Tax Return Question (refund, deduction, taxable, credit)

[AVaccaro35]

I was wondering if anybody could help me out as I try to figure out what my tax return situation will look like in the spring.

I am a dependent.
By the end of the year, I will have probably made somewhere around ten thousand.
I did not claim exempt.

I've never made this much in a year, I don't think, so I'm becoming pretty worried that I won't see a tax return (and may have to pay some money?). I've tried to get it straight on some websites but am having trouble figuring it out. Based on this info, does anybody have any information on what I can expect in the spring? I was really counting on a big return as I have a semester abroad coming up.

[foma]

you can go to irs.gov and figure out what the standard deduction is for next year. your parents will be able to claim your exemption since you are their dependent. there are two amounts you can take "off" of your income which makes your taxable income less and they are the exemption amount and a standard deduction amount.

what matters also is how much did your company take out in taxes. that will determine how much taxes you've already paid. basically, you've been paying the govt taxes when your employer takes taxes out of your payroll (you will find this number on your w-4 which will be distributed in jan 2009 or you can see the "year-to-date" amount taken for taxes on your paycheck stub and estimate).

that's probabaly sounds confusing so let me give you "ball park" directions for $10,000 gross income (how much you made in total):

Gross Income - Standard Deduction = Taxable income

10,000 - 5350 = 4,650

The $5,350 amount is for 2007. 2008 deduction will be a different number, probably higher. The $4,650 amount is your tax base. That's the amount you have to pay taxes on. You essentially get to reduce your gross amount (10,000) by $5350 so you are only going to pay taxes on the $4650 of the $10,000 that you made.

If you go to Irs.gov, you can find publication 17 which tells you how much you should've paid in taxes for $4,650 taxable income. The 2007 amount was: $468. Here's the next math you gotta do:

Taxes you should've paid - taxes you did pay = tax refund/liability

You can estimate how much your employer took out in taxes by the method i mentioned earlier. If your employer took out (or will take out) more than $468, then you will get a refund. If your employer took out (or will take out) less than $468, then you will owe. Again, these are 2007 figures so for 2008 these numbers wil be different!

I'm assuming here that your return will be relatively simple and the only constraint is that u r a dependent so your parents are claiming your exemption. You have no other sources of income such as investments or whatever nor do you take any other exemptions or credits.

[AVaccaro35]

Thank you very much. I had heard something along the lines that because I made more than 6 grand, I would actually not get a return, which would have been terribly unfortunate given that I was counting on a return to help add to the finances I had already made pretty large by working so much. It would have essentially been a cold twist of irony if that were the case.

Thanks again!

[foma]

As long as you pay taxes, you should always file a return. The reason: to get the taxes that you paid back. Your employer is required to take taxes out of your paycheck. If you made so little money that you didn't have to pay taxes, then you should file a return to get the taxes that your employer paid on your behalf back from the government. Remember, that "6 grand" you are referring to (not an accurate amount by the way ... for 2007 it was the $5350 + exemption amount which I do not know off the top of my head) will be different every year because exemptions and deductions change every year.