Taxes - are you getting a refund?

[blankslate]

I'm a single parent, made $40k last year and claim 4 exemptions. My "stimulus check" was intercepted by student loans so I never saw it.

It is still counted as income in my taxes and now I owe $650. Great... a check I didn't ask for or receive and now I have to pay even more for it. At least I can claim the obscene amount I'm being charged in interest for the student loans otherwise it would've been closer to $900 (the amount of the supposed check)

Anyone else being offset this year by that stimulus check?

[AngelinaCatHub]

Actually, you might be able to address IRS (if you can get to a real person within a day of waiting) and have this removed. It is worth the try if you are young enough to survive the phone wait. 'Hub

[blankslate]

Blah. Just got an amended statement from Student Loans. They only applied $184 to interest, the rest to penalties and a little to the principal balance so it looks like I owe more like $800. They've been garnishing my wages for 3 years for those fricking loans, taking $6000 out of my paychecks last year and I only get $184 to put as a deduction?

Don't ever default on your student loans. Ever. I've paid $23,000 for a $6000 loan and am STILL paying with no end in sight. There is no accountability and they don't have to show you anything as far as what the breakdown of your payments are once you are in default.

[AMISLANDER]

I owe the IRS and pay monthly to them as well as they get my tax refunds. They got my stimulus check as well. At least it brought down my tax debt!

[Lacy]

I am sure hoping to get a refund back but I am a little concerned if I will since my son and I draw SS part of last year. Guess I will find out when I go file.. Still waiting on some 1099 from some oil/gas company's that I get little checks from. I thought they were suppose to have them all out by now.

[krielly]

Your stimulus check should not count as income towards your tax liability. Where are you getting the impression that it does? This is a common misunderstanding

Please read more info on this topic: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...html?portlet=6

We lost $1000 in our refund this year due to my son turning 17. We lost the Child Tax Credit. I find it dumb that we can't claim the child credit for him anymore, but yet we are still financially responsible for him.

Go figure!

[momof5]

We are getting back $5200 this year. While that may sound like a lot its actually about $5,000 less than we are used to. We withdrew from our 401k and also had a loan from the 401k go into default after he lost his job.

I am just thankful we are even getting a refund. I honestly thought the 401k's would soak up everything.

The sad thing about all this is that the 401k's made our income look about $30,000 higher than it actually was! Which in turn has caused my Daughters College EFC to be MUCH higher than last year so now the refund will have to go into a savings account to make up the difference. She is paying for her own college with loans and scholarships and already had figured what her final total student loan would be upon graduation. This is the least we can do.

[FLBK7]

Finally got the year-end mortgage interest and property tax info from Chase yesterday, so I filed online last night using Turbo Tax Deluxe (the one that costs $29.95). I'm getting a little over $3K back. I'm buying a new stove (the one in my condo is the original one -- 28 years old!), and I'll make sure it's a smooth top one, finally. I'll also go looking for a badly-needed new TV/stereo system cabinet. Don't think I'll spend over $1K overall. The rest goes straight to savings.

[Trixie007]

We lost $1000 in our refund this year due to my son turning 17. We lost the Child Tax Credit. I find it dumb that we can't claim the child credit for him anymore, but yet we are still financially responsible for him.

Go figure!

If it makes you feel any better, the law used to be 16 instead of 17! When DD turned 16 we lost the credit - Her BDay is Dec 23rd - so even though she was 15 for almost the entire year... And here she is, just turned 18, and we're still supporting her.