That's not very helpful.

Everything I've found says that you have to be able to report earned income to qualify for a roth.

2/12/2007 10:51:04 AM

thats what ive also heard too.

from fidelity's website:

Quote :

"Who is eligible? Roth: Any age with employment compensation Traditional: Under age 70½ with employment compensation"

http://personal.fidelity.com/products/retirement/getstart/aboutira.shtml.cvsr

2/12/2007 10:56:43 AM

Quote :

" A nonworking spouse can make a deductible IRA contribution of up to $4,000 for 2007 ($5,000 if age 50 or older as of 12/31/07) as long as the couple files a joint return, and the working spouse has enough earned income to cover the contribution. "

http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/ira/index.cfm?story=spousal

2/12/2007 10:57:31 AM

That seems to imply that I can set up a traditional IRA for her ("deductible IRA contribution"), but then I am phased out of a contribution myself based on the AGI limits.

one of the scenarios described is exactly what we're in, so if only one of us is going to be eligible either way, the path of least hassle is to just fund my existing Roth, and when she's earning money next year, start her up with a Roth.

2/12/2007 11:08:14 AM

Quote :

"Special Rule for Spouses If you're married and you file a joint return, you can make a regular contribution to a Roth IRA even if you have little or no taxable compensation income."

http://www.fairmark.com/rothira/spousal.htm

2/12/2007 1:15:57 PM

income ~62,000
taxable income ~54,000
took home ~36,500
paid taxes ~17,500

allowances:
fed - 1
state - 0

refund:
fed - $705
state - $185

pretty lame.

2/12/2007 1:29:58 PM

I owed $146 to federal and $25 to NY.

I used turbotax and it was pretty funny when I clicked the option for "living in NYC" and saw my refund magically go from $1300 to -25, lol.

But I think I set up my tax papers well, if I just owed the gov't a little money, so I'm happy.

2/12/2007 1:32:21 PM

Well, just the fact that there are two different sites with conflicting information tells me that there's so much vagueness around that particular situation, that it's a question of interpretation (for those sites). The IRS publication has about two sentences about it, and seems to corroborate with what the first link is.

2/12/2007 1:33:28 PM

So how long before you get to kick back and golf all day while the wifey brings in the big dough, bobby?

2/12/2007 2:29:57 PM

depends on what she decides to specialize in.

if she picks something like family medicine, then i'll be working for a long time, because they don't make much more than I do.

if it's anesthesia, then, retirement shall come soon.

2/12/2007 3:33:14 PM

^ Dammit, mine is doing physical therapy. I should have found a real doctor...

But, I'm claiming her as dependent, did everything online, went from owing $400 to refund of $2500, federal. Plus she'll get a little back, too. Hello new guitar.

2/13/2007 10:30:16 AM

I thought I was going to have to pay the feds ~$800 after using taxact free version. Then I punched my numbers into turbotax online and ended up getting over $300 fed and $300 state. Looks like taxact didn't figure in the child tax credit. Todat is a good day. I'm claiming a 6 on my w-4.

2/13/2007 8:52:39 PM

I got ~$900 back. Next year's return will be much better, because I am buying a house, getting married, and starting graduate school this year

2/14/2007 8:03:01 PM

claim 2 on w4

wrote off 15600 miles on my car

had some 2005 extra tax

got back 2500

2/14/2007 10:02:20 PM

eFiled on Sunday the 4th with TurboTax. Refund posted this morning ... 12 days, or 10 business days later.

2/16/2007 6:06:04 AM

My wife and I are getting about $7200 back from federal and about $200 from state. First year we've been together. We're adding exemptions now to try and figure out the appropriate number to claim to reduce that return. Unfortunately, she's commission, so its not so cut and dry.

2/16/2007 8:02:28 AM

student for half a year, taxed at $95k yearly salary when I only worked 6 months of it

$4500 fed
$400 state (GA)

no problems with that. only had one month of interest payments to deduct, so that will help offset losing the tuition deduction

and fuck mailing stuff in - I'll gladly pay 60 bucks or whatever it is to use turbotax every year...only took me about 30 mins to taxes

2/16/2007 10:35:50 AM

I was playing with some numbers to see how much I could stash into my IRA without loosing money from what I was going to get back from the Fed. Seeing that I was still under 30K, I was able to spread $1500 into my IRA and get exactly $1500 from Fed. State (Massachusetts) is only going to give me $212. I just wonder when I'm ever going to be able to drop the max contribution to my IRA.

2/19/2007 12:25:25 AM

^^ so what did you do for those 6 months???

I use turbo tax, but I'm not about to pay to efile. I can wait a few more days for my refund. One would think the feds would give you an efile credit since it makes their life easier.

2/19/2007 6:01:48 AM

^ "Student for half a year."

2/19/2007 7:30:22 AM

My refund was accredited to the checking account last thurday.

~10 business days

2/19/2007 10:56:19 AM

^lucky. For the past two years it took them over two months to get me a refund. Last year they had to cut me a little extra for interest because it ended up coming in so late. I made sure I owed this year - I think I'll either wait or postdate the check to April 15th to keep them waiting.

2/19/2007 1:52:54 PM

3 years ago i didnt get the refund until jan of the following year.

beat that.

of course, over the course of the year i had 5 addresses, like 3 w-2s, made nearly 40k as a full time student, first year filing as completely independant, some investment issues, and some other things.

many things seemed to throw them for a loop.

2/19/2007 3:42:47 PM

This is the first year that I have paid interest for the entire year for a house. I hope that will help me get a badass return.

Also, can you deduct interest for a car you bought?

2/19/2007 4:35:13 PM

Is it hybrid/alternate fuel?

2/19/2007 4:44:27 PM

No, it's a regular small pickup.

