Have you checked if there's a difference in the reported income or withholdings between the two W-2s? Sometimes companies split reporting if there were changes in your compensation or tax status mid-year.

This is actually pretty common when companies switch payroll systems mid-year! I'd definitely start by calling your employer's HR or payroll department first - they'll be able to tell you right away if this was intentional (like a mid-year switch from ADP to Gusto) or if one of them is a mistake. In the meantime, compare the two W-2s carefully - check if the pay periods, income amounts, and tax withholdings are different or if they overlap. If they're for different parts of the year, you'll need both for your tax filing. If they're duplicates of the same info, HR should issue a corrected W-2. Don't stress too much - this happens more often than you'd think!

I've been following this thread with interest since my situation is very similar! My spouse runs a small graphic design business as a sole proprietor, and we've been filing separately for the past three years thinking it would protect my income from any potential business issues. After reading all these responses, I'm realizing we might be leaving money on the table. The QBI deduction discussion was especially eye-opening - I had no idea that could work differently with joint vs separate filing. One question I haven't seen addressed yet: if we decide to switch to joint filing this year, do we need to amend our previous returns too, or can we just start fresh with this year's return? Also, are there any deadlines we should be aware of for making this decision? Thanks to everyone who's shared their experiences - this has been incredibly helpful for those of us navigating business ownership within a marriage!

This has been such a helpful discussion! As someone who's been through the business owner/W-2 spouse situation, I wanted to add a few practical points that might help with your decision. First, don't overlook state tax implications - some states have different rules for how business income is treated when filing jointly vs separately, so make sure you're considering both federal and state tax impacts. Second, if your wife's business is growing (which it sounds like it is with that $67k income), think about estimated quarterly payments. Filing jointly can sometimes make it easier to manage estimated taxes since you can use your W-2 withholdings to help cover the overall tax liability for both of you. Finally, consider setting up a simple spreadsheet to track the key numbers - standard deduction amounts, tax brackets, potential credits, etc. This way you can easily compare both scenarios each year as your income situations change. Business income can be unpredictable, so what works best this year might not be optimal next year. The consensus here seems to be that joint filing often wins financially, but having the numbers laid out clearly will give you confidence in whatever decision you make. Good luck with your filing!

Just to add another perspective - have you considered carpooling with coworkers? My hospital has a similar parking situation but they offer discounted rates for cars with 2+ employees. Four of us share a ride now and split the parking cost, bringing my monthly expense down from $130 to about $35. Plus we take turns driving which saves on gas too.

As someone who works in healthcare administration, I'd strongly recommend exploring ALL your options here. First, definitely talk to HR about pre-tax parking benefits - this could save you $400+ annually. But also look into other hospital programs you might not know about. Many medical centers have financial hardship programs for employees earning under a certain threshold. At $19/hour, you might qualify for parking assistance or subsidies. Also check if your hospital participates in any transit programs - some offer discounted public transit passes or bike storage facilities. Don't forget that as a healthcare worker, you might also qualify for other tax benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit or education credits if you're taking any continuing education courses. It's worth having a comprehensive review of your entire tax situation, not just the parking issue.

I went through this exact same nightmare last year with my RSUs from work! What helped me was creating a spreadsheet to track everything. I listed all my vesting dates, the FMV on each date, which shares were sold to cover taxes, and which ones I sold myself. The key insight that finally clicked for me: your RSU income on your W2 already includes the value of ALL vested shares, including the ones automatically sold for taxes. So when TurboTax imports your 1099-B with $0 cost basis, it's trying to tax you again on money you already paid taxes on. Here's what I did: I went through each transaction in TurboTax after the import and manually entered the FMV from vesting date as the cost basis. For sell-to-cover transactions, this usually results in little to no capital gain since they're typically sold immediately at vesting. For shares you held and sold later, you'll have either a gain or loss based on the difference between sale price and vesting day value. It's tedious but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty quickly. The $5k difference you're seeing between your W2/1099-B and actual cash received is probably exactly those sell-to-cover transactions.

I've been dealing with this exact same issue for the past three years with my company RSUs through E*Trade. What finally solved it for me was understanding that the problem isn't really with TurboTax - it's that E*Trade (and most brokerages) simply don't have the complete cost basis information for RSUs. Here's my step-by-step approach that works every time: 1. **Identify your vesting events first** - Go to your employer's equity portal (like Equity Edge, Shareworks, etc.) and pull up your vesting history. This shows the exact FMV on each vesting date. 2. **Match transactions to vesting dates** - Compare your 1099-B transactions with your vesting schedule. Sell-to-cover transactions almost always happen on the same day as vesting or within 1-2 days. 3. **Calculate the real cost basis** - For each transaction on your 1099-B, the cost basis should be: (FMV on vesting date) × (number of shares sold). NOT zero. 4. **Manual entry in TurboTax** - After importing, go through each transaction and update the cost basis. Don't worry about it not matching the 1099-B exactly - this is expected and correct. The key insight is that your W2 already includes tax on the full value of vested shares. The 1099-B is only supposed to capture any additional gain/loss from the time of vesting to the time of sale. Most people miss this and end up paying double tax on the vesting value. Keep all your documentation - vesting statements, pay stubs showing RSU income, and your manually adjusted TurboTax entries. This is completely legitimate and the IRS expects these corrections for RSUs.

This is such a common confusion for LLC owners! You're absolutely right to question whether quarterly payments are needed during inactive periods - they're not required if there's no income to report. However, I'd strongly recommend getting clarity on your specific situation before assuming you can skip everything. The filing requirements can vary based on how your LLC is classified for tax purposes and your state's rules. A single-member LLC has different requirements than one elected to be taxed as an S-Corp, for example. One thing that caught my attention in your post is that you mentioned you were "previously making estimated quarterly tax payments." If you had significant tax liability in prior years, you might still need to make payments to avoid underpayment penalties, even during inactive periods. The IRS has safe harbor rules that sometimes require payments based on prior year taxes. I'd suggest reviewing your previous year's tax liability and checking if you fall under any safe harbor payment requirements. Also, don't forget that even inactive LLCs often need to file annual returns to report the lack of activity - it's counterintuitive but true in many cases. Getting professional guidance for your specific situation might save you from surprises down the road!

Just want to add a perspective from someone who's been through multiple inactive periods with my consulting LLC over the past 5 years. The key thing I learned is to be very intentional about how you handle the transition to inactive status. When I first went inactive, I made the mistake of just... stopping. Didn't formally document anything, left some subscriptions running, and created a messy situation for tax filing. Now I have a proper "shutdown checklist" that includes: 1. Final client invoicing and collections 2. Canceling all recurring business expenses 3. Documenting the exact date business activity ceased 4. Making a final quarterly payment if needed 5. Notifying my accountant of the status change For your specific question about quarterly payments - you're right that you don't need them with zero income, but definitely verify you don't have safe harbor payment requirements from prior years. I got caught by this once and owed a small underpayment penalty even though my current year liability was zero. The annual filing is still required in most cases. Think of it as telling the IRS "yes, I still exist but had no activity this year" rather than leaving them guessing about your status. This is especially important if you plan to reactivate later - you want a clean paper trail showing the business was properly maintained during the inactive period. State requirements are the wild card here. Some states are very forgiving of inactive businesses, while others (looking at you, California) charge the same fees regardless of activity level. Definitely research your specific state's rules before making any decisions about dissolution vs. maintaining the LLC.