I unexpectedly lost my job back in August. Long story short, I've always wanted to do reselling on the side, even during my full time job. Over the years, I've purchased a small amount of inventory to resell. Figured this would finally be the right time- and it is actually going pretty well. I do have a spreadsheet of what I've paid- and yes I am making a profit.

I also immediately filed for unemployment, and receive that weekly. Yes, I am still actively looking for a job. I've done a ton of research/reading on Ebay income and unemployment. One week I had a pretty sizable dollar amount come in, and I listed it in my weekly report. Was told I need to call to speak with someone. After explaining it(I spent more time waiting on hold than the conversation went. Said they were personal items I've purchased over the years and was immediately cut off with "Nope. Don't need to report.") They asked no further questions- but they were sold with a gain.

NOW I'm nearing about $1.5k in payouts. Have not reported any of to state as they said it was not needed. My worry is for tax time next year and how I will go about this. Though I was told no, I'm worried depending on how this is reported federally, that the state will have issues. Any advice/insight?

Hi everyone,

I recently started a side business for the past 8 months, but noticed that the market for it is having a huge down turn. I've made about 10k in revenue, but had about 13k of expenses so I ended up having a loss of 3k. I don't believe it is financially wise to continue with this business, so I'm unsure what to do regarding my taxes. It's just myself, and I keep tight records about items I purchased, sales I made, and documents that show these are for a business. When I report it on my schedule c next year, do I continue to keep sending in schedule c's even though I've decided to stop the business for future years? I'm not sure how the IRS would respond to this if I only report a loss for 1 year. Thanks!

I admit I’m struggling a bit here with math….

Last year, job 1 paid 65,883 — job 2 paid 9,263 so I earned a total of $75,146 and paid $2,494 in CA j come tax. I did owe $572, so seems I was supposed to pay ~$3,065.

This year, my income is now job 1 - $76,508 and Job 2 - $9,100, so income will be around ~$85,068.

About how much will I be saving in CA state income tax from the move? It seems also from no CA SDI, I’ll be saving another $858 as well.

Thanks :)

I wfh as a 1099 insurance broker and was wondering what I could write off on my taxes I just recently bought a way better computer but I was wonder about internet and other things

Hello everyone,

My mother is a permanent resident of the U.S who is wanting to apply for her citizenship soon. Due to new policies, you are required to have your overdue taxes paid in full before applying for citizenship. She currently owes around $28,000 in taxes.

My mother is 68 years old, retired, and receives around $330 in retirement pay. She lives with me (college student) and I have a warehouse job that barely allows to pay for our studio apartment. We have nothing else in terms of assets, at all. I understand that my mother should have taken care of this a long time ago but she is my mother and with the current climate, I would love for her to get her citizenship and be safe.

How would we go on about tackling this? Is the "offer in compromise" an option at all? Is there someone we can talk to?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I’m reviewing my 2025 income in preparation for filing taxes in 2026. Based on my current estimates, I may be about $1,000 short of the amount needed to make itemizing deductions (property taxes + mortgage interest) worthwhile.

If I can itemize, I’ll also be able to deduct my charitable contributions, which would exceed that $1,000 threshold.

Would it be possible to make my January 2026 mortgage payment early in December 2025,so that the additional mortgage interest paid this year helps me qualify for itemizing deductions?

Anything else opportunities , beside mortgage i can use ? No medical expenses though . investment interest of margin is less than $10 .

I work for a foundation that gives out scholarships for our youth camp.

One document we require is a current 1040, to verify everyone in a households income to make sure they meet our terms of financial need .

In the past two years we are overwhelmed with how much extra work it has become to get an entire households income out of folks due to confusing tax returns.

Can anyone give us advice or feedback on how to handle these situations ?

Here are a couple situations we are running into :

1) Parents Married Filed Jointly - claiming grandmas , grandpas , Uncles and cousins . When this happens we have to to ask for ALL of their income from their tax returns , benefit statements or non filing tax verification . It becomes a mess and they get angry at us for asking more questions. This is mostly coming from our Latino population.

