Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:16 pm**

Still waiting on last round of paperwork. ScotTDameritrade says next week. We'll see. I should start consliidating paper work this week.... Again, we'll see...

I actually got money back last year, so who knows? Maybe I will again this year. And maybe next year after I'll cash in big even after my Late January tax withholding cut of about $1800 a year in expectation of the a new tax code.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:00 pm**

About that. I think it is rather ominous that the IRS has put out a tax calculator so that people can verify that the new withholding rates won't eventually screw you come tax time next year.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:04 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2018 1:29 pm $600 refund only by reason of my continuing education credit. Otherwise, I would probably have had to cough up ~$1k because of the PMI deduction loss.

Looks like I can go file a revision:

Call it buried tax treasure for homeowners: Deep inside the behemoth 654-page bipartisan budget bill recently signed into law by President Trump are little-noticed extensions of key tax-code benefits that expired in 2016 but now can be used for upcoming 2017 tax filings.

Potentially the most popular one is aimed at millions of people who pay mortgage-insurance premiums on conventional, FHA and VA loans. Roughly 4.1 million owners took write-offs averaging more than $1,500 during 2015, the most recent year for which statistics are available. Mortgage-insurance industry officials predict that at least that many will be able claim the benefit on their 2017 tax returns — provided they learn that the deduction has been revived for the year.
...
Congress first authorized tax deductions for mortgage-insurance premiums more than a decade ago, but legal authority for the write-offs lapsed at the end of 2016. The new budget law provides for a retroactive extension for premiums paid during 2017, but it’s silent about future deductions, including for 2018.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:06 pm**

Scuzz wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:00 pm About that. I think it is rather ominous that the IRS has put out a tax calculator so that people can verify that the new withholding rates won't eventually screw you come tax time next year.

The thing is I'm already claiming 0 with extra with holding to cover my ass from claiming 0 still cost me $1000 a year. As a single someone with nothing but a standard deduction and small property tax deduction, theoretically this should be a great boon for me but things never workout the way they should, so I don't hold out too much hope that this $1800 divvied out $90 at a time is going to stay in my pocket come this time next year.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:19 pm**

The PMI restoration gets me another $487 back. And it pushed us over the standard deduction amount into itemized territory.

Of course, I have to print and mail the amended return, so it will be fall before I get the extra back...

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:07 pm**

Our refund was massively less than what my wife was expecting, and quite a bit less than my more modest expectations. In short, if we didn't buy a house and have $5K in charitable donations, we'd be pretty fucked. My wife claims no exemptions and I claim one less than I should, so logically we should be over withholding even before itemized deductions.

Posted: **Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:16 pm**

Taxes took 15 minutes on Feb 25. Submitted Feb 26, refund deposited today, 1750$.

On to next year!

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:33 am**

Ended up owing about $350 this year. My taxes are always questionable because I have so many W2s every year, but we've had the withholdings to usually either owe $200 or get back $200. This year I started a new business, which is where the extra taxes came from.

I'm not sure how next year is going to go though. I really need to sit down with that IRS calculator to make sure withholdings are right.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:35 am**

msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:33 am Ended up owing about $350 this year. My taxes are always questionable because I have so many W2s every year, but we've had the withholdings to usually either owe $200 or get back $200. This year I started a new business, which is where the extra taxes came from.

I'm not sure how next year is going to go though. I really need to sit down with that IRS calculator to make sure withholdings are right.

It won't be available for months apparently due to the tax reform changes. No one really knows how tax season will go next year.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:46 am**

malchior wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:35 am
msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:33 am Ended up owing about $350 this year. My taxes are always questionable because I have so many W2s every year, but we've had the withholdings to usually either owe $200 or get back $200. This year I started a new business, which is where the extra taxes came from.

I'm not sure how next year is going to go though. I really need to sit down with that IRS calculator to make sure withholdings are right.
It won't be available for months apparently due to the tax reform changes. No one really knows how tax season will go next year.

No, they have it up now.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:55 am**

stessier wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:46 am
malchior wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:35 am
msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:33 am Ended up owing about $350 this year. My taxes are always questionable because I have so many W2s every year, but we've had the withholdings to usually either owe $200 or get back $200. This year I started a new business, which is where the extra taxes came from.

I'm not sure how next year is going to go though. I really need to sit down with that IRS calculator to make sure withholdings are right.
It won't be available for months apparently due to the tax reform changes. No one really knows how tax season will go next year.
No, they have it up now.

