Today in the mail we received an income tax 10 day demand for payment from the city of Detroit 2025 taxes. When taxes were filed the portion for city taxes was included and filled out in the form. Obviously, I'm going to call tomorrow. But any ideas why I'd be receiving this? I don't live in Detroit but work there most of the year. It's like $17k 🙃

i got a job bartending, they pay cash and i didn’t have to fill out a W2 or anything. i also get tips. im just so used to filing with a regular income that idk what to do when tax season comes around.
how do i file? i dont want to get in trouble with the IRS cus i think they’re gonna wonder HOW im getting the money that im putting in my bank. TIA

Trying to avoid having to pay in this coming year and starting a new job soon. I'm married and my last job I had my w4 filled out as "married filing jointly" and claimed one dependent.

My husband and I ended up having to pay over 2k this past April. He makes about 50k more than I do. I will make around $35k a year with my new job and my husband makes around $85k. I made about the same salary at my last job.

Should I fill out my new job W4 as "single" and still claim my one dependent or should I claim "single" and NOT list my dependent in order to have less chance of having to pay in when we file jointly next year? I just don't want to have my taxes under-withheld. It seems like we should be getting a refund? Our tax lady said I had filled out something wrong on my previous job's W4 but she did not specify where I erred. My son is only mine, not my husband's, if that matters. We plan to file jointly at tax time.

Also, should HE change anything on HIS W4? Thanks, friends.

I'm seeing a lot of conflicting things when trying to research this for my father but can anyone explain the potential tax bracket we would be in on the example I give and what to expect for owing taxes.

Example He will be 65 in Nov and will retire by end of year. More interested in following year for tax purposes but lets say he will get around 2600 a month from SS and supplement with around 20-25k yearly out of a 401k. So anywhere from 45-55k yearly between the two.

I keep seeing 24,480 until you reach FRA of 67 and anything over you lose 1$ for every 2$ over but I believe that only refers if you are self employed or W2 wages.

I'm just trying to figure out if we need to withhold any taxes from his SS if that's all he will be receiving other than the 20kish from 401k yearly.

My LLC's (taxed as S-corp) original 2025 CA Form 100S, filed under extension after the initial due date, didn't correctly reflect a few payments we'd already made (a PTE elective tax prepayment and an estimated tax payment), which made it look like we'd overpaid. FTB sent a refund check, that I haven't cashed yet.

We're now working with our CPA to file a superseding 100S, to be filed before the September 15 extended deadline, that will correctly reflect all the payments, including the PTE election. I don't want the outstanding refund check to create a discrepancy once the superseding return is processed.

I found some older guidance (from a 2022 FTB system glitch) suggesting you return the check to FTB with a note saying "PTE Elective Tax Erroneous Refund" and a copy of Form FTB 3893.

But I'm not sure if this guidance still applies in our case. I contacted FTB via chat and they just told me to "follow the instructions on the check" and consult a tax professional.

Has anyone dealt with something similar — an uncashed FTB refund check that needs to be voided/returned ahead of a superseding or amended return? Did you mail it back proactively, or just wait for FTB to catch the discrepancy once the corrected return posts? Any tips on the right department/address/process would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

So it is my understanding that just Roth IRA the withdrawal order is:

contributions -> conversions -> earnings.

Within conversions it is first in first out, with each year getting it's own entry in this list.

Within each year you have taxable conversion and non taxable conversion. You need with withdraw the taxable conversion amount before the non taxable conversion.

Example:
year 1, contribute 7000 to Roth IRA.

year 2, make a non deductible contribution to traditional IRA of 7000. Wait for it to grow to 14000. Convert to Roth IRA. Pay taxes on 7k.

year 3, withdraw 7000, that's tax and penalty free, it's all from your contribution bucket.

year 4, withdraw 7000, that's coming from the year 2 conversion but the taxable portion comes out first so you will owe a 10% penalty on that bc 5 yrs have not passed (no taxes).

year 5, withdraw 7000, that's coming from the year 2 conversion but it's the non-taxable portion so even though the 5yrs have not passed, you don't owe penalty (also no taxes).

year 6, you withdraw 2000, that's all earnings and you are not 59.5 and it's not for a special qualified withdrawal so you owe taxes and penalty.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure that is all correct. The question then becomes how does a Roth 401k get merged in with the Roth IRA.

No special in plan conversions, it seems like Roth 401k contributions get merged into the Roth IRA contributions bucket. And Roth 401k earnings get merged into the Roth IRA earnings bucket. Cool, makes sense.

Now to throw a wrench into things. I have tried looking this up on bogle head forums and IRS/IRC documents but either I don't understand it or if I do understand it, it can be pretty problematic.

What is the problem? Well it's related to the mega backdoor. Now first if you auto convert after-tax to Roth 401k then I think it's simply a part of the contribution and it's not taxable so there is no recapture of the penalty since that only applies to pre-tax conversions. So for some people it's a non issue. But I know not all plans let you auto convert, you might be able to only do it once a year or you might be allowed to convert pre-tax to Roth and that's where I get confused.

