Is it just me? It seems like I just filed my 2005 taxes and here we are again. I love my country and I don’t mind paying my fair share, but it seems more and more that my fair share is getting bigger each year.

Just the other day a client and I were talking about taxes, withholding and the “lull” that we all get into while participating in the payroll withholding tax. Our federal, state and FICA taxes are all withheld before we see a penny of our check.

We were discussing how easy it is to become comfortable with that “withholding” arrangement to the point that we have no idea how much we are paying in taxes. We agreed that if most Americans received their whole “well deserved” paycheck each pay period and then had to pay their “fair share” that we would probably have a revolt on our hands as people now “felt” the pain of paying taxes.

The same “comfort” or “lull” can be said for automatic savings or investing arrangements, but I digress. We will save that for another article. Let’s get back to taxes.

As you file your taxes this year, take a look and see of you are using the IRS as a non-interest bearing savings account or are you looking for the bull’s-eye. Let’s look first at the bull’s-eye.

Our goal in withholding is to get as close to $0 dollars as possible. What we want is to make sure that we owe no more than $0 and that we get back no more than $0. While we can never be perfect, we should be looking to achieve that and to accept $500 either side of that number. In doing so, we maximize our take home pay and avoid loaning the IRS our money.

Yes, it is our money and when we over withhold, we allow the IRS to use our hard earned money and then “refund” what is due when we file. All the time we earn NOTHING in interest for the money they have used for some period over the last year.

I say – enough is enough. Why not take a little effort and try to plan what the accurate withholding would be and get as close to $0 as possible.

Clients frequently see that that can bring home $50, $75 and, in one case, almost $200 more per month – money that is already theirs. What could you do with the extra money??

Take some time and go to the IRS website to see how you can better plan your withholding. If you really want a big refund at the end of the year, save the extra in a simple interest bearing account and get a few more dollars too. Enjoy that tax filing…

Click here for the IRS withholding tool

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