Try looking into the Earned Income Tax Credit. Even if you can't file as head of household, if your income is under certain thresholds, you might qualify for EITC even without claiming your daughter as a dependent.

I'm in a similar situation and found that it really comes down to the "qualifying person" requirement. Since your girlfriend will claim your daughter, you unfortunately can't use her to qualify for head of household status, even though you're providing most of the financial support for the household. One thing worth considering for future years - you and your girlfriend might want to run the numbers on who gets the bigger tax benefit from claiming your daughter. Sometimes it makes sense to have the lower-earning parent claim the child, but other times the higher earner gets more benefit. You could potentially alternate years or see if there's a way to structure things so the person who gets head of household status also claims the dependent. Also, make sure you're not missing out on other credits and deductions you might qualify for as a single filer. Things like the Child and Dependent Care Credit might still be available to you if you're paying for childcare expenses, even if you're not claiming your daughter as a dependent.

Has anyone actually used intercompany transactions to save on taxes? Like could you charge higher rates from your profitable company to your less profitable one to shift where the income shows up? Asking for a friend lol

Great question! I went through something very similar when I restructured my business last year. The key thing to remember is that these intercompany transactions are totally legitimate as long as you're treating them like you would with any unrelated third party. Since you mentioned you're paying market rates between Company Beta and Company Gamma, that's exactly what the IRS wants to see. The technical term is "arm's length pricing" - basically, would you charge the same amount to a completely unrelated company for the same work? A few practical tips from my experience: - Keep detailed invoices and contracts between the companies, just like you would with external vendors - Document how you determined your pricing (market research, competitor analysis, etc.) - Make sure each company has separate bank accounts and maintains its own books - Consider getting a few quotes from outside developers occasionally to validate your internal rates The fact that you have separate EINs and legitimate operations for each company is perfect. The IRS isn't trying to stop legitimate business structures - they just want to make sure companies aren't artificially shifting profits around to avoid taxes. Since your setup sounds legit and you're using fair pricing, you should be good to deduct those expenses normally.

Good news about the CP12 notice! That means you're getting a bigger refund than expected, which is always nice. The IRS found a math error in your favor and corrected it automatically. Since you received the CP12, your refund should be processed within 4-6 weeks from the date on the letter. The fact that it's been 2 weeks already means you're probably halfway there. The "Where's My Refund" tool should show more specific timing once they actually approve and send the refund. CP12 notices are pretty straightforward - no action needed on your part unless you disagree with their correction (which you probably don't since it's more money!). Your grandma was right that it means a refund is coming, she just didn't know about the timeline.

Just wanted to add that CP12 notices are actually one of the better IRS letters to receive! Since yours shows they found a math error that increased your refund by $130, that's essentially free money you weren't expecting. I've gotten a few CP12 notices over the years and the timeline is usually pretty consistent - about 4-6 weeks from the letter date. The IRS has to go through their internal processing steps even after they send the notice, which is why there's still a wait time. One tip: if you have direct deposit set up, make sure your bank account info hasn't changed since you filed. Sometimes refund delays happen because the IRS tries to deposit into an old or closed account. You can verify this info through the "Where's My Refund" tool on their website.

Filed mine Feb 5th and already got it! Maybe check if you have any errors?

Filed Jan 28th here in Detroit and still waiting too! The processing delays are so frustrating this year. At least it's good to know I'm not the only one still stuck in limbo. Hopefully we'll all see some movement soon 🤞

Quick question - does anyone know if the IRS is more likely to audit you if you've been audited before? I got audited three years ago (also for crypto) and I'm wondering if I'm now on some kind of high-risk list.

Based on my experience dealing with crypto taxes, paper filing definitely won't help you avoid an audit and might actually hurt your chances. The IRS has sophisticated scanning technology that digitizes paper returns anyway, so all your transaction data ends up in their computer systems regardless. What really matters for audit risk is accuracy and consistency in your reporting. With 1000 crypto transactions, the key is making sure your reported gains/losses match what the exchanges have reported to the IRS. Many exchanges now send 1099 forms directly to the IRS, so any discrepancies between what you report and what they've already told the IRS about your activity will be flagged automatically. Your best bet is to e-file for faster processing and focus on having bulletproof documentation for every single transaction. Keep records of all trades, transfers, fees, and cost basis calculations. That's what will protect you if you do get selected for audit, not the filing method.