Taxes, Rain and a Few Other Bad Words
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118521)
Gainesville, Florida
March 2, 2021 5:27pm CST
Just finished doing my taxes, and boy did I let out a few choice bad words. For the second year in a row, I owed the IRS instead of getting a refund. I guess the adjustments I made last year to lessen the tax blow were just not quite enough. I once again made more money this past year than I had anticipated. But the tax burden thankfully wasn't as high this year as last year, so at least it was manageable. But any money owed to Uncle Sam is not a good thing in my book. And if owing money to the IRS wasn't bad enough already, I had to pick a cold, windy and rainy day to do it, creating an even more sour mood. But oh well. Life goes on. It's not like I can't afford it.
Have you filed your taxes yet? Did you get a refund, or did you owe like me?
26 people like this
28 responses
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
Owe or not, I'm also glad my taxes are done. It's good to get that burden off my list of things to do.
3 people like this
@CarolDM (203451)
• Nashville, Tennessee
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc I do understand, Hope you are staying safe and well.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
@CarolDM Thanks, I'm staying as safe as possible. I hope you are doing the same.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (43080)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar 21
We haven't done that yet. Got an email from our tax place that this year you come in to drop off the documents but there is no in-person meeting with the tax person. That will happen virtually. Via Zoom I think. But last year we didn't have to do that and it was when pandemic was already here.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 21
I'm lucky (or unlucky) that I live in a state that is fully open for business. We have no restrictions on meeting in person for things like taxes or other similar things.
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
@lovebuglena We were up there in numbers for a while, which they mainly blamed on tourists coming from all other places, but our numbers have leveled off. I'm surprised that places like California and New York, which put in place some of the harshest shut down requirements, are the states that also have seen the highest number of Covid cases.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43080)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar 21
@moffittjc That is a good thing. And I am sure the number of cases in your state was not higher than the number of cases in states that were shut down. From what I remember hearing I think it was just the opposite. And I am talking about 2020.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
13 Mar 21
I got a state and a fed refund this year!! Woot woot
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
13 Mar 21
@moffittjc yes unusual but hey I’m going to enjoy it while I can
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Mar 21
That's great! A double win for you!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Mar 21
@BelleStarr Definitely enjoy it while you can.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
4 Mar 21
Oopsies, Jeff... Yes, we filed our taxes yesterday, too. And yes, just like every year, I get a refund from Federal and State. (I have extra held out for both so I don't get caught short when tax time rolls around. I give an extra $7 to Federal and an extra $5 to State from every check. I don't get paid interest on the extra money but I know I'll always get a refund from both.)
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
5 Mar 21
@moffittjc I had to pay in once, before having the extra held out. I don't mind filing my taxes since I know I'll get some back each year.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 21
I think I will adjust my withholdings this year to have a little extra taken out of each paycheck, just to give me a safety cushion so I won't owe next year.
2 people like this
@BobbyCole (47)
•
6 Mar 21
@moffittjc
Yup. If you claim “0’ dependents on your W-2 then hit them with the real number of dependents when you file your taxes you should get a chunk back.
It’s kinda like a non-interest bearing savings account.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar 21
You don't have to file anymore, even though you still have income?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
@just4him I thought they taxed social security?
1 person likes this
@just4him (306724)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
5 Mar 21
@moffittjc My major income is Social Security. What I make here and royalties isn't enough to file taxes.
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54407)
• United States
3 Mar 21
taxes done - small refund from both. Nowhere near it has been but we went from 30k miles driven for work to 8k miles driven for work
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
@DocAndersen Glad to hear you at least got a little back despite the decrease in miles for you wife.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
From both? Are you referring to state taxes and federal taxes?
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54407)
• United States
4 Mar 21
@moffittjc sir, yes sir! got a little back from both. normally get more, but lost a huge deduction (my wife travels the county we live in working for a Hospice). miles = money back on taxes!
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81536)
• Onaway, Michigan
7 Mar 21
Sorry to hear you owe it sucks at a time like this
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81536)
• Onaway, Michigan
7 Mar 21
@moffittjc Glad it was less painful this year than it was last year
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
@Tina30219 Definitely. Last year was a huge wakeup call for me. Until that point, I never really paid attention to the upward creep in my income and the fact that it would put me in a higher tax bracket. I learned my lesson. Now I pay close attention to stuff like that.
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
It's okay, I paid my tax bill on Friday. It was much less painful this year than it was last year.
@moshishibie (252)
• China
3 Mar 21
I have just filed a tax return, no tax refund, no supplementary payment
1 person likes this
@moshishibie (252)
• China
4 Mar 21
@moffittjc In China, in March of each year, the tax accounting of the previous year is carried out. Through the accounting, the tax amount of each person is determined.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
Is this the time of year that taxes are due in China too?
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
@moshishibie In China, are taxes taken out of your paychecks throughout the year, or how does it work in your country?
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
3 Mar 21
The deadline was extended to June 15. Doesn't seem like anybody in my house is in a hurry ro do their taxes.
