Brace yourself...tax season is coming!!!

[THE Red Beard]

Oh yeah.. a good accountant is they key.

My ex was a freelancer and made a good of money.

At first one of her friends was her accountant.
Then one of her uncles started doing her taxes instead (jewish family, great with numbers) she started paying 1/3rd of what she used to pay with her moronic friend.

My dad got my wife out if paying a big Bill to the IRS by filing a modified return. He saw a few things the previous accountant before she met me did and he corrected them. She ended up making a few hundred instead if paying over $3,000.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

My dad got my wife out if paying a big Bill to the IRS by filing a modified return. He saw a few things the previous accountant before she met me did and he corrected them. She ended up making a few hundred instead if paying over $3,000.

damn.. that is #taxMOBtactics

 

[THE Red Beard]

damn.. that is #taxMOBtactics

When he retired I should have gotten "W-2" tatted under my eye as an homage to him. Like gang members get tear drops for murders and dead homies. He was a G in the tax game.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Last year I paid back $44,000 because I'm retarded and didn't bother incorporating myself or hiring an accountant to find ways to maximize deductions.

It's a long story, but I took on about $100,000 of private consulting work in addition to my salaried job at the university, and then paid a marginal tax rate of 43%. That coupled with rental income, had me paying through the nose.

This year, I took on no extra consulting work and should hopefully be getting back a chunk of change. It's not worth the headache of pulling 70 hour work weeks only to give back half of your pay to the government.

That is savage. Please tell me you are at least maxing out your RRSP's?

 

[Brampton_Boy]

That is savage. Please tell me you are at least maxing out your RRSP's?

Honest answer is no. In my mind, I thought I could take that money and get a better return on the stock market than whatever I saved in taxes with an RRSP.... that didn't work out so well. I might just be the only person to have lost money on the stock market in 2019. In one of the biggest bull runs in history, I got murked by holding pharma, energy and weed stocks.

All in all though, I have no reason to complain, and no one to blame but myself. I'm just thankful that I have a decent amount saved and am able to ride out poor decisions. Moving forward, I am going to take a much more conservative approach. The headache and stress of trying to manage my portfolio myself isn't worth it.

 

[drstrangelov]

I’m gonna take a pretty big hit this year, probably owe around 10k which is high for me. Usually I end up breaking even or at least within a couple hundred dollars but it didn’t work out that way this year.

 

[cck311**]

Tax return season hasn't been all that awesome for me the last few years. Neither the wife or I have a super high paying job, but our combined income gets us up into the six figures and we don't have any rugrats for deductions. We usually end up breaking even, owing a little, or receiving a very small amount.

 

[THE Red Beard]

I’m gonna take a pretty big hit this year, probably owe around 10k which is high for me. Usually I end up breaking even or at least within a couple hundred dollars but it didn’t work out that way this year.

That stinks man! Life is so expensive as it is, $10,000 would be a huge hit for me. I wonder if it would be wise to try to itemize and see if you can creep up to that number.

Tax return season hasn't been all that awesome for me the last few years. Neither the wife or I have a super high paying job, but our combined income gets us up into the six figures and we don't have any rugrats for deductions. We usually end up breaking even, owing a little, or receiving a very small amount.

Six figures used to seem like so much. The wife and I combine for close to $200,000 a year and we aren't loaded. We do ok but everything costs money. I lose a lot towards benefits. The idea that $100,000 a year is a huge salary are gone to me.

 

[drstrangelov]

That stinks man! Life is so expensive as it is, $10,000 would be a huge hit for me. I wonder if it would be wise to try to itemize and see if you can creep up to that number.

I’m probably gonna have to eat it. I bought a house this year but in December, so the numbers aren’t going to be higher than the standard deduction. It’s really not a huge number as tax bills go, the government will probably allow me to pay it off in a few installments and I’ll just be more careful this year.

 

[Holic]

I've itemized historically but there's been a number of issues with that. The feds have never had a problem with it, but NY state kept putting me through these "soft audits" where they questioned whether my home office was legit and whether or not my computer and internet service were requirements for my job. It's a rough process to go through cause they hold your refund until fucking November when they can get your papers and claims all sorted.

