One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if your spouse has been getting paid for cleaning services all these years, they should really think about setting up properly as a self-employed person going forward. That means: 1. Keeping good records of all income from all clients 2. Tracking all business expenses (cleaning supplies, travel between job sites, etc.) 3. Paying quarterly estimated taxes if you expect to owe more than $1,000 4. Maybe even setting up an LLC for liability protection This situation is a good wake-up call. Cash/check side gigs are still taxable income, and it's way better to handle it properly from the start rather than dealing with surprises later.

This is a really tricky situation, and I feel for you both. Based on what you've described, here are the key points to keep in mind: The ex-boss can technically issue 1099s for any tax year where he paid your spouse $600 or more for services, but there are some practical limitations. For years before your spouse had an SSN, any 1099s would likely be rejected by the IRS system since there's no valid taxpayer identification number to match them to. The timing of his threat is definitely suspicious - waiting 5 years and only bringing this up after a personal dispute suggests this might be retaliatory rather than genuine tax compliance. Make sure you document all his communications and threats. Your spouse should have been reporting this income all along (even without SSNs, people are still supposed to file tax returns using ITINs), but realistically, the IRS can only effectively pursue the years where they have a valid SSN on file - so likely just the past 2 years. If he does file 1099s with incorrect amounts (which wouldn't surprise me given the circumstances), your spouse can dispute them by filing their tax return with the correct income amounts and including Form 4852 to explain the discrepancy. I'd recommend consulting with both a tax professional and potentially an attorney if his harassment escalates, since using tax reporting as a weapon could have legal implications beyond just the tax issues.

Don't forget to document EVERYTHING if you're claiming a partial exemption. We sold our house 4 months short of the 2-year mark due to a family health emergency, and the IRS initially questioned our exemption. What saved us was having thorough documentation: doctor's letters explaining the necessity of the move, correspondence showing when we made the decision, and a clear timeline of events. We also kept all receipts for home improvements to increase our cost basis. Also, TurboTax has a specific section for calculating partial exemptions that was actually pretty helpful for us. We ended up paying some capital gains tax but much less than we would have without the partial exemption.

Another option to explore is the "safe harbor" test for unforeseen circumstances. The IRS specifically lists certain situations that automatically qualify, including: - Death of a family member - Divorce or legal separation - Multiple births from the same pregnancy - Becoming eligible for unemployment compensation - Change in employment that leaves you unable to pay housing costs The "multiple births" provision might be relevant if you're having twins! Also, if the cost of living increase has genuinely made your current housing unaffordable (especially with childcare costs), you might qualify under the unemployment/inability to pay provision. I'd strongly recommend getting a consultation with a tax professional who specializes in real estate transactions before making your final decision. The potential tax savings from finding the right exemption could easily pay for professional advice, and they can help you document your case properly if you do qualify for a partial exemption. Given your timeline and the amounts involved, this is definitely worth professional guidance rather than trying to navigate it alone.

This is such a great question! I went through the same confusion when I switched jobs last year. One thing that really helped me understand the process was learning that the W4 redesign in 2020 made the calculations much more transparent, but also more complex behind the scenes. Your situation with higher salary but lower withholding makes perfect sense when you break it down: 1. Your 6% 401k contribution (about $4,020/year) reduces your taxable income significantly 2. The 2 dependents you claimed likely qualify for the $2,000 child tax credit each, which reduces your withholding 3. The new W4 is generally more accurate than the old allowance system, so you're probably getting closer to your actual tax liability I'd recommend running your numbers through the IRS withholding calculator at least once to make sure you're on track. The calculator will tell you if you need to adjust your W4 to avoid owing at tax time. Since you're concerned about owing, you might want to consider adding a small amount in Step 4(c) for additional withholding - even an extra $25-50 per paycheck can make a big difference come tax season. The key thing to remember is that withholding is just an estimate based on your W4 info. Your actual tax liability depends on your full financial picture for the year.

