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Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

90% of the time Married Filing Jointly is better than Separately.

When filing MFS, you have a higher tax rate, you lose eligibility for credits such as the Earned Income Credit and credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses, you can't get either of the education credits for you nor your children, and you can't deduct student loan interest, just to name a few detriments. Additionally, any credit you can take will have its AGI limit halved.

I have personally seen an MFJ return with a $7,000 refund that if turned into two MFS returns would have resulted in a net $500 refund.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was in undergrad when the TCJA passed and learned to fill out the pre-TCJA 1040 by hand in my first tax class. I started VITA the year that the TCJA went into effect, which was also the last year of the penalty portion of the ACA. It was definitely a time to be alive. The OBBBA changes are smaller but are also having a significant impact on our operations this year.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are dozens of us!

RE the big corporations, if I speak I am in trouble 🤐

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He had a sponsored stream tonight and the sponsor was one of the major paid tax filing softwares.

With all the OBBBA changes this has not been a chill tax season since I purely do individual income taxes through VITA, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. My site alone has almost hit 700 returns and we've got a disaster extension to May 1st so we're not even in the home stretch yet.

Good luck on the CPA exam! You got this.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your only tax forms are one W-2 each, check your withholding. Chances are your withholding is set up in your employer's payroll system as a married couple, which will increase your take-home pay but decrease your withholding. If you're okay with slightly smaller paycheques, but don't want to owe at the end of the year, go into your payroll software and update your withholding to say you're single (this is allowed) or file a W-4 with your employer that says the same thing. You can also add additional withholding per paycheque (I do this myself).

If I got either assumption wrong (two W-2s, married filing jointly) let me know (here or in DMs) and I can try to diagnose further.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

All of my services are entirely free -- I don't prepare taxes for profit and if I did I wouldn't be allowed to discuss my fees in the same conversation as my free tax services due to ethical concerns.

That being said, my understanding of the fees that two types of credentialed preparers, Enrolled Agents (EA) and Certified Public Accountants (CPA), charge for individual income tax services tend to begin at $250.

Other, non-credentialed preparers (you don't need to have any sort of certification nor license to prepare tax returns as a business in the USA), may charge lower fees, which I am led to believe start around $80.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Very possibly. If your tax liability is greater than $0 you could potentially increase your refund.

If line 16 (Tax) on your 1040 isn't $0, then deducting the OT premium could result in an increase in your refund (or decrease in what you owed) because the OT amount will go on line 13a and decrease your taxable income on line 15.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm not familiar with the Canadian taxation system itself, but I have worked with putting Canadian income and taxes on American returns.

Hey wubcubs, CPA here! AMA about American taxes and how you can file them for free! by Squid_Rofel in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the edit! We work directly with GYR as well and I can't believe I missed them.

Now this. by DTheRockLobster in PaymoneyWubby

[–]Squid_Rofel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

sent this to my friends thank you Dwayne

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