Taxes help?

[Susan1]

I started an account on the free fillable thing, but the places you type in don't line up with the words. I can't snip and copy it either.

 

[Aceon6]

This is a good year to use tax software if you live in the US. All those stimulus payments and some unemployment is taxable if you’re above a certain threshold. The software knows.

And upthread, someone mentioned Required Minimum Distributions. The age is now 72. One of the benefits of moving old 401k/403b and other accounts to a single servicer is that they tell you what the amount is each year. My servicer even lets me set up the withdrawals in advance.

 

[MacMadame]

This is a good year to use tax software if you live in the US. All those stimulus payments and some unemployment is taxable if you’re above a certain threshold. The software knows.

I got a letter from the IRS too.

 

[Lizziebeth]

This is a good year to use tax software if you live in the US. All those stimulus payments and some unemployment is taxable if you’re above a certain threshold. The software knows.

And upthread, someone mentioned Required Minimum Distributions. The age is now 72. One of the benefits of moving old 401k/403b and other accounts to a single servicer is that they tell you what the amount is each year. My servicer even lets me set up the withdrawals in advance.

I was checking this out. You do not have to set up formal scheduled withdrawals if you don't want to. As long as you calculate the amount of withdrawal needed and take out that amount, that is perfectly legal. You can add up all the accounts you have (value at the end of December) and calculate the amount of the required minimum distribution based on the total and then withdraw that amount from any combination of accounts at any time during the year, as long as it comes up to the total required.

I did not know they taxed stimulus payments, but I doubt I am in that tax bracket.

 

[once_upon]

I was checking this out. You do not have to set up formal scheduled withdrawals if you don't want to. As long as you calculate the amount of withdrawal needed and take out that amount, that is perfectly legal. You can add up all the accounts you have (value at the end of December) and calculate the amount of the required minimum distribution based on the total and then withdraw that amount from any combination of accounts at any time during the year, as long as it comes up to the total required.

I did not know they taxed stimulus payments, but I doubt I am in that tax bracket.

Our investment company figures out the RMD for me and i can withdraw it anytime from Jan 1-Dec 31. As long as it is done by Dec 31th.

It's helpful to have all our accounts with on company. Although we have not reached the mandatory withdrawal age of 72, I inherited two IRAs from my parents.

 

[Rogue]

They don’t tax stimulus payments but you do have to reconcile them to make sure you got the full amount you are eligible for.

 

[BaileyCatts]

This is a dead issue at this point, but for my knowledge cause I'm stoopid.

I have a stock account with a large and reputable company. I simply let it sit there and reinvest the dividends because this is earmarked to be cash flow for when I am retired and no longer draw a paycheck. There was a fee for getting paper monthly statements mailed to you, so I switched it to online only.

Even if my account is 'online only', aren't they required by law to mail me the Tax Form every year for my account? Because they never do. Then I forget they never do, sit there waiting for the Tax Form (that never comes) until I go 'oh crap, I forgot I gotta do that myself!'. My taxes got filed late cause I didn't get the forms to my preparer in time and I just paid my taxes today. Oops!

So anyway, aren't they required to mail me the tax form every year via hard copy? It works out now cause I can print it at work, but I don't even have a printer at home, like how am I gonna print that when I am not working anymore?

 

[PRlady]

You may have signed up to go paperless which can be fixed. I also like getting paper in the mail rather than reminding myself to go hunting -although Merrill Lynch does send an email with the online link. (Which your tax preparer can use, you don’t need to give him paper.)

 

[sk8pics]

So anyway, aren't they required to mail me the tax form every year via hard copy? It works out now cause I can print it at work, but I don't even have a printer at home, like how am I gonna print that when I am not working anymore?

They do sell printers to people for home use, ya’ know…

 

[Susan1]

They do sell printers to people for home use, ya’ know…

So anyway, aren't they required to mail me the tax form every year via hard copy? It works out now cause I can print it at work, but I don't even have a printer at home, like how am I gonna print that when I am not working anymore?

I had printers since 1999. If you don't use them enough, the ink dries up, and you have to buy more ink. If you use them a lot you have to keep buying more ink you won't use that much. (I guess it's different these days, especially with so many people working from home the last two years. I just quit buying them when mine leaked all over the desk.)

