The Tax Man Cometh!

[clean]

a societal standpoint I think it's nuts how tax advantaged owning a home is vs. renting, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to take advantage of that mortgage interest deduction!).

I suppose that it depends on the state.  (what real estate costs and thus the size of the loan and the interest payment). 
GIven the more recent standard deduction of $24xxx, a lot fewer people can deduct the mortgage interest. 

(My house has long since been paid off, but there was extra pressure to get it done once I no longer had enough interest and property taxes to make itemizing possible). 

[mamselle]

Some states allow 1/2 annual rent deductions on the state tax.

M.

[Puget]

a societal standpoint I think it's nuts how tax advantaged owning a home is vs. renting, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to take advantage of that mortgage interest deduction!).

I suppose that it depends on the state.  (what real estate costs and thus the size of the loan and the interest payment). 
GIven the more recent standard deduction of $24xxx, a lot fewer people can deduct the mortgage interest. 

(My house has long since been paid off, but there was extra pressure to get it done once I no longer had enough interest and property taxes to make itemizing possible).

Certainly it does depend on local conditions. Here, both renting and buying are $$$, but the rent to buy ratio definitely favors buying if you can. My mortgage payments + insurance + property taxes for my house are still slightly under what I was paying for a 1 bedroom apartment. The mortgage interest deduction makes it even more favorable. Plus it is a good investment here.  But of course, those are advantages I only had access to because I could afford a down payment and all the other upfront costs and had good credit. That's what I object to.

Some states allow 1/2 annual rent deductions on the state tax.

M.

Which is nice, but state income taxes are generally much lower than federal, so this is a lot less of a deduction.

[Juvenal]

It's been years since I could be confident enough to do my own taxes.  Yes, yes, I use an accountant.  It's not trouble-free, as I have to organize all those "Important Tax Document Enclosed" documents and there are other complications.

It's not cheap, but it's one of those "wave my magic checkbook" to get things done I once was able to do myself (here, I'm talking about things like yard work).

[Parasaurolophus]

Sent 'em in (to the accountant).

[ergative]

Absolutive sent ours off today. I think we'll probably need to hire someone to do them for us next year; some big financial changes (probably) this summer which will make everything more complicated.

[arcturus]

What I learned today after carefully reading the documentation that came with my property tax bill: a cap is not a cap. At the top of the bill it states clearly that property taxes are constitutionally capped at 1% of property values. Yet my bill is for more than 1% of the assessed value. Apparently we can vote to exceed the cap with a local referendum. Who knew? And, if we can do this locally, why does the state keep shooting down all the other attempts to increase local revenue? We are a little [color] bubble in a very [other color] state.

[Puget]

What I learned today after carefully reading the documentation that came with my property tax bill: a cap is not a cap. At the top of the bill it states clearly that property taxes are constitutionally capped at 1% of property values. Yet my bill is for more than 1% of the assessed value. Apparently we can vote to exceed the cap with a local referendum. Who knew? And, if we can do this locally, why does the state keep shooting down all the other attempts to increase local revenue? We are a little [color] bubble in a very [other color] state.

Property tax levies are a very common way to raise local revenue (for schools, fire departments and all sorts of other things) in states I've lived in where ballot measures are common.

[ciao_yall]

What I learned today after carefully reading the documentation that came with my property tax bill: a cap is not a cap. At the top of the bill it states clearly that property taxes are constitutionally capped at 1% of property values. Yet my bill is for more than 1% of the assessed value. Apparently we can vote to exceed the cap with a local referendum. Who knew? And, if we can do this locally, why does the state keep shooting down all the other attempts to increase local revenue? We are a little [color] bubble in a very [other color] state.

Are you in CA?

Oh, that's a conversation. Call me sometime if you are having trouble sleeping at 3 AM and I'll have you sawing logs real fast.

[financeguy]

Speaking of CA property taxes, it's unfortunate that the provision leading to children being able to inherit their parent's property tax rate was not found to violate the equal protection clause of the constitution when it went to the supreme court in the 70s. I can't think of anything that establishes a caste system more than two people with equally valued properties, one of whom inherited and thus pays a couple thousand in property taxes, the other did something productive and pays twenty thousand.

[kaysixteen]

Anyone else here who filed a paper return still waiting for their *2020* refund?   WAPO had an article about a month back detailing how there were still 24m 2020 paper returns sitting in bags waiting for processing.

[Puget]

Anyone else here who filed a paper return still waiting for their *2020* refund?   WAPO had an article about a month back detailing how there were still 24m 2020 paper returns sitting in bags waiting for processing.

The lesson is, never file a paper return. You can use the exact same forms you would for a paper return online through the IRS website-- search for "free fillable forms". Or, given what your post suggest about your modest income, you can almost certainly use tax prep software for free as part of the Free File program-- again, you need to access this through the IRS website, then pick an option you qualify for based on income and in some cases age and state. Some will also do your state return for free.

I have always gotten refunds (when I was owed one) within a week or so when filling electronically, because returns are processed automatically (you'll generally get confirmation your return has been accepted within hours).

[hmaria1609]

Finished my taxes last night!  :)
Importing stuff from the previous year was great.

[lightning]

Anyone else here who filed a paper return still waiting for their *2020* refund?   WAPO had an article about a month back detailing how there were still 24m 2020 paper returns sitting in bags waiting for processing.

Now I know why the IRS uses two mailing addresses (one for people who owe and one for people who are getting refunds). If they only used one address, they would have to open all the envelopes that come in. With two addresses, they have the tempting choice of only opening the envelopes that have money for them. What a bunch of jerks.

[lightning]

Anyone else here who filed a paper return still waiting for their *2020* refund?   WAPO had an article about a month back detailing how there were still 24m 2020 paper returns sitting in bags waiting for processing.

The lesson is, never file a paper return. You can use the exact same forms you would for a paper return online through the IRS website-- search for "free fillable forms". Or, given what your post suggest about your modest income, you can almost certainly use tax prep software for free as part of the Free File program-- again, you need to access this through the IRS website, then pick an option you qualify for based on income and in some cases age and state. Some will also do your state return for free.

I have always gotten refunds (when I was owed one) within a week or so when filling electronically, because returns are processed automatically (you'll generally get confirmation your return has been accepted within hours).

Last year, I filed an electronic return for the state, and the processing was delayed by about 3 months. My IRS electronic filing went fine. It was the state filing that was aggravating. They, of course, blamed it on COVID-19, which is everyone's convenient excuse to suck at their job.