Former IRS employee here. Your tax preparer is either completely incompetent or deliberately misleading you. There is no such thing as a "transition year" for filing status - that term doesn't exist in the tax code. Your marital status on December 31 determines your filing status for the entire year. Not only should you amend your spouse's return, but I'd seriously consider reporting this tax preparer to the IRS using Form 14157 (Complaint: Tax Return Preparer). Making up fictitious tax concepts like "transition years" is a serious ethical violation for a tax professional, especially when it could potentially impact immigration proceedings.

As someone who went through a similar situation when I got married in September 2025, I want to echo what everyone else has said - there is absolutely no such thing as a "transition year" for newly married couples. This is completely made up by your tax preparer. I also had a tax professional try to convince me of some questionable filing strategies early on, which is why I ended up doing my own research and double-checking everything. The IRS is crystal clear that your marital status on December 31st determines your filing status for the entire tax year - no exceptions. Given that you have immigration paperwork pending, this incorrect filing could create unnecessary complications down the road. Immigration officers look for consistency across all your legal documents, and having mismatched tax filings could raise red flags during your case review. I'd strongly recommend filing an amended return as soon as possible and consider finding a new tax preparer who actually knows the tax code. The fact that they got defensive when questioned about this fictional "transition year" concept is a huge red flag. A competent tax professional should be able to cite specific tax code sections, not make up rules that don't exist. For your own filing, you'll need to file as either Married Filing Separately or amend both returns to file jointly - you cannot file as single since you were married on December 31, 2025.

21 You might qualify to use Schedule 1 instead of Schedule C depending on the exact nature of the payment. Line 8 of Schedule 1 is for "Other income" and sometimes one-time payments like this can go there instead of being treated as self-employment income. This would save you from paying self-employment tax. It really depends on the specific circumstances of how you earned the money. If it was truly just payment for attending training with no expectation of service, it might qualify as "other income" instead of self-employment income.

11 Just wanted to add that if this was a one-time thing, make sure you use the right business code when TurboTax asks for it. For training participation, code 611710 "Educational Support Services" might be appropriate. This helps the IRS understand this isn't an ongoing business but a one-time educational activity.

I found a free Excel template called the "Ultimate Financial Calculator" on vertex42.com that I customized for exactly this purpose. It's more work upfront to set up, but I've been using it for 3 years and it's way more accurate than any online calculator. The benefit is you can add ANY type of pre-tax deduction and see exactly how it flows through your taxes. I've modeled scenarios with 401k, HSA, dependent care FSA, transit benefits, and even some weird pre-tax legal insurance my company offers.

I've been in a similar situation and found that most calculators fall short because they don't account for the complexity of how different pre-tax deductions interact with each other and various tax rules. One approach that worked well for me was using Personal Capital's retirement planner (now Empower) in combination with a simple spreadsheet. The retirement planner helps you see the long-term impact of different contribution levels, while the spreadsheet handles the immediate paycheck impact. For the spreadsheet part, I created columns for gross pay, each type of pre-tax deduction (401k, HSA, transit, etc.), then calculated federal tax, state tax, FICA, and final take-home. The key insight was realizing that HSA contributions save you the most per dollar because they're exempt from both income tax AND FICA taxes. Also worth noting - if your company offers both traditional and Roth 401k options, you might want to split contributions. Sometimes having some post-tax savings gives you more flexibility in retirement, especially if you expect to be in a similar or higher tax bracket later. Have you checked if your company's HR department has access to more sophisticated modeling tools? Some larger employers have partnerships with financial planning services that can do exactly this kind of optimization analysis for employees.

Has anyone tried just asking their employer for an early copy of their W2? I was able to get mine emailed to me a week before they officially sent them out just by asking my HR department. Might be worth a try if you're eager to file!

Adding to what everyone else has said - your coworker is definitely taking a huge risk. I work in tax preparation and see people get in trouble for this exact thing every year. The W-2 contains specific information that paycheck stubs don't always have, like dependent care assistance, group life insurance over $50k, and other fringe benefits. What's particularly dangerous is that when the IRS eventually matches your filed return against what your employer reported (which they will), any discrepancies can result in penalties, interest, and potential audit flags. I've seen people owe hundreds in penalties just because they estimated wrong using their paystub. If you're really anxious about filing early, try calling your payroll department directly. Many companies can provide W-2s electronically before they mail the paper copies. It's a much safer approach than risking IRS issues down the road.

Just to add another perspective - if you're planning those home repairs around your bonus, remember to factor in not just the withholding but also any state taxes if you're in a state with income tax. Some states follow the federal 22% flat rate for bonuses, but others use different methods. Also, if your bonus pushes you into a higher tax bracket for the year, that portion will be taxed at the higher rate when you file (though only the amount over the bracket threshold, not your entire income). It's worth running some quick calculations or using a tax calculator to estimate your actual take-home before committing to big expenses!

One thing that helped me understand this better was looking at my year-end W-2. All your income - regular wages AND bonuses - just gets lumped together in Box 1 as total wages. The IRS doesn't even know which dollars came from bonuses versus regular pay when you file your return. It's all just "wages" to them. So yeah, like everyone else said, the higher withholding on bonuses is just the payroll system being overly cautious, but it all evens out at tax time. I actually prefer getting that "forced savings" from the higher withholding and then getting a bigger refund, but I know some people would rather have the cash flow throughout the year instead.