New Pharmacists Filing Taxes

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akaykay

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For those of us who graduated 2011 and earned 1/2 year of pharmacist income, can we expect some tax return? I would expect some type of refund since we were in school for the 2011 year and didn't ear much and on top of that paying interest on our loans.

Basically, what are some ways we can minimize our tax/maximize our refund for this year or for at last next year.

Status: S
No Kids
No mortgage (but looking into it)


Thanks (especially to the tax guru's)

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I got $10,000 back.

I deducted tuition expenses, student loan interest, mortgage interest, and moving expenses. HSA and retirement contributions came off of my gross income.
 
I have been getting screwed on taxes every year... Even my first year out of school, I made too much money to qualify for any deductions. And because I have always held at least two jobs, I always paid taxes rather than got refunds. Though I must say, I prefer it that way. I am not in the business of providing government with interest-free loans.
 
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I got $10,000 back.

I deducted tuition expenses, student loan interest, mortgage interest, and moving expenses. HSA and retirement contributions came off of my gross income.

I got 11,700. You should get a return. Pony up some cash and get a CPA to prepare you taxes.
 
I remember changing my exemptions on the W4 to like 10 so I wouldn't get a refund for that first half year. Had to change it back to 2 in Jan. Sucks that once you make around $60K or so the tax rate jumps up big.
 
I got 11,700. You should get a return. Pony up some cash and get a CPA to prepare you taxes.
Nah... I got back plenty! You're married, you have kids, and your mortgage is probably much, much more than mine.

I remember changing my exemptions on the W4 to like 10 so I wouldn't get a refund for that first half year. Had to change it back to 2 in Jan. Sucks that once you make around $60K or so the tax rate jumps up big.
That was a good move. I'm sure everyone who had 10 exemptions would be in a better position their last semester of pharmacy school.

I made $59K that year.
 
I got 11,700. You should get a return. Pony up some cash and get a CPA to prepare you taxes.

No it is wise to get as close to zero as possible. You gave the government an interest free loan for almost 12K. That's $2,000.00 per month plus interest you deprived from you and your family.

You need to adjust your w-4 withholding so you can reap the benefit up front.
 
I remember changing my exemptions on the W4 to like 10 so I wouldn't get a refund for that first half year. Had to change it back to 2 in Jan.
This is the correct thing to do. Unfortunately it's too late for the OP so I recommend that he files his 2011 tax return immediately to get the overpaid taxes back.
 
Just use turbo tax, it's easy. You don't need tax person until you start getting more complicated(investments and such). If you just have one job and one mortgage then turbo tax is sufficient. Besides most tax guys just use a turbo tax program or something similar.
 
No it is wise to get as close to zero as possible. You gave the government an interest free loan for almost 12K. That's $2,000.00 per month plus interest you deprived from you and your family.

You need to adjust your w-4 withholding so you can reap the benefit up front.
Is it possible to not let them take out any until the end of the year? That would really be the best, since they're not loaning any of your money throughout the year.

I try to get bigger paychecks throughout the year, since I only work maybe 8-12 hours during school so every little bit helps, but as my tax rate and income go up, I know this will only become more important.
 
Is it possible to not let them take out any until the end of the year? That would really be the best, since they're not loaning any of your money throughout the year.

I try to get bigger paychecks throughout the year, since I only work maybe 8-12 hours during school so every little bit helps, but as my tax rate and income go up, I know this will only become more important.

You can change your withholding whenever you want by submitting another W-4 form. It's best to figure out what your tax bill will be and then adjust accordingly.
 
Make sure to deduct your license costs, CE stuff, etc. Anything goes. Even books for boards and the cost for boards themselves.
 
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Care to describe your status on how you got so much back :)

Mortgage? Dependents/kids? Business?
 
Make sure to deduct your license costs, CE stuff, etc. Anything goes. Even books for boards and the cost for boards themselves.

Malpractice insurance and uniforms are deductible too.
 
No it is wise to get as close to zero as possible. You gave the government an interest free loan for almost 12K. That's $2,000.00 per month plus interest you deprived from you and your family.

You need to adjust your w-4 withholding so you can reap the benefit up front.

I know, I made adjustments this past year and I will be getting close to nothing. That is why I was saying it would be wise to pony up some cash and get a good CPA that can advise him/her on the best option.
 
