Tax Update

Friends,

Thanks for all the comments about the tax issue and rather than post this update there, here's a fresh post about my current tax status.

The previous problem was after deducting moving expenses and student loan interest, but it still put me in that nasty negative box. I had resigned myself to paying the government all that money, made me real sad, then I started working through my Wisconsin taxes. And, if you haven't done Wisconsin state taxes, let me tell you, it's a bastard. A lot more dividing and multiplying by decimals than I've ever had to futz with before. But, on that Wisconsin state form it mentions on their tuition deduction stuff that if you pay with loans, it's still deductible. Well, well. I scrambled back to the federal, and yes, sir, paying with loans for tuition, it is still deductible.

I plugged that number into the Tuition deduction and came up with only owing the federales 280 dollars instead of 660. Boom!

Then, with a little reminder from Luke about the Lifelong Learner credit, and it appears that Emily & I both qualify for that credit, vastly reducing the tax burden I have. Therefore, this may (really want to stress that may) have turned from 660 dollars to the government to some money back.

And what's even better, is that University of Wisconsin is located in Dane county, one of the Midwestern disaster areas you've seen in your tax forms so there's even more deductions possible (if Emily qualifies, as I haven't looked up the timetable for when she has to have been going to school in Dane County for it to count).

Yes, sir. Thank you God. Thank you Luke. Thank you whoever made the Lifelong Learner credit into law. And, fuck it, thank you you Republican anti-tax sons-a-bitches. Thank you all.

See, I had always assumed that loan payments weren't eligible for this deduction or credit, so this is some kind of awesome.

Where I am now is I have to refigure everything, but that's okay. I like math. I need to retackle the Wisconsin one, too since it relies heavily on computations from the federal form. And, let me be blunt about this, Wisconsin tax forms are fucked up. Multiple columns, all kinds of division and multiplication. I tried to figure out the tuition deduction for the state, and naturally they have their own voodoo process to determine it, and the number keeps coming out to something like negative five thousand dollars, so I'm doing something remarkably wrong that I haven't figured out yet, but will. And I haven't even looked at Minnesota yet, with it's ridiculous forms and filling out employer ID numbers and all.

This tax shit ain't done, but I'll be updating it here when it's all said and done.

Oh, and I'm turning in a new w4 for my job today to increase my tax withholding so I don't wind up in this pickle next year.

viva el mustache