question about tax rebate
dang, i didnt understand that. this year my wife and i have to pay $1200 according to turbo tax. we didnt "send" it off yet so we going to an accountant to see if they can help us out a little with it.
I dont understand why we have to pay, we claimed married and 0 all year long. any ideas?
There are many factors affecting why you owe despite claiming M-0.
1. Have you claimed all the deductions to which you are entitled? Are you using Schedule A? If so, you may be missing some deductions.
2. The comments by CT Saints Fan would be a very good solution, if you did everything correctly.
3. What is the seperate income of you and your wife? How many different W-2s do you have? When a company deducts taxes from your pay, they do so using a formula based solely on the income you earned at that job. When you combine incomes (as you would do filing Married Filing Jointly), then the income tax bracket changes to a rate higher than what was withheld. The more W-2s you have, the more likely your income tax withheld rate is too low.
4. Do you have children? Are you claiming Earned Income Tax Credit, if entitled?
There are a lot of questions here, and Turbo Tax, as good as it (or any tax program) may be, is only as good as the knowledge you have on tax preparation. By all means see a tax professional before you send it off to make sure you claimed everything allowed.
If all else fails, and you want to owe less taxes next year, use CT Saints Fan suggestions.
And as an aside, the comments by Gumbeau are correct, why give the government any more interest free money than you have to. As a tax accountant, I advise that you never over-withhold on your taxes, but you should be as close as possible to zero owed. As a pragmatic individual, I also know that many people use the larger tax refund as a means of savings because they do not have the personal discipline to save. I can certainly understand that rationale also. Do what is best for your circumstances.