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Geek Culture / Any of you do your own taxes?

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 01:51
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A friend of mine had her taxes done recently. Instead of taking them to a tax prep business like H&R Block or someone like that, she took them to a friend whose studying to get into accounting (but doesn't actually have a degree). Last year she earned less than $3500 total, and she told me that because of that, she doesn't have to file her taxes. Does that sound like total crap to anyone else? Don't you need to file your taxes by law regardless of how much you earn? Something doesn't seem right, and I don't want to see her go to jail over something like that.


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Steve J
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 02:01
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I think - but it has been a long time - it is below $4000. But it could be $400, or something like that, lol

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hyrichter
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 02:27
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I don't think you have to file unless you actually owe income tax, but don't trust me on that. Where she only earned $3500 total, if any income tax was taken out, she would've gotten it all returned anyway.

I've used the online version of Turbo Tax the last few years for doing my taxes. You should have her go to http://www.taxfreedom.com and just file with them as it'll be free for her because of her small income, and if any income tax (state or federal) was taken out, she would get a refund.

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CattleRustler
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 04:09 Edited at: 24th Feb 2007 04:11
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yeah, taxes are completely bogus. no one who lives and works in the 50 states, and is a private citizen (vs a corp) is responsible to pay Federal 1040 income taxes. you have traded your time and labor for your pay check, end of story. I always thought those people always screaming about taxes were crazy, turns out they are right. If you watch this film, youll see the summary of what taxation really is, and how the IRS can't show anyone the law that says they have to pay income tax:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198&q=freedom+to+fascism&hl=en
if you are up for a lesson in detail of the tax laws, and how they constantly muddy the waters by altering verbiage, to make it nearly impossible to follow, all to hide the fact that there is no law, watch this film next:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7521758492370018023&q=theft+by+deception&hl=en.

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Moondog
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 06:54
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words cannot describe how shocked i am...i must research this more

MOONDOG
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Cash Curtis II
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 07:03
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Quote: "Last year she earned less than $3500 total"

I'd kill myself if I made that much money in a year. Wait, first I'd consider how worthless I was, then I'd have someone else kill me because I couldn't afford to buy any weapons with which to kill myself.

If I were trapped in a block of amber on one of Jupiter's moons for 11 months and I came back to earth in December and still took weekends off and even took an extra day off for space sickness, I'd still make more money than that, and I'm poor. Hell, I can make that much money in one month using DBP.

Unless she's 14 and babysits every 3rd weekend for some arcade money. Then it would be okay. However, since she's considering doing her taxes I'm sure she's an adult.


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Ron Erickson
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 07:04 Edited at: 24th Feb 2007 07:06
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Quote: "I don't think you have to file unless you actually owe income tax, but don't trust me on that. "


Pretty much everyone has to file. Here are the requirements from the IRS's web site:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html

-Did you have Federal taxes withheld from your pension and wages for this tax year and wish to get a refund back?
-Are you entitled to the Earned Income Tax Credit or did you receive Advance Earned Income Credit for this tax year?
-Were you self-employed with earnings of more than $400.00?
-Did you sell your home?
-Will you owe any special tax on a qualified retirement plan (including an individual retirement account (IRA) or medical savings account (MSA)? You may owe tax if you:

-Received an early distribution from a qualified plan
-Made excess contributions to your IRA or MSA
-Were born before July 1, 1935, and you did not take the minimum required distribution from your qualified retirement plan.
-Received a distribution in the excess of $160,000 from a qualified retirement plan.
-Will you owe social security and Medicare tax on tips you did not report to your employer?
-Will you owe uncollected social security and Medicare or Railroad retirement (RRTA) tax on tips you reported to your employer?
-Will you be subject to Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)? (The tax law gives special treatment to some kinds of income and allows special deductions and credit for some kinds of expenses.)
-Will you owe recapture tax?
-Are you a church employee with income in wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer social security or Medicare taxes?

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Lost in Thought
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 07:56
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Actually if she is filing single, is not self employed, and no one can claim her then she can make up to $8,450 and not *have* to file her taxes. According to their site.

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Xander
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 09:05
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Quote: "Actually if she is filing single, is not self employed, and no one can claim her then she can make up to $8,450 and not *have* to file her taxes. According to their site."


Yup, sounds about right. Matt...you need to read up on stuff before you start making yourself sound dumb. There are two seperate income cutoff points for having to file your taxes, one for state and one for federal. Last year was the first year that I had to pay taxes. I'm not looking forward to it this year...

Xander Moser - Bolt Software - Firewall
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Lost in Thought
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 11:52
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Quote: "Last year was the first year that I had to pay taxes. I'm not looking forward to it this year..."


Sucks don't it ... 1/3 of your check going to the wasteful gov't.

Also if someone can claim her she can still make around 4800 to 5k I believe without filing if she is single and not self employed.

