This is what it sounds like in my friend Sam's-whose real name is Arlene-- cubicle at H&RBlock:
Me: Hey, Sam! I have a ton of medical this year and made my quarterlies on the spousal support, so I'm hoping for at
least a little refund this year.
Sam: The good news is (ex) is letting you take the mortgage interest deduction since you do pay the mortgage on the
house. The bad news is you don't get to take any of the kids as dependents, so this is how much you owe.
Me: But, Sam, I lost a body part (thyroid).
Sam: I'm sorry. You worked enough to qualify for the 25% bracket, and the quarterlies were based on the 15%
bracket. The brackets go 10%, 15%, and then right to 25%.
So, boys and girls, remember that you have to spend over 7% of your gross income to get a medical deduction. Which I did, but not by much. And Sam gave me the upcoming tax credit list, which I don't have right here; nothing that most of us will qualify for next year.
I have a couple of choices:
1. Convince my ex to not take the spousal support as a deduction so I don't have to pay the taxes. Ha.
2. Work less (and then not pay my bills).
3. Double up the quarterly payments and not buy the car I was hoping to get to replace the '93 Dodge 350 van(seats
15 and has 217,501 miles) that is my everyday vehicle, work the same schedule, and pay the bills.
Sigh. Going with #3.
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