Oh wow - I talked to ADP about 2 weeks ago and they said they expected it in a couple months. Anyway - looks like they dropped that 2 days ago. Probably around the same time they changed the HSA max limit. Now to fix mine because it is all jacked up. I do like the warning about consequences for 2019.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:36 pm**

malchior wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:55 am
stessier wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:46 am
malchior wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:35 am
msteelers wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:33 am Ended up owing about $350 this year. My taxes are always questionable because I have so many W2s every year, but we've had the withholdings to usually either owe $200 or get back $200. This year I started a new business, which is where the extra taxes came from.

I'm not sure how next year is going to go though. I really need to sit down with that IRS calculator to make sure withholdings are right.
It won't be available for months apparently due to the tax reform changes. No one really knows how tax season will go next year.
No, they have it up now.
Oh wow - I talked to ADP about 2 weeks ago and they said they expected it in a couple months. Anyway - looks like they dropped that 2 days ago. Probably around the same time they changed the HSA max limit. Now to fix mine because it is all jacked up. I do like the warning about consequences for 2019.

I could have sworn there was one available from the IRS weeks ago. I had started to look at it, but didn't have enough info at the time to fill it out.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:36 pm**

Yea, the IRS had one out about 2 weeks ago maybe, at least they had announced it was out.

Posted: **Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:26 pm**

The IRS just finished many of the inflation re-adjustments required by the 2017 tax act.

Posted: **Mon Mar 19, 2018 11:18 pm**

Just finished my first pass at my 2017 taxes. Due to a whole slew of short term capital gains made via a couple of big stock shorts that hit, my refund is way down from usual. The feds owe me $1350, but I owe the state of Virginia $562.

They both want me to make estimated payments, too ($1600 feds, $564 state). For those who've been given that suggestion before, is it better to do that via a withholding change, or by making the estimated payments every quarter? It seems like if my withholdings are within 90% of what I owe, I'm okay, but I guess there's no guarantee of that if I have another big capital gains year this year or how the new tax law might screw me in other ways.

Posted: **Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:24 am**

I don't understand why the feds want estimated tax payments if they owed you money. Myself, I like the control that filing the 1040-ES payments gives me, but it is a hassle to do that every quarter. You have to, like, print it out and mail them a check.

We got our package back from the CPA today. I haven't opened it yet. I dread this moment every year.

Posted: **Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:11 am**

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:24 am I don't understand why the feds want estimated tax payments if they owed you money. Myself, I like the control that filing the 1040-ES payments gives me, but it is a hassle to do that every quarter. You have to, like, print it out and mail them a check.

I finally ran through the IRS's new withholding calculator and they seem to think I should increase what's withheld from every paycheck to avoid owing quite a bit, too. I'm already claiming 0 exemptions there!

Thanks, Trump.

Posted: **Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:03 am**

We got the documents back from the accountant on Saturday. We're getting just shy of $8k back for 2017. You might be thinking that's pretty irresponsible, but a couple times we have gotten screwed by moves my wife's financial guy has made that I am not in the loop on (due to pre-nup, I am not even allowed to be in the loop) so we over-withhold to protect ourselves.

Our accountant included a sheet showing how 2017 would have turned out using the 2018 tax laws and it would be an additional $6k. Obviously for 2018 some of that is handled by the reduced payroll withholding guidance, but I am no longer worried about the impact of the tax law to me personally from a tax filing perspective.

Posted: **Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:13 am**

Finished yesterday, except for mailing in a check for my state taxes owed (stupid Missouri with no electronic filing). I have learned that moving from a state with no state income taxes (Florida) to a state with a state income tax sort of sucks.

Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:25 pm**

We got unexpectedly reamed to the tune of $1,700, and thanks to that I have to make estimated payments of $430 per quarter this year. So I'm scrambling to come up with $2,100 by the end of today, and I have to rework our budget to find another $130/month for the tax man for the rest of this year. Thanks, Trump!

On the bright side, the state owes us $78.

I had expected to be within a few hundred bucks of break-even. I think what killed us was (a) we didn't have enough deductions to itemize, and (b) Kraken Enterprises showed a profit last year instead of the nice juicy loss it usually delivers.

Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:55 pm**

Nothing worse than a business making money.

Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:32 pm**

the tax filing site i've used for over a decade (taxact.com) is charging $40 for the HSA form. (the HSA is the only available health insurance option at my new job.) i said screw that and started over again with tax filing at freetaxusa.com, which has no hidden fees for various forms.

Posted: **Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:14 pm**

Scuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:55 pm Nothing worse than a business making money.

