No refund for singles with no children?

December 6th, 2008
fred f asked:


I am single, have no children and made $70,000 in 2007. I started to do my taxes with Turbotax and it looks like I will end up owing. Does that sound normal or am I missing something?

6 Responses to “No refund for singles with no children?”

  1. robert w Says:
    December 6th, 2008 at 8:31 pm

    yes if not enough taken out.

  2. beonered Says:
    December 8th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    Do you own a home, did you pay on a student loan, did you take any classes? Did you look for a job, have any un-reimbursed employee expenses? You are missing a lot. believe me it will look like you own until you do the deductions and credits. Don’t panic just keep going.

  3. Tim W Says:
    December 12th, 2008 at 3:36 am

    BETTER ASK AN IRS AGENT TO LOOK AT IT OR ELSE YOU WILL PAY MORE WHEN THEY CHARGE YOU INTEREST

  4. anshinault Says:
    December 12th, 2008 at 11:20 am

    If you entered in what was with held from your paycheck during the year (W2 section) then you owe it. Try seeing if you missed some deductions:

    Charitable Donations - need receipts generally if it is over a certain amount
    Taxes - property, sales tax, etc.
    School loan interest payments during the year
    School expenses
    Mortgage Interest
    Job Search expenses
    Job expenses - check for qualifying for this one.
    etc.
    Loss - robbery, theft, accident?

    If you were a 1099 employee there may have been no withholding at all from your “paycheck”. In that case, you would need to find losses, travel expenses, etc.

  5. TzodEarf Says:
    December 15th, 2008 at 12:33 am

    You better hit the books and come up with a sound strategy. Singles without children are always penalized by the tax system. I conclude it’s because no new future taxpayers have been produced. It really doesn’t matter how much money you’ve made either. What’s sad is that people on welfare with kids often get money back at the end of the year.

    Earf!

  6. Judy Says:
    December 17th, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    I’m not sure you understand just what a refund is. Through the year you might have money withheld from your paycheck for federal income tax. At the end of the year, you prepare a form called a tax return to calculate how much tax you owe total for the year, and compare that to what was withheld. If you had more withheld than your total tax, you get the extra back as a refund. If you didn’t have enough withheld, you have to pay the rest rather than getting a refund.

    A refund isn’t some sort of bonus the government gives you for working. It’s like if you went to WalMart and bought $16 worth of items, but gave the cashier a $20 bill. You’d get a “refund” of $4, but it’s not them giving you something, it’s just getting your own money back.