ZOMG it's TUESDAY?
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Originally Posted by sublime1
What's even more lame is that you know what the acronyms stand for.
At least its better than being emo /me shrugs
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i keep looking for that mistake i made that says we owe $1800 in taxes... anyone else hate the marriage penalty? if we were both single and filing separately, we'd be getting back a ton.
Originally Posted by RussB
i keep looking for that mistake i made that says we owe $1800 in taxes... anyone else hate the marriage penalty? if we were both single and filing separately, we'd be getting back a ton.
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Originally Posted by RussB
i keep looking for that mistake i made that says we owe $1800 in taxes... anyone else hate the marriage penalty? if we were both single and filing separately, we'd be getting back a ton.
Originally Posted by maddhatteroo7
There's a penalty for being married and not having little tax breaks...err i mean kids?
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Originally Posted by nKoan
Yeah, the tax breaks only come if you have kids. Otherwise, just think of it as filing as one person with a lot of income.
I think the "penalty" people refer to is in how the taxes are collected. When you list your status as single on your W-4, your check gets taxed at a rate different than when you list your status as married, even though your tax obligation is the same (before itemizing your deductions). For example, just from changing my status to married, my net income rose nearly $400/mo, however my standard deduction remained the same. I think people get caught by not realizing this, and assuming that being married gives them an additional tax break that single people do not enjoy, which is untrue.
Originally Posted by sonicsuby
That's not true. The standard deduction for a married couple is exactly double the standard deduction of a single person. A married couple filing seperately gets the same standard deduction as a single person (individually, so both couples x 2 = same as filing married/jointly).
I think the "penalty" people refer to is in how the taxes are collected. When you list your status as single on your W-4, your check gets taxed at a rate different than when you list your status as married, even though your tax obligation is the same (before itemizing your deductions). For example, just from changing my status to married, my net income rose nearly $400/mo, however my standard deduction remained the same. I think people get caught by not realizing this, and assuming that being married gives them an additional tax break that single people do not enjoy, which is untrue.
I think the "penalty" people refer to is in how the taxes are collected. When you list your status as single on your W-4, your check gets taxed at a rate different than when you list your status as married, even though your tax obligation is the same (before itemizing your deductions). For example, just from changing my status to married, my net income rose nearly $400/mo, however my standard deduction remained the same. I think people get caught by not realizing this, and assuming that being married gives them an additional tax break that single people do not enjoy, which is untrue.
oh, wait.
Originally Posted by sonicsuby
That's not true. The standard deduction for a married couple is exactly double the standard deduction of a single person. A married couple filing seperately gets the same standard deduction as a single person (individually, so both couples x 2 = same as filing married/jointly).
I think the "penalty" people refer to is in how the taxes are collected. When you list your status as single on your W-4, your check gets taxed at a rate different than when you list your status as married, even though your tax obligation is the same (before itemizing your deductions). For example, just from changing my status to married, my net income rose nearly $400/mo, however my standard deduction remained the same. I think people get caught by not realizing this, and assuming that being married gives them an additional tax break that single people do not enjoy, which is untrue.
I think the "penalty" people refer to is in how the taxes are collected. When you list your status as single on your W-4, your check gets taxed at a rate different than when you list your status as married, even though your tax obligation is the same (before itemizing your deductions). For example, just from changing my status to married, my net income rose nearly $400/mo, however my standard deduction remained the same. I think people get caught by not realizing this, and assuming that being married gives them an additional tax break that single people do not enjoy, which is untrue.
Though, in some cases the combined income could put you into a higher tax bracket than single filing separately. My former boss never married for tax reasons. He told me they ran the numbers years ago for him and his GF, and they made enough that filing together as married would bump them into a higher tax bracket as opposed to filing separately as single.
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Originally Posted by nKoan
Actually, thats kinda what I meant to say. It's not that your a penalized, but that you probably didn't get enough withheld. Like I said, the only 'breaks' from being married is when you have kids, otherwise its more or less the same and since the withholdings probably weren't withheld correctly, you'll probably end up owing.
Though, in some cases the combined income could put you into a higher tax bracket than single filing separately. My former boss never married for tax reasons. He told me they ran the numbers years ago for him and his GF, and they made enough that filing together as married would bump them into a higher tax bracket as opposed to filing separately as single.
Though, in some cases the combined income could put you into a higher tax bracket than single filing separately. My former boss never married for tax reasons. He told me they ran the numbers years ago for him and his GF, and they made enough that filing together as married would bump them into a higher tax bracket as opposed to filing separately as single.