If I work in NY but live in CT, which state do I file first?

If I was an independent contractor, working in the state of CT, but working for a company out of GA, I pay those taxes to CT, correct?

If a bank didn't bother to give me a 1099, does that mean my interest was so low I don't have to report it? I can't even find the interest reported online...

Thanks for your help, you're saving me a few hundred dollars if you help me do this by myself

Quote:Casualty and Theft Losses
Description of property damaged or stolen
Receipts or cancelled checks showing cost of property
Insurance policy and insurance reports showing reimbursement
Appraisal fees if applicable
Previous year’s return if your loss was in a federally-declared disaster area and you plan to deduct your 2008 loss on an amended 2007 return

If an airline lost my luggage, and I was (somewhat) reimbursed by the airline, but not reimbursed by my insurance, can I claim this on my taxes somewhere? I lost money on the deal... but maybe only a few hundred dollars in medications and electronics that I can prove...

I wish I could help but I don't dare. All I know is different states have different rules regarding income made in other states, or income made in one state when the person lives in another state. Sorry.

...
...drolllol...

At a minimum you need to try turbotax online (it is free) or something similar.

To truly 'save a few hundred dollars ' it would be worth paying a little to get some 'professional' help.

IMHO of course.

As mj suggests/hints at . . .it would be foolish to take our advice...


...tom...

Rules vary from state to state, and this isn't advice, just a comment.

When my son lived in MD (still does) and worked in MD and VA for a company based in NC, he only paid taxed in MD. He did have to see a professional tax preparer because he never got a W2 since the employer collected taxes from him and never handed them over to ANY state government. No idea how that would have been handled had he had an actual W2.


This is actual advice:
You may be able to find the answers to some of your questions on the IRS.gov web site. I believe they have an 800 number you can call, but they won't take responsibility for the people who answer it (or didn't used to). Your state tax folks may have something similar.

Sometimes you can save several hundred dollars by having a paid professional tax preparer help you out.

Yours is too confusing. You need to get special help...maybe H&R Block cheaper but knowledgeable help? Even if you don't itemize (which you probably should since you have a condo you're paying on) state laws vary. It could cost you more if you make a mistake either from not getting all that you should or by the government finding something to penalize you for. IMHO

with the luggage thing, the loss has to be more than a percentage of your income. It's going to take a pretty big unreimbursed loss for most people to be able to claim that one.

When I said "by myself" I meant with Turbotax.

And yes, in the past, I thought mine was too complicated to do by myself. I haven't done CT or NY yet, I'll wait until I see people at work so I can make sure which state I file first (since many of us live in CT but work in NY).

So, here's the interesting thing. Last year I paid $316 to H & R Block to do my taxes. I paid more by going to a non-premium office than to go to the premium office. I had a schlub who kept running in the back to ask someone questions. But when all was said and done, I figured I was better off for having paid hundreds to someone who then told me I owed thousands of dollars between Fed, CT and NY.

I went to work and listened to all these people who have combined incomes at least twice as much as me talking about their refunds, and honestly, I felt like crying.

This year I've been in a panic. I've saved thousands hoping it would be enough to cover all my taxes, and decided to do my taxes myself to at least save that much money. I also had Kevin as a back up in case my taxes were still more than I could handle.

Guess what?

I'm getting a refund

My mom advised me to go line by line through my old taxes to see what I might have gotten wrong, and I pondered why I'd be getting a refund. Granted, I made a little less this year because I worked fewer jobs, and I had them withhold more. Also, I had the house for the full year and not half a year, like I had the year before. Still it didn't make sense to go from owing thousands to getting a refund.

Guess what? H&R Block messed up. They didn't put my PMI in.

I called them to confirm and she said that it certainly does sound like they made an error, and to bring my last year's return by on Monday so they can correct it.

I'm assuming I'll get money back from the government, but do I get anything for my trouble from H&R Block? Grr!

I'm also hoping he did the CT and NY thing wrong. I know in theory I should pay NY money, and then get it back on the CT side. Or I reversed it, but anyway, I shouldn't have to pay very much. If you do it wrong you pay hundreds to both states. I paid hundreds to both states. I hope that means I have more money coming back to me.

I'll scream though if this last year was made unbearably hard financially based on the fact that H&R Block let someone who didn't know what they were doing file my taxes for me, and then had the nerve to charge me hundreds for their service.

I am hoping I still have a net return from this year's taxes when I can do my state taxes.

I use a licensed CPA who does taxes out of his home instead of a tax preparation mill. Only costs $175/year and he's aces.

Meanwhile, while it's good that you reviewed your return, never EVER listen to what people are getting as refunds and use that as a judge of whether or not you paid YOUR taxes correctly. The fact that your coworkers got big refunds means they over-paid taxes throughout the year and let Uncle Sam and the IRS have their money interest-free when they could have had it in the bank, or paying bills, or what have you.

mjfrombuffalo Wrote:--snip--

The fact that your coworkers got big refunds means they over-paid taxes throughout the year and let Uncle Sam and the IRS have their money interest-free when they could have had it in the bank, or paying bills, or what have you.