I also got $11,700 back, but I have a wife who stays at home and two kids. I didn't do anything too special, other than reproduce, but for what it's worth, here's what I did:

- Moved far enough away to start 1st job that the move was tax deductible. Saved all gas, hotel, and toll road receipts, and receipt from renting the truck. This was a pretty big deduction - maybe $3000.

- Student loan interest is tax deductible up to $2500, so I made sure to pay that off in 2011. If you didn't do so, it's obviously too late now. (note that this deduction starts to go away if you make too much money, and if you work all through 2012 you will make too much money, so this is a one time thing).

That's it. Tuition was due too early at my school so I couldn't deduct it for 2011.

I've never itemized a deduction, because I've never had enough deductions to beat the standard exemption. This was true (barely) even when I had a $130,000 mortgage, and I think it will probably be true for most of you also unless you have a mortgage and you're paying a lot of interest on it. The good news, if this is true for you, is that it makes doing taxes way easier. It took me maybe 3 hours to do mine.
 
Subject to 2% agi floor. Which is at least $2000. These are not deductible in any sense of the word. You'd have to have all these misc deductions >$2000 and then only be able to deduct anything over that.

Doesn't hurt to keep the receipts, however.
 
Anybody have any recommendations with tax software? Turbotax vs taxcut vs h&r block.
 
Anybody have any recommendations with tax software? Turbotax vs taxcut vs h&r block.

I did taxcut last year. Was doing turbotax,but taxcut was cheaper. This year I went back to turbotax because taxcut wouldn't take out taxes on my 401k to Roth IRA conversion. I didn't need that headache. Cost me an extra $30 but I'll get in less trouble with the IRS that way. Plus, I'll get $15 back from Discover so overall not terrible.
 
I did taxcut last year. Was doing turbotax,but taxcut was cheaper. This year I went back to turbotax because taxcut wouldn't take out taxes on my 401k to Roth IRA conversion. I didn't need that headache. Cost me an extra $30 but I'll get in less trouble with the IRS that way. Plus, I'll get $15 back from Discover so overall not terrible.

Thanks. Imma have to give turbotax a try.
 
Subject to 2% agi floor. Which is at least $2000. These are not deductible in any sense of the word. You'd have to have all these misc deductions >$2000 and then only be able to deduct anything over that.

You haven't seen my coat. I bedazzled it. I look like Abraham Lincoln's gay brother........Gaybe Lincoln.
 
- Moved far enough away to start 1st job that the move was tax deductible. Saved all gas, hotel, and toll road receipts, and receipt from renting the truck. This was a pretty big deduction - maybe $3000.
.


Just wanted to clarify for folks that this isn't all true for example, you can't deduct the gas, you can deduct the miles which the IRS gives a rate for, there's a lower rate for the first half of the year compared to the last half due to gas price increases. I forget the hotel, there's rules like, it can't be for the night before you move, etc. But chances of getting audited is low, so I wouldn't sweat it...haha..

Try Taxact.com, do a search on fatwallet or slickdeals for the $11.90, it's includes efile for both fed and state. Turbotax and TaxCut charge extra for efile depending on which one you bought. For 4 years, I would to all 3 programs... yes I was neurotic just to see if they were the same and it's always the same, so I go with TaxAct now only because it's so much cheaper. For example, Turbotax has a free program and then if you have state they want $25 to efile, it's free if you paper file but still, efiling with TaxAct for $11.90 both state and federal is simple.
 
Just wanted to clarify for folks that this isn't all true for example, you can't deduct the gas, you can deduct the miles which the IRS gives a rate for, there's a lower rate for the first half of the year compared to the last half due to gas price increases. I forget the hotel, there's rules like, it can't be for the night before you move, etc. But chances of getting audited is low, so I wouldn't sweat it...haha..

Try Taxact.com, do a search on fatwallet or slickdeals for the $11.90, it's includes efile for both fed and state. Turbotax and TaxCut charge extra for efile depending on which one you bought. For 4 years, I would to all 3 programs... yes I was neurotic just to see if they were the same and it's always the same, so I go with TaxAct now only because it's so much cheaper. For example, Turbotax has a free program and then if you have state they want $25 to efile, it's free if you paper file but still, efiling with TaxAct for $11.90 both state and federal is simple.

I thought you could deduct gas or mileage, but not both?
 
Just use turbo tax, it's easy. You don't need tax person until you start getting more complicated(investments and such). If you just have one job and one mortgage then turbo tax is sufficient. Besides most tax guys just use a turbo tax program or something similar.
When you use TurboTax do you have to show proof of your moving and licensing expenses or how does that work?
 
