Taxes + Annual Bonus

I finished my taxes the day after I got all of my forms (a few 1099s and my W-2) and by January 28th I had received a refund of $664 from Federal and $341 from State. I used $15 of that to pay for the state filing at TaxACT, which I've used the last three years to do my taxes. It only took me about an hour to do everything online and my taxes are very easy! So I have a $990 tax refund to figure out what to do with...

On the 31st, I received my annual bonus for work done in 2010. Hooray! It was $7,000 gross (umm, I expected HALF that so what a nice surprise!) and I netted $3,634 after taxes. This is how it's broken down:

$2K, 2011 Roth IRA
$500, E-Fund
$500, Travel Fund
$200, iPhone (for Verizon...finally!)
$40, Case for my new Kindle (Mom bought it as an early Valentine's Day present for me. LOVE!)
$394, Other/Miscellaneous (Gifts for friends, clothing & I want this tote since I bring my lunch to work every day.)

Are you getting a tax refund or do you owe? What are you going to do with your refund if you do get it?

Tax Return

I filed my taxes on Sunday night while doing laundry and watching the Grammys. I used TaxACT and did a free Federal E-file and paid $14.95 to file my CA state taxes...because I'm lazy. My taxes are so easy: it's just my wages, some interest income from my savings accounts and a little bit of miscellaneous income from surveys I do throughout the year.

Like most PF bloggers, I try to break-even on my taxes but at the end of the day I would rather get a small refund as opposed to owing the government some money. I'm receiving a total of $525 back on my taxes this year, most of which will go towards savings.

Side note: I was able to sign-up for free e-mail/text message notifications from TaxAct about my tax return, so the morning after I did my taxes I was told that they had been received by the federal and state agencies. How neat!

What are you going do to with your tax return money this year, if you get a refund?

It's Almost Tax Time!

Some of my tax forms have started to arrive! I don't know about you, but I actually like tax time! Maybe that's just because my taxes are still so easy, maybe because this is only my 2nd year doing my own taxes, and/or maybe it's because I can do FREE e-file for both federal and state. Plus, I'm expecting a refund this year around $400-$500. :)

So far, I've received one of my 1099-INT interest forms for the piddly amount of interest I earned at my brick & mortar bank. The majority of my interest comes from my ING Direct savings accounts, and those forms are available online starting January 31st. Still waiting on my W-2 from work and then I'll be ready to file my taxes!

Are you expecting to owe taxes or get a refund this year?

CA State Refund!

My California state tax refund of $332 was directly deposited into my E-fund on Monday.

Hooray!

Happy Friday!

It's payday and my federal tax refund was direct deposited into my accounts! My E-fund, Travel Fund and Roth IRA are very happy right now. :)

I also came home to a package from my Mom which was a gorgeous knitted hoodie! I took a picture of me in it. It's super warm and comfy. Now, if only I could learn to knit such amazing pieces! I love it.

Finished My Taxes!

I successfully filed my taxes for the first time ever! In the past, my Dad has always done mine since I was a dependent. Turns out I am getting a fairly large refund for 2008. $1,039 from federal and $332 from state. However, since my state is California, I'll be waiting on that money for a while!

I've decided to put my entire state refund and $500 from my federal refund into my E-fund, so it will get a nice $832 boost this month. I also plan on putting $200 into my Travel Fund, $50 into my Car Maintenance fund (my 60K mileage check-up is approaching quickly) and $39 into my Gift Fund. The remaining $250 will be for whatever I feel like. :)

What are you doing with your tax refund, if you are getting one? (I know next year I will owe some taxes based on my withholdings.)

Taxes 101

This is my first year filing taxes! In the past, while I was in college, my parents always took care of doing my taxes since I was a dependent.

But now, my time has come! Today, I received the first of a few tax forms headed my way: my 1099 from Chase (formerly WaMu) for my measly interest that I accrued during 2008. My 1099 forms for my ING accounts will be available online at the end of the month, as will my W-2 from my job. I already contacted my on-campus job where I worked from February-June '08 and that W-2 will be mailed out to me.

I plan on using Free File for my federal return (probably TaxAct, from what I've read) but I can't decide if I should do my state return on my own or pay the $13.95. Hmm.

On Taxes

When I filled out my W-4 in mid-June when I was hired, I followed the instructions given. Therefore, I gave myself 2 Federal allowances and 1 State allowance since my filing status is Single. I had used a paycheck calculator to get an idea of what my net pay would be. However, I had only been putting 1 allowance for each income tax on there, so I was nicely surprised when I received my first paycheck and the net pay was about $100 more than expected!

I did a bit of research regarding how a person should fill out their W-4 if filing as Single. Basically, I found out this: if you claim your Federal allowances as 0, you will get a large refund which means you had more taxes withheld during the year. If you claim 1, you will get a small refund. If you claim 2, you will either break even or owe a small amount. I called my Dad and asked him what he would suggest, and he said he pretty much never breaks even and said either 2 or 1 is fine.

Would you rather get a refund or owe a little bit to the IRS? How do you file your taxes?