38 year loan? I'm surprised you arent paying a lot more than 160k in interest over that term...

Thanks! I’m going down this rabbit hole to learn about it now.

But I wanted to ask, is this information supposed to be common knowledge/intuitive to a native who was born here? Or is this something you are supposed to learn only if you run into trouble?

I am mad at myself for not knowing that just because I am married and filing together doesn’t mean I should choose this option on the W4. I don’t know why I didn’t know that and what should I do to stop making such mistakes.

Understand the issue of legal owner. But I'm sure the DMV can tell them how to proceed with more accuracy than us guessers on Reddit--surely this is not an uncommon issue for DMV.

THIS IS THE INFORMATION I NEEDED. Goddamnit, I have ended up owing the IRS the last three years and could not figure out what on earth I was doing wrong. I'll fix that today. Thank you so much.

It adds value because they relate to the situation that OP is in, and allows them to see that there are people struggling just like them. There are also comments giving some tips as well that provide help.

Get a second opinion on the engine and probably replace it may be the play here. Then just keep driving it

Think of it this way. You want to be making 80k in a few years. 60K puts you closer to your target when you’re talking to future companies. Also worth leveraging this offer with your current company to see if they will match/get closer

> can't I just refinance

Don't ever count on refinancing. Something could happen to your earning potential (like a long term disability) that makes it impossible.

If this happened to me, my lazy ass would do this: file a new W-4, and in line 4C for “extra amount to withhold”, put in x/number of pay periods, where X is the amount extra you owed this year. So, if you owed $2,600 extra now, and get paid every 2 weeks, 2600/26= withhold $100/pay period extra.

The issue is that the father-in-law might not be the legal owner of the car. Sure for most people their entire state passes to their spouse but it doesn't have to be that way. If the father-in-law is the legal owner then sure what you propose is exactly what I would suggest as well.

A 38 year loan term is not ‘normal’, one thing to consider though is that in 38 years at an average inflation rate of 2 percent the money would be worth 2.12 times more. So even if you are paying 66% on top of the loan, inflation makes the final payments a LOT cheaper.

You have to tie your units together. How many services an hour do you do?

>In 2022 I got both a raise and a bonus.

If your bonus was a significant percentage of your total comp and your tax bracket is ≥24% that scenario will almost always be under withheld and you have to actively engage mid year to compensate if you don't want to true up in April.

>How can I make light over this without paying my CPA a lot to look at each individual paycheck?

Look at your paychecks yourself, ask a question here when you come across as inconsistency that you don't understand.

If you have the option for “Married, but withhold at a higher Single rate”, that is what you want to go with unless your wife is Stay at Home. Withholding as Married is not accurate if your spouse has a job too.

I'm not sure what you would gain by having a CPA go through your pay checks at $300 or $400/hr (or whatever they charge).

For some unknown reason, your employer under-withheld taxes. Your best recourse would be to work out a payment plan with the IRS and have your employer withhold additional money each paycheck. It sucks but a lot of us have been there.

I'm sure it has something to do with your bonus and pay raise if you didn't have the same problem last year. There are a lot of posts on this sub about the exact opposite problem, where their employer withheld taxes at too high of a rate after overt time or for a bonus. It's why so many people believe they're losing money by working OT or getting a Christmas bonus.

>Anyway to deal with it without involving a lawyer and courts?

Not sure what the issue is here. A copy of the death certificate and a letter from your father in law could have just signed the car over to you on the title. That with a copy of the death certificate would have probably been enough for DMV. If you called DMV they could probably give you an answer about how to take care of it.

The IRS has a calculator to help you fill it out.

The IRS has a W4 calculator https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator

Yes, I do. I am married. Should I have it set up differently?

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As a single person coming home to nobody it doesn’t even matter to me.

I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know how to fill a W4 correctly. It looks like I definitely dropped the ball this time. Where do I learn how to fill it out correctly?

I’m no legal expert, far from it, but it seems to me FIL would be her beneficiary and receive all of her estate. He could sign over the title to you, at which point you could sell it.

This is the only advice you need. The taxes are greater than that amount you are worried about not getting by timing the market. Easy decision.

Thanks! I think I’ll do tjat