When you use TurboTax do you have to show proof of your moving and licensing expenses or how does that work?

I don't think so but if they ever try to audit you, make sure you have the receipts/proof
 
So I just went over my taxes with a pharmacist friend who also happens to be a CPA and looks like I'll only be getting $2400 back. Even though I'm happy I'm getting something back I thought it would have been more than that. I don't even qualify for the lifetime education credit because my job gave me a sign-on bonus but disguised it as a scholarship for the spring term, so my scholarship for spring term was bigger than my tuition which disqualified me from getting that credit. That really sucks because it's a maximum $2000 credit that I've received in the past.

Someone mentioned to me something about deducting my tuition instead, does anyone know something about this?

Also is there anything else I can try to maximize my refund? I've already included donations, and travel/job expenses. ............wish I would have never paid $30000 this past year for my loans
 
Also is there anything else I can try to maximize my refund? I've already included donations, and travel/job expenses. ............wish I would have never paid $30000 this past year for my loans
Obviously not a CPA or official tax advisor by any means of the imagination.

I think it's too late now to really lower your tax liability. I think the same rule for lifetime learning credit applies for straight up tuition and fees discount wrt "tax free scholarships". You could take 5k and start a traditional IRA for 2011 tax year and deduct that, but realize that all it's really doing is offsetting your tax liability til you get old.

edit: do the traditional IRA thing if you're really hungry for a tax break; for actual retirement purposes a Roth IRA would be much better, plus this year would be the only year you could contribute due to income limits, but no tax deduction with a Roth.

For class of 2012:
I made sure to pay as much accrued interest on my student loans since the year you work 1/2 the year (eg after graduation/residency) will generally be the only year you make real money but make less than the cutoff for student loan interest deduction.

For class of 2013:
For your last semester, if you pay your tuition straight cash, pay it AFTER January 1st, so that your first tax year of working, you can get the lifetime learning credit. My school reported actual amount paid for tuition last year, not just what they billed, so I wanted to be certain that my payment would be eligible for tax credit. Some people might wig out because your registration gets blocked, late fees, etc, but IMHO assuming you pay 10k/semester, a 2k tax credit is worth more than a $100 late fee. Plus once you pay the school, blocks are easily removed obviously.
 
I just followed the instructions on the IRS tax form for moving: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3903.pdf

As the directions say, you can deduct either actual gas expense or mileage. Mileage is $.19/mile, so if your driving a car that gets much above 20 mpg, you should deduct mileage, but can you really fit all your stuff into a smallish car? I was driving a 24' truck which got ~10 mpg - definitely better off to save receipts.
 
Obviously not a CPA or official tax advisor by any means of the imagination.

I think it's too late now to really lower your tax liability. I think the same rule for lifetime learning credit applies for straight up tuition and fees discount wrt "tax free scholarships". You could take 5k and start a traditional IRA for 2011 tax year and deduct that, but realize that all it's really doing is offsetting your tax liability til you get old.

.


So I'm very confused. My tuition for 2011 was $4300 since this was my last year. My scholarships and loan covered this full amount, but then after I graduated my job directly gave my school a $5000 check in the form of a scholarship, so I'm not sure how to report this on my income tax. I don't want to report it as 'taxable scholarship' because I used it to pay off my loans. And there's no way I can report it as scholarships when I file online because the scholarship amount is greater than my tuition. I think what I should do is not report it at all.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you
 
I got 11,700. You should get a return. Pony up some cash and get a CPA to prepare you taxes.

Fire your CPA. You should never get a return that high...good lord.
 
For those of you who worked as a pharmacist for the entire year of 2011, did y'all get a refund or have to owe? I'm single, no kids or mortgage and I owe $1,685 in federal taxes.
 
For those of you who worked as a pharmacist for the entire year of 2011, did y'all get a refund or have to owe? I'm single, no kids or mortgage and I owe $1,685 in federal taxes.

You should adjust your W-4 so you end up even. I owed, but <$400. You want to get in the sweet spot of owing/refunding $0 +/-$500.
 
You should adjust your W-4 so you end up even. I owed, but <$400. You want to get in the sweet spot of owing/refunding $0 +/-$500.

Does that happen when you allow them to take more out of your paycheck on the front end?
 
You should adjust your W-4 so you end up even. I owed, but <$400. You want to get in the sweet spot of owing/refunding $0 +/-$500.

What did you put as your withholding allowance? Mine was 1.
 
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