.
Exactly.

Glad you were already using the turbotax thing. We ran ours through that one and another online 'freebie' site or two to make sure everything agreed. Plus went through the booklet/form line by line and comparing it to previous years returns and situations.

It should not be this hard; probably a discussion hashed out here before.


...tom...

And I'd like to point out again that not everyone gets big returns because they didn't do their paycheck W4 deductions right, and Uncle Sam was keeping their money through the year. Lower incomes sometimes get back money if the family has children or other dependants. We always had our deduction numbers set at the highest possible in order to keep the most money every paycheck, and we *still* got back *beaucoups* money every year because of Earned Income Credits and things like that. It won't happen this year - in fact, we would owe money if I had not had Joseph redo his W4 to reduce the deductions and pay more taxes each paycheck, because he was earning considerably more than at his last job. This year, we should get back a whopping $10, but at least we don't owe anything.

True, sorry, tax credits aren't something I generally think of since I've never been eligible for one in any of their various permutations.

magenta321 Wrote:If I work in NY but live in CT, which state do I file first?

If I was an independent contractor, working in the state of CT, but working for a company out of GA, I pay those taxes to CT, correct?

If a bank didn't bother to give me a 1099, does that mean my interest was so low I don't have to report it? I can't even find the interest reported online...

Thanks for your help, you're saving me a few hundred dollars if you help me do this by myself

In terms of the NY/CT thing, why not use last year's tax returns as an example (if you used an accountant last year.)

The taxes that were withheld from your paycheck were probably Connecticut state income taxes. You may have to file a NYC non-resident return, because non-residents pay income tax there, right? But if you don't have to file a NYC non-resident return, and no NYS taxes were withheld, then you probably don't have to file a NYS return.

I would just look at last year's taxes and do the state thing the same way.

It looked like he did CT then NY, which would have been wrong. However they "print out alphabetically" I was just told at H&R Block, and supposedly he did not make an error there.

He did make an error on my Federal taxes, but it supposedly does not effect my state returns. I'm getting about $200 back from last year's return though!

And despite H&R Block's guarantee that they will refund your preparation fees if they make a mistake, my local "franchise" said they would not. They said they'd do the amendment for free (well duh, they already had), but that they would NOT refund my previous year's fees. I fought, asked them to look at their own website, etc. They said they'd leave a note for the owner. I plan to find their guarantee online and print it out so I can follow up with her tomorrow. I didn't pay $316 for them to mess up my taxes!

Of course, when I looked up the guarantee a couple days ago (why didn't I print it then?) it said *at participating locations. There's no place that lists the participants, so I'm sure that is their loophole. But I'll fight that one when they pull that card.

I'd do my taxes myself before I'd go to most chain tax preparation places. My mom and sister work for Jackson Hewitt -- which has stringent preparation and testing in place. I don't know what H&R Block does in the way of educating their employees.

We go to a professional tax preparer who isn't a CPA and even with Bob's side business, college student forms, sale of land, etc, we've never paid anything close to $300.

I'd ask around to find out whether there's a local private tax preparer with a good reputation - possibly even a CPA. I doubt it will be more expensive than H&R Block.

I found mine by asking a CPA I know at church if she does taxes; she gave me her friend and fellow CPA's number - either she was too busy or didn't want to do the taxes of someone she knew. Whatever the reason, we have been crazy happy with our guy.

mjfrombuffalo Wrote:I found mine by asking a CPA I know at church if she does taxes; she gave me her friend and fellow CPA's number - either she was too busy or didn't want to do the taxes of someone she knew. Whatever the reason, we have been crazy happy with our guy.

.
Personal 'networking' ... the new American economy...


...tom...

And it was before Facebook or Twitter!

I usually have my taxes done at the Army tax assistance center--it's run by the lawyers who have doing taxes as an additional duty every year. They get volunteers too, but usually those are people who really like to do taxes and learn the new laws and everything.

I was vastly surprised to get a large refund this year (non-itemized since I don't have a house currently), but the lawyer told me that I'd had too much withheld, so I've changed that already. That big chunk of change is kind of nice to get all at once--I plan to buy stocks since they're on sale!

I spoke with the owner of my local H&R Block and discussed my disappointment with the way my taxes were prepared last year and the error that was made. I pointed out their guarantee, and she informed me it's only good in the calendar year in which your taxes were prepared. Since this is 2008's taxes, and we are in 2009 now, I have no recourse, according to her. Besides which, although it affected my entire Federal Return, the error was made on one Schedule, therefore, they would return only the money for that schedule, which was $40. Since I did not catch the error in time, she is willing to extend a courtesy to me of a $50 gift certificate for this year's tax preparation.

So... yeah, I'm even more disappointed.

