I was in the same boat as you last month - expired license and couldn't use ID.me. Calling that verification number was like trying to win the lottery, but I finally got through on my fifth attempt. The trick is to call right when they open at 7am. It's like trying to get concert tickets the moment they go on sale. I got my identity verified and my refund showed up 16 days later. Hang in there!

I went through this exact same nightmare in January! My license had expired right before I needed to verify, and ID.me was a complete dead end. Here's what worked for me: Call 800-830-5084 at exactly 7:00 AM your local time - I'm talking have your phone ready to dial the second the clock hits 7. I tried calling later in the day multiple times and gave up after 60+ minute waits, but the 7 AM call got me through in under 20 minutes. Have these ready: your SSN, filing status, exact AGI from your 2022 and 2023 returns, and your address from those returns. They also asked me about a previous address from like 5 years ago (super random but they have access to credit bureau info). The whole verification took about 25 minutes, and they gave me a confirmation number at the end - definitely write that down! My refund was released exactly 19 days after the call, even though they said it could take up to 9 weeks. Good luck with your apartment application - the timing stress is real!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - make sure you understand the first-year depreciation rules if you do choose the actual expenses method. With Section 179 and bonus depreciation, you might be able to deduct a huge chunk of your vehicle's cost in year one, but there are some important limitations for vehicles. The Section 179 deduction for vehicles used over 50% for business is capped at $12,200 for 2025 (plus potential bonus depreciation). So even though your car cost $18,000, you couldn't deduct the full amount immediately. Also, if your business income isn't high enough, you might not be able to use the full deduction anyway. Given your high mileage situation (18,000+ business miles annually), I'd definitely echo what others said about starting with the standard mileage rate. It's so much simpler and likely more beneficial. You can always crunch the numbers both ways next year to see if switching to actual expenses makes sense as your car depreciates further. Just make sure whatever method you choose, you're consistent and keep detailed records from day one!

As someone who went through this exact confusion when I started contracting, I'd strongly recommend keeping it simple with the standard mileage rate for your first year. With 350-400 miles weekly, you're looking at around $12,000-13,500 in deductions, which is likely going to be better than the actual expenses method anyway. Here's what saved me a ton of headaches: get a simple mileage tracking app or even just use a basic logbook. Record date, starting/ending odometer, destination, and business purpose for every trip. The IRS loves detailed records for vehicle deductions. One tip nobody mentioned - if you're doing delivery/courier work, make sure you understand what counts as "business miles." Generally, it's from your first business stop to your last business stop of the day. The commute from home to your first delivery and back home from your last delivery typically doesn't count unless your home is your official business location. Also, don't stress too much about Section 179 - it's way more complex than you need right now and the standard mileage rate will likely save you more money anyway. Focus on keeping good records and you'll be fine!

Just want to add another bit of info regarding the 100% safe harbor (or 110% if your AGI is over $150k) - it applies to your TOTAL tax liability from the previous year, not just what you paid through withholding last year. So if you owed $10k total last year (including any amount you had to pay with your return), then you need to have withholding+estimated payments totaling at least $10k this year to qualify for safe harbor. That trips up a lot of people who think it's just about matching last year's withholding.

One more thing to consider - if your income was significantly higher in 2023 than in 2022, you might want to verify if you need to meet the 110% threshold rather than just 100%. If your AGI was over $150,000 in 2022 (or $75,000 if married filing separately), you need to have paid in at least 110% of your prior year tax liability to qualify for that safe harbor.

For anyone struggling with FPHCI, I found IRS Publication 5471 guide to be somewhat helpful, though still complex. The key things I learned: 1. FPHCI generally includes: dividends, interest, royalties, rents, annuities, net gains from property transactions that produce these income types, net commodity transaction gains, net foreign currency gains, and income from notional principal contracts. 2. There are important exceptions like the active business exception for rental income and the same-country dividend exception. 3. If you own less than 10% of the foreign corporation, you likely don't need to worry about FPHCI rules (though you'll still report the income you actually receive). Hope this helps someone else navigate this confusion!

Is it possible to reduce the tax impact of FPHCI? I just learned that I might have to pay taxes on income that I haven't even received yet from a foreign company my grandparents left me shares in. This seems really unfair!

I completely understand your frustration - the waiting game with a procrastinating spouse on taxes is absolutely maddening, especially when you've been ready since February! Just to add to what others have said about the risks of filing separately then amending - the IRS computer systems don't handle filing status changes very smoothly. When you amend from MFS to MFJ, it often triggers manual review, which can delay your refund by months or even over a year. I've seen cases where people actually got their amended refund AFTER the next year's refund because of processing delays. One thing that might help right now - if your main goal is getting cash flow, have you considered asking your husband to at least gather his 1099s so you can estimate his income? You could file an extension with an estimated payment, then use a tax refund advance loan from a reputable tax prep company based on your portion of the expected joint refund. This gets you money now without the complications of changing filing status. The nuclear option is giving him an ultimatum with a specific date - like "we're going to a tax pro on [date] with whatever records you have, organized or not." Sometimes external accountability is what it takes to break the procrastination cycle.

I feel your pain so much - I went through this exact same nightmare last year! My husband's "filing system" was literally receipts stuffed in his glove compartment and random notebooks with illegible expense scribbles. Here's what I learned the hard way: filing separately then amending to joint later sounds simple in theory, but the IRS systems really aren't designed for it. When I tried this approach, my amended return got stuck in manual processing for 8 months because the computer couldn't reconcile why we suddenly qualified for credits we hadn't claimed initially. What finally worked for us was a combination approach - I made an appointment with a tax pro and told my husband "we're going Tuesday at 2pm, bring whatever records you have." Then I used one of those tax tools mentioned earlier (TaxR.ai) to at least get his bank statements organized beforehand so we weren't starting from complete chaos. The tax pro was able to work with his messy records and we actually discovered some deductions he would have missed entirely. Yes, it cost us $500, but we saved over $3,000 compared to what we would have lost filing separately, plus no amendment headaches. Sometimes you just have to take control of the situation instead of waiting for them to get their act together. Your sanity and financial well-being matter too!