i had a few questions on my taxes that maybe someone could help me out on... first... what are the rules to claim someone a dependant. i support my girlfriend, more then 50 percent of living expenses. shes a full time student under 24 and shes lived with me for longer then a year. i dont see why i couldnt but i dont know for sure. also, what do i have to do to qualify for head of household? we have one other roomate who is also a full time student and i still pay over 50 percent of expenses. hope yall can help me out. pete
Like most things tax related, there are no easy answers, and every situation is a little different. You should read IRS Publication 501 to see what is right for your circumstances. Hope that helps, Chris
Absolutely not Pete, Sorry buddy, you cannot claim either of them as dependents. They are not related. Even though you may indeed support them, they will not pass the relative test for taxes dependency purposes. I worked at H&R Block for a couple of years to make ends meet. Believe me on this one. If you try it, you will get shot down. Hope this helps.
I used to do my own taxes. After we got married and had a kid, I thought maybe we should have them done by a pro. Even though it cost about $80 to have them done, we still came out way ahead. He knew alot of tricks I didn't know about, and it only took about 20 minutes (as opposed to the HOURS it would have taken me) Just one item (child daycare expenses) saved us more then the $80 he charged! We've been going to him ever since. I'll never try to do them myself again. :beer
Here's my question.. I did my taxes on line last night and typed my AGI from 2002 in wrong. Now I have a 1040X amendment form and the website I did my taxes on won't let me transmit the changes electronically, it says I have to mail it. I'm looking at this 1040X form and it doesn't seem to have any section where I would actually write my 2002 AGI in. I changed it on the site...now what should I do? Should I mail it in with the 1040EZ and the copy of my W2? Is the change I made to my AGI on line correct? HELP!!!!! The site, Turbo Tax, is kind of vague in it's information.... Thanks!
Yes, the 1040X form has to be mailed in to the IRS. I had to do one last year, after I already had my refund, we discovered the payroll software had somehow managed to fail to add in a 2-week payroll amount, so I had to send a couple hundred back... what a pain!
No, I mailed my return. But I remember while figuring out the 1040X that it specified it had to be mailed in.
From the IRS? NNAWWWWWWWWW I'm with ricknmel. Take it from el cheapo (being me), find a good tax person, they'll pay their bill with what you save. Just another reason we need a flat-tax. Even the IRS won't take responsibility for giving bad tax advice!
Actually my taxes are pretty simple. I have my credits and deductions all figured out, and I don't save by itemizing, so I don't go through that mess. I'm done in a short afternoon.
yeah got shot down at h&r a few hours ago. i figured it was worth a try though. i got the original info off the jackson hewett site. seemed not to be a problem. if it were to happen i would have gotten 500 or so more on my tax return. and claiming head of houshold would have gotten me another 500. so im now left with a 500 from fed. and about 100 from the state. uzzled: i remember the very first year i did my taxes... i made like 12,000 for the whole year and got back 700 or so. now i make a lot more and only get 500 those were the good ol days :grin: pete
Of course, ideally you would want to have a very small refund, or pay a very small amount due. I don't understand the guys that like getting a BIG refund. All that means is that the IRS has had YOUR money during the year, and isn't paying you any interest when you get it back! If you like the "forced savings" aspect of a big refund, just put it into your own savings account every payroll. BTW, in case you didn't know, you can have your employer change the # of deductions you claim on your W-4 form at work. I actually go a step beyond that, and tell my payroll mgr the exact dollar amount I want him to withhold every paycheck. I get a little back each year from federal, and pay a small amount into state.
yeah when i got hired for some crazy reason i had writen down 2 exemtions. i only got back 54 dollars :grin: then last year i changed it to 1. i may change it to zero but im gonna try and crunch some numbers. but you make a good point though. i never thought of it that way:TU: before i had always needed a good tax return cause i was always broke. im in a better situation now. :TU: pete
