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I’ve learned to be patient. I wait until March. I’ve had a few gotcha’s over the years.
Yes, patience is the key. One of the reasons I've always filed in March, wait until I've had time to spend with the tax person, because I'm always busy and February and April have lots of snow - although it might be different for me this year.
...Oh, and on THAT note...I sure do wish that they taught people in high school, how to prepare and file taxes. Just even the foundations of how taxes work, that would be nice.
I practically foam at the mouth over tax prep companies' ads...they act like taxes are some kind of sorcery where if you know the secret magic spells you can get lots of free refund money. It is a MATH EQUATION. Math doesn't work that way. I get people paying professionals when they don't have the time or patience, or they don't have good bookkeeping habits, or other reasons...but for an otherwise reasonable person to assume that there are secret loopholes that no normal person could find, that the pros know about, is bonkers. It might be a pain in the backside to find the details on some things, but it's not secret arcane knowledge.
But of course, I don't think that our government wants most Americans to be financially literate, let alone to understand tax code. It's easier to flim flam people if they don't have a grasp on how the whole thing even operates.
I just looked, and I received my refunds last year, both state and federal, on 2/5 and 2/6 respectively. So yeah, I guess they are behind if they weren't even accepting returns until today. I filed before then, but I guess Turbo Tax just waits to transmit the return until today? I have not received my email saying that my return has been accepted, yet...looking for that next.
I have a series of things I'm waiting for here, and the process begins with my taxes. I'm eager to have my refund not because of financial urgency, but because once it hits, I'm sending paperwork to the Social Security office to do a name change. I got married last year, and because of Covid, things have been wacky with getting business done with the (closed) Social Security office. After my name is changed on all my stuff, I'm planning to buy a new (used) car. Really looking forward to it! So yeah, I'm a little impatient.
By the way, for the person who asked about the 1099 and what it is, not only do you get that if you worked as a contractor, but if you got certain kinds of investment income, I have an investment account with Stash and the form I got from them was a consolidated 1099. But it did not report all of the "income" that I received from them, and the IRS is actually pretty strict about wanting people to report ALL taxable income, so I reported it as "other income" in Turbo Tax with an explanation of what it was and that it was not reported on my 1099. As a matter of fact, tax law states that if you had income from illegal activities, even, you are still supposed to report it so it can be taxed! Of course, most criminals won't, and that is one way that the government can go after them. Interesting, huh? I really enjoyed the tax classes I had as part of my accounting degree. But I'm pretty nerdy about things like that.
@ErieCanalLvR - If you have not yet received your W-2, I would advise you to contact your EMPLOYER and ask about it. Make sure that they have the correct address on file for you, and if they mailed it more than a few weeks ago, consider asking them to mail you another in case it's been lost in the mail or something... Weird things can happen, mail gets stolen sometimes right out of our mailboxes, or a sorter machine in the post office might eat/mangle a piece of mail...fluke things like that are possible. Employers are supposed to, by law, make sure you get your form by January 31.
If your employer has a website that you can log into from home to see paystubs and other information, as many now do, then you could also probably find the W-2 form there. Most bigger companies do it that way now, but the company I work for still mails them as well.
I don't think my employer has a website to check that information. It's probably what others have said, lost in the mail - if I don't get it by March I'll contact the employer directly and instruct others to do the same thing.
...Oh, and on THAT note...I sure do wish that they taught people in high school, how to prepare and file taxes. Just even the foundations of how taxes work, that would be nice.
I practically foam at the mouth over tax prep companies' ads...they act like taxes are some kind of sorcery where if you know the secret magic spells you can get lots of free refund money. It is a MATH EQUATION. Math doesn't work that way. I get people paying professionals when they don't have the time or patience, or they don't have good bookkeeping habits, or other reasons...but for an otherwise reasonable person to assume that there are secret loopholes that no normal person could find, that the pros know about, is bonkers. It might be a pain in the backside to find the details on some things, but it's not secret arcane knowledge.
But of course, I don't think that our government wants most Americans to be financially literate, let alone to understand tax code. It's easier to flim flam people if they don't have a grasp on how the whole thing even operates.
Honestly I never understand the different tax codes, and I'm sure it varies depending what state you live in. What they should do is if you OWE, and the amount is less than the amount of money the IRS is going to pay you for filing they should just send the check directly to your state to save you time from dealing with writing a check and sending it out. That should be an option unless it is now.
Honestly I never understand the different tax codes, and I'm sure it varies depending what state you live in. What they should do is if you OWE, and the amount is less than the amount of money the IRS is going to pay you for filing they should just send the check directly to your state to save you time from dealing with writing a check and sending it out. That should be an option unless it is now.
You actually file two separate tax returns. Your H&R Block, TurboTax, or whatever program you use to do it online, does all of the work for you, so you are not seeing the real deal of how it works, but they send returns to both the IRS and to the State (NY in your case.)
I'm just old enough to remember before the internet was a big thing like it is now, I had to actually go visit a courthouse and pick up booklets and forms, fill them out, and mail them physically to the IRS (their regional office) and the State Department of Revenue and then wait for them to mail me a check for my refund.
So when you do your taxes, you get a result (either you owe money, or they owe you a refund) for each...the Federal government (IRS) and the state.
Also, some states don't even have a state income tax, so you only have to file Federal if you live there. Like Washington State for instance.
The IRS does not pay you to file. Not now and not ever. If you put in your income for the year, then they check it against a chart and determine how much tax you need to pay, and if they withheld from your paychecks an amount that is MORE than that, which is common, then you get a refund. You are not getting paid to file.
