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Tax Return Megathread 2022

An update to the 2020 Tax Return Megathread

Share tax tips here. More advice

You have until April 18 to complete your taxes. (Normally it's April 15, but this year it's April 18) You can start filing on 24 January.

  1. Login to MyPay.

  2. Click on Tax Statement (W-2) on the left, then choose the year 2021 from the drop-down menu. Print it if you wish, or make a PDF and save it with your important documents. You'll use the numbers from this document to put into tax return software and file your return.

  3. Use tax return software to file your taxes by inputting the info from your W-2.

    1. Military One Source offers access to H&R Block's online system. I personally use and recommend this one because it is the most advanced free option I've ever found. They even let you do Schedule C, business income, and will walk you through a lot of complicated tax situations that go far beyond your regular military pay. Also free use of tax advisers.

    2. TurboTax - Free for enlisted only, for basic returns. Anything more complicated has extra fees. Owned by Intuit, a company that has spent millions of dollars lobbying to make taxes more complicated so that people have to pay them to get them done. (other companies likely do this as well)

    3. TaxAct- Free for military income less than $73,000. $40 for state returns.

    4. TaxSlayer - Free federal and state filing.

    5. Cash App Taxes - Used to be Credit Karma Taxes which was owned by Intuit, but now bought by Cash App. Supposedly 100% free, unknown if there are any catches.

    6. FreeTaxUSA Free federal and state for active military under $73,000.

    7. FileYourTaxes.com - Free for active military under $73,000, $35 for some state returns.

    8. IRS- If you earned less than $72,000 (not including BAH or BAS) then you can file free directly with the IRS.

  4. Follow the steps in the tax software you chose. Most are very modern and friendly and can answer most of your questions and fix most situations. Sign and file your return at the end.

  5. Depending on how much you were withholding in taxes from your paychecks over the last year, you may get a big return, or you may get nothing back, or even owe money.

There are some tax benefits for military members, but for most people your taxes really won't be very different from a civilian's. Deploying to a combat zone will have the largest affect on your taxes since your pay won't be taxed.

If you have a huge return, you may want to adjust your withholding. If you're getting a huge tax return, it means that the government is taking a lot of money out of your paycheck every month and earning interest on it that you could keep and earn interest on or invest instead.

To adjust yours, you can use the IRS' Tax Withholding Estimator. Then login to MyPay and click on Federal Withholding on the left, and adjust the amount that the estimator told you to use: https://i.imgur.com/CVq1xVU.png

Some people may enjoy the large tax return, and look at it as a kind of government enforced savings program. Though, keep in mind you're earning no interest on the money held by the government. However, some people would never be able to save the money on their own so it may be helpful.

Most military tax returns will be very simple. Just plugin the numbers from the W-2 and it'll walk you through some other questions. Things get more complicated if you're married/have kids/have multiple homes that you rent out/have investment income/have side-income/paid for school tuition out of your own pocket, etc. Most of the online tools listed above will walk you through most situations you can face though.

Many bases will also have H&R Block offices setup temporarily in the BX or elsewhere. This is another option, though it'll sometimes cost you money and all they're doing is typing your numbers into their web site for you.

There is also the VITA program, which is where military members or civilians on bases are trained by the IRS to help you file your taxes. However, they are also pretty much just typing numbers in for you and I think a lot of places got rid of this program.

If you have a lot of weird tax issues with small business income, investments, rentals, etc, it may be wise to find a Certified Public Accountant to help you file your taxes so that you don't face later fines or penalties because you did it incorrectly.

Share any other tips or questions you have about tax returns here. Also checkout r/militaryfinance for other tax info and questions/answers.