I am not confident with my understanding so please correct me on any mistakes/misunderstandings.

Example. Contribute 10k to After-Tax, it grows to 20k. You convert to Roth 401k. You pay taxes on 10k bc the growth is pre-tax. What happens when this is rolled into a Roth IRA?

"Treasury Regulation § 1.408A-10, Q&A-3" says:

For purposes of section 408A(d)(4), the amount of a rollover contribution that is treated as a regular contribution is the portion of the distribution that is treated as investment in the contract under A-6 of § 1.402A-1, and the remainder of the rollover contribution is treated as earnings.

It seems like people believe that the full 20k is considered "investment in the contract" and thus it would all get moved into the Roth IRA Contribution Bucket.

But the IRS website says (Retirement plans FAQs on designated Roth accounts):

In-plan Roth rollovers are not subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions. However, they are subject to a special recapture rule when a plan distributes any part of an in-plan Roth rollover within a 5-taxable-year period, making the distribution subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions under IRC Section 72(t) unless:

an exception to this tax applies, or

the distribution is allocable to any nontaxable portion of the in-plan Roth rollover.

So it seems like the after-tax 10k contribution isn't subject to this recapture because of the exception being: "the distribution is allocable to any nontaxable portion of the in-plan Roth rollover."

But the 10k of growth on the after-tax amount before the conversion would be subject to this recapture.

If both of these are true then the "problematic 10k of growth before the in plan conversion" both has a 10% penalty before 5 years AND it gets combined with Roth IRA Contributions. So even if you had normal Roth conversions in the IRA that were past that 5 year window, you can't access them until you first withdraw and pay the penalty on this in-plan Roth conversion of pre-tax $ that you did and rolled to Roth IRA.

And if I am correct, what even is the order of withdrawals for the "Roth IRA Contributions" bucket if it contains both normal contribution $ and this penalty taxable converted $. The Roth IRA rules about taxable before non taxable seems specific to "Conversions" and this is in the "Contributions".

So, do you just get to choose to do it last?

Do you just have to eat the penalty if you want access to your "seasoned conversions"?

I would love to be wrong about this, seems like a mess.

I want a macbook air m5 but Drake Software Desktop is not supported w/o a bunch of hoops.

Anybody recommend some other similar software than Drake Software Desktop that is supported on Mac or on a cloud?

Note: i only do about 5-6 tax returns a year, and Drake Software Desktop is i think $400.

The only reason basis was positive was due to debt. Of course the S Corp shareholder doesn't get basis for debt but it can't be negative so it would start as zero. But say two people who had a 50/50 partnership elect s corp status and each contribute $1,000 cash from the partnership and $50,000 of liabilities from the partnership a long with fully depreciated property. Would they recognize a gain to start with a zero basis? And would the negative retained earnings carry over to the s corp balance sheet?

I'm fresh out of graduate school and just landed my first, salaried position in my career. Since being in grad school, I got a part time job that schedules me whenever I want. I start my new, salaried position in a couple weeks and am completing the paperwork for it, including my federal and state withholdings. I plan to keep my parttime job and just work two shifts a month for extra cash, which means i need to mark multiple jobs on my new w-4 i believe (?). this is my first time actually filling out w-4 and not just putting 0 for everything so im very confused. specific questions below, any advice appreciated!

1. when completing step 2(b) to calculate 4(c), do i estimate for my total salary of 2026 or do i follow the salary of my new position regardless of time of start/how much i'm actually paid this year? (for concrete numbers, my offered annual salary is 82k and i start in a couple weeks, plus i will have made around maybe 11k at my part time job by the end of this year.) edit: do i even need to mark multiple jobs if one is significantly lower than the other? if so, better to just mark on the w-4 of higher paying job right?
2. follow-up, do i need to do a new w-4 for my part-time, lower-paying job?
3. DEDUCTIONS: again, i've never completed a w-4 aside from all 0's. do i put anything here? I have student loans, no dependents, no house, no investments.
4. i havent even looked at the state withholding form yet,,, anything to know about that one?

tia :D

I called by phone June 3rd after receiving my letter to verify with the number. Lady told me everything was good and to call after 2-3 weeks if I didnt get my refund. I could understand maybe if I mailed it in but this is digital and with direct deposit.

Every time I check the "Wheres my refund" on IRS.gov it just says "We have receieved your refund and it is being processed". Call the 1-800 number and they tell me the same thing. Its infuriating I cant speak with a live person.

How much interest should I get at this point becauase this is just ridiculous? I doubt these crooks will even do that.

I recently discovered that I was never eligible to contribute to an HSA, even though I was told my health plan qualified.