All that changed with the Trump tax cuts. The reduction in federal acceptance of itemization invalidated like 90% of what I was claiming, so I didn't even bother. I wound up itemizing anyway, but walked away with about 5/6ths of my usual refund. The good news is NY didn't put up a fight at all, they just sent my refund over straight away. So given the costs associated with not getting my money when I need it, I'd call last year's taxes a net positive overall.

 

[THE Red Beard]

I've itemized historically but there's been a number of issues with that. The feds have never had a problem with it, but NY state kept putting me through these "soft audits" where they questioned whether my home office was legit and whether or not my computer and internet service were requirements for my job. It's a rough process to go through cause they hold your refund until fucking November when they can get your papers and claims all sorted.

All that changed with the Trump tax cuts. The reduction in federal acceptance of itemization invalidated like 90% of what I was claiming, so I didn't even bother. I wound up itemizing anyway, but walked away with about 5/6ths of my usual refund. The good news is NY didn't put up a fight at all, they just sent my refund over straight away. So given the costs associated with not getting my money when I need it, I'd call last year's taxes a net positive overall.

I have coworkers in law enforcement that itemize so much I wonder how they don't get audited. They will claim gum saying they need it for decent breath haha.

 

[Holic]

I have coworkers in law enforcement that itemize so much I wonder how they don't get audited. They will claim gum saying they need it for decent breath haha.

Oh yeah I'm a dick like that. Like "oh I need this phone and internet service to work. oh and my ultimate tv cable package is on there too. Hey, I'm not the one who put everything on the same bill, you wanna divide that shit up be my guest!"

How am I supposed to type without a keyboard? ...A mechanical keyboard that lights up in rainbow colors and has 2 usb ports on the side...

 

[Beechwood]

I know! Sucks. I received my tax reminder from my accountant the other day. Good times for him. Not so much for me.

 

[EndlessCritic]

Honest answer is no. In my mind, I thought I could take that money and get a better return on the stock market than whatever I saved in taxes with an RRSP.... that didn't work out so well. I might just be the only person to have lost money on the stock market in 2019. In one of the biggest bull runs in history, I got murked by holding pharma, energy and weed stocks.

Huh? Your RRSP gets invested in whatever you want. I hold WEED, LABS, and ACB in my RRSP.

If you are making good money, there is no reason to not max out your TFSA and RRSP.

 

[TardStrong]

I love tax season!!!
My wife and I both have our W4s set at 0 single along with 401ks, HSA, and health insurance to decrease our taxable income. The standard deduction for married is $24,400 so yeah we take that as we dont have more than that to itemize.

Time for the US to give back my 0% interest loan I gave them in 2019

 

[val_lixembeau]

If you are making good money, there is no reason to not max out your TFSA and RRSP.

If you are a disciplined enough saver to max out your RRSP every year, there is a decent chance that your income in retirement could be as high or higher than your present income, putting you in a higher tax bracket after all. You are also betting that income tax rates will be lower by the time you retire, and that isn't a great bet IMO.

It's possible that taking the tax hit up front could be better overall.

 

[EndlessCritic]

If you are a disciplined enough saver to max out your RRSP every year, there is a decent chance that your income in retirement could be as high or higher than your present income, putting you in a higher tax bracket after all. You are also betting that income tax rates will be lower by the time you retire, and that isn't a great bet IMO.

It's possible that taking the tax hit up front could be better overall.

I don't believe it.

The marginal tax rate on income earned from $95k - $145k per year right now is 43.4% for people in Ontario. If I'm in this bracket and put away $27k in my RRSP (which is the maximum), I get an immediate tax refund of about $11,700.

I can then invest that $11,700 immediately into any vehicle of my choosing (including possibly a TFSA if I have room.) It is the returns you get on this $11,700 which makes the RRSP golden.

 

[val_lixembeau]

I can then invest that $11,700 immediately into any vehicle of my choosing (including possibly a TFSA if I have room.) It is the returns you get on this $11,700 which makes the RRSP golden.

Yes, if you turn around an invest the refund right away then you are breaking even (because the tax refund you receive today is basically the tax that you will need to pay in the future, so you need to save it now to pay in the future). If you have a way to invest tax free, you are even a little ahead.

I'm just saying you can't count on paying lower taxes in the future if you are good at saving and investing.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

I got back about 5 g's last year and im looking to do the same this year buddeh!

 

[Cantalope]

My wife is working on her Accounting degree so I let her handle ours.