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We got a decent refund last year. This year? We owe around $1300 federal. The changes to standard deduction aside, what hit us was under-withholding from my wife’s part time job. But our total tax liability is down from last year. Our state refund will cover most of it.
Would I rather have a big refund or more take-home each paycheck? It’s nice to get a spring boost around my birthday, but it’s easier to budget around paychecks than refunds.
Sigh… I am one of the few with a small income (around $30k) who actually has to pay more this year. My itemized deductions (charitable donations, medical, property taxes, home equity loan interest) are around $9,000 each year, and I used to have a $4050 personal exemption on top of that, for a total of $13,050 in deductions. But now the personal exemption is gone, and the interest on my home equity line is no longer deductible (even though it was spent on home improvements) so I only have the $12,000 standard deduction. That’s a difference of $1,050 on which taxes are due that weren’t before. Granted, it’s only about $150, but it is more.