Can someone help me with my taxes..?

[coolkidhereyo]

I just got a new position, and albeit, not that great. It's still something, but I'm not particularly keen in math and I'm just a poor bloke who can't hire an accountant and a gaia addict, therefore, I just have a few questions that I need answered in order to set things straight, can you help?

Day Job 1:
*I work 9 Hours on a Monday
8:30 am to 5:30 pm - I get paid $13 an hour
I earn $117 on a good Monday

*I work 8 Hours on a Tuesday
8:30 am to 4:30 pm - I get paid $13 an hour
I earn $104 on a good Tuesday

*I work 8 Hours and 30 minutes on a Wednesday
8:30 am to 5:00 pm - I get paid $13 an hour
I earn $104 on a good Wednesday

*In a week, I earn $325
*In two weeks, I earn $650
*In a month, I earn $1300 (I think I'm way off in this mark)

*Take away withholdings...
Federal W/H -$21.85
OASDI -$29.82
Medicare -$6.97
State SDI WI. -$4.33

$1237.03 is my total for one month, times x12, I earn $14844.36 a year.

I should probably plug-in my monthly expenses...
Cable/Internet: -$57.00
Gym/Zoomba: -$45.00
Car Insurance: -$50.00
Cell: -$15.00
Groceries: -$80.00
Housekeep Rent: -$300.00

So in reality, I only earn about $690.03 a month! Am I accurate? I tend to be very wrong when it comes to calculation....

[Viviane_neechan]

I'm a little confused--why are you taking your expenses out? As far as I understand, the IRS cares about what you're earning--not what you're spending.

What, exactly, do you need this information for? Just regular old taxes at the end of the year?

If you're concerned about getting it right and are expecting a refund, I suggest TurboTax, as they make it super easy.

That being said, think about the standards for intelligence in this country, and then remember that everyone has to do these. One can pretty safely say that ANYONE is capable of doing his taxes if he puts his mind to it. 3nodding

[coolkidhereyo]

Viviane_neechan

I'm a little confused--why are you taking your expenses out? As far as I understand, the IRS cares about what you're earning--not what you're spending.

What, exactly, do you need this information for? Just regular old taxes at the end of the year?

If you're concerned about getting it right and are expecting a refund, I suggest TurboTax, as they make it super easy.

That being said, think about the standards for intelligence in this country, and then remember that everyone has to do these. One can pretty safely say that ANYONE is capable of doing his taxes if he puts his mind to it. 3nodding

Cool! I just want to see if I got this right. I have no one else to guide me about my accounting hmm, I've actually never even done taxes before lol!

[final_wolf]

Buy turbotax *shrugs* We just buy ours around 30 bucks and follow the steps it asks. My husband does it. I use to do it via the paper way but was always a bit more hectic and a bit more confusing. If you don't want to do it via turbotax, I know our library so maybe most libraries will have them, they have the tax booklets and the forms that you will need to fill out. My guess is you can get by with the EZ form yet but truth of it comes down to how much you want to go into details.

[Queeren]

Did you get a W2 form? That will tell you your income with all taxes withheld. You plug that into your tax information. I use H&R Block's free tax service, which you can do online. It's simple. I think most free services are the same. You probably shouldn't just guess your yearly income. Also, if you just got the new position, you don't put in twelve month's of income. Just what you've earned last year, you use that for the taxes you do this year. Next year you would do your 12 month earnings, assuming you keep this job the entire 12 months.

[Desi the fuzzy fluffhead]

I use turbotax.
I'd only recommend going to someone if you believe you might have some deductions or more complicated stuff, like inheritance, other forms of income, or dependents or school and all that jazz.

[Mooby the Golden Sock]

At a glance it looks like you're probably in the salary range to file online for free.

I personally like H&R Block, but go with whatever floats your boat. These sites all have software that asks you stuff like, "Do you have any kids?" and "Did you give money to charity this year?" and "What is the number in box #13 on your W-2?" and then it performs some crazy wizard s**t and spits out some numbers, and then you click "file" and you're done.

As others are saying, you will need your W-2s. They will have the numbers such as your adjusted gross income and taxes withheld that you need to complete the forms. Your company may not have sent them out yet.

[Viviane_neechan]

coolkidhereyo

Viviane_neechan

I'm a little confused--why are you taking your expenses out? As far as I understand, the IRS cares about what you're earning--not what you're spending.

What, exactly, do you need this information for? Just regular old taxes at the end of the year?

If you're concerned about getting it right and are expecting a refund, I suggest TurboTax, as they make it super easy.

That being said, think about the standards for intelligence in this country, and then remember that everyone has to do these. One can pretty safely say that ANYONE is capable of doing his taxes if he puts his mind to it. 3nodding

Cool! I just want to see if I got this right. I have no one else to guide me about my accounting hmm, I've actually never even done taxes before lol!

Hee, yep, I've been there.

The other suggestions here are excellent--I've never used free software before, but with as little as I make in a year, I bet I could. whee

[coolkidhereyo]

Queeren

Did you get a W2 form? That will tell you your income with all taxes withheld. You plug that into your tax information. I use H&R Block's free tax service, which you can do online. It's simple. I think most free services are the same. You probably shouldn't just guess your yearly income. Also, if you just got the new position, you don't put in twelve month's of income. Just what you've earned last year, you use that for the taxes you do this year. Next year you would do your 12 month earnings, assuming you keep this job the entire 12 months.

I believe I know what you're saying. In addition, I try to keep all of the stubs I get each after pay period, YTD. Now my YTD is all fresh, but I think I can request for the W-2 form. I never filed for taxes, period. So I'm very lost.

[Queeren]

coolkidhereyo

I believe I know what you're saying. In addition, I try to keep all of the stubs I get each after pay period, YTD. Now my YTD is all fresh, but I think I can request for the W-2 form. I never filed for taxes, period. So I'm very lost.

You're fine. I was insanely confused the first time I filed taxes. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to use the numbers from your stubs. You also need a bunch of your employer's information (company name, address, employer ID, etc.) that will definitely be on your W-2. I say wait for your W-2 (or call your company/boss to find out if you have to submit a request or when they will be sending them out). After you get it, sit down with whatever free online software you decide to use and it'll walk you through it. It's not that hard, really, once you go through it. You'll see how easy it really is. It's mostly simple questions like other people have said or it'll ask of you qualify for a credit or deduction. You can select that you do if you're not sure and the program will walk you through it. There's almost always a little question mark by whatever it's asking you to fill out and that will tell you what it's asking for in layman's terms.

Good luck, and I hope everything goes well for you!

[vdszbz]

Have you tried online tax programs like TurboTax? I heard a lot of good reviews about them and I plan to use them this year myself, and it's only $30 (you can even opt for them to take the $30 out of your return if you're flat broke).

[Inscriven]

Rough estimates:
Your monthly gross (Pre-tax) income; $1326
Your monthly taxes (Just below 5%): $125.94
Your monthly net income; 1200.06

$1.2k is what you're making a month. Just because you're using a majority of that money to keep yourself afloat doesn't mean it doesn't count towards what your income is.

If you just started this job this year then you won't get a W-2 from them until 2016 to do your 2015 taxes. Any jobs you worked at in 2015 however, will be sending you the W-2 anytime between now and mid-February.

Your income is low enough that you qualify for free tax preparation from the IRS this year through the VITA Program. Take advantage of that because they may help you be able to maximize what you get back this year from the IRS than if you just tried to file the 1040EZ and your state's basic tax forms by yourself.