I want a Divorce- Taxes!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been married for 2 years and for the second year in a row, I (along with my husband) owe federal and state taxes. I got a decent refund while I was single and so did he. Last year (Ist year of marriage), we filed jointly and ended up owing. It was a highly annoying sticker shock but we paid it and adjusted our W4s to have our employers deduct more money through the year.

Imagine my chagrin yesterday when turbo tax says that we owe AGAIN this year and this year's bill is even higher than last year. That's it!, I want a divorce, this is ridiculous. Neither one of us are high earners and we have a little girl so it's not like we are living high on the hog as it is. But to have to fork out money that we don't have to pay a yearly tax bill is not something I want to deal with yearly.

I (and I suspect my husband) was perfectly fine being unmarried in a relationship. We only got married because of our child, whom, Uncle Sam now says that we can only claim a minimal child credit deduction for because we 'earn too much'. Whaaaaatt?

I am filing for divorce. This is bullshit.

+10000!!! Unless you own a home and/or have multiple children, you're gonna owe. It's ridiculous. But my neighbor with 7 kids working 10 hours a week will get a 10K refund in addition to housing voucher, food stamps, medicaid, etc.

Lies. I don't owe anything and I am single with no kids, and I rent.

Then you must be broke because if you made any decent money, you would owe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the main reason I've never legally married my partner. We actually had a small destination wedding in another country several years ago and call each other husband and wife, all our friends and family think of us as married, but for all legal purposes we are single -- we each get our own health insurance through work and for taxes I file as head of household and claim our kids, he files as single. We've done the math and being married would cost us about $15K a year in taxes.

This is smart and if I wish we had done the same.

[Anonymous]

Then you must be broke because if you made any decent money, you would owe.

Or they adjusted their W4 accordingly...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Then you must be broke because if you made any decent money, you would owe.

Or they adjusted their W4 accordingly...

Correct but my point is that they STILL OWE...they are just paying throughout the year, as opposed to getting a bill at the end.

[Anonymous]

Correct but my point is that they STILL OWE...they are just paying throughout the year, as opposed to getting a bill at the end.

Ah, got it. I think most people when they say colloquially that they don't owe means that they paid nothing/got a refund at the end of the year, which generally happens if you set your withholdings correctly. You're right, you have to be pretty poor to not owe anything...I still paid some in taxes when I was living off of a graduate stipend.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I have been together for 13 years, married since we could, but only recognized for IRS purposes since the summer. I have a high income and his is good. We have a lot of investments and several kids. Being married will cost us at least $25k in taxes this year. And I am happy to pay it.

Had we not been recognized as married and I died now, he would have had a high seven figure tax bill. Every year I spent thousands planning how to pull resources without incurring tax while those the irs recognized as married didn't give it another thought.

To those complaining, grow up. Taxes are the price we pay to life in a civilized society and being married in the eyes of the law is a great privilege that most you apparently take for granted. You have idea how lucky you are.

-someone fortunate enough to be in a combined effective federal and state tax bracket over 40%