Harlan Lunsford <lunstax[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:

- quote -

Don't handle many low income EIC Eligible TP's do ya

I love trying to calm someone who is mad about ONLY getting
a $4000 refund when they paid no taxes to begin with!

- quote -

(almost) :P

bex

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Barry Margolin wrote:
- quote -

Amazin!.. simply amazing, how many people think the only
reason to file a tax return is to obtain a refund.

Rant is concluded.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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jbodean96[at]yahoo.com (JBoDEAN) wrote:

- quote -

Heavens no! Perhaps you formed that impression when you
were a dependent. Then, you might have gotten a large
refund, depending on how you filled out Form W-4.

But generally, withholding is intended to cover your
expected tax liability. That is, "we pay as we go". Of
course, many people do under- or over-withhold. In fact,
for many people, underwithholding within reason is a tax
strategy. But I think it is safe to say that with the
exception of working dependents, few people get back "the
majority" of taxes withheld.

(By the way, that does not have to be true even for working
dependents. But if my son is any example, his employer told
him that he "must" fill in the W-4 in a certain way that led
to a relatively large refund. The employer was not wrong;
he was following the W-4 instructions literally. But my son
could have exercised other choices that would be more
correct for his situation. Unfortunately, he did not
consult me before filling in the W-4. I did not find out
until I did his tax return the following year.)

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jbodean96[at]yahoo.com (JBoDEAN) wrote:

- quote -

On the contrary, federal income tax is witheld so that it
will pay your federal tax liability. In this case, what you
are stating is that you have almost 2000 dollars in federal
tax liability.

Without knowledge of your tax situation, I can't tell you
why you have federal tax liability.

bex

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"JBoDEAN" <jbodean96[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Not enough info!.....The tax owed/refundable is totally
dependent on the tax owed, which in turn is a function of
income earned.

Mike Lewis, CPA

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JBoDEAN wrote:

- quote -

Why do you think that? What withholding is *supposed* to do
is simply pay your actual tax due as you go. So if you've
had $3,000 withheld and get $1,000 back, you gave the
government an interest free loan of $1,000--not generally a
good financial idea unless you simply have so much money you
don't *need* the extra.

If that's the case, I'll take some of it off your hands...

--
Ed Zollars, CPA
Phoenix, Arizona

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- quote -

It would be because the tax due on their income would be
slightly less than $2000.

- quote -

I guess you've never had your taxes underwithheld.

Carol
What can one expect of a day that begins with getting out of bed.

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jbodean96[at]yahoo.com (JBoDEAN) wrote:

- quote -

Probably because you had a tax liability of about $2,000.
The EXCESS withholding is returned to you as a refund.
Whatever gave you the idea that all the withholding would be
refunded? Perhaps you should get, and read, Pub 4 (Tax Guide
for Students) or Pub 17, and get an idea of the federal
INCOME tax system.

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JBoDEAN <jbodean96[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

In theory, if you've done withholding correctly, you should
get nothing back; withholding should match your tax bill.
In reality, most people aren't that accurate, so they get
something back (or pay more).

Seth

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"JBoDEAN" <jbodean96[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

You thought wrong! I've had clients with over $100,000.00
in withholdings who OWED money.

Your refund, or balance due, is the result of your tax
liability less your payments. If you pay in more than your
liability then you get a refund, if you pay in less then you
owe. It's simple math.

A $1,000 refund is a good target to shoot for. It means the
government did NOT get an interest free loan from you all
year, instead you got your money each payday to do with as
you wished.

Gene E. Utterback, EA

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"JBoDEAN" <jbodean96[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

It is impossible to answer your question without more
information.Why do you think that the majority of the
withholding would be refunded? They might be no refund if
the taxable income was high enough.

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- quote -

You are, to put it mildly, very confused. The amount
withheld tells you nothing about the amount of a refund.
Someone with $3000 withheld might OWE another $1000. It all
depends on the tax liability, as computed on the tax return.
Will

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"JBoDEAN" <jbodean96[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Your situation depends on a lot of factors-none of which you
have supplied to us. We would need to know your filing
status (marital status), amounts of income, deductions, and
tax credits before we could even come close to answering
this question.

Wayne Brasch, CPA, M. S. Taxation

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jbodean96[at]yahoo.com (JBoDEAN) wrote:

- quote -

Where did you get the idea that the majority withheld is
given back? A refund is only given when the Total Tax (Line
60 of Form 1040) is less than the Total Payments (Line 68 of
Form 1040). Total Payments includes income tax withheld on
Form W-2. The amount of the refund is the difference between
Total Tax and Total Payments.

--
Vic Roberts

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jbodean96[at]yahoo.com (JBoDEAN) wrote:

- quote -

No, the normal goal is to have your withholding be about the
same as the tax you end up owing. If you withhold too
little you'll have to pay penalties, and if you withhold too
much you've given the government an interest-free loan.

Remember, this is *your* money. The refund is not some gift
from the government, it's you getting back something you
shouldn't have given them in the first place. In fact, if
you regularly get back 33% of your withholding, you need to
file a new W-4 to increase your exemptions.

--
Barry Margolin, barmar[at]alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA

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Can someone explain to me, why someone who has over $3000.00
dollars on a w2 for federal income tax withheld, would only
get back a little over $1000 from that? I thought the
majority of federal held, is given back when filing taxes?

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