Taxes...and the headaches they cause

[snickerd3]

St louis has the same tax. Mr snick works in STL but we live in IL. He was labeled essential so was at the office like usual otherwise I would have sent in the refund request too.

 

[snickerd3]

What % does Cincinnati take? STL takes 1%

 

[jeb6294]

Cincinnati is ~1.82% so it's not terrible, but still a couple $K over the course of a year.

Even the Hamilton County Auditor is suing the city for "taxation without representation" because his office is in Cincinnati but his home is not. Not only was he working from home, he couldn't go in even if he wanted to because all county/city buildings were closed until recently.

 

[snickerd3]

I always wondered how they got away with charging non-city residents that tax....well at least not giving the opportunity to get a non-resident refund if so desired. If he worked from home we would definitely do the paperwork for the time he was out of the office.

We do use the free attractions like the zoo and planetarium so we tend to overlook the couple weeks a year he isn't working at the office as a draw.

 

[blybrook PE]

Somehow I screwed up my W4 for 2021 and ended up owing nearly 3k in taxes. I filed a revised W4 with my company at the end of 2020 that didn't include the extra withholdings for a working spouse, so instead of a refund, had to fork out extra cash to the gov't. Got the W4 revised and updated, so hopefully I'll be getting a refund on the 2022 taxes.

 

[Dleg]

Well I just paid my taxes, and I "only" owed $9,600! I say only because I thought taxes were not withheld from my wife's pay, but they actually were - it was under a different block called "Guam tax" and not under federal income tax. So, still ****** - I need to submit a revised W4 to withhold an additional $800 per month - but way better than I was expecting.

 

[jeb6294]

I always wondered how they got away with charging non-city residents that tax....well at least not giving the opportunity to get a non-resident refund if so desired. If he worked from home we would definitely do the paperwork for the time he was out of the office.

We do use the free attractions like the zoo and planetarium so we tend to overlook the couple weeks a year he isn't working at the office as a draw.

Supposedly, they can take our $$$ because we are downtown using city "amenities" which is fine unless we're working from home. For any other year, I've got a spreadsheet that I can just punch in the number of days I wasn't in the office and it gives me the numbers I need to do the refund form so, even if it's a couple hundred $$$, it only takes a few minutes.

Not sure if my Ohio taxes from last year are straight yet or not. All I get from the state is "you have to file an amended return". Even when I tell them there's nothing to amend, I've got a copy of my tax return that shows I don't owe them, they owe us...same thing, like a recording. I finally printed out a hard copy of my return and sent it to the address for amended returns so we'll see if they finally get the hint. If not, I also found a link to their Problem Resolution Office.

 

[mudpuppy]

I always wondered how they got away with charging non-city residents that tax....

If you think that's bad, what about non-resident property owners? Even to own a vacant lot you pay property tax, and have no voice or vote associated with it. So often non-resident property taxes can be double or more what residents pay since they have no say in the matter and thus it's easy to raise the tax rates.

I just went through this same non-resident income tax exercise with my wife. Her office is in the city of Jackson, MI (town of 35,000 people) which charges 0.5% income tax to nonresident workers. The tax form used to say "working from home counts as being in the office" but the state put the hammer down on that last year. So we got all her city tax back last year and this year.

 

[jeb6294]

From what I've read, they're still fighting about our income tax from 2020, but I'm not going to count on getting any more of that back. Next year could be interesting too because no matter what the courts decide, both sides (the cities and the anti-tax people) have already said they're going to appeal it.

 

[Supe]

So I think I'm getting about $4700 back this year. Royal PITA to navigate through, so hopefully I did it right. They switched us from NC to SC work locations. I was a bit low on NC and got hit with the $29 penalty plus about $1000 due, but am getting something like $1500 back from SC. However, the software is a bit ambiguous about what to claim on the SC taxes as a non-resident. Since Mrs. Supe's income is entirely from her business that only operates in NC, I only included my income on the SC form which I think is correct, but had to override the software twice which kept wanting to include that NC business income as SC taxable.

I also got a very late start on changing the withholdings in 2021, so it's taking way more out of SC than it should be right now. Need to put in new W4's to bump up NC and drop SC back down.

 

[mudpuppy]

You are correct that you shouldn't pay tax to SC for your wife's business income in NC. But usually states want to see the federal AGI as an input and then have a schedule where you subtract off the out-of-state income.

 

[Supe]

You are correct that you shouldn't pay tax to SC for your wife's business income in NC. But usually states want to see the federal AGI as an input and then have a schedule where you subtract off the out-of-state income.

Thanks. That appears to be how it was set up. Looking at the final form, it's got the Federal AGI up top, then based everything off my W-2 reported SC income on the nonresident schedule.

 

[csb]

Paid the government my $327. I hope they do something smart with it like GIVE ME A GRANT FOR MIDDLE MILE FIBER OPTIC CONNECTIONS. Ahem.

 

[Dleg]

^I had never heard of that until I made my Hawaii Death Flight and heard about the big money in the BIL for those types of projects. I think. I don't really know because I wasn't really listening (not my problem!)

 

[csb]

^I had never heard of that until I made my Hawaii Death Flight and heard about the big money in the BIL for those types of projects. I think. I don't really know because I wasn't really listening (not my problem!)

Huge money and I want some of it!

 

[snickerd3]

I set the state tax refund to be direct deposit and the ******** state sent a check.

 

[leggo PE]

I mean, just mobile deposit on your phone?

 

[snickerd3]

I mean, just mobile deposit on your phone?

I'll just have to start errands a little later than expected tomorrow to hit the bank.

my phone, even though it is a smart phone, is just a phone for calls, texts, and stupid notification apps schools/sports et use. I'd still be using my flip phone if apps weren't needed to get info.

I don't do anything involving bank accounts or credit cards on mobile devices.

 

[mudpuppy]

Mobile check deposit apps are a godsend -- I can't think of many things I'd like to do less than going to a bank to deposit a check -- especially on a Saturday morning when (1) they're slammed with people and (2) I could be sitting around drinking coffee. Only time I set foot in a bank these days is when I have to deposit a dozen checks at a time (as treasurer of the local NSPE chapter) or to get cash for Vegas trips.

 

[jeb6294]

If not by phone, then even via ATM is so much better nowadays. No more days of cars lining up behind you while you fill out the envelope. I can pull up, do the usual ATM button pushing and then put my check in. The ATM will read the check, have you verify the amount and then spit out a receipt with a picture of the check on it so you've got proof if needed....although I never have.