I have just finished filing our 2008 income tax returns. I managed to do a pretty good job estimating our withholding and quarterly prepayments. We will receive a small refund from our federal return, and we only had to pay a very small amount in additional taxes to our state government.
Unlike last year, I did not make any contributions to my SEP-IRA. I did so last year to reduce our tax liability. This year, with an additional child in the family, and an additional child care credit, our liability was already slightly lower than the previous year, and I really do not have any “extra” cash sitting around for contributions. Plus, with the current economic environment, I’d rather have a slightly larger cash reserve – and pay a little more tax on any interest that cash might earn – than to tie up more money in a retirement account.
As in previous year, I filed electronically, and directed the IRS to deposit my refund directly into my checking account. For the payment to our state, I simply printed out a payment voucher (provided by my tax preparation software) and sent it, along with a check for payment amount, to our state’s department of revenue.
I printed two copies of each return, federal and state, and I also saved two digital copies.
Congrats! I’ve got mine all they way done, just waiting on one K-1 to come in. We just had our first child this year and because I estimated the tax benefit to be much less than it actually was, we are getting back a refund as well. Overall that’s a good thing, I just hate loaning my money to the government interest free!
I was debating between fully funding the SEP IRA and leaving the cash available, as well, but I decided to fund the SEP IRA instead.
Is there a good reason to wait so long to file? I try to file within a week or two of having all my 1099’s and W-2’s – usually mid-February. Unfortunately, my spouse likes having the “forced” savings so we usually get a fairly sizeable refund in the $1-2k range.
I just seized funding my sep-ira and completely agree with you on not wanting to tie up anymore money in a retirement account. I also came across this. Check it out if you like.CheckingFinder is now offering a limited time offer of a trial membership to Dave Ramsey’s MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com (Renown Personal Finance Advisor) for every person who submits an application.
here is an example of some nationwide bank rates
Rates with a * signifies this bank rate is available nationwide.
Florida Central Credit Union
6.01
FL
First Robinson Savings Bank*
6.01*
IL
Connexus Credit Union*
5.15*
WI
Keystone Bank*
5.15*
AL
Community Bank of Pleasant Hill*
5.01*
MO
Three Rivers FCU
5.01
IN
Union State Bank/Bank of Atchison*
5.01*
KS
Beacon Federal Credit Union
4.51
TX
Communications Federal Credit Union*
4.25*
OK
First New England Federal Credit Union
4.15
CT
Nate
@Chris… the longer you wait to file, the longer you give the government an ‘interest free’ loan… of course, if you owe, then the sooner you file, the sooner you have to pay…
For us, it was simply a matter of finding the time, and a day off, to get the filing done…
-NCN
@NCN… On the interest free loan – I agree, that’s why I make an effort to file as soon as I have all the documentation I need in hand. If I had my way, I would try to get my refund down to ~$200, but this is another security blanket thing for my wife (similar to how Dave Ramsey refers to an Emergency Fund).