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Another thing to consider - if either of you has previous tax debts or is behind on certain government payments (like child support), filing jointly could put the refund at risk. When you file jointly, your entire refund could be seized to pay those debts even if they only belong to one spouse. You'd need to file an injured spouse form to try getting your portion back, which is a hassle.
Do student loans fall into this category? If your spouse has defaulted federal student loans, will they take your refund if you file jointly?
Yes, defaulted federal student loans can definitely lead to tax refund offsets. If your spouse has defaulted loans and you file jointly, the entire refund could be seized to repay those loans. Filing Form 8379 (Injured Spouse Allocation) can help you get your portion of the refund back, but it adds complexity and delays your refund by several months. If the student loans are in good standing or on an income-driven repayment plan, then you don't have to worry about refund offsets - it's only for defaulted loans. This is actually another situation where filing separately might make sense if one spouse has defaulted loans, as it protects the other spouse's refund entirely.
First time my husband and I filed together, we tried both options in TurboTax and found filing jointly saved us almost $2,000! But everyone's situation is different. When one spouse is a student, joint is usually better because you can claim education credits on a joint return. Consider running your numbers both ways before deciding.
Which tax software did you find easiest to use for comparing both options? I tried H&R Block online but it was confusing to switch between filing statuses to compare.
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I used FreeTaxUSA last year to report my ISOs and found the entry point. You need to go to: Income → Miscellaneous/Other Income → Other Income Not Reported on W-2/1099 → Then look for the section about "Income Adjustments for Alternative Minimum Tax" or something similar. It's definitely buried in there! Once you find it, there should be a specific question about exercising incentive stock options, and it will ask for all the information from Form 3921. Hope this helps!
Do you remember if this properly calculated the AMT impact as well? I'm worried about triggering AMT with my ISO exercise but want to make sure FreeTaxUSA is calculating it correctly.
Yes, once you enter the information in that section, it automatically does the AMT calculation. FreeTaxUSA actually does a good job with the AMT calculation - it will show you if you're subject to AMT and by how much. After you enter the ISO information, I recommend going to the "Taxes" section and looking at the "AMT" subsection to see the detailed calculation. It should clearly show the ISO spread as part of the adjustments. You can also view Form 6251 directly to verify the amount appears on line 2i.
Just FYI - I had this same issue with reporting my employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) in FreeTaxUSA. I ended up having to manually enter it on Form 6251. If you're still struggling, try looking under "Forms" and then search for Form 6251. Sometimes the interview process doesn't catch everything, but you can edit forms directly. Just be careful to follow the IRS guidelines exactly when making manual entries.
I've used the Forms method too! It's a great backup when you can't find something in the interview process. Just to add - make sure you document somewhere (like in the notes section) why you made the manual adjustment in case you get audited later.
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For last-minute tax reduction strategies, don't forget about 529 plan contributions! Many states offer tax deductions for contributions to these college savings plans, even if you open and fund one on December 31st. For example, my state (NY) allows deductions up to $5,000 per year for individuals or $10,000 for married couples filing jointly. You can name yourself as beneficiary if you don't have kids yet, and later change it. Just check your state's rules since not all states offer deductions.
Does contributing to a 529 reduce federal taxes though? I thought it was only state tax deductions in some states. We're really trying to minimize our federal tax bill since that's where the big surprise is coming from.
You're right - 529 contributions don't reduce your federal tax bill, only state taxes in states that offer the deduction. I should have been clearer about that. While this won't help with your federal tax surprise, it could still save you some money on state taxes depending where you live. For federal tax reduction, your options before year-end are more limited since you've already maxed your HSA. If you own a business or have any self-employment income, you could potentially make SEP IRA or Solo 401k contributions, which would reduce federal taxable income.
Strongly recommend reviewing your W-4 withholding ASAP to prevent this problem next year. The 2020+ version of Form W-4 doesn't use allowances anymore, so if you're still thinking in terms of "0 allowances" you might be using outdated forms or concepts. The new W-4 requires you to account for multiple jobs and specifically address additional income like investment earnings. There's a whole worksheet for this now. Your Roth conversion definitely needed adjustment on your W-4.
Yeah the new W-4 is actually way better for two-income households. My wife and I fixed our underwithholding problem by properly filling out Step 2 of the form. The old allowances system was garbage for dual income families.
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I filed on January 29th and STILL haven't gotten my refund!!! The IRS Where's My Refund tool just says "still processing" for over 7 weeks now. I claimed the Child Tax Credit for my two kids. Anyone else waiting this long with CTC? Getting really frustrated!!
I claimed CTC for my kids too and got my refund after about 4 weeks. Did you also claim Earned Income Credit? That usually takes longer. You might want to try getting your tax transcript from the IRS website - sometimes it shows more details about what's happening with your return.
For those interested in extremely detailed stats: - E-filed with FreeTaxUSA on Jan 31 at 7:32pm EST - IRS acceptance email received Feb 1 at 9:14am - WMR updated to "approved" on Feb 15 - Direct deposit hit my bank Feb 17 at 3:42am Federal refund: $2,341 State refund: Still waiting, shows "processing" on state website Our return included W-2 income, 1099-INT, mortgage interest deduction, student loan interest, and HSA contributions. No tax credits. I've been tracking this data for years and this was about 3 days faster than last year!
You're even more detail oriented than me lol! Have you always used FreeTaxUSA? I've been thinking about switching from TurboTax to save some money.
I've used FreeTaxUSA for the last three years after switching from TurboTax. The interface isn't quite as polished, but it's completely adequate and handles all my tax situations correctly. The federal filing is free and state is only $15 compared to the $120+ I was paying with TurboTax for the same exact results. If you have a fairly straightforward tax situation (even with some common deductions and forms like I listed), it works great. The only people who might want to stick with the more expensive options are those with extremely complex situations like multiple businesses, complex investments, or unusual tax situations.
NebulaNinja
Important note about the Safe Harbor Rule that a lot of people miss: the 110% threshold is based on your AGI from the previous year. So if your AGI was over $150k in 2023, you need to have paid at least 110% of your 2023 tax liability through withholding or estimated payments to be protected in 2024. If your AGI was under $150k in 2023, you only need to have paid 100% of your 2023 tax through withholding to qualify for Safe Harbor protection. Based on your numbers, you're well above either threshold, so you shouldn't have any penalty.
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Luca Russo
•Do you know if the software should automatically apply this rule? Or do we have to manually fill out a form to claim the exception? I've always been confused about this part.
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NebulaNinja
•Most tax software should automatically apply the Safe Harbor exceptions when calculating Form 2210, but they don't always make this obvious during the preparation process. Sometimes they show a preliminary penalty until all calculations are complete. If you're concerned, look for a section specifically about Form 2210 or "underpayment of estimated tax" in your software. There should be questions about exceptions or whether you want the software to calculate potential penalties. Make sure you've entered your prior year tax information correctly so the software can determine if you meet the Safe Harbor requirements.
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Nia Wilson
Hey I had this exact problem last year with TurboTax. It showed a penalty until I reached the very end of the return. Then suddenly during the final review it applied the Safe Harbor exception and removed the penalty. It's just a quirk with how the software calculates things before it has all the information.
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Mateo Sanchez
•Is this true for all tax software? I'm using FreeTaxUSA this year and it's still showing a penalty even though I should qualify for Safe Harbor based on my withholding.
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