So her chances are good either way with that amount unless she is self imployed. In which case I would file anyway and possibly get a little money even though she might not have paid any in.

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indi
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 12:45
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I have an accountant.
The only things i cannot claim are:

[1] food for personal use ( tea, coffee, biscuits, sugar etc for clients when they visit are claimable)
[2] exercise equipment

The rest will all be a return.


start a multimedia business that also devs games in a sole trader or company and claim your video games as R&D.

claim your plasma, claim your playstation, claim dvd videos if you do some editing, claim your car with advertising, claim your computers, claim your property or rent % part of it.
spend big just before the financial year if you made to much.

claim the phone, claim the electricity, claim the internet
claim designer clothes you wear to swanky studios who look at you funny if you dont have a designer tshirt worth $70. I cop out here and wear $8 bond tshirts but make up for it with expensive jeans and shoes.

get quickbooks over myob and save yourself a lot of hassle.

we had (dead now) ((kerri packer)) a famous television company owner in australia who managed to only pay $1 tax one year through clever accounting.

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Miguel Melo
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 13:12
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Quote: "we had (dead now) ((kerri packer)) a famous television company owner in australia who managed to only pay $1 tax one year through clever accounting.
"


The problem is that for every creative accountant that gets away with murder, there's 10 million taxpaying mugs like me that have to foot that guy's bill because we don't know/can't swindle things.

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El Goorf
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 19:13
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Quote: "Last year she earned less than $3500 total, and she told me that because of that, she doesn't have to file her taxes."


would sound plausable to me. in the UK you dont have to pay taxes if you earn something like less than £5k, which isnt that far off $3.5k

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Oraculaca
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Posted: 24th Feb 2007 22:52
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I just did my first vat return I live in fear of the customs man now.

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Matt Rock
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Posted: 25th Feb 2007 05:01
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Thanks guys, I guess I don't really need to relay anything to her then. I just didn't want her to be sent off to jail or something, and I never trust anyone outside tax places because I've been screwed over by doing that.

She only earned less than $3500 because she had a kid, and stopped working because her husband is paying stuff now. But he's a far bigger idiot than anyone I know, so I'm sure he just said "oh cool, you don't pay taxes" without actually questioning the accuracy of that. But then she's got friends like me to find out for her lol. Anyway, thanks!


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Steve J
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Posted: 25th Feb 2007 05:12
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So why are you trusting us, lol?

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Jeku
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Posted: 25th Feb 2007 09:26
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Yah really--- a simple search on Google would have given you the answers you need

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CattleRustler
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Posted: 25th Feb 2007 13:04 Edited at: 25th Feb 2007 13:05
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Im fairly certain that (within the fake "I have to pay taxes" paradigm) regardless of what you make for the year, you have to still actually file with the Internal Ripoff Service. When the total income is under a certain threshold you will get all witheld monies refunded. Lol @ "witheld", more like extortion but w/e.

London 7/7/05 = 1 in 10^38 Alex Jones: Terror Storm
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Matt Rock
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Posted: 25th Feb 2007 22:35
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Just in case someone here has gone through this stuff in the past. Reading IRS stuff always gives me a headache, lol. It's like reading congressional bills. Informative, but ultimately dull.


"In an interstellar burst, I'm back to save the universe"
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Phaelax
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Posted: 26th Feb 2007 05:19
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I'm not sure what the cut-off point is, but if you make under a certain amount then you don't have to file. $3500 is below that limit.

If she had a kid and wasn't working, then her husband can probably claim her on his as a dependant. (no clue how the marriage thing works on this so its a guess) I *think* they'd get a couple grand back for having the baby, but I'd have to ask my brother to be sure on that.

I'm pretty certain she doesn't have to file taxes, as I've had much higher income and I haven't had to file those years either.

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Lost in Thought
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Posted: 26th Feb 2007 06:20
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You can go to that link posted by wolf and run the "Do You Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return?" thingy and it will tell you the limit for your situation.

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Hobgoblin Lord
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Posted: 26th Feb 2007 09:11
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Quote: "She only earned less than $3500 because she had a kid, and stopped working because her husband is paying stuff now. But he's a far bigger idiot than anyone I know, so I'm sure he just said "oh cool, you don't pay taxes" without actually questioning the accuracy of that. But then she's got friends like me to find out for her lol. Anyway, thanks!"


Not sure of her exact situation, but if she is married( you say husband but was not sure of her actual status) she shoul dbe filing jointly because they will both be taxed far less. Also if she is filing singly and claiming her daughter she should file, she would get an EIC and get back money she never paid in actually. Have her check out the Turbotax website, she can put all the info in and find out what if anything she would get back.

As for the self employed bit, that is a different story, because she would be required to pay her SS taxes regardless (12%), though she could still easily get money back.

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Ron Erickson
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Posted: 26th Feb 2007 14:54
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If she is married and has a kid then she should DEFINATELY file jointly with her husband and claim the child as a dependent

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