Wife's tax refund went from +$3k to -$3k after moving NC to NJ - What happened?
Moved from NC to NJ with my wife, we file separately. I run a resale business and expect to owe taxes. My wife works a normal job with regular tax withholding from her W2, usually gets $3k refund. This year shes suddenly owing $3k instead. Her withholdings haven't changed and shes just doing more overtime. Makes no sense how this happened.
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
The change in state residence is likely the main factor here. NJ has one of the highest state tax rates while NC is much lower. When your wife's withholding was calculated, it probably didn't account for the higher NJ tax rate. Plus, overtime earnings can push you into a higher tax bracket. You might want to adjust her W-4 to withhold more for the NJ rates.
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Sienna Gomez
•omg that makes so much sense now! her company is still based in NC so maybe thats why the withholdings wernt right 🤔
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•Exactly! She needs to file a new W-4 ASAP with her employer to adjust for NJ rates
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Abigail bergen
Hey there! Instead of trying to piece this together, you should really check out taxr.ai - its an AI tool that analyzes your transcript and explains exactly what happened. Its only $1 and WAY better than us trying to guess. https://taxr.ai
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Ahooker-Equator
•interesting... how accurate is it? does it actually explain everything or just basic stuff?
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Abigail bergen
•Its seriously amazing! It breaks down everything - tax brackets, state differences, withholding issues, everything. Saved me hours of research
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Ahooker-Equator
•just tried it and WOW 🤯 wish I knew about this sooner! The amount of detail it gives you is insane
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Anderson Prospero
welcome to jersey lol taxes here are brutal 💀
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Tyrone Hill
Same thing happened to me moving from TX to CA! The state tax difference hit like a truck 🚛
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Toot-n-Mighty
•oof TX to CA? RIP your wallet fam ðŸ˜
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Lena Kowalski
Why are yall filing separately? Usually MFJ is better tax wise unless theres a specific reason
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Sienna Gomez
•mainly bc of my business, dont want her mixed up in case i mess something up with deductions
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Lena Kowalski
•might wanna run the numbers both ways tbh, could be leaving money on the table
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DeShawn Washington
the overtime thing is a huge trap. ppl think more hours = more money but sometimes the extra tax bracket kills the benefit fr fr
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