This may apply to other ways but I can confirm it is at least true for turbotax. I assume many of you use turbotax as well. I just recently did my taxes. Yeah, I know, I'm early...ai't got time to procrastinate anyway upon completion you can elect to receive your federal refund in the form of an amazon giftcard. By doing so they will add 5% to your refund. For those expecting a decent return this could be quite a big deal. A free tower bridge....or 2.

 

Now, can someone here who is less tired and better at math than me do the math equation to see if this is worth it for those of us who use the amazon rewards credit card. Please and Thank You. Is it better to get the  3 percent back on a dollar or take the gitcard.

 

Take the gift card and sell for near par value?  Interesting promotion, thanks for sharing.

Mine has a 10% bonus. I'd rather have the cash.

10 percent? did you use something other than turbo or im assuming your return is either way bigger or way smaller then mine,,,,depending on the logic they use.

If you're doing it right, you're not getting much of a return at all, so who cares about 5%. 

What do you mean if I'm doing it right? If you do it right you should get a nice return.

I think they mean you should have less taxes taken out of your pay throughout the year so your refund will be close to zero. If you get any refund at all you are giving your state or fed govt an interest free loan on that amount for the year. With interest rates anemic I couldn't care less and enjoy the big check in Feb. I use turbotax but will be taking cash over an amazon gc.

gotcha makes. sense. yeah I have them take minimal out through the year but still got back some. under a grand. some people (not me)have kids and such that I know you get a lot back for. I agree. I don't understand why people get excited about getting THERE OWN MONEY BACK. hey government thanks or returning the money you stole from me. did I mention I am a libertarian.

Yep.  I always try to aim for +/- $100.  Why give the government a free loan?

Yeah man, wasn't meaning to offend.  More money in your pocket today means more to spend on Legos and really make something with it rather than let the government waste it.

My wife and I get 10k back, but that would only work out to be a 500.00 gift card, if we put the whole thing on the gift card.  I could see doing it, if there was something I could flip quickly and come out 500.00 ahead, but it seems like that would be  al ot work when we could just put the cash into a 3% CD or pay down our 4% mortgage and not do any work at all.  Now, if my local liquor store had that deal....

It's all good bro, no offense taken.  You're not the only person that feels that way.

No offense taken. Was just trying to clarify. And 10k!!! who are you Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with fifty kids!?!?!

My wife and I get 10k back, but that would only work out to be a 500.00 gift card, if we put the whole thing on the gift card. I could see doing it, if there was something I could flip quickly and come out 500.00 ahead, but it seems like that would be al ot work when we could just put the cash into a 3% CD or pay down our 4% mortgage and not do any work at all. Now, if my local liquor store had that deal....

Where are you finding a cd at 3%?

Where are you finding a cd at 3%?

You can do a comparison for almost every US bank, but the last year, I did 3% CDs through Discover Bank.  Not sure where the best rate is now.

 

Edit.  Damn, Discover is less than 2% now.  I guess rates have dropped a lot since last year.  

No offense taken. Was just trying to clarify. And 10k!!! who are you Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with fifty kids!?!?!

Only 2 kids, but I have been in graduate school for 3 different masters over the years, and that's a lot of deductions. As a teacher, I get a lot back for various things.  

I saw this same deal when I signed up for Amazon Prime ($70 and change a year). I believe with the Prime account you get Turbo Tax for $10 less and get 10% back instead of the 5% on the gift card. If you use Amazon a lot, it's a pretty good deal. Depending what my family gets back in taxes I will be putting a decent amount on a card. The bonus will pay for the Prime account and hopefully a lot of Lego sets.

 

Cheers,

LD

suppose I change my witholding status in Nov to withhold more $$$ so I get a large refund 3 months later, 3 months aint bad for 10%.  I spend most of my money on amazon anyways.then after Jan 1st, change witholding back to my normal break even rate. hmmm.

 

this year I estimated my taxes close, had to owe $300.  May withold a bit more next year, PAYING taxes just feels bad.  Even if its a few hundred $, at least wtih a tax refund it feels like free money.

I've been ranking the brain lately. Came to a conclusion. What if you claimed maximum dependants every year so would have no taxes taken out and you would just one a lump sum. Eventually you would win. You would die eventually and not owe thst final year.

You do have to watch out for this ^. If your tax amount due at filing is greater than 1k, then you have to pay a penalty. I don't recall the amount. Definitely thinking hat on this one :)

Did not know that. I was told by someone who does tax stuff for a living to always claim yourself. I also claim 2 on federal despite not having any kids. I did this when I used to bartend and made on paper very little. Always worked out Ok. I'm trying it out with a job where I make a decent amount on paper. In the past I havnt done it this was and just claimed 1 and 1.

But are you sure about penalty I mean don't like the high roller celebs always who make a ton....as in its normal for them to owe over a grand

Don't do the Amazon card thing.  I thought about doing this too, and then did some research.  Go read the following and you'll get scared away:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/forums?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2NFGOONPZEXIP&cdThread=TxK53LVD48ZRS0

 

TL;DR version:

1) most people never get the card or the code

2) for those that did get a code, it doesn't work, and fingers get pointed every which way as to whose fault it is

3) by signing up for the program, someone says the fine print says you authorize the release of your entire tax return to the third party bank or whomever is sponsoring the deal.

 

So assuming #3 on the list is true, and #1 and #2 is very likely, then you just paid part of your refund to some company to take all your info.

 

But who knows, maybe YMMV.

Most here have Ana amazon cc anyway so it's really 2 percent extra. I don't do things for pennies.

The more

Did not know that.

But are you sure about penalty I mean don't like the high roller celebs always who make a ton....as in its normal for them to owe over a grand

The 1000 threshold is true: http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc306.html

You can look up the penalty - it's not much. But Remember, tax refunds are a return of YOUR money. The govt held it and didn't pay you any interest! The sweet spot for tax returns is to owe, but make sure it's either less than 1000 or else make sure your ROI is greater than any penalty owed.