2011 tax help
 

I am really clueless about taxes and I am considering using either turbotax or H&R this year. But before doing my 2011 taxes, I have a couple of questions that maybe someone here can help me with...thanks.
(1) Married resident whose husband is unemployed
(2) Can expenses for step 3 and study guides (usmleworld and the likes) be considered tax deductible?
(3) What about gas for work?
(4) Student loan interest paid?
I had asked a volunteer who prepares tax for low income families how much could I see in tax refund and she said somewhere around 400...I was hoping to collect the full refund of the tax I paid so that was depressing. Btw, I only gave her my estimated gross income, fed state tax paid thus far. Thanks for any help.

Welcome to the beginning of your financial education. I suggest you pick up taxes for dummies or similar and read the relevant sections.
2) Not really. Subject to a minimum you won't meet.
3) Ha ha. That's a good one......No.
4) Yes as a resident, but probably not once you're an attending as there is an income ceiling on it.

Get used to paying taxes. It doesn't get any better.

2) consider speaking to a tax professional once you have all of your tax documents together. As the previous poster said, this is subject to a minimum (I believe he means your itemized deductions must exceed the standard deduction, which might be the case depending on your circumstances. )

3) gas is never deductible but depending on your job, mileage might be, which is ~$0.51/mile (probably in excess of what you spent on gas unless you drive a hummer or something). Getting to and from your normal place of work is not deductible, but if you have to drive to a client or somewhere that isn't your normal place of business, that would be deductible. If you think this applies to you you need to have good records of your miles and I would definitely recommend meeting with a tax professional because it's not straightforward how to calculate it.

You might get more than $400, did your friend consider the fact that you're married filing jointly?

Don't be so focused on a refund. A big refund just means that you were withholding too much during the course of the year. Better to adjust your withholdings and have a small refund (or even pay a little) than give the IRS an interest free loan.

As for how to do your taxes, the tax software companies do a good job at guiding you through things, I have used turbotax for a number of years now, but that is because I started doing free file with them when I was in the military and now get it free through my brother (who works at intuit). I don't know if it is more or less expensive than other programs, and whether it is worth it. Before I did that I used to get the paper forms and IRS publications then just spend a day or so reading through things and figuring it out. Back when I wasn't earning much and had no real deductions to itemize it was easy to do, and actually helped me understand what is going on so now with retirement accounts, business expenses, various assets, student loans, and a rental property I have a clue about what turbotax is doing. Not that I recommend that you do your own taxes-just that you may want to read a little bit about your particular situation by searching the pulications at IRS.gov

Did you moonlight and receive 1099 income? That could change things.

1) So you file jointly and have less of your money confiscaed.

2) Nope. They're part of the basics of having your job. You can deduct annual state taxes for your license and your malpractice insurance if you have those. It's unlikely you'll use anything other than the standard decusion unless you own a home or have massive medical bills.

3) Gas for work? Only if you have two jobs and drive between the two of them. Or say you drive between two hospitals. Basically you cannot deduct mileage driven from your home to your first place of work or your last place of work to home--everything inbetween is deductible at 51 or 53 cents per mile. You can also deduct medical mileage at either 21 or 19 centers per mile (mileage driven to medical appointments), but only if your total medical expenses are 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

4.) Yes, up to $2,500.00 of interest is deductible assuming your adjusted gross income for married filing jointly is less than 120k. It's 60k for single.

As with most deductions, you cannot use them if you file for married filing separately.

Yes I did a couple of moonlight last year...would this adversely affect my possible tax refund?

Anyone?

Possibly. Once you moonlight, you usually get paid by a 1099 form.

A 1099 means taxes were not taken out of that money. Thus you may owe taxes on this money.

The plus side is that a 1099 means you are an independent contractor and thus a side-business. You can deduct medical license fees, malpractice insurance, gas, etc. You could also consider starting a home office and begin taking home office deductions which can be substantial.

In other words, your taxes may have become much more complicated. My website explains some of the home office stuff. If you are making good money moonlighting, you may want to start looking for an experienced tax advisor or tax attorney.

A 1099 and a good tax attorney can save you thousands of dollars.