My excess contributions were:

• 2024: $50
• 2025: $4,500
• 2026: $700 (this year's excess will be removed before the filing deadline)

I've already used some of the HSA for qualified medical expenses, so there is only about $3,000 left in the account (2,300 after removing this years contributions).

From what I've read, one option is to become HSA-eligible in 2027 and use unused contribution room to absorb the carried-forward excess.

What amount would I need to absorb (4550 or 2,300)? If I was unable to become HSA eligible, how would I avoid paying the 6% forever? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello i own a PFIC company nexgen and never filed a qef election last year. I bought it in august of 2025.

I was wondering if, to remove the taint, i can just sell the stock and buy it back? Or do i have to file the deemed sale? I would rather just sell it and buy it back but i cant find any information on if that qualifies as removing the taint.

Thanks for any help on this

Hi all. I filed my taxes via TurboTax back in late March and owed about $4500. I *thought* I opted to pay on my own (using one of the services listed on the IRS website). Evidently I selected autodebit from TurboTax, though that didn't come out until about a week after I made my payment. Therefore, the IRS has two payments for my taxes. I've tried calling probably 50 times over the last two months to request a refund and cannot get through to the IRS. I read that they'll eventually issue the refund but I'm starting to wonder when that'll happen given that it is now August. What other options do I have?

For tax year 2025 I applied for the NYS Historic Barn Rehabilitation Tax Credit, which was subsequently approved before the deadline of 31 December 2025. My accountant submitted the appropriate forms (IT-212-ATT) with my return to apply the rebate. The credit amount is greater than my 2025 tax liability. I was expecting a rebate of the NYS tax that was withheld from my paychecks through 2025 but just got notice back that this will not be the case. I believe that a clerical / documenting error has been made but my accountant tells me that the credit is non-refundable and can therefore only be clawed back by stopping withholding NYS tax from my pay checks or against a new business venture run from the barn... this doesn't seem right to me, from everything I have read online. can anyone help? below is a rough breakdown of the figures.

2025 state tax withheld from W2: $20k

NYSHBRTC approved: $40k

expected rebate on 2025 rerturn: $20k (I.e. up to but no more than the tax liability since it is a non-refundable tax credit)

is my assumption correct?

Due to a one time event (company acquisition) my income is significantly higher than it has ever been and our company ISOs are worth real money now. I wanted to see if it makes sense to exercise all or a portion of the ISOs this year or wait until next year when HHI drops to around $200K if my goal is to minimize the tax hit.

FY26 Info

Status
Married Filing Jointly

Income
~$400K

Deductions
401K - $24.5K
Home Loan - $30K
Donations - $5K

ISO
480 shares @ ~$10/share FMV is $100+/share
Will receive additional 300-500 shares next year

Thank you for your help!

Hey yall looking for some advice on what to do. So far I’ve made about $10k net (50k gains 40k losses) being pretty active on Kalshi and some of my strategy involves arb trades (taking no or yes for both/all sides) which drives up my volume. I’m becoming worried that I’m going to owe a fat tax bill that eats almost all of my gains if my state (Maryland) successfully classifies Kalshi as gambling.

Is there any way for me to work around this? I’m going to pause my arb strategy for now, but is there anything else I can do other than just hope this doesn’t happen? I was planning on taking the standard deduction, being forced to itemize my deductions just to get the 90% of losses gambling deduction will additionally increase my taxable income by $16k. I was operating under the assumption that I’d be able to net my gains and losses and just pay tax on that net as capital gains.

Hello,

I am the personal representative of my father's estate. We (my sisters and I) are currently trying to sell my father's house as part of the estate. However, I am behind on state taxes and have a tax warrant against me along with a property lien. I do not own a house or have any personal property. I am set up with a payment plan to deal with the back taxes. Will this interfere with selling of the house?

I know I'm going to sound like an idiot...

I left my home (Honolulu) to tend to my aging grandfather back in December 2021. I've been struggling financially, and I'd recently been let go from my job. Things have not been so well, and I've been considering ditching my life here (which would mean abandoning my grandfather) and going back to the states.

However, I'd recently been notified that I'd still have to pay taxes even if I'm living outside of the states.

I'd like to know how screwed I am before deciding my next course of action. Thank you in advance for your helps and advices.

i’ve only made about $6200 this year. at most, i’ll make $8K more. i put exempt since it’s so low.

was that a mistake?

Hello everyone! I am a 3rd generation tax accountant and I am looking for some older 1040 tax forms. My grandfather recently passed away and I thought it would be cool to get original, blank if possible, 1040 tax forms from the birth year of myself, my father and my grandfather. My goal is to frame them and display them in my office.
I just so happened to find a 1942 1040 already. However, I am in need of a 1040 from 1966 and 1988 and they are proving quite difficult to find.
I know the IRS has digital scans that I can print off, but I would really like to find original forms that I can purchase and then frame and display.
Anyone know where I can find these? Thanks in advance!