The 2017 Tax Returns Filed

taxes.jpgOur Investment Consolidated 1099 forms were finally available today, so since the returns were 99.9% complete, we filed both Arizona and Federal Tax Returns online this afternoon. We were somewhat aggravated that it took so long to officially get the numbers on the proper forms, but now it’s done and we can start waiting for our refunds.

The 2017 withholding rate we used underestimated the effect of upgrading our motorhome for which larger amounts of Vehicle License Fees and 2nd home loan interest would work to our benefit. As a consequence, we overpaid into the Federal and State coffers all year.

Now, we can start to calculate and adjust the amounts to be withheld for the remainder of 2018. We have a spreadsheet that we used in the past to figure the proper withholding and will resort to it again this year. There are a couple of complications involved, however, due to the effects of the GOP Tax Reform and an increase in the IRA distribution.

Our Arizona withholding will be zero this year because we contribute to the Arizona Private Education Scholarship Fund which completely offsets our state income tax obligation. For Federal Tax, we will use an assumed effective tax rate to determine withholding. As an aside, the IRS withholding calculator is not available because of the recent tax reform bill.

Bottom line, we’re glad to have 2017 tax behind us. Now to figure out how to spend the refund!

UPDATE: 02/26/2018 Both State and Federal refunds were in the bank by the 22nd of this month. That is the fastest (approx. 10 days) that they have ever refunded the money.

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