1 person likes this
@cmoneyspinner (9221)
• Austin, Texas
5 Mar 21
@moffittjc - I don't know. Stimulus checks are tax dollars anyway. You're just putting it back into the Treasury.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
June 15th? Wow, what a deadline extension. If I had known I was going to have to pay again this year, and knew that the deadline was extended to June, I would have waited to do my taxes. Maybe I could have waited for the $1,400 stimulus checks to roll out, and then used that money to pay my taxes.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar 21
@cmoneyspinner I do think it's kind of funny that I had to use both of my stimulus checks to pay my federal taxes. I took tax money from the government to pay my taxes to the government.
@FourWalls (62340)
• United States
3 Mar 21
I did the "short form" this year and got about a hundred bucks back. All done....and spent.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (62340)
• United States
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc — congratulations on retirement! It’s worth it, as far as I’m concerned!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 21
@FourWalls I'm enjoying myself immensely so far! I've been able to do a lot of traveling, which is nice. I am working still, but that is just to give me some money to play with.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
After I owed big time last year, I changed all my withholdings to try and get it to the point where I would get back about $200-$250 this year. Obviously, I didn't factor in the fact that I would retire midway through the year and get paid out huge lump sum payments that actually raised my income level for the year.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (134522)
• Roseburg, Oregon
26 Mar 21
@moffittjc We get stock dividends every quarter and you never know how much you will get so we pay the taxes at the end of the year.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Mar 21
@jstory07 I get stock dividends too, but I just roll them back into the stock instead of taking a dividend payout.
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Mar 21
Generally, that's the way it is supposed to work, if people set up their withholdings the right way. Glad you didn't have to pay anything extra.
1 person likes this
We take every exemption humanly possible, but would rather have too much money and pay than not. Who knows? We may get a surprise this year.@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
I'm getting better each year with the amount of deductions and exemptions I take, so the tax burden is really not as bad as it can be. Last year, I thought about changing things up and filing quarterly, but my tax burden this year (and hopefully in years to come) is not really high enough to justify it.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 21
@DianneN That's what I always try to do, shield as much of my income from the tax man as I can!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247103)
• United States
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc Well, at least you can cross off taxes for this year. Sock as much as you can into 401K, annuities, etc.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
I'm not against paying taxes at all, I know it's a necessary burden, I just don't like having taxes deducted from my paychecks all year long and then finding out I still owe more on top of that.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 21
@JudyEv After I owed big-time last year, I went to a tax accountant to see if they could discover some hidden deductions that I may have overlooked that would have helped lower my tax obligations. However, he couldn't come up with enough things to claim to significantly lower my tax bill. I just lead too simple of a life I guess. haha
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326100)
• Rockingham, Australia
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc I can understand that. When Vince was working at a big school, we had a tax accountant. He claimed for dozens of things we didn't know about or wouldn't have bothered with. Things like dry-cleaning for starters.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129510)
• Israel
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc
I am sorry that you have to pay instead of getting a refund. I have not filed yet and so have no idea what will happen. Things take their time getting here from the States.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 21
@Hannihar So even if you earn income in Israel, you still have to pay taxes in the US? Or are you drawing income from the US?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
You have to file in the US even though you are in Israel?
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129510)
• Israel
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc
Just Federal. I am a U.S. Citizen and have to pay there and here.
2 people like this
@kareng (55042)
• United States
8 Mar 21
@moffittjc Used to it here. I'm sure you feel the same way.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Mar 21
Sorry that you'll probably owe. And no, I don't think Texas is a bad word.
1 person likes this
. We normally don't owe . . . I assume for now that's how it'll be.@much2say (53945)
• Los Angeles, California
3 Mar 21
@moffittjc That is exactly the smart way it should be done 
.
.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
If I know I have to pay, I wait until the absolute last minute. And last year, because my owed taxes were so high I filed for an extension to pay even later. It wasn't that I didn't have the money, I just wanted to hold on to it as long as possible before handing it over to Uncle Sam. If I know I am going to get a refund, I file as early as possible so that I can get access to that money as quickly as I can so I can start investing it.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86833)
• United States
11 Mar 21
I think that is despicable they are robbing good working people.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86833)
• United States
11 Mar 21
@moffittjc Yeah I know it Jeff..rotten bastiches
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Mar 21
Well, taxes are a necessary evil.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458730)
• Switzerland
4 Mar 21
@moffittjc I see, we can start to send in our forms starting the first of April. We have to pay an advance on the current year based on the previous year, about 80% of what we paid the previous year. Usually we have something left to pay, it is very uncommon to get a refund.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
Our taxes are due in April too, but we can file the paperwork starting in February. For people who get refunds, they like to file early. For people who owe, they wait until the last minute to file their taxes.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar 21
Do you think you are going to owe, or get a refund? If I know I'm getting a refund, I file as early as I can. If I know I will owe, I wait as long as possible.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 21
@NJChicaa That has always been the case for me, up until last year. I got bumped into a higher tax bracket due to my paintball salary and tournament winnings. I tried to make the withholding adjustments so that I wouldn't get caught by surprise again this year, and I was close, but I still had to pay a little. I will again tweak my withholdings again this year and hopefully get it right next year.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Mar 21
I totally get that, but who doesn't like a little refund every year. Even if it's a small, tiny amount?
1 person likes this
@porwest (78759)
• United States
16 Mar 21
@moffittjc I'd rather have the money that made me not get one. It is always more than any refund might have been. lol
1 person likes this