I found out that Russ Smyth is the CEO/President of H&R Block. I know that if I really want to fight this, I probably want to aim that high... but I have no idea where to send my letter. What's my next step?

I just find it insulting to listen to H&R Block's commercials when I know they have stacked all the cards in their favor. Part of wants to skip the step where I try to contact H&R Block, and wishes to just write the press release instead. It seems like a good time of year to get a little bad press for H&R Block (if you're as annoyed with them as I am). However, the benevolent side of me thinks "well, this is a local franchise, why am I going to hurt them in the process." Sigh.

Consumer Help Web.

They totally rock

Its all depend in new york is based on STAR. STAR is New York State's School Tax Relief Program that includes a school property tax rebate program and a partial property tax exemption from school taxes. All New Yorkers who own and live in their home - whether it's a condominium, cooperative apartment, manufactured home, farm dwelling, apartment building or mixed-use property - are eligible for the STAR exemption on their primary residence.

magenta321 Wrote:He did make an error on my Federal taxes, but it supposedly does not effect my state returns. I'm getting about $200 back from last year's return though!

And despite H&R Block's guarantee that they will refund your preparation fees if they make a mistake, my local "franchise" said they would not. They said they'd do the amendment for free (well duh, they already had), but that they would NOT refund my previous year's fees. I fought, asked them to look at their own website, etc. They said they'd leave a note for the owner. I plan to find their guarantee online and print it out so I can follow up with her tomorrow. I didn't pay $316 for them to mess up my taxes!

Of course, when I looked up the guarantee a couple days ago (why didn't I print it then?) it said *at participating locations. There's no place that lists the participants, so I'm sure that is their loophole. But I'll fight that one when they pull that card.

Just to update, H&R Block redid my 2007 taxes, and I just got a letter in the mail saying that they didn't do them right, so they need to be redone! I have soooo much confidence in H&R Block now! Just in case you're wondering, it's a H&R Block flagship store, not one of the fly-by-night stores that comes only at tax time.

escorts[/url] redid my 2007 taxes, and I just got a letter in the mail saying that they didn't do them right, so they need to be redone! I have soooo much confidence in H&R Block now! Just in case you're wondering, it's a H&R Block flagship store, not one of the fly-by-night stores that comes only at tax time.

opoll602 Wrote:Its all depend in new york is based on STAR. STAR is New York State's School Tax Relief Program that includes a school property tax rebate program and a partial property tax exemption from school taxes. All New Yorkers who own and live in their home - whether it's a condominium, cooperative apartment, manufactured home, farm dwelling, apartment building or mixed-use property - are eligible for the STAR exemption on their primary residence.

Well, that's an improvement over when I lived in NY. Now my friends in Long Island will only be paying $8 or $9K for their 1300 square foot homes on 60 x 100 lots...

(Still it's better than nothing. When I lived in NY only veterans who had gotten some sort of VA benefits could get partial property tax exemptions. My hubby had gotten educational benefits, and I think we saved about 10%.)

STAR is really pretty stupid. It started out as a property tax rebate program for retirees and was extended to everyone a few years ago. Which of course makes me wonder, why not just reduce the tax rate instead of operating a program that requires paperwork, and people to process the paperwork, and desks and filing cabinets for processing the paperwork etc. etc. etc....

You, my friend, need a residence address in a state with no income tax, like Wyoming!

(12-23-2009 06:55 PM)Rental Lease Wrote:  You, my friend, need a residence address in a state with no income tax, like Wyoming!

And now people in states with no income tax even get to deduct sales taxes instead (as do people, I suppose, in states with income taxes if their income taxes are lower than their sales taxes.)

You know I'm actually a landlord that travels with my girlfriend, and write educational articles for EZ Landlord Forms to keep me busy, but anyway I move every 3 months, so I've been looking into mail forwarding services that allow you to actually establish residency through them.
I mean, why should I pay 8% of my paycheck to taxes to a city and state I don't even live in?
So I actually found a service that lets you establish residence legally, but there are a couple catches: 1. you have to register your car in Texas (which has its own requirements, such as a state inspection), and 2. obtaining a TX driver's license. Basically, I'd have to drive to TX, have my car inspected there, pay the registration fees, get a TX driver's license, and jump through a few other hoops I haven't learned of yet, and then of course pay the mail forwarding service their annual fee. It all sounds like quite a pain in the a$$.
That said, if I were to invest a week in doing all that nonsense, I'd never have to pay state/city taxes again. Ever. 8% of my paycheck, back in my pocket.
What do you think, is it worth it? It's a tough call.

I would recommend that you consult a tax attorney to be certain that this is really legal. Seriously. I've had travel nurses tell me that unless you spend a minimum amount of time (3 months, I think) in your legal residence, there are certain deductions you lose. There may be other implications. If you're willing to spend the $$ to go to Texas, register your car, etc, you should be willing to spend $150-200 for a consultation with an actual tax attorney to be sure this won't come back to bite you.