Lashawnda Anteby: Charitable donations are deductible as itemized deductions. If you itemize you may save a few $$ in tax. See the instructions for Schedule A to get started on that.Remodeling costs increase your basis and may save capital gains taxes at sale time so keep track of them. You get no current benefit from them as they are not deductible. A few energy saving expenditures may qualify for an energy saving credit.What someone else gets back as a refund is meaningless to your tax situation. If their income is low enough they might receive something under the EIC. Or maybe they're just dumb enough to think that giving the government a tax free loan of over $100 a week is a good idea and don't have their withholdings set properly. Make sure that you're properly claiming exemptions for the kids and that you claim the Child Tax Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, and EIC as appropriate to YOUR tax situation and don't be concerned with what someone else gets as! a refund....Show more
Davida Gisriel: Donations will reduce your adjusted income, subject to less tax.Home remodeling CANNOT be deducted from the current years income. Keep those as a deduction if/when you sell the home.Quite possibly those who receive large refunds have overpaid in their witholdings, or, have had an unusual increase in deductions. Each child receives a deduction as a dependent. Your new child will be counted as a new deduction for 2007.Over paying taxes is loaning the government free money with no interest. Not wise as the same money could be earning interest, even in savings or CD....Show more
Leann Villalta: I have mine set to Married Claiming 0 because when I did it as claiming 1 or 2, I had to pay. Our refund is lower than others I know but still isnt low. I rather get back some if any than to pay in.
Pasquale Pollet: When you say "This year," I'm presuming you actually mean "last year", or 2007. If you actually made the donat! ions this year (2008) you can't deduct them until you do your ! 2008 taxes (after Dec 31, 2008).Your receipt for donations comes under Charitable Contributions, which is on Schedule A, if you itemize your deductions. If you find that the standard deduction is greater than your itemized deductions (this is generally the case if you're NOT paying a mortgage), then your donations won't affect your tax owed or refund due.I don't think the kitchen remodeling is going to count towards any deduction.Your child born in 2007 will get you an additional exemption PLUS another $1000 tax credit, so you should see the amount of your refund go up vs. last year.It's important to note that you don't really want a big refund though. You want to try to get to the point where it's really close to zero on one side or the other. If you're getting thousands of dollars back, you're having too much money withheld from your paycheck. Fill out a new form W-4 with your employer and give yourself an instant raise, so that YOU can use your money this year instea! d of letting the government use it without paying you interest or even so much as a thank-you note!As your tax situation becomes more complex through the years, you might consider purchasing tax preparation software. I recommend H&R Block's TaxCut, which is what I used. The software takes you through an interview process, asking you questions about what happened in your life in the previous tax year, and then tells you what exemptions, deductions, and credits you're entitled to....Show more
Bryan Avinger: Your donations will be deducted as long as you have enough other deductions to itemize. As long as you have your receipts, you should be fine.Remodeling is never deductable. However, it will increase the cost basis of your home. For example, if you bought your home for $100,000, now the cost basis is $106,000.Don't worry about your friends tax return. There are too many variables that could explain why their refund is larger than yours. By getting a big refund! , that means that you just loaned the government money. Remember, this! is YOUR money that the government is refunding to you....Show more
Anton Waln: Your donations can be listed in Schedule A together with other itemized deductions. If your itemized deductions are less than the standard deduction, you should claim the standard deductions in which case you can ignore the donations.Your remodeling costs increase the cost basis of your house and are not tax deductible.When your friends get large refunds, it means that they loaned their money to the government tax free. What counts is not the refund but the amount of taxes you have to pay. Large refunds mean you lost the interest you could have earned on your money. Your children will be claimed on your tax return as exemptions. Your tax for 2007 has already been determined. It is now only a matter of preparing your tax return to find out if you get a refund or owe more taxes than you already paid....Show more
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