Tax Pwning

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1. • Posted by Ethan 2008-03-20 06:37:40
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   • So I just did my taxes, and I owe $1800. GDMFSOB. I even dropped my allowances and withheld extra last year, because I had to pay $1000 then. So I'm using this opportunity to bitch. I'm not going to get all irrationally Libertarian and claim taxation is theft, but couldn't they just make it a bit easier on us?

     Anyhow, how did everyone else's tax returns pan out?

2. • Posted by Pokermom 2008-03-20 14:53:24
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   • Ah, youth. Don't even talk to me about such matters until you have a close, personal relationship with the topic of AMT...

     But, yeah, it sucks, but look at it this way. Is there any other place in the world you'd like to live?

     Not me.

     -

3. • Posted by Phil 2008-03-20 16:50:15
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   • I recommend you marry a woman who runs her own business and, in an act of paranoia, overpays her quarterly estimated taxes. When our tax guy told us what our refund would be, I thought we'd won on a game show.

4. • Posted by Ethan 2008-03-20 17:09:48
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   • I think when I get to know the AMT I'll be getting to know a good accountant as well. I'm lucky that my taxes are still fairly simple. But jeez, don't you think someone (employer, payroll company, IRS, whatever) could send a warning letter? "FYI, you're probably going to owe a bunch of money. You might want to increase your withholding".

     I'm not really pissed about owing the money per se, I just hate surprises. So yeah, I think I'm going to go in to paranoid mode for 2008 and crank that withholding.

5. • Posted by Phil 2008-03-21 19:40:23
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   • You're going to think I'm joking, but coincidentally, my wife's initials are AMT. Andr??a Marie Travisano. I don't know what the AMT is that you guys are talking about. I suppose I'll look it up. In the mean time, I'LL be the only one to have a relationship with AMT if you don't mind!

6. • Posted by WeezerMoo 2008-03-25 08:10:38
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   • Yeah, try my taxes, I owe over 10000 dollars

7. • Posted by uzjedi 2008-03-25 15:37:25
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   • 2007 was the first year we didn't have any money coming in other than poker. So I made some quarterly estimated payments because I knew I would be filing as pro. But I didn't make the payments as big as I should have due to laziness and not realizing I would be taking the fishes for quite this much. Now I also owe over 10k. It won't force me to drop in stakes or anything, but it still feels like a setback even though I never should have considered the money mine.

     When filing as self-employed I get to deduct business expenses. The only thing is I really don't have that many items to deduct, so it doesn't really make up for the extra self-employment taxes I have to pay. Ugh. 2008 will definitely see me making more accurate quarterly payments. Then at least I won't have to dread April 15th.

8. • Posted by Graham 2008-04-12 00:40:20
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   • Do you get to deduct things like the rake and tips for the dealer? Maybe ATM fees..? Seems reasonable.

9. • Posted by Ethan 2008-04-12 05:19:51
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   • So it just got worse. My wife did some photo assisting for a photographer in SF. It was a while ago, and it wasn't for that much money, so I had forgotten about it. So 2 weeks before tax date, we get a 1099-MISC in the mail. After I finished filing my taxes.

     Long story short, I have to file a 1040X to the IRS and 540X to the state of California to amend my returns. The best part? The money from the 1099 was considered a business payment, so I had to pay business taxes on it, and now I get to file quarterly estimated taxes! We barely even kept half of the amount she got paid originally. Had I known, I probably would have said "keep it".

     I am so hiring an accountant next year.

10. • Posted by Pokermom 2008-04-12 15:33:57
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    • Um... even if you don't get a 1099, you are, by law, supposed to claim income earned. The onus on reporting is the guy paying you, but just because he doesn't (and tells you he won't) doesn't forgive you from claiming it as income earned.

      At the very least, don't publish your strategy to not report income unless it's documentated in a 1099 online. :D

      -

      p.s. if your regular federal/state withholdings are sufficient to cover your annual tax liability, you don't normally need to do estimated taxes on top of it, particularly if your Schedule C net income was very small relative to your W-2 income in the prior year...

11. • Posted by Teresa 2008-04-12 17:00:38
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    • wtf?

12. • Posted by Jason M 2008-04-12 19:30:08
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    • LOL, I got screwed by the tax man, too. I withheld a ton more, but it still wasn't enough. I guess I should be happy - it means I made more money... Ugh.

13. • Posted by Phil 2008-04-13 01:41:40
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    • Oh, Teresa, you have no idea. You, living in that utopian commonwealth.

14. • Posted by Teresa 2008-04-13 04:14:16
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    • We have taxes too heheh I just don't have to do them yet. Sounds complicated tho :/

15. • Posted by Ethan 2008-04-13 05:47:10
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    • Strategy? As you can see it was just an oversight ;-). I'm a good taxpayer and always report my income :D

      As for estimated taxes, I don't think I should have to pay them either for the reasons that you specified, but I don't want to get in to trouble and I hate dealing with this stuff, hence hiring accountant.

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