Don't forget to check if your state offers education credits too! I'm in New York and we have a separate college tuition credit that gave me another $400 on my state return. TurboTax should walk you through this too, but sometimes the state credits are easy to miss.

Quick tip that saved me last year: if you've already filed but realized you missed claiming the education credit, you can file an amended return (Form 1040-X). I did this last April after realizing I could claim the AOTC, and got an additional refund of $1,500!

Don't forget you'll need to file Form 8606 for the traditional IRA to Roth conversion! This is super important and easy to miss. Also make sure you're not getting hit with an early withdrawal penalty. The conversion itself is exempt from the 10% penalty, but TurboTax sometimes flags it incorrectly if you don't answer all the questions in the right order.

I went through almost the exact same scenario last year - 401k to Traditional IRA, then quickly to Roth IRA. The key thing that solved my TurboTax errors was making sure I handled each transaction separately and in the right order. For the first rollover (401k to Traditional IRA), enter it as a direct rollover with zero taxable amount. For the second transaction (Traditional to Roth conversion), this is where you'll owe taxes on the full amount. One specific tip that helped me: when TurboTax asks about the Traditional to Roth conversion, look for the question "Did you convert any traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA?" rather than just treating it as a regular distribution. This triggers the right forms (including 8606) and prevents the early withdrawal penalty from being applied incorrectly. Also, since you did this conversion in the same tax year, make sure you're not accidentally double-counting any basis. The entire amount should be taxable since it all came from pre-tax 401k funds originally.

This is exactly why I always tell people to run through multiple calculators AND actually start the filing process on both platforms before making a decision. The estimators are basically marketing tools - they're designed to get you in the door, not give you accurate numbers. A $3000 difference is huge though, definitely suggests one of them is making some major assumptions about your situation that might not be correct. Have you tried the IRS's own withholding calculator? It's not perfect but sometimes gives a better baseline than the commercial ones.

Yeah I've noticed this too with different tax software - the estimators are basically just marketing hooks to get you started. What's really frustrating is they don't tell you upfront what assumptions they're making about your credits and deductions. I'd suggest looking at which specific credits each estimator is including/excluding - that's usually where the big differences come from. Child tax credit, EITC, education credits etc. can swing your refund by thousands depending on how the software interprets your situation.

This is such a helpful discussion! I'm in a similar boat with my S Corp and was getting confused by all the different rules. One thing I'd add that helped me understand the loss situation better - think of the SEP contribution as just another payroll expense, like your regular salary. The fact that your business shows a loss doesn't prevent you from paying yourself wages, and it doesn't prevent you from making retirement contributions based on those wages either. The loss might actually be partially due to the salary and SEP contribution expenses themselves! For what it's worth, I've been making SEP contributions for three years now, including one year where my S Corp had a small loss, and never had any issues with the IRS. The key is just making sure you have the cash flow to support it and that your contribution doesn't exceed 25% of your W-2 wages. Your math on the $13,500 salary and $3,375 contribution looks spot on. Just make sure to coordinate with your payroll company about that Box 13 - it really does matter for your personal tax situation down the road.

As someone who went through this exact situation last year, I can confirm that yes, you absolutely get the full business deduction for the SEP contribution even in a loss year! The SEP contribution is treated just like any other ordinary business expense on your S Corp tax return (Form 1120S). In my case, the SEP contribution did increase my business loss for the year, which then flowed through to my personal return as an ordinary business loss on Schedule E. This actually provided some tax benefit on my personal side since it reduced my overall taxable income from other sources. One practical tip I learned - make sure you have adequate documentation showing the SEP contribution was made before your S Corp tax filing deadline (including extensions). The IRS wants to see that the contribution was actually made, not just promised. I always make my SEP contributions by December 31st to avoid any timing issues, even though technically you have until the filing deadline. Also, definitely get that payroll communication sorted out early! I had to file a corrected W-2 one year because we missed the Box 13 checkbox initially. It's much easier to get it right the first time than to fix it later. Your situation sounds very straightforward - W-2 wages of $13,500 means you can contribute up to $3,375 to the SEP IRA, regardless of whether the business shows a profit or loss for the year.

I've been having the same exact issue! Started trying to access FreeTaxUSA around noon and it's been nothing but error messages and timeouts. Really glad to see it's not just me - I was starting to worry there was something wrong with my internet connection. Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like this is just peak season server overload. I'm going to try the late evening approach that several people mentioned worked for them. Has anyone tried reaching out to FreeTaxUSA directly on social media for status updates? Might be worth checking their Facebook or Twitter for real-time information about when their systems are running normally again. I really don't want to switch back to TurboTax after all the good things I've heard about FreeTaxUSA's pricing and features.

I'm experiencing the exact same thing! Been trying since around 8am this morning and FreeTaxUSA just won't load properly. Sometimes I get a blank page, other times it shows a server error message. Really frustrating since I also blocked out today specifically to get my taxes done. After reading through everyone's experiences here, it's clear this is just a traffic overload issue during peak tax season. I appreciate everyone sharing their workarounds and the info about FreeTaxUSA's Twitter acknowledgment of the problem - that's really helpful to know it's on their end and not something wrong with my setup. I'm going to try again tonight around 10pm like several people suggested, and if that doesn't work, I'll attempt the early morning approach tomorrow. The cost savings compared to TurboTax are definitely worth waiting an extra day or two for their servers to stabilize. Thanks everyone for the reassurance that this is normal and temporary!