Does anyone know if we can deduct the cost of insulated bags, space blankets, and other delivery equipment? I spent about $85 on this stuff when I started.

Great question! I was in a similar spot when I started dashing during college. Your calculation is roughly right, but here's what helped me understand it better: You're correct about the 15.3% self-employment tax, but remember you only pay income tax on your net profit after business deductions. So if you earn $1,300 but have $200 in mileage deductions, you'd pay SE tax on $1,100, not the full amount. Also, don't forget the quarterly estimated tax payments! Since no employer is withholding taxes for you, you'll want to make payments four times a year to avoid penalties. I learned this the hard way my first year. One thing that really helped me was opening a separate savings account just for taxes and automatically transferring 25-30% of each week's earnings. It hurts at first, but it's way better than scrambling for thousands at tax time. Keep detailed records of everything - miles driven, equipment purchases, phone bills, etc. These deductions can really add up and significantly reduce what you actually owe. Good luck with school and stay organized with your taxes!

Thank you so much for sharing this incredibly detailed and honest account of your SEE exam experience! As someone who's just beginning to research the EA certification path, your post is exactly the kind of real-world insight I needed to read. Your experience with spending 90+ hours on study materials that didn't align with the actual exam content is both eye-opening and concerning. It really drives home the importance of choosing quality preparation materials over those that simply promise thousands of practice questions. The fact that you had practically memorized all the practice content but still felt lost during the actual exam clearly demonstrates that understanding underlying tax concepts is far more valuable than rote memorization. I'm definitely taking your recommendation about Passkey Books seriously, especially given the positive reinforcement from other community members in this thread. It sounds like the key differentiator is materials that teach tax principles and application rather than just drilling disconnected practice scenarios. Your timeline is quite ambitious - taking all three parts within such a short window. Given your experience with how different the actual exams can be from study materials, are you considering adjusting your approach for Part 3? It seems like giving yourself adequate time to truly master the Passkey methodology might be more beneficial than rushing through. Thanks again for sharing such a comprehensive breakdown of both your challenges and successes. Posts like this make the EA community invaluable for newcomers trying to navigate this process effectively!

As a newcomer to this community, I want to thank you for sharing such a detailed and honest account of your SEE exam experience! Your story about spending 90+ hours on materials that didn't match the actual exam is exactly what I needed to hear before starting my own EA journey. I'm particularly struck by your point that you "might as well have studied marine biology" - that really drives home how disconnected some study materials can be from the actual exam content. It's frustrating that you had to learn this lesson the hard way, but your experience will definitely save other candidates from making the same costly mistake. The consensus around Passkey Books in this thread is really compelling, especially your firsthand comparison showing how much more aligned their questions were with the actual exam format. It sounds like the key difference is focusing on tax concepts and application rather than just memorizing disconnected practice scenarios. I'm curious about one thing - when you felt completely lost five questions into Part 2 but still managed to pass, were there any specific test-taking strategies that helped you navigate unfamiliar material? I want to be prepared for the possibility of encountering unexpected content even with better study materials. Your timeline is quite ambitious, and I'm wondering if you're considering adjusting your approach for Part 3 given what you've learned about the importance of truly understanding the material versus rushing through? The 18-month window seems to provide good flexibility for thorough preparation. Thanks again for such a comprehensive breakdown - this is exactly the kind of real-world insight that makes this community so valuable for EA candidates!

Has anyone used QuickBooks for partnership accounting? I'm trying to figure out if I need to completely restructure my books when I convert from sole prop to partnership or if there's an easy way to handle the transition.

I went through this exact transition last year with my consulting LLC. One thing that caught me off guard was the estimated tax payment requirements for partnerships. Unlike when you're a sole proprietor and can just make quarterly payments based on your own income, partnerships have to make estimated payments based on the partnership's total income, and then each partner is responsible for their share. Also, make sure you document everything about your partner's initial capital contribution - whether it's cash, equipment, or sweat equity. The IRS is pretty strict about how these contributions are valued and recorded, especially if there's a significant imbalance between what each partner is putting in. We had to get our computers and office equipment professionally appraised to establish the basis correctly. One last tip: set up separate bank accounts for the partnership right away. Mixing personal and business funds becomes even more problematic when you have multiple partners, and the IRS scrutinizes partnership transactions more closely than sole proprietorships.

I went through this exact same situation with our family farm S-Corp two years ago! After a lot of research and speaking with our CPA, we confirmed that Form 943 is definitely the right choice for your situation. The key thing to understand is that the IRS classification depends on the TYPE of work being performed, not your business entity structure. Since you and your brother are performing agricultural labor (livestock care, planting, harvesting, equipment maintenance), you're considered agricultural employees for tax purposes, even though you're shareholders in an S-Corp. A few practical tips from our experience: - Make sure to keep detailed records of all the agricultural activities you perform throughout the year - Set up a monthly reminder system for employment tax deposits since you won't have quarterly forms to keep you on track - If you use payroll software, make sure it's configured for agricultural business to generate the right forms The annual filing with Form 943 has been much simpler than dealing with quarterly 941s. Just remember that while the reporting is annual, your deposit obligations are still on the same schedule as other employers based on your tax liability amounts. One last thing - if you ever expand to hire non-shareholder employees who do agricultural work, they'll also fall under Form 943. But if you hire anyone for purely administrative or non-agricultural tasks, those wages would need Form 941. Fortunately, that's not something you need to worry about right now with just you and your brother working the farm!

I've been dealing with a similar situation with our farm S-Corp and wanted to share what I learned from my research and conversations with tax professionals. The consensus here is absolutely correct - Form 943 is the right choice for your farm S-Corp when you and your brother are performing agricultural work as shareholders. The IRS looks at the nature of the work being performed rather than the corporate structure. One additional consideration I haven't seen mentioned yet: if you're making the S-Corp election for the first time this year, make sure you've properly handled the reasonable compensation requirement for S-Corp shareholders. You'll need to pay yourselves reasonable wages for the agricultural work you perform, and those wages are what get reported on Form 943. Also, since you mentioned handling "everything from tractor maintenance to bookkeeping," be aware that if a significant portion of your time is spent on administrative/bookkeeping work rather than direct agricultural activities, you might need to consider whether all your wages qualify as agricultural wages. Most farm operations have some administrative component, but as long as the primary work is agricultural (which it sounds like it is for you), Form 943 should still be appropriate. The annual reporting is definitely more convenient than quarterly 941s, just make sure you stay current with your deposit obligations throughout the year!

Just want to make sure the OP and others understand capital gains taxes for 2025 filing. If you hold your investments for more than a year before selling (long-term capital gains), you get a much better tax rate (0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your income) than short-term gains (taxed as ordinary income). Making this distinction could literally save you thousands on your tax bill! I learned this the hard way when I day-traded some stocks and got hit with ordinary income rates on everything.

Great advice from everyone here! Just want to add one more consideration for @Ava Kim - since you're working at Target and trading stocks, you might want to look into tax-loss harvesting if you have any losing positions. You can sell losing stocks to offset your capital gains, which reduces your overall tax liability. For example, if you made $30k in gains but also have $10k in unrealized losses, you could sell those losing positions to bring your taxable gains down to $20k. You can even carry forward losses beyond your gains (up to $3k per year against ordinary income). This strategy works best when combined with the estimated payment approaches others mentioned. Just make sure to avoid the wash sale rule - don't buy back the same or "substantially identical" securities within 30 days of selling for a loss, or the IRS will disallow the loss deduction.