2/19/2007 10:33:23 PM

Is it for work use?

2/19/2007 11:09:21 PM

Well, kinda. I do haul a lot of baseball equipment that I use in coaching our school team.

2/20/2007 12:21:41 AM

Is that your occupation, coach?

2/20/2007 9:18:02 AM

Coach is an "extra duty" assignment that I do at school.

2/21/2007 8:51:44 PM

Had to pay $1413. Ugh.

2/21/2007 9:24:45 PM

4 exemptions
wrote off almost 7000 miles on my car

fed refund of $5013
state refund of $1211

I wasn't expecting anything like that. Oh well, wife says we need new furniture so I guess we'll go get some now.

2/22/2007 12:04:10 PM

writing off the car miles is ftw, they tax the shit out of my car allowance, but i get over half of those taxes back at tax time.

Just got my NC tax refund (212.00) deposited, that was like 6-7 days.

2/22/2007 12:41:46 PM

^^wouldn't you rather have that $500/month in your bank account every month instead of $6000 at tax time? You really need to change your filing status.

2/22/2007 11:03:29 PM

I get a grand total of like $8 taken out of each check for fed taxes, I can't get much lower (get paid twice a month) most of that is from having 2 kids, paying $Texas for daycare and my mileage I drive through the year. There are a bunch of other little things, but those would be the biggies.

2/23/2007 8:08:14 AM

$8?

the math does not work.

2/23/2007 9:01:41 AM

I have 1099 income that I do part-time and due to all my expenses and miles driven, I essentially claim a loss for my business and that is what gets me that money back.

2/23/2007 9:08:01 AM

but if you're only paying $8 to federal per pay check, which is like $800 a year, how do you "get back" 6 times as much?

I don't get how you can (legally) be refunded more than you paid in.

2/23/2007 9:17:41 AM

Its because I'm self-employed and I get to take advantage of various tax laws that people who only have W-2's do not. I get to write off a bunch of things. I also have to keep a bunch of records (mileage driven, receipts, etc.) Its fairly complicated, so I have a tax guy that I pay about $95/hr do them for me.

Don't get me wrong, I know the goal is to not have a refund. Hopefully business will pick up this year and I'll have to pay next year.
In other words, the refund isn't really coming from my W-2 income, its from my 1099.

[Edited on February 23, 2007 at 11:59 AM. Reason : eh]

[Edited on February 23, 2007 at 12:02 PM. Reason : in other words]

2/23/2007 11:58:05 AM

Quote :

"In other words, the refund isn't really coming from my W-2 income, its from my 1099."

Come again?

2/23/2007 12:05:01 PM

Sorry if thats wrong, but that was my take on the situation. I guess thats why I pay to have someone who is an expert in this do them for me

2/23/2007 12:41:28 PM

just came back to this - to answer the question...i guess i wasn't clear

from jan to may i was full-time enrolled in grad school
didn't work for a month
started work in late June...got paid for June 26th - Dec 31st
my salary puts me at $95-100k w/ bonus, so each pay cycle I'm taxed at that rate
but since I only made about $50k, my tax level was above my yearly salary (it's not progressive...you don't pay more once you've made a certain amount)

is that clearer?

2/23/2007 2:36:20 PM

THIS IS MY FIRST YEAR OWNING A HOME......DOES MORTGAGE INTEREST HAVE A HUGE EFFECT ON YOUR REFUND MONEY?

2/23/2007 3:49:15 PM

Return of ~$450...Spring Break cash!!!

2/23/2007 4:29:52 PM

^^ Yes!

I paid off a lot of debt with my refund
Yippee!!

2/24/2007 12:01:14 AM

Just did mine, forking over 1115 to the Fed and 110 to the State.

Damn mid year raises and massive year end bonuses fucking my with holding calculations up.

Guess I need to adjust that now for this year to avoid another sad day in 08.


So TurboTax mentions this for me

Quote :

"Estimated Taxes for 2007 Based on the information you have entered, you will need to pay estimated taxes for 2007. TurboTax will walk you through calculating and preparing your estimates. Select the Topic List in the toolbar at the top of the screen, then scroll to the Miscellaneous category, and choose the Form W-4 and Estimated Taxes topic."

Great, I go over by 115 bones and the fuckers are trying to hastle me.

Hmm, wonder if I just adjust the withholdings to this point if I don't have to trouble with the payment?

[Edited on March 17, 2007 at 3:59 PM. Reason : a]

3/17/2007 3:41:52 PM

^be careful with how you handle that, if its not paid correctly you may end up owing interest.

3/18/2007 3:39:36 PM

i got back $1391 from fed and $274 from state.

worked full time for six months last year, then became a full time professional student. also was nice being able to efile for free with turbo tax. i've never had to pay the last three years for filing online, one of the few advantages to having a job that doesn't pay well

3/18/2007 4:54:30 PM

yeah i dont htink this really goes here, but maybe someone has some help.

i got a letter today regarding my 2004 taxes from the IRS...

that was the first year i filed as an independant..

however, apparently, my college fund was transferred to my name (fully) in this same year.

now, the IRS is saying that it was unreported income, and apparently I owe multiple thousands in unreported taxable income moneys.

however, even with the transfer, my total income for the year was under 20k, was a fulltime student, ya ya ya

from the batch of paperwork, it looks really drawn out to contest, and you cant just file an ammended return, there are whole new forms.

anyone dealt with this? and since i was a FT student with <20k, i shouldnt have to pay that much federal, right?

guess im gonna have to find an accountant

3/21/2007 4:32:49 PM

Well, if one parent gave you an amount of money directly that was over the gift tax amount 11K?, then you would owe.

3/21/2007 4:48:46 PM