What have you done/plan to do with your tax return

[DungeonMasterJim]

Mine's not a huge amount being a single guy with no dependents but even so here's my list:

Dragon Con 2011 vacation in September
Christmas 2011
some dental bills that healthcare didn't cover
some $$$ for the benefit for my cousin
some minor wardrobe purchases totally about $70
some minor household purchases totally around $20
weekend excursion of Connecticon 2011 in July

If I find I have some left over it'll likely go towards the principal on my house.

DM Jim

[Ravenwing263]

I'm a waiter.

No return.

Luckily I'm smart enough to set a bunch of money aside for taxes, and usually I find I owe less then what I've saved, so that's my equivalent to a return.

The left over money for this year is going towards a few trips I want to take this summer: my yearly pilgrimage to Florida, and trips to see college friends who have relocated to Pittsburgh and L.A.

[DungeonMasterJim]

I've never been a waiter, Ravenwing. Is there a different way that taxes are done for waitstaff? I've always had the job take it from my paycheck on a weekly basis. Or when I'm unemployed I make sure to have taxes taken out so I avoid the horror stories of getting hit later on with a huge tax bill. Sounds like you know your business and prepare for it which is good.

[Ravenwing263]

Well, it depends on the restaurant.

Typically, waiters are paid by the restaurant far less then a living wage ($2.83 is the current "server's minimum wage" established by the U.S. government) and their actual income is made up mostly with tips, which are traditionally taken home in cash by the server at the end of the night. These restaurants all appropriately tax your tiny salary but the way they handle your tipped income varies from restaurant to restaurant. Some collect all your tips, tax them, and return them to you in a check with your salary. Waiters being an impatient brood, this method is not popular. Others ask you to declare your tips to them at the end of each night, and take the tax out of your salary, often resulting in the complete elimination of your check. This can be dangerous because the manager might not mention to you that your taxes after a few good nights outstrip your salary, meaning you owe money, which you might find out only when you file your return. The third method, employed by the restaurant where I work now, is to tax the salary and let the waiters deal with their tips on their own. This means I will always end up owing hundreds of dollars at the end of the year. To guard against this, I put one third of my tips into a money market account each week which I never, ever touch until tax time comes. As I said, I often find that I've saved more then I need to pay, which I sort of my emotional equivalent to a tax return.

[stealthwise]

Well, it depends on the restaurant.

Typically, waiters are paid by the restaurant far less then a living wage ($2.83 is the current "server's minimum wage" established by the U.S. government) and their actual income is made up mostly with tips, which are traditionally taken home in cash by the server at the end of the night. These restaurants all appropriately tax your tiny salary but the way they handle your tipped income varies from restaurant to restaurant. Some collect all your tips, tax them, and return them to you in a check with your salary. Waiters being an impatient brood, this method is not popular. Others ask you to declare your tips to them at the end of each night, and take the tax out of your salary, often resulting in the complete elimination of your check. This can be dangerous because the manager might not mention to you that your taxes after a few good nights outstrip your salary, meaning you owe money, which you might find out only when you file your return. The third method, employed by the restaurant where I work now, is to tax the salary and let the waiters deal with their tips on their own. This means I will always end up owing hundreds of dollars at the end of the year. To guard against this, I put one third of my tips into a money market account each week which I never, ever touch until tax time comes. As I said, I often find that I've saved more then I need to pay, which I sort of my emotional equivalent to a tax return.

Jesus Christ, that's insane. No offense, but I find it nuts that they can't pay you a decent enough wage to begin with.

Where I live, servers gotta work hard to earn a good tip from me. I'll give them a couple of dollars if they're competent, but I hate the assumption that you're going to get a gratuity for simply doing your job, and if you don't do a decent job, you get nothing from me.

Keeping in mind, I suppose, that the minimum wage, regardless of job here, is $8 per hour for the majority of workers here (and going up, apparently), and that I don't tend to eat a ton of "high-end" places.

[Infra-Man]

Rent, utilities, groceries, bills.

[Ravenwing263]

Jesus Christ, that's insane. No offense, but I find it nuts that they can't pay you a decent enough wage to begin with.

Where I live, servers gotta work hard to earn a good tip from me. I'll give them a couple of dollars if they're competent, but I hate the assumption that you're going to get a gratuity for simply doing your job, and if you don't do a decent job, you get nothing from me.

Keeping in mind, I suppose, that the minimum wage, regardless of job here, is $8 per hour for the majority of workers here (and going up, apparently), and that I don't tend to eat a ton of "high-end" places.

Are you sure that severs in your area make real minimum wage?

100% sure?

[Kevin T Brown]

Part of it went to stuff around the house, part of it to savings, the rest is earmarked for the trip to New Orleans for my and my wife's anniversary in May.

[Corrina]

Apparently it's going to college tuition for my eldest. And that's about it.

[Artful Angie]

I bought a DVD set I wanted, and signed up for DC UNIVERSE: ONLINE.