In the years since I have not been working, I've emailed things to myself at the library to print there - 15 cents a page. But you have to go through so many steps. So, this year, I started putting them on a thumb drive. You put it in and click on the icon for "this computer" or whatever theirs says, and that drive comes up to pick your document from. No signing on to the internet, email, program, etc..... The people at the library can show you how to use their printer/payment.

 

[MacMadame]

We file our taxes online and I forward all the emails with links to tax documents to my husband to input into TurboTax.

 

[maatTheViking]

So anyway, aren't they required to mail me the tax form every year via hard copy? It works out now cause I can print it at work, but I don't even have a printer at home, like how am I gonna print that when I am not working anymore?

I download the documents and upload them to our CPA, if I did it myself I'd put them in turbotax and file online.

I don't even get my W2 mailed to me anymore - I can probably contact HR and force them to, but for now it's fine to have it online. I do think that most places you can elect to have all electronic, all electronic and tax formed mailed, everything mailed.

 

[BaileyCatts]

They do sell printers to people for home use, ya’ know…

Well yeah but I would print 1 piece a paper a year which seems like a waste of money to buy a printer, ink, a ream of paper .... to print one piece of paper a year. Then have it all thrown in a landfill when I die .... for 1 piece of paper a year.

 

[A.H.Black]

This is a dead issue at this point, but for my knowledge cause I'm stoopid.

I have a stock account with a large and reputable company. I simply let it sit there and reinvest the dividends because this is earmarked to be cash flow for when I am retired and no longer draw a paycheck. There was a fee for getting paper monthly statements mailed to you, so I switched it to online only.

Even if my account is 'online only', aren't they required by law to mail me the Tax Form every year for my account? Because they never do. Then I forget they never do, sit there waiting for the Tax Form (that never comes) until I go 'oh crap, I forgot I gotta do that myself!'. My taxes got filed late cause I didn't get the forms to my preparer in time and I just paid my taxes today. Oops!

So anyway, aren't they required to mail me the tax form every year via hard copy? It works out now cause I can print it at work, but I don't even have a printer at home, like how am I gonna print that when I am not working anymore?

I also think it may be a matter of how much activity you have on the account. If it's under a certain amount they don't have to do much of anything. As for being required to mail tax forms, no they aren't required to mail it. As PRlady mentioned you can change your preferences to receive information in the mail but, as you mentioned, you may be required to pay for it. It might be worth a phone call or some digging to see if they would JUST mail the tax forms.

I suggest you may want to make a list from this years issues to remind yourself next year of the things you need to remember - what were good ideas to do again. As someone who is self-employed, I have to "create" my whole year of finances in order to do taxes. I have a 1 page tax list that helps me remember all the things I need to check on. It has become a lifeline and I'm getting pretty good at it.

This year my 1 hour appointment with my accountant only lasted 45 minutes - success. I have found that if I make an appointment with the accountant at the beginning of the year (for late in March) that appointment becomes my tax day - not April 15th (or whenever). Makes the whole process a bit less stressful.

 

[BaileyCatts]

This is pretty funny because it was totally my fault, but I didn't pay my State taxes. They had to do estimated taxes cause I was late with paperwork or something, doesn't really matter, but they figured it wrong. It was just $187, but not even two weeks past the deadline I get a letter from the IRS telling me that I didn't pay, you must.pay.immediately (or all sorts of bad things will happen) and had to pay a penalty (all of 5 cents so big deal). But what kills me is there are millionaires out there who pay less taxes than I do, cheating on their taxes every which way to Sunday, hiding money, faking write offs, and all kinds of crazy shyte, and not two weeks later little nothing me and my $187 gets flagged immediately. HA.

 

[sk8pics]

Why did the IRS contact you about your state taxes @BaileyCatts?

 

[BaileyCatts]

My bad... it was the State Taxation Department. Same difference.

 

[sk8pics]

Ha, I just got a letter from the state today, saying I owed a penalty (again!) for underpayment of estimated taxes. I had a feeling, but it's odd that turbotax did not pick that up. There is a form I can fill out to explain why, but the federal version of it is very complicated. I may take a look at the state version and see if it's any better. Or I'll just let them deduct the $18 from my refund.