Cadet Turbo Tax Question.

MN-Dad-2016

5-Year Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2012
Messages
597
Hello All. I was "plugging and chugging" my sons info into turbo tax today. The program came up with results that I don't agree with.

Here is a summary:

Turbo Tax is said he will have a federal "Alternative Minimum Tax" (paying in) to the tune of $1960.:eek: I thought the AMT is for ubber high income earners?

Background:
2012 Wages: USAFA $6040, College Tutoring $1500. Total federal withheld $360 for both.

How can this be?


Next question:
I was going to scrap Turbo Tax and simply use the good old fashion http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040ez.pdf . But I don't understand where I claim him for 6 months? We are filling an extension. Normally I'd simply have my accountant do this but we are not going into our appointment until after April 15th. I figured it would be super simple. Not for me anyways....

Thanks! :)
 
That's not right.

Active duty military (including cadets) can use the turbo tax freedom edition for free at http://info1.turbotax.com/r/c/r?2.1...tbz0xJm1wMzEyNjY9OTc1Jm1wMzEyMjY9MDAxBODEJVK0. We get our W2 off of MyPay.dfas.mil.

I'd try it again. When I did my taxes this year, turbo tax took the standard deduction (USAFA doesn't qualify for any of the education deductions) and I got about $350 back from both the federal and MN returns.
 
If your DS is a C4C, he reported 6/28/12. So technically, the gov has provided for him more than half the year.
Up to you if you still want to claim him as dependent.
DS used turbotax and input W-2 in 15 min fed and state for free.
 
Thanks for the info on Turbo-Tax Freedom Edition

That's not right.

Active duty military (including cadets) can use the turbo tax freedom edition for free at http://info1.turbotax.com/r/c/r?2.1...tbz0xJm1wMzEyNjY9OTc1Jm1wMzEyMjY9MDAxBODEJVK0. We get our W2 off of MyPay.dfas.mil.

I'd try it again. When I did my taxes this year, turbo tax took the standard deduction (USAFA doesn't qualify for any of the education deductions) and I got about $350 back from both the federal and MN returns.

_____________________________________________

Thanks for posting this information. I helped my C4C to file his return by using this simple software- which is free for cadets. He got a full refund -both federal $302 and state ($13). My only question is "Do the cadets have to file a state return for Colorado as well as their home state?"
Thanks for the information.
 
Only their home state.
It was shown to me by a previous thread that to avail of free turbotax, cadet's paygrade should be E-5.
 
Only their home state.
It was shown to me by a previous thread that to avail of free turbotax, cadet's paygrade should be E-5.

Thanks. I did link off of the same URL as Blackbird. But the program didn't ask me his paygrade. That said, it was still "free" for federal so I just 'plugged and chugged". I did check that he was "active duty". Was that correct? I will re-try FalconGirl's link.

I re-looked at the old overview and everything was entered correctly. It still continues to say he owes $1960.

One more question.... I know I can only claim him for 6 months (he is a C4C). So far, I was filling out the EZ form as if he was not a dependant. How does the government know this on on his 1040EZ form versus my tax forms? Do I tell my accountant to simply claim him for 6 months while I fill out his forms as if he was on his own for the whole 2012?
 
I helped DS fill his own 1040 and he got a refund for both fed and state.
Your numbers don't make sense. Try again without importing any info from previous try. Paygrade must be E-5 for turbotax to not charge fee.
BTW, DS did not work at all before I-day. Does yours have other income besides the pay from USAFA?
 
Turbo Tax Freedom Free does hook you a bit. You can't print off your returns information. My wife used it last year, and we were hoping to have the information for our accountant this year (we figured two moves, two job changes and marriage was just a little too scary at filing time this year).
 
Good info. Thanks!

About half of my office is CPAs, just not the tax kind, so they've had some good advice. I guess I was surprised by how many CPAs like Turbo Tax. I've always used it. We just had too much to consider this year to not trust it with an accountant.
 
Good info. Thanks!

About half of my office is CPAs, just not the tax kind, so they've had some good advice. I guess I was surprised by how many CPAs like Turbo Tax. I've always used it. We just had too much to consider this year to not trust it with an accountant.

Once you see your accountants return, you can copy and paste each new years income and interest numbers for many more years to come. I transitioned to hiring it done for many years now. Now I have a business, vacation rental units, home sales etc, it was too much for my pay grade. :)
 
I helped DS fill his own 1040 and he got a refund for both fed and state.
Your numbers don't make sense. Try again without importing any info from previous try. Paygrade must be E-5 for turbotax to not charge fee.
BTW, DS did not work at all before I-day. Does yours have other income besides the pay from USAFA?

He had a tutoring job at the college (only $13xx of income). That said, how did you go about claiming 6 months as a C4C? Did that happen on your side of the taxes? Putting it another way does it show up on his return or yours (or both)?
 
He had a tutoring job at the college (only $13xx of income). That said, how did you go about claiming 6 months as a C4C? Did that happen on your side of the taxes? Putting it another way does it show up on his return or yours (or both)?

I think your choices are he claims himself or you claim him. I don't believe it can be pro-rated to only claim 1/2 of the year.
 
I think your choices are he claims himself or you claim him. I don't believe it can be pro-rated to only claim 1/2 of the year.

+1 Packer. One either provided more than half the support for a year, or they didn't. There is no claiming for 6 months. The date they report doesn't matter either, as I recall, as its determined by dollar amount... not calendar time.
 
I'm a Tax accountant and don't want to offer too much advice as each individual could potentially have different tax scenarios. However, you cannot split the dependency exemption. Either you claim him or he claims himself their first year. You have to provide over half their support for the year in order to claim him/her. The AMT tax amount is definitely incorrect.
 
I'm a Tax accountant and don't want to offer too much advice as each individual could potentially have different tax scenarios. However, you cannot split the dependency exemption. Either you claim him or he claims himself their first year. You have to provide over half their support for the year in order to claim him/her. The AMT tax amount is definitely incorrect.

This makes sense to me (not splitting the exemptions). But I translated other threads talking about "rarely can you claim your C4C the entire year" to mean a 6 month split. My bad.

I'm guessing it's advantageous for parents to use their standard child deduction for the entire year over-and-above the cadets because they are in different tax brackets. Correct? Additionally, if I claim my cadet he will get less of a return and I will presumably get more of a return. Am I on the right path?

Thanks! :)
 
This makes sense to me (not splitting the exemptions). But I translated other threads talking about "rarely can you claim your C4C the entire year" to mean a 6 month split. My bad.

I'm guessing it's advantageous for parents to use their standard child deduction for the entire year over-and-above the cadets because they are in different tax brackets. Correct? Additionally, if I claim my cadet he will get less of a return and I will presumably get more of a return. Am I on the right path?

Thanks! :)

I think yes for this year. Next year is at least questionable since you'll be providing little or no support and should not be able to claim him as a dependent in my estimation.
 
I figured out my problem. I'm being redundant to help others in the years to come. :)

When you link http://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/military-edition.jsp it asks for an email address to send off your personal information. If you then click on the link in the EMAIL to get started, it won't ask all of the military questions nor give you the promo discount.

The correct approach is to go back to the original link where you put in the email information and click "get started" at THAT location. It worked. Free state, free federal, free state electronic filing, etc. A total of $400 return.:thumb:
 
The correct approach is to go back to the original link where you put in the email information and click "get started" at THAT location. It worked. Free state, free federal, free state electronic filing, etc. A total of $400 return.:thumb:

Congrats Dad! :thumb: $400 return is better than paying $2000.

Plug n chug.
 
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