Definitely true at tax time -- that profit is straight income on my 1040, and it's not like I got to pocket it. This year I will be more careful. Curio City should easily generate enough losses to neutralize Blue Hills's profit.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:24 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:14 pm
Scuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:55 pm Nothing worse than a business making money.
Definitely true at tax time -- that profit is straight income on my 1040, and it's not like I got to pocket it. This year I will be more careful. Curio City should easily generate enough losses to neutralize Blue Hills's profit.

I own 25% of an S Corp, and I have often thought things were best when everybody got paid, we got our IRA/SEP contributions and health insurance, and the business showed little or no profit.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:34 pm**

The cost for me to use TurboTax and file through them after a theoretical discount went up to over $100 this year, so I can continue to file that stupid Schedule K. And my taxes are crazy simple. I declared my income and dividends and the them I have health insurance and a 401k. No deductions. Too add insult to injury every couple of items added TurboTax try to get you to add something else for some additional fee. I may have to change next year. We'll see. I'm a slave to convenience. The good news is I got refunds and my federal refund came quick. It wasn't estimated to arrive until the 3rd and it showed up in my account this morning.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:45 pm**

We signed out papers for the accountant last week. Got money back this year for the first time in a while. I overcorrected in 2017 since the wife never pays her quarterlies. I guess I over-overcorrected.

No risk of tax refund spending though, it'll nicely fill that hole left by the first property tax installment. Take that, economy!

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:52 pm**

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:24 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:14 pm
Scuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:55 pm Nothing worse than a business making money.
Definitely true at tax time -- that profit is straight income on my 1040, and it's not like I got to pocket it. This year I will be more careful. Curio City should easily generate enough losses to neutralize Blue Hills's profit.
I own 25% of an S Corp, and I have often thought things were best when everybody got paid, we got our IRA/SEP contributions and health insurance, and the business showed little or no profit.

When you own 100% of an S Corp profits are four times as bad. Since Blue Hills requires almost nothing in the way of investment, my goal is to use all of its income to cover costs and pay wages. If there is anything left over to go on my 1040, then that money had better be there to withdraw at the end of the year. I'd be fine with paying taxes on a $2,700 profit if I had actually pocketed $2,700.

This will be easier to manage after Curio City closes and I get more experience with Blue Hills. They are very different operating companies and hard to balance.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:57 pm**

My taxes were fun due to the multi-state nature of my work and NYs weird calendar based tax laws. In the end I got a nearly $6K refund from them and then had to turn around and pay it to NJ with a penalty on top for underpayment. Only way to not pay the penalty are estimated payments. That will lead to me getting a huge refund. I can then roll that refund forward to pay next years estimated payments and so on. WTF.

My accountant also showed me the math about how ADP is massively under withholding me (to the tune of nearly $500 a month). I told him about my conversations with them about this. I had suspected this was the case and he was telling me that "tax reform" has many people's taxes jacked up in NJ. My taxes will be going up considerably as I estimated but we found a few ways to cushion the blow. In the end, he has me making estimated payments to the IRS. I was planning on that anyway but it just leaves me feeling the way we collect taxes is crazy.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 1:01 pm**

And people wonder why everyone doesn't want to be an entrepreneur and run their own business.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:52 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:52 pm
Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:24 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:14 pm
Scuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:55 pm Nothing worse than a business making money.
Definitely true at tax time -- that profit is straight income on my 1040, and it's not like I got to pocket it. This year I will be more careful. Curio City should easily generate enough losses to neutralize Blue Hills's profit.
I own 25% of an S Corp, and I have often thought things were best when everybody got paid, we got our IRA/SEP contributions and health insurance, and the business showed little or no profit.
When you own 100% of an S Corp profits are four times as bad. Since Blue Hills requires almost nothing in the way of investment, my goal is to use all of its income to cover costs and pay wages. If there is anything left over to go on my 1040, then that money had better be there to withdraw at the end of the year. I'd be fine with paying taxes on a $2,700 profit if I had actually pocketed $2,700.

This will be easier to manage after Curio City closes and I get more experience with Blue Hills. They are very different operating companies and hard to balance.

