Tax Refund Questions.

[XxRaVeNxX]

Figure the most credit savy people, know the most about taxes. And probably 30 days jumping the gun, but it's on the tip of my mind.

And I fall in the category that technially doesn't pay taxes, since I make about 36K, but am able to claim my fiance(who didn't work this year due to school) and her son.

1. What should I do? If I receive, say about 4-5k in a refund? Should I pay down/off my credit card debt or re-invest it in my Roth IRA or a Vanguard VTA? (Investment Property even crossed my mind)

  A. I recently opened a Roth IRA, so I'll see how this affects my taxes

2. Looking at deductions, looking at donating some things to Goodwill, does this deduction even help me, even if I'm gonna get a refund? Or do these donations/deductions only help with people who don't get refunds and owe the IRS?

Any opinions is greatly Appreciated....Young and Learning as I go...

[Imua]

i would vote to pay down/off your cc debt

[IOBA]

A ROTH IRA does will not affect your tax refund now....the best part of the ROTH IRA is that when you withdraw the money down the road - it's tax free!   You won't have to pay taxes on any of it, not even the interest you earn!   The money that goes into a ROTH IRA is post tax money.

A TRADITIONAL IRA will reduce your taxable income some.   The downside is that when you withdraw any of it down the road (to include interest earned), you will have to pay taxes on ALL of it.  The money that goes into a TRADITIONAL IRA is pre tax money.

If you have debt - pay it down and don't go back into debt.

[IOBA]

PS - donating things to charity shouldn't be based on if or how much of a tax deduction you might receive for the action.  Donate becuase you no longer need the items.   Donations don't make that much of a difference on the tax refunds.

[XxRaVeNxX]

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@IOBA wrote:

PS - donating things to charity shouldn't be based on if or how much of a tax deduction you might receive for the action.  Donate becuase you no longer need the items.   Donations don't make that much of a difference on the tax refunds.

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Looking for a financial lesson not a morality lesson...I also sell things on craigslist cause I no longer need them...How exactly do these goodwill deductions affect my taxes is my question...

[rootpooty]

You should focus more on your school loan rather how much your going to get back.  If you defaulted on a federal loan they are going to intercept your return

[XxRaVeNxX]

I defaulted on that four years...It's not likely they are going to intercept this year...I got my refund for the past four, thanks for hijacking my thread and deviating from the topic at hand...

[rootpooty]

Well simply hiding from the situation is helping it.  Its a federal loan they will come get you sooner or later.  Its also better to pay it when you have the money rather than they make you pay it when you dont.  

And ill tell you first hand from experience they will go after your nfcu account and freeze it.  Then levy your checking and savings.  Then nfcu will charge you a fee for this.  It took them a little over 3 yrs to find me but luckily I had the money to pay for it.

If you call them you can get it under rehab and make payments for as little as 50 a month and with that they cant take action against you.  Once they take action there is no stopping them

[XxRaVeNxX]

Whose hiding? Also, I created a thread related to school loans, feel free to post on that, instead of trolling on this one...

[llecs]

OP, relax. Everything's cool. IOBA wasn't giving a morality lesson, the he/she gave a solid hint as to what donations can or cannot do. It also depends on whether you file itemized and the total amount of those itemized deductions in relation to your income. As mentioned, tossing money into the Roth won't have any taxable effect.

The PP wasn't trolling either. He/she gave a great tidbit of advice. I know if someone saw something within my posts that could save me thousands, I'd much appreciate the head's up.