Taxes - big jump this year?

[Anonymous]

My went down.

[Anonymous]

*mine

[Anonymous]

Yes 70k extra (we hadn't bumped up our withholdings). I knew it would be something but not that much. Sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and what have we gotten for all our money?

Beats me.

[Anonymous]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Minimum 3% higher rate due to the loss of the 2% reduction in SS last year plus the .9% Medicare kicker.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we got crushed this year. Our salaries are all income so there has been nothing but increases the last couple of years..,

[Anonymous]

We did too. Owed 9k.

[Anonymous]

Ours did not jump. Our income rose about 5% and our taxes rose accordingly. Our HHI is in the $175k range.

[Anonymous]

We have a 9k Bill for federal (MD owes us $26, so there is that I guess). Can't tell how much is increased taxes vs a bunch of options we exercised. I don't feel too bad for us...we make 200+ and I feel really lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our accountant says its because out investment portfolio did so well this year -- and they didn't anticipate such a jump so very little planning went into protecting our earnings from such steep taxes. We do the basics - try to max out our pre tax accounts and fund everything - not sure what else we can do to avoid this happening again. Ugh.

Did you sell stocks? Otherwise how would you be taxed?

[Anonymous]

We owed 7k and like a PP said, our accountant mentioned something about the Medicare tax increase, and also having good cap gains. It was a shock since we have been getting nice refunds for the last few years.

We bought a new house this year and despite what people often say, we saw little tax benefit from it.

[Anonymous]

Summary from Forbes:

Now, let’s get to the good stuff. As you may remember, 2013 was a pivotal year in tax policy. Beginning on January 1st, a series of tax increases proposed and signed into law by President Obama came into effect, including:


A new maximum rate on ordinary income of 39.6%. The rate applies only to taxable income in excess of $450,000 (if married filing jointly, $400,000 if single).
A new maximum rate on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains of 20%, but once again, only if the taxpayer’s taxable income exceeds $450,000/$400,000.
A resuscitated limitation on itemized deductions; taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $300,000 (if married filing jointly, $250,000 if single) lose 3% of most itemized deductions (maxing out at 80% of itemized deductions) for each dollar adjusted gross income exceeds the threshold.
A taxpayer’s personal exemptions are phased out once adjusted gross income exceeds the $300,000/$250,000 thresholds. Mechanically, once a married taxpayer has adjusted gross income in excess of $400,000, the exemptions are gone.
A new payroll tax was born. Starting in 2013, taxpayers with earned income from wages or self-employment income in excess of $250,000 (if married filing jointly, $200,000 if single), will pay an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on the excess earnings.
Lastly, and perhaps most famously, taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $250,000 (if married filing jointly, $200,000 if single), will pay an extra 3.8% surtax on “net investment income,” which includes items such as interest, dividends, capital gains, rents, and royalties.

[Anonymous]

Voting Republican forevermore. We got killed.

[Anonymous]

Besides the Forbes list remember stuff like tax credits not available to the DC area "wealthy" with modifed adjusted gross incomes of $180,000 for married joint filers.