Ah, first work day back. Actually… I got back Friday and had to play catch up so I worked on Saturday and Sunday for a few hours. For those of you who don’t know I went to the Dominican Republic from the 13th to the 20th.
In honor of the laid back lifestyle I have just left I decided to take my first two days back pretty easy.
I also just left an all-inclusive resort so I wanted to give you two posts to start this week off that are all-inclusive in their own ways.
Tax Series
My last post for the tax series finished posting a few days before I left for the DR. Now that all three posts are done, I wanted to take the time to wrap them all together with one "go to" post.
I will most likely link this post as a reference for any recent graduates or generally confused people that need to figure out their taxes from filling out the w-4 to figuring out taxable income to actually filing.
Post #1 of 3: How to Fill Out A W-4 For A Recent Graduate
I hope this helps you fill out your w-4 for any recent or upcoming graduates. Proper tax planning allows for more accurate and effective budgeting practices and investment opportunities. With that being said, I offer recommendations for how many exemptions to put down to optimize how much money the government takes from you.
I also explain what the Part-Year method is and offer links to documentation walking you through how to apply. This will wind up saving you some tax money if you qualify!
Post #2 of 3: How to Figure Out Taxable Income for a Recent Graduate
A walk-through of how to figure out taxable income (which is totally different than your actual income!). I go through what tax advantages are and why they exist, stock and mutual fund holdings, deductions and exemptions, special deductions for recent graduates, and how to calculate tax brackets based on income.
Post #3 of 3: How to File Your Taxes for a Recent Graduate
This post will go over 3 of the viable solutions for filing taxes. Two if them involve doing them yourself, either on paper or e-filing, and one of them involves using a professional.
Did you know e-filers who use direct deposit get their refund twice as quick? Do you know the other advantages and disadvantages of all the methods?
Missing Anything?
I hope all of this information helps at least one of you out there in figuring out your tax situation. Do you think I should add some information that isn’t included? Let me know!
Recommended
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I'm MLR. After graduating from college debt free, I decided to write a blog encouraging people to adapt responsible and sensible personal finance rules.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:10 am |
Hey man welcome back! Btw where did you stay in the DR? I was in Puerto Plata in Feb and have been to Punta Cana.
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March 24th, 2009 at 9:26 pm |
@Studenomics–
I went to Juan Dolio, the resort town right outside Santo Domingo.
There were lots of Canadians there :p
Which of those two did you like better?
Juan Dolio was very relaxed and I wanted to see Santo Domingo but next vacation I might want a little more of a FUN atmosphere!
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March 30th, 2009 at 11:22 pm |
This is super helpful! The excitement most undergrads and recent grads feel toward filing taxes is matched only by their enthusiasm for touring the city dump. I think a lot of people don’t realize that learning the ins and outs can be a huge moneysaver (Can you say refund?).
And who knows, you could use that extra money to do something fun — like maybe tour the city dump.
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April 2nd, 2009 at 12:47 pm |
Very nice; a good directory to some interesting blog entries. Thanks for this.
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