But you can get a penalty if you do NOT file. The first thing in the instruction booklet for filing taxes, explains who needs to file and who doesn't. If you made under a certain amount of income, then none of your income is taxable, and you don't have to file. But you might still get a refund, if they withheld taxes from your paychecks all year, so it is often still a good idea.
It just occurred to me, I think I understand why you are confused perhaps...
Other New Yorkers can tell me, because I'm not going to go look it up... Is the income tax in NY very high? I bet it might be. So what you are thinking of, is that you get a federal refund but owe taxes to NY state maybe? That is not the IRS paying you to file. That is them refunding your money to you, that was taken out of your pay all last year. But NY state probably has higher tax rates, so you end up having to send them a check. Does that sound maybe right?
They are two completely different entities you're dealing with.
But yeah, if they could communicate and just send your federal refund to cover your state taxes that would save you a bit of hassle.
Many do. I am a state employee and they are mailed from a central office somewhere. My comment really referred to downloading the forms rather than waiting for the mail. I get my W2, mortgage statement, Vanguard documents, etc in the mail, but I can also download each of those things from one website or another.
I probably could get my w-2 from the payroll website if I ever needed to. They use Deltek, which I can access from anywhere.
Honestly I never understand the different tax codes, and I'm sure it varies depending what state you live in. What they should do is if you OWE, and the amount is less than the amount of money the IRS is going to pay you for filing they should just send the check directly to your state to save you time from dealing with writing a check and sending it out. That should be an option unless it is now.
I don't know the tax codes thats why I go to a guy who does, also the IRS cannot directly pay for your taxes (that's why they cut you a check) because some people are residents of multiple states, or work across state lines. There is a specific form to fill out that the IRS does not see that gets sent to your state (in this case it would be NY). It would be nice wouldn't it if the IRS could just deduct any amount from the check they send out and directly pay for your taxes, or whomever files your taxes but it doesn't (and will never) work that way. In fact, the IRS doesn't even see the form you send when you pay your taxes, and they only know who you filed with when they accept your return because that's who tells them how much they're going to pay you). Be careful though, you don't want to be audited by the IRS.
I'm not sure how you filed before today, Tax season started today this year..
Turbo Tax allows you to finalize your returns and submit them for transmission to the IRS/State DTF. Once you do that you can't recall them to make any changes, it's like dropping them in the mailbox. They hang onto them until the 1st day the IRS accepts the forms (today, for example) and then they submit all the forms that gave been finalized. I did get a text from TT saying my form has been accepted for processing by the IRS earlier this evening.
Not sure when NY starts accepting forms. I'll get a text when they do. Important thing is I don't have to worry about it. I can just sit back and watch the procrastinators panicking once April begins.
You actually file two separate tax returns. Your H&R Block, TurboTax, or whatever program you use to do it online, does all of the work for you, so you are not seeing the real deal of how it works, but they send returns to both the IRS and to the State (NY in your case.)
I'm just old enough to remember before the internet was a big thing like it is now, I had to actually go visit a courthouse and pick up booklets and forms, fill them out, and mail them physically to the IRS (their regional office) and the State Department of Revenue and then wait for them to mail me a check for my refund.
So when you do your taxes, you get a result (either you owe money, or they owe you a refund) for each...the Federal government (IRS) and the state.
Also, some states don't even have a state income tax, so you only have to file Federal if you live there. Like Washington State for instance.
The IRS does not pay you to file. Not now and not ever. If you put in your income for the year, then they check it against a chart and determine how much tax you need to pay, and if they withheld from your paychecks an amount that is MORE than that, which is common, then you get a refund. You are not getting paid to file.
But you can get a penalty if you do NOT file. The first thing in the instruction booklet for filing taxes, explains who needs to file and who doesn't. If you made under a certain amount of income, then none of your income is taxable, and you don't have to file. But you might still get a refund, if they withheld taxes from your paychecks all year, so it is often still a good idea.
It just occurred to me, I think I understand why you are confused perhaps...
Other New Yorkers can tell me, because I'm not going to go look it up... Is the income tax in NY very high? I bet it might be. So what you are thinking of, is that you get a federal refund but owe taxes to NY state maybe? That is not the IRS paying you to file. That is them refunding your money to you, that was taken out of your pay all last year. But NY state probably has higher tax rates, so you end up having to send them a check. Does that sound maybe right?
They are two completely different entities you're dealing with.
But yeah, if they could communicate and just send your federal refund to cover your state taxes that would save you a bit of hassle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sabres4evR
I don't know the tax codes thats why I go to a guy who does, also the IRS cannot directly pay for your taxes (that's why they cut you a check) because some people are residents of multiple states, or work across state lines. There is a specific form to fill out that the IRS does not see that gets sent to your state (in this case it would be NY). It would be nice wouldn't it if the IRS could just deduct any amount from the check they send out and directly pay for your taxes, or whomever files your taxes but it doesn't (and will never) work that way. In fact, the IRS doesn't even see the form you send when you pay your taxes, and they only know who you filed with when they accept your return because that's who tells them how much they're going to pay you). Be careful though, you don't want to be audited by the IRS.
Oh I think I understand it now. The IRS is simply giving back money that was given to them instead of your state. But you still have to file with the individual state(s) to determine what share they get of that money if any which is how you "owe". Well then the employer(s) should make better decisions on where they send the tax dollars and in the future you will only file taxes to confirm you paid the correct amounts.
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