Who else gets screwed every tax season?

[MaineDolFan]

I would prefer this to not be a political discussion, please.  I am only mentioning Trump's name for one reason; when he took office he made several changes to the tax code.  Some of the key changes included the standard deductions for married couples.  It used to be $12,000 and has increased to over $24,000.  If you're a head of household, married, filing separately it's $18,650.00.

My tax rate is just under 39%; I'm going into year two of a significant tax bill.  If you are in the 22% bracket you can still take the deduction on the interest from your student loans (I have three degrees, so, yes, I still have them). 

The tax laws are very punitive for the middle class at the moment. 

I don't like getting refunds; I'm not into the business of giving the government an interest free loan during the year.  However I also feel my personal tax burden is through the roof, I just don't want to owe at the end of the year. 

Who else is finding they are writing checks at tax time?

[dolphins4life]

I usually get a small refund from the federal government and owe some money to the state.

This is due to part time job at the store, where I make between $5000-10000 per year from, which is barely taxed.

[Tenshot13]

I've never had to issue a check to the IRS, and last years return was the biggest I've ever had.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Fau Teixeira]

Not to make it political, but it's fairly obvious that the Trump tax cuts were for the wealthy while increasing effective taxes in blue states and keeping red states more or less consistent until he leaves office. That's how they were crafted.

[Dolphster]

My wife and I both have extra money taken out of every paycheck for federal taxes.  Every year, we try to calculate how much extra to have taken out to get as close to owing $0 at tax time and getting back $0 at tax time.  I don't want to give the government a free loan every year and I don't want to write a big check every year.  So our goal is for it to always be as close to a "wash" as possible.  

[CF DolFan]

My taxes are a little complicated right now but it sure seems like I'm getting back more and the forms are simpler than before. We are in the higher end of the 22% tax bracket. No offense to you Maine but I'm not sure many people would think your tax bracket is Middle Class.

2019 federal income tax brackets
(for taxes due in April 2020, or in October 2020 with an extension)

Tax rate   Single   Married, filing jointly   Married, filing separately   Head of household
10%   $0 to $9,700   $0 to $19,400   $0 to $9,700   $0 to $13,850
12%   $9,701 to $39,475   $19,401 to $78,950   $9,701 to $39,475   $13,851 to $52,850
22%   $39,476 to $84,200   $78,951 to $168,400   $39,476 to $84,200   $52,851 to $84,200
24%   $84,201 to $160,725   $168,401 to $321,450   $84,201 to $160,725   $84,201 to $160,700
32%   $160,726 to $204,100   $321,451 to $408,200   $160,726 to $204,100   $160,701 to $204,100
35%   $204,101 to $510,300   $408,201 to $612,350   $204,101 to $306,175   $204,101 to $510,300
37%   $510,301 or more   $612,351 or more   $306,176 or more   $510,301 or more

[Spider-Dan]

When it comes to tax withholding, I look at it this way:

- My refund with my current withholding settings is usually around $3k
- If I were to lower my withholding so that I owed exactly 0 at tax time, that would be an extra $250/mo; an amount low enough that it would just sit in my checking account balance anyway
- My checking account currently returns 0.15% APY, which (on $250 contribution per month) works out to $2.44 a year in lost interest

So as I see it, the peace of mind from never having to worry about owing money at tax time is worth $3/year in lost potential interest.  If I were going to reduce my withholding under the premise of maximizing interest, I would have to aggressively invest nearly all of the liquid funds I have available on a month-to-month basis; something I am not willing to do.

[MaineDolFan]

My taxes are a little complicated right now but it sure seems like I'm getting back more and the forms are simpler than before. We are in the higher end of the 22% tax bracket. No offense to you Maine but I'm not sure many people would think your tax bracket is Middle Class.

2019 federal income tax brackets
(for taxes due in April 2020, or in October 2020 with an extension)

Tax rate   Single   Married, filing jointly   Married, filing separately   Head of household
10%   $0 to $9,700   $0 to $19,400   $0 to $9,700   $0 to $13,850
12%   $9,701 to $39,475   $19,401 to $78,950   $9,701 to $39,475   $13,851 to $52,850
22%   $39,476 to $84,200   $78,951 to $168,400   $39,476 to $84,200   $52,851 to $84,200
24%   $84,201 to $160,725   $168,401 to $321,450   $84,201 to $160,725   $84,201 to $160,700
32%   $160,726 to $204,100   $321,451 to $408,200   $160,726 to $204,100   $160,701 to $204,100
35%   $204,101 to $510,300   $408,201 to $612,350   $204,101 to $306,175   $204,101 to $510,300
37%   $510,301 or more   $612,351 or more   $306,176 or more   $510,301 or more

And reading this, I completely and utterly misspoke. We do not make that much money, we are in the 32% however.