Plans for your tax returns?

A large amount refunded or due equals bad planning.

Not so true, I own an Income Tax Office, Client can work and earn about 10k have a few babies and pay ZERO in to the Federal Government and get about a $9000.00 refund.. I see it hundreds of time every year...So did they badly plan?

You want to do my taxes? I could use a $9k refund...ha ha ha.

I also do taxes. Last year the best refund I got a client was $40,000. No, that's not a typo. Yes, I did have a talk with them about adjusting their withholdings. In their defense, they were working overseas so they got the foreign tax credit for each of them and they thought it was a total, not a total for each of them that was allowed.

It will all go towards my husbands student loans. Trying to get them paid off since my payments start in January and it will knock us down to the 1 loan payment.

A large amount refunded or due equals bad planning.

Not so true, I own an Income Tax Office, Client can work and earn about 10k have a few babies and pay ZERO in to the Federal Government and get about a $9000.00 refund.. I see it hundreds of time every year...So did they badly plan?

You want to do my taxes? I could use a $9k refund...ha ha ha.

I also do taxes. Last year the best refund I got a client was $40,000. No, that's not a typo. Yes, I did have a talk with them about adjusting their withholdings. In their defense, they were working overseas so they got the foreign tax credit for each of them and they thought it was a total, not a total for each of them that was allowed.

If they would have planned better they wouldn't have got such a big refund and improved their monthly cash flow. Talking to an accountant about the implications of working on foreign soil would have benefited them.

Yes, that's why they talked with me. They really didn't need the cash flow. Obviously someone getting a $40,000 refund is more than financially solvent, especially when they are working overseas and had no expenses. They were a unique situation but it's not at all uncommon for my ex-pat clients to get refunds that would buy them a decent brand new car. That was just the only one that would buy a decent new luxury car.

Again though, it's a matter of how much you make. For some of those people a refund that most people would consider obscenely large and a waste of interest was really only "on loan" to the government for a few weeks/months tops. It wasn't a year long loan. They didn't start to overpay until Nov/Dec and if I file their taxes in Jan/Feb they weren't without the money for much time at all.

Treating myself to a 25th birthday vacation in the Caribbean!!!

Pay off student loans!

paying off extended lines of credit, new end tables, area rug. anything thats left is spending money ;]

Wow, all of these money oriented folks. If you're getting a refund buy the book, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. He'll teach you how to become a millionaire.

Putting it towards trips to run races. Disneyland in September 2012 and Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge 2013.

Me my husband and my two kids are taking his parents to disney world after school is over!! Did it two years ago and it is an awesome way to spend the money! We could use it for other things but considering we haven't had a vacation in two years i think its worth it!!

Our refund comes from child credits and rental property expenses. Some years we have a lot of expenses therefore a larger refund and some years we have no expenses so no refund. I plan by making sure our taxes are correct on the money we make from our normal jobs; all the other I let work out as it will. I don't want to up our deductions by taking what we hope to spend on rentals in account. Pretty dumb to do that if you ask me. I'm fine with the way it works out right now.

I say this though, the sooner I can sell these rental B!tches, the happier I'll be!

This year I plan on paying off some debt, saving, home repairs (primary residence) and getting my dogs yearly vet visit handled.

Tax return? What's that??

We never get anything back because we don't have any crib midgets....

LOL@ crib midgets

I should be getting a grand back (yay!) and it will be going toward my second elective surgery in February.