i know people say your tax refund is really an interest-free loan to the government. i feel just the opposite: when i was younger the tax refund was what i looked forward to every year to clear off my debts & such. though i don't look forward to the refund now as a debt repayment instrument, i see it as a mandatory savings account with no interest from the government. it's nice to get some money back every year from the government in the form of a lump sum - psychologically it feels like a much larger amount than if you split that 12 (month) or 26 (bi-weekly) ways. think about this: if you were getting back $1000 from the government, it comes out to $83/month or $38 every 2 weeks - you can spend that on a night out with a girl, and probably more. i'd much rather have the government return that money in a lump sum later. hell, my checking account doesn't pay interest and most banks pay really crappy interest rates except the likes of HSBC, ING, or Emigrant Direct.

your thoughts?

 

No matter how you look at it, you gave the govt a loan. Silly & stupid.

Tell you what--lets say you get back $1000 from last year. Why don't you give me that $1000, I'll invest it, and I'll give you back that $1000 in Jan 08, but I keep any excess.

Deal?

 

yeah it makes sense to withhold less money so you have to owe taxes instead of getting a refund, but to me, it's just an extra bill to pay if I owe taxes to the IRS.

I increased my exemptions last year so I got an extra $40 a paycheck. that roughly covers gas costs for the same period, but I don't feel any richer...nonetheless, I'm still getting over $1,000 back from the feds, and I'm positively excited about it; like $1,000 was falling into my lap.

it's a purely mental thing, I guess. $40 every 2 weeks adds up, but can disappear pretty easily too. unless you make it a point to contribute that portion of your paycheck to say, a Roth IRA or Mutual Fund, then getting a small refund is probably best for most people

 

^True but I don't want to fork over any $$$ come the new year^

So what are the odds of your taxes being taken out to the exact penny?

 

i almost always have to pay in with my taxes so no interest free loans to the gov't from me.

I think part of the problem with BIG REFUNDS is people go crazy for 2 weeks and blow it all on stupid shit.... then it is gone.... back to normal life for 50 more weeks.....

one of my tenants used her's to bail out her boyfriend from him not paying childsupport on a different kid from the one's he had with her.

 

Sure it feels nice to get a lump sum, but I'll take the extra $300/yr from investing that bi-weekly $38.

 

<choking> Say it isn't so.

 

I still remember the quote. "She seen how good he got it".......

Mom (of 4 unloved kids, 3 of them to current idiot who is jobless and has at least 1 more kid to another person) told me

"She seen how good he got it" - translated as the mom of the other kid saw that boyfriend really had it great living for free in my house and without a job...so she turned him in for not paying his required child support.....

so... my tenant gets her full EIC tax return back and bails the idiot out of jail.... he went back about 6 months later for the same thing..... not sure how he got out after that... i think they do some kind of work release and make you work while you are in jail to pay back the mom's.....

they just keep on fucking and having more unwanted kids...no job... good shit...

 

I aim to come as close to $0 as I can on my taxes, but as my status recently changed from a dependent to not - I didn't know what to expect.

Right now I'm claiming single 1 on my weekly tax forms, as well as on the end of year forms - I think I'll change my state as I might have screwed the weekly up on there but if I didn't screw it up, I'm keeping it the same.

I end up having to take the standard deduction this year and while I got a refund, it wasn't like $1000's of dollars.

I'd prefer to get nothing, but if I have to choose one or the other I'd rather get a very small refund from the gov't rather than owe anything to them.

My mom used to use her refund each year to buy herself a vacation. This year mine is going towards my credit card, which will help my credit score increase (using less than 50% of the credit available to me in revolving credit) which will help me next year when I'm looking to buy a home.

Small refund or $0 please, I'm not that thrilled about owing even though I know that owing is, logically speaking, the best way to go.

 

My wife and I will each pay a little over $100 each.