{"id":143,"date":"2010-04-13T01:59:25","date_gmt":"2010-04-13T01:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\/mainsite\/?p=143"},"modified":"2025-08-24T06:39:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T10:39:17","slug":"taxes-refunds-and-rebates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\/mainsite\/index.php\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxes: Refunds and Rebates"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the most wonderful time of the year\u2026oh wait, its tax time not Christmas.\u00a0 Taxes, again!\u00a0 Some of us will spend hours getting papers together, completing our forms and submitting the paperwork to the IRS.\u00a0 Others, those who are more organized, are getting things readied and off to the \u201ctax preparer\u201d.\u00a0 All of us, in some way or another, are affected by taxes.<\/p>\n

It is not the most pleasant thing to discuss, but we all are faced with paying our fair share.\u00a0 Regardless of what our fair share might be, we just do not like the idea of our money being given to the government.\u00a0 We support our government and want the government to function – we just wish they did not take our money!<\/p>\n

I have always wondered what our real thoughts on taxes might be if we actually had to pay them instead of having them deducted (for most people) from our paychecks.\u00a0 Small business owners know exactly what I mean.<\/p>\n

Many people I meet have no idea how to manage their payroll deduction amounts.\u00a0 Regularly I meet with people who are getting several thousand dollars back each year and are using their credit cards to put food on the table or struggling to make their rent or mortgage payment.\u00a0 Additionally, the money they are getting back is money that the government has \u201cborrowed\u201d for the last year and not paying any interest on.\u00a0 When I question them about their IRS refund many are amazed that you can manage the payroll deduction and subsequent refund.<\/p>\n

My goal is to always stay within $500 of the zero mark.\u00a0 In other words, I do not want to owe them any more than $500 and I do not want to get back more than $500.<\/p>\n

If you are one who is getting a big refund, or maybe you are paying a big amount, use the IRS W4 Estimator tool to determine what the correct number of exemptions should be for your withholding.\u00a0 At this website (http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/individuals\/page\/0,,id=14806,00.html<\/a> ), you will answer several questions that will give you the answer you need for your W4.\u00a0 If you are married and filing jointly, a correct exemption number will be given for each paycheck.\u00a0 Get a new W4 from your employer and update it with the new number.<\/p>\n

When you start bringing home more money, make sure that you save some in the event you owe a little next year when you file your taxes!!<\/p>\n

Finally, what are you going to do with your tax rebate check?\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s right \u2013 the IRS is sending you a check this spring so you can \u201chelp\u201d the economy.\u00a0 If you are married filing jointly you can expect a check for $1200 and $300 for each additional child.\u00a0 Singles can expect $300 – $600.\u00a0 Oh, by the way, you must file your 2007 taxes to be eligible for the rebate.<\/p>\n

What are you doing with yours?\u00a0 Can I suggest paying yourself?\u00a0 You read it right – finish off that emergency fund or add it to your debt snowball.\u00a0 What a great idea!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the most wonderful time of the year\u2026oh wait, its tax time not Christmas.\u00a0 Taxes, again!\u00a0 Some of us will spend hours getting papers together, completing our forms and submitting the paperwork to the IRS.\u00a0 Others, those who are more organized, are getting things readied and off to the \u201ctax preparer\u201d.\u00a0 All of us, in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-taxes"],"yoast_head":"\nTaxes: Refunds and Rebates - Financial Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\/mainsite\/index.php\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taxes: Refunds and Rebates - Financial Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s the most wonderful time of the year\u2026oh wait, its tax time not Christmas.\u00a0 Taxes, again!\u00a0 Some of us will spend hours getting papers together, completing our forms and submitting the paperwork to the IRS.\u00a0 Others, those who are more organized, are getting things readied and off to the \u201ctax preparer\u201d.\u00a0 All of us, in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\/mainsite\/index.php\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Financial Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/financialfocus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-04-13T01:59:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-24T10:39:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Parkey Thompson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Parkey Thompson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/index.php\\\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/index.php\\\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Parkey Thompson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5dc1a9b7d2ae31d9322fcfdace3c93e4\"},\"headline\":\"Taxes: Refunds and Rebates\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-04-13T01:59:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-24T10:39:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/index.php\\\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":518,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Taxes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/index.php\\\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.myfinancialfocus.net\\\/mainsite\\\/index.php\\\/taxes-refunds-and-rebates\\\/\",\"name\":\"Taxes: Refunds and Rebates - 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