By the way, bonding companies and banks don't really understand my philosophy of how an S Corp should work. They seem to think showing large profits and paying taxes on it is somehow a good thing.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:39 pm**

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:52 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:52 pm
Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:24 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:14 pm
Scuzz wrote: ↑Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:55 pm Nothing worse than a business making money.
Definitely true at tax time -- that profit is straight income on my 1040, and it's not like I got to pocket it. This year I will be more careful. Curio City should easily generate enough losses to neutralize Blue Hills's profit.
I own 25% of an S Corp, and I have often thought things were best when everybody got paid, we got our IRA/SEP contributions and health insurance, and the business showed little or no profit.
When you own 100% of an S Corp profits are four times as bad. Since Blue Hills requires almost nothing in the way of investment, my goal is to use all of its income to cover costs and pay wages. If there is anything left over to go on my 1040, then that money had better be there to withdraw at the end of the year. I'd be fine with paying taxes on a $2,700 profit if I had actually pocketed $2,700.

This will be easier to manage after Curio City closes and I get more experience with Blue Hills. They are very different operating companies and hard to balance.
By the way, bonding companies and banks don't really understand my philosophy of how an S Corp should work. They seem to think showing large profits and paying taxes on it is somehow a good thing.

There is one argument in favor of taking profits over taking salary: You don't pay payroll taxes on K-1 income. One could theoretically dodge FICA, Medicare, FUTA, and state unemployment taxes entirely if one can live without regular income. Last time I looked into it, the IRS only stipulated that you pay yourself a "reasonable" salary. Of course, they decide what's reasonable. The optimal strategy is to take a modest salary with a big profit payout at the end of the year...assuming, of course, that your company can afford to pay out its profit, and that you are prepared to argue that modest = reasonable.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:44 pm**

One advantage of paying yourself a salary and having FICA wages (as an S Corp owner) is that you can write off health insurance premiums on page 1 of a federal 1040 up to the amount of FICA wages.

Posted: **Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:52 pm**

Health insurance is a non-factor for me as we have gold-plated bennies through Wife's job, and we're only four years away from Medicare anyway. Kraken Enterprises is all about keeping me in beer and cigarettes. But I can see where that would be a huge consideration for a normal person or a larger business.

Posted: **Sun Apr 29, 2018 4:37 pm**

As is tradition, on this last day of the last weekend before the deadline, I set aside the hour required to prepare and pay my taxes. See ya next year, Taxman!

Posted: **Fri Feb 08, 2019 4:58 pm**

A bit premature as I'm getting my last form today, but I filled out everything I could last weekend and it looks like this will be the last time I have to pay to file. We're down to the standard deduction which means I can use the most basic forms. Woo-hoo!?

On the plus side, excluding my electric car credit, I'm getting back within $300 of last year's return. That seems fair as my wife and I both made marginally more this year. Including the car credit, this will be a very, very fun return to file.

Posted: **Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:01 pm**

I've been for paperwork to send the accountant for the car from a tax credit and sales tax perspective and I'll be damned if I can find anything on paper.

Posted: **Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:04 pm**

coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:01 pm I've been for paperwork to send the accountant for the car from a tax credit and sales tax perspective and I'll be damned if I can find anything on paper.

Anything online with a sales order number on it or something you can print off from an online account?

Posted: **Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:37 pm**

stessier wrote: ↑Fri Feb 08, 2019 4:58 pm A bit premature as I'm getting my last form today, but I filled out everything I could last weekend and it looks like this will be the last time I have to pay to file. We're down to the standard deduction which means I can use the most basic forms. Woo-hoo!?

On the plus side, excluding my electric car credit, I'm getting back within $300 of last year's return. That seems fair as my wife and I both made marginally more this year. Including the car credit, this will be a very, very fun return to file.

I hear that a lot. I always had to pay to file even the standard deduction. But none of that matters anyway as I now have a stupid schedule K, so standard deduction be damned.

I think the last of my paperwork is scheduled to arrive on the 10th but my weekend is busy next weekend, so I'm likely to to do taxes the last weekend end in February. Here's to being one the one who is supposed to see a significant tax relief! We'll see about that.

Posted: **Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:43 pm**

Finished my taxes earlier this week.

Not sure if it's due to moving to a smaller house, thus less real estate and mortgage interest to deduct, or something to do with the tax reform, but I'm getting back about $1000 less than last year.

Of course, I have to remind myself that the ultimate goal at the end of the year is to neither owe or get back money, so in that regard I'm headed the right way.

Posted: **Fri Feb 08, 2019 6:15 pm**

stessier wrote: ↑Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:04 pm
coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:01 pm I've been for paperwork to send the accountant for the car from a tax credit and sales tax perspective and I'll be damned if I can find anything on paper.
Anything online with a sales order number on it or something you can print off from an online account?

I found the eDocs in email now that I remembered the transaction was done online, so I should be good. Give me my $7500!

Octopus Overlords

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