Poll of the Day > Is everyone else's return astronomically lower this year?

(+) Yeah! (+)

The three previous years I pulled in well over $1000 each

Now apparently my return is worth less than $100

What the fuck

I work for a 501(c)3 now, but I'm still a regular W2 employee. Would that make any difference?

I don't do my taxes until April but I'm pretty sure I'll straight up be paying this year instead of getting a return.

The actual return is mostly meaningless and is a dependent variable that you could make adjustments to redetermine. It just means you overpaid on your taxes i.e. you gave the government an interest free loan. You should shoot for the opposite. Owe the most you can without paying penalties so you can invest that money throughout the year.

Did you claim yourself or something?

I'm actually getting more compared to last year, surprisingly.

Somehow my wife and I had to pay for the first time ever. Didn't change our withholdings or anything so I'm confused about what the hell is different this year. Didn't get that much of a raise, it barely kept up with inflation on an average year.

Trump's tax cuts began expiring in 2021, increasing each year until 2025. Unless you're rich, or a corporation.

Won't find out for at least another month.

Yeah I usually get 1200 or so but this year I got half that

captpackrat posted...

Trump's tax cuts began expiring in 2021, increasing each year until 2025. Unless you're rich, or a corporation.

This is probably a big part of it. And, as everyone who paid attention predicted when Trump first rolled out the cuts, Biden will end up taking the blame for the increase and Trump (or his replacement) will likely use that as a campaign platform that people will happily eat up.

Common Biden L

well ackshually, you're loaning the government free monies if you're getting a refund, so in an ideal world, your return should be $0 as possible. Also, you generally don't get penalized for owing unless you owe more than $1000.

eating4fun posted...

well ackshually, you're loaning the government free monies if you're getting a refund, so in an ideal world, your return should be $0 as possible. Also, you generally don't get penalized for owing unless you owe more than $1000.

My worry is controlling what i owe. I don't mind them holding onto the money honestly cause i already invest. Makes it all feel like a bonus.
How do you keep what you owe low? I should get back like $2 grand this year, but feel like it could be more

I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing anymore, but I sure do feel grateful to the people who help support my lifestyle.

Be grateful you dont owe

Im fine owing a little bit but when I saw that I had to pay like $1,500+ this year it knocked the wind out of me. You shouldve heard the stream of curse words coming out of my mouth last month lmfao. The ~$10,000 they took out of my pay during the year wasnt enough?

S***s making me want to start voting republican I cant afford to just keep dropping money like that (not to mention the stress).

rexcrk posted...

S***s making me want to start voting republican I cant afford to just keep dropping money like that (not to mention the stress).

This is the most brain dead comment.

I owed money this year :(

Jen0125 posted...

This is the most brain dead comment.

How so? Sorry if financial stuff stresses me out

EatMan posted...

The actual return is mostly meaningless and is a dependent variable that you could make adjustments to redetermine. It just means you overpaid on your taxes i.e. you gave the government an interest free loan. You should shoot for the opposite. Owe the most you can without paying penalties so you can invest that money throughout the year.

In theory, sure. However, the underlying question here is how much more/less people are paying in taxes.

adjl posted...

This is probably a big part of it. And, as everyone who paid attention predicted when Trump first rolled out the cuts, Biden will end up taking the blame for the increase and Trump (or his replacement) will likely use that as a campaign platform that people will happily eat up.

They should've kept the cuts for working-class Americans.

rexcrk posted...

How so? Sorry if financial stuff stresses me out

How is voting Republican supposed to help?

Count_Drachma posted...

They should've kept the cuts for working-class Americans.

And not for the rich/corporations, because that's very obviously the opposite of what makes sense as far as who can comfortably shoulder more of the tax burden goes. Unfortunately, when it's rich people drafting the bills and other rich people/corporations lobbying for them, that tends to result in a teensy conflict of interest that prevents the most sensible approach from happening.

Same as it was last year.