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General discussion

The new W4 (tax form.)

Apr 9, 2019 10:15AM PDT

The IRS is floating a new W4 which may include:
- Nonwage income, such as interest and dividends
- Itemized and other deductions
- Income tax credits expected for the tax year
- For employees with multiple jobs, total annual taxable wages for all lower paying jobs in the household

Just what you don't want your employer to know.

Discussion is locked

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Perhaps a side note worth considering
Apr 18, 2019 2:21AM PDT

In my lifetime, I've heard many complaints about acts of charity such as;

' No...on't give to that scruffy looking guy at the end of freeway ramp. He'll just spend it on alcohol. Give it to the soup kitchen instead.'

'No...don't give it to the soup kitchen. That's too easy. Take the guy home and give him a sandwich'

'No...don't do either of those. Help him find a job so he can take care of himself'

All of these, IMO, are worth considering but we're more likely to take the easiest route we can. No matter what one offers in the way of charitable giving, someone is going to chastise them. Look to these people and ask them "Well...what have you done?"

And, of course, it's always easy to find fault with the wealthy. Such easy targets they are. Rarely do they seem to complain about those who chide them. Remember, when we think they hold the answer to poverty in their pockets, that one cannot eat money. Money is simply a trading instrument and most of it exists only on paper. There is nothing it can do other than compensate another person for their labor. When that other person spends it to buy food, they're doing likewise. There are some things that no amount of money can do. Money cannot take away a person's physical pain though lawyers may try to convince us that it's the best substitute.

Those nasty rich folks who've donated to rebuild the Notre Dame cathedral are only providing jobs for those who know how to do the work. It's not unlikely that some of the work needed requires rare skills that few possess. We'd need to consider whether or not it's worthwhile to maintain the existence of those skills.

For those who want to complain about these rich folks giving their money, would they complain less if these same people gave nothing but their own labor to help clean up and rebuild? I'll bet not.

Proper charitable giving is a subject of its own. My church teaches something called "stewardship". It's not that easy to explain but something I personally subscribe to.

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t we're more likely to take the easiest route we can.
Apr 18, 2019 5:54AM PDT

Agreed. So one problem is allocating contributions- cash or in kind- where they'll do 'the most good'. That alone is a matter of opinion of course, but if that's decided then the allocations still need to be done. "Voluntary" not a word for that. Usually means government action, or at least organized, as in NGOs- non-governmental organizations. Some of them are controversial, here but not there, and so on.

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The refund shouldn't be the issue
Apr 10, 2019 2:09AM PDT

That withholding is not meant to be an investment or savings account. What should matter is the net income for the entire year. There will be a few folks whose situations won't be able to take advantage of the new tax code but most should see a higher overall net.

Post was last edited on April 10, 2019 2:13 AM PDT

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So how about that new W4?
Apr 10, 2019 9:38AM PDT

"the draft form asked workers to input the annual dollar amounts for:

Nonwage income, such as interest and dividends
Itemized and other deductions
Income tax credits expected for the tax year
For employees with multiple jobs, total annual taxable wages for all lower paying jobs in the household"

This new W-4 in a draft form removed the usual number of deductions and added the items above.

This has been pushed back to 2020 but the form is going from simple to complex and exposing information to your employer that you didn't want to share.

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I found the draft
Apr 10, 2019 10:09AM PDT

I believe that some of the requested information would not be known at the time the W4 was filled out. I could expect further revisions would take place that would satisfy employee concerns about what information is given to their employer. I'm not going to lose a minute of sleep over it. But, my vote doesn't count as this won't personally affect me.

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I'll mention something I learned, and I learned
Apr 10, 2019 3:17PM PDT

that not everyone knew it.
Homeowners get mortgage interest as a deduction; we knew that.
That builds up your refund at the end of the year, but in the meantime the government gets the use of your money, interest free. Change your W-4 to increase deductions during the year by the right amount and you'll get a small refund or pay a small net tax at the end.
How much change? A tax accountant can tell you, for a one-time fee that won't be much. (That fee is a deduction for the next year.) It's done by adding dependants; tax goes down for each one.
Doesn't matter that the number is phony- doesn't count as fraud then. Report accurately at the end of the year.

FYI just in case.

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What I'd never encourage
Apr 11, 2019 1:59AM PDT

is for a person to add dependants every year in order to get a tax deduction. That deduction is only your net tax liability % times the per-dependent amount. If that amount is 800 bucks and you're in the 25% bracket, you just reduced your taxes by $200. In the meantime, that dependent is eating you out of house and home. Happy I'm sure there are some people who aren't self-disciplined enough to put away money to pay for taxes and would rather have refund later. The .1% general interest rate on savings these days does not make it worth accounting fees or the personal waste of time trying to scratch out a few cents in savings.

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I was single when I bought my house.
Apr 11, 2019 7:07AM PDT

It was worth four kids at the time. More than a few cents. Happy

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I don't do W-4 because I'm too lazy to work.
Apr 10, 2019 11:32AM PDT

Did I say that out loud? I'm retired, that is.

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Paid no taxes this year.
Apr 17, 2019 11:25PM PDT

No withholding, no tax due.
Eat your hearts out, working class!!!

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I suppose it depends on your tax code
Apr 18, 2019 6:20AM PDT

My tax code makes no provisions for being retired.

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Church/charities related.
Apr 18, 2019 1:16PM PDT
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It bothers me more that we have to label them as
Apr 19, 2019 2:30AM PDT

"Black" churches rather than just churches. In other cases, we need to mention the label of the larger faith/organization or denomination to which they belong. Why is that and what does it really do that's valuable to a listener or reader? Is someone keeping score?...asked rhetorically, of course.