taxes

tonycondon

tonycondon

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Tony
so leah and i have both been witholding as single. but now we're married, so our tax returns will be filed jointly as married which means if we dont do something (and maybe if we do do something) we have probably severely overpaid. anyone know of a good way to estimate how much we've overpaid so we can try to balance it out a little before the end of the year?
 
Why do you think you over paid?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty

It is almost 1 Dec. Any change you make to your W4 will likely result in very little difference. If you have underpaid, and you do need to check, you could pay some additional tax before the end of the year. But I would just leave things alone for right now and fix it for next year. If you both are working do not do 'married with 2 dependents' you will under withhold your taxes depending on your salaries.
 
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You can estimate what your tax liability will be by downloading the federal 1040 form and equivalent state form from last year, then plugging in numbers. If your situation is pretty simple, it will get you close. Or you could spend 59 bucks and buy TurboTax to do the same thing.

You really don't have much to adjust, since you'll probably only have a couple of pay periods left for the year. Might make sense to wait until the first of next year.


Trapper John
 
tonycondon said:
so leah and i have both been witholding as single. but now we're married, so our tax returns will be filed jointly as married which means if we dont do something (and maybe if we do do something) we have probably severely overpaid. anyone know of a good way to estimate how much we've overpaid so we can try to balance it out a little before the end of the year?
Click to expand...
Generally you only benefit from marriage IF your incomes are substantially different.

Example:
Two of you at 50k equals 100k.
100k equals 25% tax bracket if married filing jointly

Where it would help:
You make 20k
Leah makes 80k
This puts you in the same 25% tax bracket.

But if Leah did NOT marry you she'd be in the 28% bracket.

Guessing your incomes I don't think you're going to do worse by filing jointly. Some people though get kind of hosed. Two people at 80k each would be in a higher tax bracket if they filed jointly.
 
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I use TaxActOnline. When you are done you can run the numbers both ways to compare. I like that they archive my data so some info is preloaded in the Q&A and they can do "year over year" and "you vs national average" comparisons.

I run the numbers through there then give to a CPA for a "once over" and then mail them in.
 
Since you are "self employed" (cfi) and have a full time job.
This first year, it might be worth the 2 or 300 bucks to pay an accountant to really look things over for you.
I don't mean H&R Block, I mean a REAL accountant that knows ALL the possible deductions you two can get.
Then adjust your withholding accordingly for next year. As said above, since it is so late in the year, no point in worrying about it for this tax year.
 
Trapper John said:
You can estimate what your tax liability will be by downloading the federal 1040 form and equivalent state form from last year, then plugging in numbers. If your situation is pretty simple, it will get you close. Or you could spend 59 bucks and buy TurboTax to do the same thing.
Click to expand...
I bought TurboTax once.

If you plunk the 1040 (etc.) into a spread sheet line by line it takes some time the first year, but after that it's pretty easy.
 
Probably the easiest way is to download Withholding schedule from the feds and your state (if applicable). Fed is on the IRS site and is pretty straightforward.

The next step is to get the Tax Rates for 2009. plug all your numbers in and you'll have a pretty good idea of where you stand. (If I wasn't so computer dumb, I'd give you the links.)

Wife and I were in the same boat and expecting a big refund our first year as married; Then the Registered Letter from my friends at the IRS came. Refund went bye-bye.

Mike
 
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