I will get $63
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (52142)
Staten Island, New York
March 20, 2026 8:30am CST
I went to do my taxes yesterday. I was filing as married filing separately. It cost me $150 to do the taxes.
Since I did not work last year, the only thing that I had to report was interest earned from our joint bank accounts, in which I am primary.
I was surprised that I did not have to pay anything for that interest. And I did not expect to get any kind of refund, but I will get $63 from New York.
That’s a very small amount but I’m glad I will get this much, as it will mean that I only spent $87 to do the taxes.
If you think about it, it makes no sense to spend $150 to get back $63 but I had to report the interest so I had no choice but to file.
It’s a good thing that I went to the tax place I used to go to with my husband because if you file as married filing separately, it turns out you need to provide the spouse’s Social Security number and that is something that I do not know by heart. I only know his last four digits. Since his is on file I didn’t have to worry about that.
While there I learned that he had already done his taxes. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me.
7 people like this
6 responses
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
22 Mar
Me neither. Had we filed together I wouldn’t have had to waste $155 just to report the damn joint interest. Yeah I get $63 back so in the end I only spent $87 to do the taxes but still. The interest was joint bank accounts interest so I shouldn’t have had to file by myself just for that.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
22 Mar
@lovebuglena Add to that you don't know what's going on with your marriage. It sucks.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
22 Mar
@LindaOHio he’s not even talking about our joint money. I don’t know what to do. Sure, I can probably take my half and move it elsewhere, but then his portion is still in our joint account. Because my name is there I’m responsible for that account as well, and I cannot remove him from the account or close it without him. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t leave him a dime. I keep checking to make sure that he didn’t take anything from there and so far he hasn’t.
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (8250)
• United Kingdom
31 Mar
That seems a crazy system, where it costs you more to file your taxes than you get in refund. Is there no criteria over there where you can just not file because you didn’t earn over a threshold amount? We have self-assessment here in the UK, but it wouldn’t apply if you were unemployed and had no other significant income.
Sorry to hear your husband has treated you this way. Maybe he has had a mental breakdown? Is there not a close relative of his you can ask?
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (8250)
• United Kingdom
31 Mar
@lovebuglena As a basic rate tax payer over here, you are allowed £1000 savings interest tax free, we’d have to pay 20% on the $800 extra, but the government knows our business, so no need to declare as they with deduct tax or send us. a bill. We can also sign up to a government app (HMRC) and do self assessment at no charge. However, if your finances are more complicated then it’s best to get an accountant or a specialist tax advisor to do it for you. I use the app.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
31 Mar
My interest was somewhere in the $1800 range. I had no choice but to report the interest. That meant I had to file. I could’ve probably found a different place to do my taxes that cost less, but I specifically wanted to go to this one in case I needed information from the last return, which I do not have because my husband took all the income tax returns with him when he left.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
31 Mar
He doesn’t have a mental breakdown I don’t think, but his actions are very weird and not of someone who has been brought up well.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
20 Mar
Yeah. Better get that than zero.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
20 Mar
I wonder though, in our case, if it was better to file joint or separate.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
20 Mar
Yeah. It’s sort of like getting some money back for filing taxes.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381740)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Mar
At least you can forget about taxes now so that's a good thing.
@lovebuglena (52142)
• Staten Island, New York
21 Mar
I wish I didn’t have to do them. I actually paid $155 instead of $150 because I guess they charged a fee for using the card. And I got an income tax refund of $63. So I didn’t make money, I lost money if you think about it. But I’m glad that I didn’t have to pay anything on the income tax.
1 person likes this
@valherma00 (3734)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
30 Mar
we will get it in may. you are right, we always get less.
1 person likes this
