Has anyone considered the property tax implications here? When our family did a similar thing, the property tax assessment office got notified of the sale and reassessed the value, which jumped our annual property taxes by almost double! Might want to check with your local assessor about how they handle family transfers.

One more thing to consider - make sure your aunts understand they'll need to report the imputed interest as income even though they're not actually receiving it. This means they'll owe taxes on "phantom income" each year. Depending on their tax bracket, this could be a significant annual cost they weren't expecting. You might want to run the numbers to see if it makes sense for you to gross up their payments to cover the additional tax burden, or consider charging a small interest rate (maybe 1-2%) to reduce the imputed interest amount while still keeping your borrowing costs low. Sometimes a small actual interest payment is better than a larger phantom one for the lenders. Also, double-check that the property income you mentioned ($17k annually) won't complicate things if they're still receiving rental income during the transition period. Make sure the loan terms clearly address when rental income transfers to you.

Has anyone tried using IRS Form 4549 "Income Tax Examination Changes" for this situation? My tax person mentioned this might be a quicker way to resolve missing 941s than filing individual late returns for each quarter.

I went through almost the exact same situation last year! The key thing that saved me was keeping detailed records of everything. When I filed my late 941s, I included copies of all my EFTPS payment confirmations and wrote a cover letter explaining that the deposits were made timely but the returns somehow didn't get processed properly. The IRS accepted my explanation and waived all the late filing penalties since I could prove the taxes were paid on time. Make sure to mark each return "FILED LATE DUE TO PROCESSING ERROR" at the top and include your EFTPS confirmation numbers if you still have them. For your 940 credit situation, definitely don't let that expire! You can either request a refund or apply it to future quarters. I'd recommend calling the business tax line (not the main IRS number) at 800-829-4933 - they're usually more knowledgeable about employment tax issues and the wait times are often shorter than the general helpline. Don't stress too much - this happens more often than you think, especially with the system overloads during COVID. The fact that you paid everything on time puts you in a much better position than most people who have missing returns.

Kinda wondering if this is a sign I shouldn't volunteer this year lol. Between the certification portal issues, the new tax law changes, and how complicated everything seems to be getting, I'm getting cold feet about the whole VITA thing. Is the advanced certification really necessary for most VITA sites? What types of tax situations actually require it?

I'm dealing with the exact same issue! The Joe Lopez PDF link has been completely unresponsive for me too. After reading through all these suggestions, I think I'm going to try the Edge InPrivate mode first since that's free, and if that doesn't work, I might have to bite the bullet and use one of those callback services to get through to IRS support. It's really frustrating that such a critical part of the certification process has been broken for so long. You'd think the IRS would prioritize fixing something that's preventing volunteers from getting certified, especially during tax season when VITA sites are desperately needed. Has anyone heard if there's an official timeline for when this will be fixed? Thanks everyone for sharing your workarounds - it's helpful to know I'm not the only one struggling with this!

Check if your state has minimum tax requirements even for inactive LLCs. Here in California, we have that annoying $800 annual tax even if you made $0. Learned this the hard way with my dormant real estate LLC and got hit with penalties. Also, if you're definitely closing the LLC, it might be worth filing the final tax form so there's a clear record that everything was properly wrapped up. Some states require a "tax clearance" certificate before they'll process dissolution paperwork.

One thing to consider is timing - if you're planning to dissolve the LLC anyway, you might want to do it sooner rather than later to avoid any potential 2024 compliance requirements. Even though 2023 was inactive, keeping the LLC open through 2024 could trigger additional state filing obligations depending on where you're located. Also, when you do file for dissolution, make sure to indicate the effective date carefully. Some states allow you to dissolve retroactively to avoid additional tax periods, while others require dissolution to be effective going forward. This could impact whether you need to worry about any 2024 requirements. Since you've already returned all funds and covered the expenses personally, you're in a clean position to close everything out. Just double-check your state's dissolution requirements - some want to see that all tax obligations are current before they'll approve the dissolution paperwork.

This is exactly what happened to me when I first started doing freelance work alongside my regular job! The self-employment tax shock is real and unfortunately very normal. Here's what's happening: At Domino's, your daughter and her employer each pay 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare taxes (totaling 15.3% combined). But with self-employment, she's both the employee AND the employer, so she pays the full 15.3% herself. Add regular income tax on top of that, and you're looking at a significant tax burden. A few things to check that might help reduce her bill: **Business expenses she might have missed:** - All materials for jewelry making (beads, findings, wire, tools) - Shipping costs and packaging materials - Business use portion of her cell phone and internet - Any photography equipment for product shots - Marketing expenses (even small social media ad costs) - Storage containers or workspace setup costs **The QBI deduction** - She should qualify for the 20% Qualified Business Income deduction which can provide substantial savings on her net business profit. For next year, definitely set up quarterly estimated tax payments using Form 1040ES. I learned this the hard way too! Setting aside about 30% of self-employment income usually covers both income tax and self-employment tax. The amount sounds painful but is unfortunately typical when you combine both taxes plus no withholding throughout the year. Double-check all possible deductions and consider having a tax pro review it if you're unsure about anything.

The shock you're experiencing is completely normal for first-time self-employed individuals! Your daughter is essentially paying both the employee AND employer portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes on her jewelry business income. Here's what's happening: At Domino's, she pays 7.65% in payroll taxes while her employer pays the matching 7.65%. For self-employment, she pays the full 15.3% herself, PLUS regular income tax on top of that. Some ways to potentially reduce her tax burden: **Double-check these business deductions:** - All jewelry-making materials (beads, wire, clasps, tools) - Shipping supplies and postage costs - Business portion of phone/internet if used for social media marketing - Photography supplies for product photos - Packaging materials and labels - Any craft fair booth fees or online marketplace fees **Make sure she's getting the QBI deduction** - This 20% deduction on qualified business income could save her several hundred dollars and should be calculated automatically by most tax software. **For future planning:** She should definitely make quarterly estimated payments next year. A good rule is setting aside 25-30% of self-employment earnings. She can use Form 1040ES or pay online through the IRS website. The $4,900 bill is painful but unfortunately typical when combining both self-employment tax and income tax with no withholding. If you haven't already, consider having a tax professional review the return to ensure you're claiming all eligible deductions - it might be worth the fee given the size of the tax bill.