Federal tax return

[shankldu]

When filing electronically roughly how long does it take to see your $ the state came back almost imediatly .

[thirdgenbird]

I think the say 21 days but its not like there is an SLA. It could take longer, it could be shorter.

[christian]

14-18 days in my experience.

[boconnor811]

In my experience this varies based on the timing of your submission. I submitted mine ~3 weeks ago and received the federal return in 8 days. My state return (IL) took 18 days.

[shankldu]

tnx !!

[MattTuck]

Getting money back is for chumps. Just means you gave the feds an interest free loan. :rolleyes:

I wish I was getting a refund to blow on bike stuff :(

[boconnor811]

Getting money back is for chumps. Just means you gave the feds an interest free loan. :rolleyes:

I wish I was getting a refund to blow on bike stuff :(

I agree, I try to minimize this as well.

[Likes2ridefar]

Getting money back is for chumps. Just means you gave the feds an interest free loan. :rolleyes:

I wish I was getting a refund to blow on bike stuff :(

i got more federal money back than taxes i paid :banana:

[Vientomas]

Refund?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQaavQNGsMY

[dvs cycles]

I did mine with TurboTax and e-filed early last month.
Both deposited to my account in a week.

[Llewellyn]

Getting money back is for chumps. Just means you gave the feds an interest free loan. :rolleyes:

I wish I was getting a refund to blow on bike stuff :(

It's really, really hard to convince people that the best tax return is where you get nothing back, and don't have to pay anything.

Why would you want to give the government an interest free loan for anything up to two years?

[notsew]

It's really, really hard to convince people that the best tax return is where you get nothing back, and don't have to pay anything.

Why would you want to give the government an interest free loan for anything up to two years?

Agreed. You should be the one earning the interest, not them. I ended up writing a check for $200. Right about perfect from my perspective.

[Javaman]

Getting money back is for chumps. Just means you gave the feds an interest free loan. :rolleyes:

I wish I was getting a refund to blow on bike stuff :(

I am in lower bracket that's why I get a refund. ;)

[dave thompson]

TurboTax and e-filing from Mexico, it took about a week to get the refund.

[Likes2ridefar]

It's really, really hard to convince people that the best tax return is where you get nothing back, and don't have to pay anything.

Why would you want to give the government an interest free loan for anything up to two years?

because they believe in their government using their money wisely.

[jlwdm]

It's really, really hard to convince people that the best tax return is where you get nothing back, and don't have to pay anything.

Why would you want to give the government an interest free loan for anything up to two years?

I pay quarterly so it is not always easy to figure out how much to pay.

For most people the amount they are getting back is small, and since interest rates are near zero your statements may be correct in theory, but in practice mean little to most people.

Jeff

[Llewellyn]

For most people the amount they are getting back is small, and since interest rates are near zero your statements may be correct in theory, but in practice mean little to most people.

Jeff

That may be so, but the government still has the use of your money, which you could be using for your own purposes.

But each to their own. Personally I'd rather put money aside during the year and owe them something once my return gets lodged.

[happycampyer]

I wonder what happens in Switzerland? With negative interest rates, it would seem to be an arb to overpay taxes and get a refund a year later without being charged by the government to have them hold your money...

[tumbler]

The "interest free loan" argument is valid, but with interest rates around 1%, the forfeited interest for most people is minimal. If your refund/overpayment to the government was $6000, paid evenly throughout the year, you're talking around $30 in forfeited interest. This assumes that you would have actually put that excess $500/month into a money market account vs. letting it sit in a checking account, or worse, blowing it in the PL Classifieds.

Again, valid theory... time value of money and all... but in reality most people aren't missing out on much, and may prefer that to the uncertainty of owing money at the end of the year.

[oldpotatoe]

It's really, really hard to convince people that the best tax return is where you get nothing back, and don't have to pay anything.

Why would you want to give the government an interest free loan for anything up to two years?

Agree, we muck with withholding and such so our return is plus or minus about $300-$400 or so. The smaller the better.

[2LeftCleats]

I deliberately overwithhold. In recent years, there has been some complexity to my tax situation so I don't like to be surprised with a significant bill. I recognize the folly of allowing the govt to use my money for awhile, but as noted, the same money in a savings acct would have netted me a few bucks at most. I'm not as disciplined as some in setting aside a certain amount each pay to savings, so this ends up being a forced savings vehicle. When I get the lump sum back (in about a week after e-filing) it gives me the opportunity to pay a tuition bill, pay for summer vacation, or perhaps a new bike.

[Rnaymik]

Filed mine the day it opened, got a return the IRS in a two weeks. State took longer. Apparently there was rampant problems with people filing under false names or something with turbo tax so MA halted everything for a few weeks.