Great discussion here! I'm dealing with something similar and wanted to share what I learned from my payroll department. They explained that the actual withholding calculation happens in several steps: 1. Start with gross pay for the pay period 2. Subtract pre-tax deductions (like your 401k, health insurance, etc.) 3. Apply the withholding method from Publication 15-T using your W4 info 4. The system accounts for your filing status, dependents, and any additional withholding you requested What's interesting is that the dependent credits ($2,000 per qualifying child) don't just reduce your final tax - they actually reduce the amount withheld from each paycheck throughout the year. So claiming 2 dependents means roughly $4,000 less in total withholding across the year, which explains why your paychecks might look bigger even with the higher salary. The 401k contribution is probably the biggest factor though - 6% of $67,000 is over $4,000 in pre-tax reduction, which puts you in a lower effective bracket for withholding purposes. Combined with the dependent credits, that's a significant reduction in withholding compared to your previous job. I'd echo the advice about using the IRS withholding calculator, especially since you switched jobs mid-year. It'll help you see if you're on track or need to adjust!

Your tax software should have a list of assets and their current status! When I used turbotax it gave me a nice "asset list" PDF with all my business equipment and showed how much was left to depreciate each year. Check if you can download an "asset list" or "depreciation report" from whatever software you used.

For QuickBooks Online specifically, there's a helpful workaround if you're struggling with the manual depreciation entry process. You can create a "catch-up" journal entry to record all the accumulated depreciation from 2022-2024, then set up the assets going forward with their remaining basis. Here's what worked for me: Go to the "+" menu > Journal Entry, then debit your Depreciation Expense account and credit Accumulated Depreciation for each asset. Use the memo field to note "Catch-up depreciation 2022-2024 for [asset name]" so it's clear in your records. Once that's done, you can set up the depreciation schedule in QBO for the remaining book value going forward. For your equipment ($12,500) and lighting ($4,200), you'll need to calculate how much depreciation you've already taken based on the method used (5-year MACRS is common for equipment, 7-year for fixtures). The remaining undepreciated amount is what QBO will work with for future years. This approach keeps your books clean and makes the 2025 tax prep much easier since everything will be properly tracked going forward.

As a newcomer to this community, I have to say reading through all these experiences is both eye-opening and deeply concerning. I'm dealing with my first amended return situation - filed in August to correct a missed education credit, and I'm currently at the 15-week mark with zero movement on the "Where's My Amended Return" tool. What strikes me most about all these stories is how consistent the dysfunction appears to be across the board. Whether it's simple calculation errors, missed deductions, or education credits, everyone seems to be facing the same 6-8 month nightmare regardless of how straightforward their correction should be. The fact that multiple people have found success through congressional intervention really says something about how broken the normal customer service channels have become. It shouldn't require political pressure just to get basic information about the status of your own tax return. I'm definitely going to start implementing some of the strategies mentioned here - checking my transcript regularly for specific codes, documenting all my interactions with IRS customer service, and potentially reaching out to my representative's office if I hit the 20+ week mark with no progress. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences and solutions. It's frustrating that we need to become amateur tax code investigators and political advocates just to get our own money back from the government, but at least we're not navigating this mess alone.

As someone new to this community, I'm both grateful and horrified to find this thread. I filed my amended return in September to correct a missed dependent exemption, and I'm currently at the 12-week mark. After reading everyone's experiences here, I'm already preparing myself for what looks like it could be a 6-8 month ordeal instead of the "standard" 20 weeks the IRS advertises. What's particularly frustrating is that this should be a straightforward correction - I have all the proper documentation for my dependent, but somehow missed including them on my original return. It's not a complex tax situation requiring extensive investigation, yet based on what I'm seeing here, I should expect the same bureaucratic nightmare everyone else is facing. I'm definitely going to start implementing the strategies mentioned throughout this thread right away: checking my transcript regularly for specific processing codes, keeping a detailed log of every interaction with IRS customer service, and having my congressional representative's contact information ready for when (not if) I need to escalate. It's absolutely insane that taxpayers need to become amateur investigators and political advocates just to get basic customer service from a federal agency, but thank you all for sharing your experiences and solutions. At least now I know what I'm up against and have a roadmap for navigating this broken system.