now, I ended up leaving them b/c the price went up.)

TaxHawk® Free Tax Software... Federal & State Return Preparation & E-file... Online Taxes