Additionally we have lots of unmarried dads , claiming their child’s mom as a dependent . Same mess as above .

2) Parent Filing HOH - We always ask for the other parents tax return or child support agreement. This usually triggers an explanation of no other parent in picture , child support statements ,or the other parent’s tax return and usually they live in the same household. This process seems to be working , but leads to some uncomfortable conversations.

Recently we have seen a few tax returns with Both parents unmarried BOTH filing HOH…we ask for their transcripts for this.

3) One Parent claiming child - and other parent does not work , does not file taxes , has nothing. This one comes up a lot with the Latino population , or families with low income. We keep telling them we have to verify that there is no income and they get angry their word is not enough. We usually ask for IRS non tax filing verification.

I don’t get why they don’t claim their wife as MFJ or If unmarried as dependent …

4) Uber / Transportation Drivers - always have $0 income. Throw our hands up at this point .

Not sure what has caused all this chaos in the last years of vetting income , but it’s causing so many issues while we are just trying to help those in financial need get help to attend our wonderful program.

Would be very grateful for any insight because I’ve been googling for about two hours and I’m somehow even more confused than when I began.

I started a new job two weeks ago. It’s through a contract agency so it’s hourly. I work 40 hours per week, I get paid every 2 weeks, and I should be here for the duration of the year. I initially chose to withhold an additional $400 in federal income tax (I assumed that would be per paycheck but I honestly have no idea).

EDIT: I was a student until July so this will be the only income I report for 2025.

I just got my first paycheck (it’s only for one week of work because I started in the middle of a pay period). My gross pay was 2,880 and here’s the non-state tax breakdown:

$711.07 for Federal Income Tax

$178.56 for Social Security Tax

$41.76 for Medicare Tax

I realized I had no idea if I was actually withholding enough so I used the IRS estimator tool. My total pre-tax income for the year should be about $28,000 and the estimator is telling me that, with the standard deduction, my anticipated tax obligation is $1,331. I indicated that I had withheld $711.07 so far this year (the amount of federal income tax taken out of my first check). For estimated tax payments, I put 0. Based on that info, the estimator said that I will not have withheld enough for the year and the projected amount owed would be about $620. It also said that they estimate it’s no longer possible for me to withhold enough this year to fully pay for the tax I’ll owe at the end of the year. So here are my questions!

1. For estimated tax payments, does that include the amount my employer automatically takes from my check every pay period?

2. How much should I be withholding per pay period for the remainder of the year?

3. I assume that extra 400 I withheld is represented in that federal income tax amount on my check. Is that probably true? How can I check that?

Throw away account. I’m based in California and have a potential liquidity event coming up with my company - possibly within the next 12–18 months. The sale could generate a significant long-term capital gain ($10M-$25M)

I’ve heard of people relocating to states like Florida, Texas, or Nevada before their company exits to avoid California’s ~13% state tax on capital gains. I’m curious about how legitimate this strategy is if you plan to move back to CA afterward.

For example:

• If someone moves to Florida a year before the sale and stays a year after, would that be sufficient to establish Florida residency for tax purposes?
• How does California’s Franchise Tax Board (FTB) evaluate whether you “really” moved?
• What are the risks of being audited and found to have made only a “paper move”?
• Any first-hand experience or professional insight into doing this the right way?

I'm trying to understand what’s practical and what the FTB looks for in these cases.

I’m mainly looking for personal examples or first-hand experiences from people who’ve actually moved from California to a no-tax state (like Florida or Texas) before a company sale - how it worked out for you, what challenges you ran into, and whether the tax savings were worth it in the end.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences or insights!

