| They say there are only 2 things that are certain in life: | | | | on the 2009 tax tables below. |
| death and taxes. The funny thing is many people have | | | | When you are looking at the 2009 Federal Tax |
| the same feelings about both of them. I can't do much | | | | Tables, you need to apply your income to each range. |
| to help you get over a fear of dying, but I can certainly | | | | This is good for you because you don't want all your |
| take a little bit of the fear out of doing your taxes and | | | | income taxed at the highest rate. Let's go over an |
| give you a simple overview of the 2009 Federal Tax | | | | example. Assume you are a single filer and your |
| Tables. | | | | taxable income is $30,000 after you subtracted all your |
| Calculating your taxes really isn't that difficult. The form | | | | deductions. The first part of your tax is 10% on the |
| may look complex, but it really is only adding up your | | | | first $8,350. This is 8,350 * 10% = 835. The second part |
| income then subtracting legal deductions. You then look | | | | of your tax is 15% on the amount you made from |
| up how much tax you owe on the 2009 federal tax | | | | $8,350 up to your total income of $30,000. This is |
| tables included in the instruction booklet. After that you | | | | (30,000 - 8,350) * 15% = 3,247.50. This means your |
| add on some tax credits (hopefully you have a lot) and | | | | total tax is 3,247.50 + 835 = $4,082.50. Hopefully, you |
| penalties (hopefully you don't have any) and you are | | | | paid more taxes than this and will get a big refund! |
| done. | | | | Now this is only an estimate and you still need to |
| If you want to see where you stand quickly, you can | | | | actually do your taxes, but if you know what to |
| do a tax estimate in just a few minutes. First gather up | | | | expect, it goes a lot easier. You may also catch a |
| all your income statements like the W2 forms your | | | | mistake if your estimate is way off the mark with your |
| employer sent you and other income like interest from | | | | actual return. I actually caught a mistake where a zero |
| your bank account or investments. Next subtract your | | | | was left out by my tax guy on a deduction so a |
| legal deductions like mortgage interest, property taxes, | | | | $4,500 deduction got entered as a $450 deduction |
| and the standard deductions you get for members of | | | | which was difference of about $1000 in tax money. |
| your household. Subtract the deductions from your | | | | Without doing an estimate ahead of time, I may have |
| income then figure out how much tax you owe based | | | | never caught this mistake. |