REFUND & paid no taxes, used 1040EZ?

pancho · #21 02/19/12, 12:25 PM

I checked in my state. Different states have different laws. I live in Ms.
Here they do not refund anything. Homestead exemption is based on the the value of the house. Ms. knocks off a certain amount of the value of the home that is homesteaded and taxes you on the remainder of value if any. When a person reaches 65 or becomes disabled the amount they knock off the value goes to $75,000. The value of the house over that is taxable.

Melissa · #22 02/19/12, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aunt fannie

You can't get earned income credit unless you have worked or earned wages or have kids. I did find out that they get the returns on their pensions & NOT the SS.

They could not get EIC unless they were actually working at the time. It is not based on pensions. Are you sure they aren't having money withheld from the pension and just getting it refunded? Most pension plans will hold 10%. When I was preparing taxes I had retired people who had that money withheld even though they knew they would get it back anyways. Older people tend to be worried about taxes and want to be sure they are covered.

And most of the time Social Security it not taxable, even with a decent pension. There is a worksheet that is filled out to determine the taxable amount. I think if you made less than $32K, the social security was not taxable.

Melissa · #23 02/19/12, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melissa

They could not get EIC unless they were actually working at the time. It is not based on pensions. Are you sure they aren't having money withheld from the pension and just getting it refunded? Most pension plans will hold 10%. When I was preparing taxes I had retired people who had that money withheld even though they knew they would get it back anyways. Older people tend to be worried about taxes and want to be sure they are covered.

And most of the time Social Security it not taxable, even with a decent pension. There is a worksheet that is filled out to determine the taxable amount.

Figuring Your Taxable Benefits

Before you start: Is your filing status Married filing separately?
No. Go to question 1.
Yes. Did you live apart from your spouse all year?
No. Go to question 1.
Yes. Enter “D” to the right of the word “benefits” on line 20a, then go to question 1.

1. Enter the total amount from box 5 of ALL your Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099
1. ______
Note: If line 1 is zero or less, stop here; none of your benefits are taxable. Otherwise, go on to line 2.
2. Enter one-half of line 1 2. _______
3. Enter the total of the amounts on Form 1040 from Lines 7, 8a, 9-14, 15b, 16b, 17-19, and 21. Do not include amounts from box 5 of Forms SSA-1099 or RRB-1099 3. _______
4. Enter the amount, if any, from Form 1040, line 8b
4. _______
5. Add lines 2, 3, and 4 5. _______
6. Form 1040 filers: Enter the amount from Form 1040, lines 23, 24, and 27-33a, and any amount entered on the dotted line next to line 34 6. _______
7. Subtract line 6 from line 5. If zero or less, stop here, none of you Social Security benefits are taxable 7. _______
8. Enter $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing jointly; $0 if married filing separately and you lived with your spouse at any time during 2002)
8. _______
9. Subtract line 8 from line 7. If zero or less, enter -0- 9. _______
Note: If line 9 is zero or less, stop here; none of your benefits are taxable. (Do not enter any amounts on Form 1040, line 20a or 20b. But if you are married filing separately and you lived apart from your spouse for all of 2002, enter -0- on Form 1040, line 20b.) Otherwise, go on to line 10.
10. Enter $9,000 ($12,000 if married filing jointly; $0 if married filing separately and you lived with your spouse at any time during 2002)
10. _______
11. Subtract line 10 from line 9. If zero or less, enter -0- 11. _______
12. Enter the smaller of line 9 or line 10 12. _______
13. Enter one-half of line 12 13. _______
14. Enter the smaller of line 2 or line 13 14. _______
15. Multiply line 11 by 85% (.85). If line 11 is zero, enter -0- 15. _______
16. Add lines 14 and 15 16. _______
17. Multiply line 1 by 85% (.85) 17. _______
18. Taxable benefits. Enter the smaller of line 16 or line 17 18. _______

• Enter the amount from line 1 above on Form 1040, line 20a.
• Enter the amount from line 18 above on Form 1040, line 20b.

Note: If you received a lump-sum payment in this year that was for an earlier year, also complete Worksheet 2 or 3 and Worksheet 4 to see whether you can report a lower taxable benefit.

whodunit · #24 02/19/12, 03:46 PM

Idaho has a grocery credit. Not sure what the income cut-off is, but it amounts to $5 a month per qualifying family member. Big whoop.

The tax system is really screwed up. Here's a couple examples:

I am married with four young children. I used the form on the W4 and it tells me to claim something like "12". Our HR guy told me not to claim any more than "9" since any more than that is a "red flag" to the IRS. I had absolutely no federal income taxes taken from any of my checks and ended up with a federal refund of about $4K. Apparently this is all due to the Child Tax Credit and EIC. The "Make Work Pay" Tax Credit went away this year. This is income redistribution, but I figure if I have to follow rules I don't like and didn't get to make, then I should benefit from those rules as well. Besides, I am sure there other hidden federal taxes that I pay through fuel purchases, cellphones, internet, etc.

My refund last year was almost double what it was this year due to me making more money this year. I figured I earned $15K more this year, but "lost" $4K in refund, so essentially I'm not $15K ahead, but only $11K. So basically I worked harder so I could get less money? I like to look in the mirror and know Ia m working as much as I can and pulling my weight, but I could see some that might just forgo the extra work and take the "free" money.