I want to keep myself in the 15% tax bracket. I converted part of an IRA to a Roth and can recharacterize part of that back to keep myself in the
15% tax bracket. I figure by changing the amount that I enter from the 1099 I will know how much to recharacterize. But I can't figure out where turbo tax tells me my marginal tax rate.
Marginal rate is given in Tools|History.
You can also look at the Tax Rate Table in the IRS 1040 Publication. Either a paper copy or download from
Actually, what you see in Tools|History is the marginal rate you'd pay in the tax bracket that encompasses your taxable income, but it may not be your real marginal rate, depending on the composition of your income, phase-out of deductions and credits, etc. (The U.S. tax code is so complex and has so many phase-outs, claw-backs and general "gotcha's" that there's really no way to look up your marginal rate with any authority.)
What I always do to determine this number is to override a tax return line item normally subject to tax bracket rates (e.g., wages) by increasing the number that was in my "as filed" tax return by $100, then seeing how much more taxes I'd pay compared to my "as filed" taxes. When I'm finished with this exercise and go to exit Turbo Tax I answer "no" to the "do you want to save this file" question. You can see how much "room" you have in a tax bracket by increasing some regular income line item by $100, $200, $300 and so on until the marginal rate changes.
Tom Young
Tom,
That is what I do also. Shame that the tax code is so screwed up that there is no simple answer to a simple question. Worse yet, the tax code changes mid-year, or even post-year, as the AMT did this year, so that it is next to impossible to do realistic tax planning.
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