Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

My Wife and I just purchased a home, and the interest paid is well over 12,000 dollars. I%26#039;ve heard people talk (seemingly now, crap) about this huge refund........where is ours? We%26#039;ve paid a ton of interest last year that is all deductable. i.e; school loans, second mort., disaster stuff, prop. taxes. We are in the 25% bracket and file mar-jointly. I just don%26#039;t feel like the return has been worth it. We are only getting back roughly 800 dollars more than last year when we didn%26#039;t own. It really sucks!

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

The refund is only a reflection of the taxes withheld. The less they withhold the less you get back.. I ideal situation is when you pay the tax man less than $100 when you file. That means you got your money during the year, paid your share of taxes and didn%26#039;t give Uncle Sam an interest free loan. If you want a big tax refund increase you withholding, pay thousands of dollars in taxes during the year, let Uncle Sam use your money for free and come next year you%26#039;ll get a huge refund of YOUR money that you did not use or collect interest on. As I wrote earlier, the best thing to do is to calculate you tax withholding so you pay Sam less than $100 when you file next year. Also stay away from tax CDs like Turbo Tax. See an experienced accountant, they know how maximize the numbers to maximize your return. They know where to fudge the numbers and where not to.

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

welcome to the world of homeownership...why folks think a house makes such a huge difference is beyond me...personally any year i do not owe i%26#039;m glad,even if i got $10 back

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

probably didn%26#039;t withhold enough - change your W-4 for 2007 (don%26#039;t forget the state one too.)

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

Quit complaining. 800 bucks is 800 bucks.

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

you should always try to get zero back on your taxes

why let the govt use your money interest free for a whole year?

you want money back? open up a christmas club account!

that%26#039;ll pay you interest but uncle sugar wont

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

When you purchased your house, did you reduce your tax withholding to account for the extra deductions and thus increased your take home to help cover the mortgage payment? If you did, this is why your refund is still so low. When I purchased my house, I changed my withholding to account for the new deductions. While my refund from year to year roughly remained the same, my take home increased by over $1,000 a month.

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

12000 is part of your itemized deductions. Which also includes and property taxes(on house and vehicles), charitable contributions, state income or sales tax, miscelaneous other deductions. This total amount replacing your standard deduction option which is 10300 in 2006. So if you are just looking at home interest you are only getting a benefit of 1700 deduction x 25% =425 less in taxes owed.

Even after a huge home purchase, why is my tax refund SOOOOO sad?

Yeah, really love this question/issue. Everybody has friends who gloat about how they are going to get back so much money for their refund. I laugh, because that%26#039;s just it... to be getting money BACK means they%26#039;ve already overpaid. So without knowing your specific info it%26#039;s impossible to say whether you should sweat the smaller refund.