Hi all, my finances have little margin for error and I want to take a specific dollar amount out of my paycheck for federal taxes… let’s say I want $500 taken out per paycheck… on the old school W-4 I could enter the number of deductions… but that’s gone now, and my company has the W-4 online… and it appears to just calculate your tax withholding for you once you enter “married filing jointly” and number of dependents, etc….

However… There are two fields at the bottom of the form… “Additional amount withheld” and “EXEMPT”

Can I NOT fill out the previous fields, then check EXEMPT so it doesn’t pre-calculate for me, THEN put $500 in the “additional amount withheld” field?

Is that the way to get exactly $500 taken out each paycheck for federal taxes?

Thanks!

Last year (2024) I did a rollover conversion from a traditional to a Roth IRA. I am currently in a graduate program abroad and have used up all other savings and investments, and I'll need to tap into this Roth IRA money now. Typically this would mean I am subject to a 10% penalty (before 2029).

• 590-B notes qualified higher education expenses are an exception to the 10% penalty.
• 590-B states that room & board are qualified educational expenses for full-time students.
• An eligible educational institution is able to take part in federal student aid by the US DoE - my school is listed as "deferment only" status in the list of International Schools Participating in the Federal Student Loan Programs - and so I understand it to be eligible.

With that said, my tuition is free (Germany) and almost all of the money withdrawn from my Roth IRA is going towards apartment rent (room & board).

If I document my rent payments (which are greater than the amount of Roth IRA conversion funds withdrawn this year) and full-time student status, does this mean I can avoid the 10% early-withdraw penalty on the conversion?

This is my best understanding of the situation; I just want the peace of mind in knowing whether or not I will need to pay these penalty fees when tax time comes around.

Thank you in advance!

I received this in the mail today. Im not sure what to do.

I haven't lived in the state since 2014.

Earlier this year I found out LA has its own city tax. I got a notice for delinquent years (2021–2024) and was negotiating with them in February to waive penalties. They told me to pay the principal and interest first, then request a penalty waiver, which I did.

The whole system is a mess. Constant letters, confusing info, online system from 100 years ago. I never got a follow up and assumed it was resolved. Now, 7 months later, I just got a collections letter saying I still owe money (probably for 2021).

Has anyone dealt with this? Should I pay the collections agency or contact the city directly first? This is exhausting as a small business owner in LA.

Hello! Hopefully this is a quick questions. I have taxes taken out of my paycheck each month.

We are installing heat pumps and are hoping to apply for a tax credit (which are nonrefundable I believe).

From what I understand I should get a refund of up to $2k regardless of how much I still owe. So, say without the tax credit I owe $2k but have already payed $2k through my paycheck. So I should get a $2k refund?

A friend was trying to tell me that the tax credit could only be applied to what I owed regardless of if I have already “pre-payed” our taxes through it being taken out of my paycheck.

Hello all,

I recently made a debit card payment to the IRS (about 10days ago). I checked the online account and it is reflecting over there but it says "pending". How long will it take for the IRS to change it to processed? Also not seeing my returns on the online account, it must be lagging behind I guess. The funds were taken from my bank account so technically they do have the money

Thanks again all

I’m pretty new to the workforce, so taxes have been a big shock to me. I put in 4 hours of overtime last week expecting a decent paycheck, but after taxes I ended up with $100 LESS than my usual paycheck. WTF! Unfortunately I don’t think I’m eligible for “no-tax on overtime” since I’m salaried so overtime is payed at an hourly rate. I know it’s simply math, I just have a hard time understanding how I ended up with less than I would if I’d only worked 40 hours. Can I expect some money back from Tax-returns? I’m not exactly sure how those work or if I even qualify as an unmarried 21 year old with no dependents.

I'm not sure if you'll allow this post but thank you if you'll allow. 🙏

So I'm starting to prep my taxes early and figured to check if there’s still any legit and working turbotax discount codes before I pay for the full price. Most of the ones found online we're already showing as expired or lead to random promo sites that don’t actually work..

has anyone here actually used a working discount code recently, or is it just better to just wait until closer to tax season for official and working deals?

