DisneyMandC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2015
I don't like to get a lot back either. Last year we each got just under $500 and it looked like we'd get $1000 back, so about the same spot. I just thought, I'll go with it and mess with it in January, then check it a couple months in. Plus I'll have to change my 401k then anyways, because if I work OT like I did in 2016 I'd be maxing it before my raise or bonuses, and if I work OT like I did this year I'd be way over (I'm projecting 225 more hours this year with the weekends coming up). Good problems to have at least?
I messed my withholdings up a few years ago. I had worked two part time jobs, one averaged 35ish hours a week at $10, and the other averaged 15 hours a week at $8. The W4 form confused me, and I think I filled out both as if I had only one job so I had too little withheld. I ended up owing $1300. And to add insult to injury, my dad had claimed me as a dependent so the $3k I paid in tuition out of my own pocket didn't count for anything.
On a positive note, when tax time rolled around again I realized that my dad shouldn't have claimed me because I didn't fit any of the conditions. I filed an amended return and got $1000 back, plus interest on it which was about $50. Though they counted that interest as income the following tax year... it's a never ending cycle!
Ugh, my worst nightmare! I'm always so anxious about filing. DH and I file separate due to my student loans, so I get to claim half of our mortgage interest, but none of my student loan interest. We still come out (several thousand dollars) ahead, but I'm always worried I'm going to get a dreaded letter from the IRS in the mail. It won't be the end of the world if I owed a couple hundred, and DH usually gets a decent amount back and it all goes in the same pot once it gets here.