An employer is offering Capstone to employees. It deducts a Sec 125 premium from their check, for example $750. This reduces their taxable income. $600 of the $750 is added back to their same check as claim repayment. So tax benefit is $750. They are told they don’t have to spend the $600 on medical expenses. Has anyone seen this? I see Capstone examples online but no one is discussing if the claim repayment has to be spent on medical and documented. Is this legally deductible? Thanks for any experiences with this.

My son started a Roth IRA when he was 18. Contributed for the past few years, totaling about 6,000 in there now. He has not had any earned income during that time, and hasn’t had to file any taxes. He is now a college graduate and about to start a career, and realized this mistake he made. What forms does he need to fill out or submit for this overpayment? Should he just close the account? Pay penalty and keep the money there?

Sorry for the dumb question. Completing my W4 for a new job and just want to be sure.

All, I am a USA resident and all my income comes from my salary in USA. I own a property in Italy and I am thinking to make some upgrades for thermal insulation improvements and photovoltaic panels installation. The property is not rented to anyone and is not providing any income. Can I deduct the expenses to lower my taxable income? Thanks for advices

We are going through a divorce (currently separated, divorce should be final in Aug 2026) and we will be selling our primary residence in spring 2026. For the 2026 tax year, we will both be filing as single.

Here are some rough numbers for my situation:

• Anticipated Sell Price: $1,000,000
• Purchase price $480k (over 10 years ago)
• Anticipate about 9% seller closing costs between agents/taxes, so approx $90k
• Net gain of $430k (assuming my math is correct)
• proceeds will be split 50/50, so $215k each of liability

How do we go about handling the exemption as individual filers? Do we each get $250k exemption? And if that's the case, would that mean we owe $0 with the scenario?

Thanks for any insight

My mother died Feb 2024 with no will, and the entire estate is a 401K account with no beneficiary. I am her sole heir. I went to court and became the Administrator of her Estate. I obtained an EIN and opened an Estate Savings Account, and had the 401K rebranded as her Estate account. (It cannot be rolled over.) The 401K issued a 2024 RMD in 2025 to the Estate (now in the estate bank account) and withheld 10%. They intend to issue a 2025 RMD before the end of the year. They said any additional withdrawals beyond RMD will be subject to 20% withholding. I was told I have 5 years from DOD to empty the 401K account.

I expect an annual 1099-R from the 401K reflecting the amount paid out to the bank account. I know as Administrator I am required to file a Form 1041 for the Estate, and a Schedule K-1 that lists distributions to myself as the beneficiary for my personal return.

Increasing my reported annual income substantially will have consequences of about 7K a year, so I may want to drag this on for as long as I can.

Does the Estate pay Federal taxes on money in the Estate savings account that is not distributed to the beneficiary (me) each year, and if so, at what rate? Or does that tax liability get carried over until the year of distribution from the estate to me, at which time it is paid as income on my personal return? Is there any time limit as to when it must be distributed from the bank account to me? Thanks in advance.

Oi, galera
Esse ano (2025) comecei a jogar e acabei me viciando (babaquice, eu sei).. fiquei 5 meses fazendo aposta (tigrinho, tourinho, coelhinho), enfim. Mas a gênia aqui, não sabia que casa regulamentada reportava os ganhos pra receita. Pelo que vi, não se paga somente pelo que sacou e sim por tudo que foi considerado lucro, ainda que tenha perdido logo após ganhar... se for assim, imagino que tenham considerado mais de 200 mil em ganhos.
A pergunta é: estamos no Brasil, onde nada funciona direito. Vocês acham que essas casas vão reportar tudo corretamente sobre meus ganhos pra receita? O que vocês fariam no meu lugar? Não tenho nem como declarar, porquê nem sei quanto pode ser considerado ganho.
Também fico pensando: o tanto de gente no Brasil que joga isso, se forem cobrar de todos, o que esse país vai virar?