Has anyone else noticed that the AMT exemption amount actually phases out at higher incomes? Like it starts to reduce once you hit around $523,900 for single filers in 2023. Just mentioning because talking about being "above the exemption" can be misleading. You have to actually do the calculation to know.

You're probably overthinking this! With income in the mid-to-high 80s and what sounds like a straightforward tax situation, you're likely not going to owe AMT even though you're above the exemption threshold. The exemption amount is just where the calculation starts - being above it doesn't automatically mean you owe additional tax. AMT really kicks in when you have significant "tax preference items" like large state/local tax deductions, certain investment income, or stock option exercises. If you're using tax software, it will automatically run the AMT calculation for you and include Form 6251 if needed. You don't have to manually figure it out. Even if it turns out you do need to file the form, the software handles all the complexity. My advice? Don't stress about it too much. Let your tax software do the heavy lifting, and if you end up owing AMT, it's probably not going to be a huge amount at your income level. The IRS designed this system to catch high-income taxpayers with complex situations, not people with regular W-2 income.

I had a very similar issue with my 2024 return! TurboTax kept blocking me from filing because of the Form 4684 delay, even though my hurricane damage was from 2017. I spent way too much time researching this before realizing the software was just being overly broad with its questions. The key thing to understand is that the current Form 4684 delays only affect specific disaster provisions that were updated for recent disasters (mainly 2023-2024). If you already claimed all your Hurricane Florence losses on your 2018 return and have no new casualty losses for 2024, you can safely answer "No" to the disaster question. I changed my answer and filed without any problems. The IRS isn't going to flag you for not reporting a disaster that was already fully handled on a previous year's return. Sometimes tax software errs on the side of asking too many questions rather than missing something, but in this case it's just creating unnecessary confusion for people whose disasters were properly reported years ago.

I went through this exact same frustration last year! The Form 4684 delay message in TurboTax can be really misleading when it applies to older disasters that were already properly reported. From what you've described, since you already claimed all your Hurricane Florence losses on your 2018 return and there are no ongoing insurance settlements or newly discovered damage, you should be able to change your answer to "No" on the disaster question without any issues. The current Form 4684 delays are specifically related to updates for certain 2023-2024 disasters, not older ones like Hurricane Florence from 2018. Tax software sometimes casts a wide net with these screening questions, but if your disaster was fully resolved years ago, there's no need to involve Form 4684 on your current return. I'd recommend going back in TurboTax, changing that disaster answer to "No," and filing your return. You won't miss any deductions since you already took them in the correct year, and you'll avoid unnecessary delays waiting for form updates that don't even apply to your situation.

Quick question for anyone using automated tax solutions - do they handle local taxes in states like Colorado where home-rule cities have their own separate tax systems? I've found those especially difficult to manage.

The destination-based system also reflects a fundamental principle of tax policy - that taxes should be paid where public services are consumed, not just where they're produced. When you ship a product to a customer in another state, that customer benefits from local infrastructure (roads for delivery), emergency services (if there's an issue with the product), consumer protection laws, and courts (if there's a dispute). From an economic fairness perspective, it makes sense that the tax revenue goes to the jurisdiction providing those services to your customers. Otherwise, you'd have states with major distribution centers or tech companies collecting all the sales tax revenue while customer states bear the costs of supporting those purchases. I know it's complicated for businesses, but the alternative would essentially allow customers to avoid their local sales taxes just by shopping online, which would devastate brick-and-mortar stores that have to compete with tax-free online retailers. The current system at least levels the playing field between online and local businesses.

KeyBank customer with successful deposit this morning from a 3/22 DDD. The deposit hit my account at exactly 04:37 EST. According to the ACH transaction details, the payment originated through the Treasury's Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system and was processed through the Federal Reserve's FedACH service before arriving at KeyBank's internal settlement system. Can you verify if your Return Transcript shows TC 846 with the correct account number? Sometimes there can be a mismatch between what's displayed on WMR versus what's on your actual transcript.

KeyBank customer here with a 3/22 DDD - still nothing showing up in my account as of this morning. I've been banking with them for about 3 years and they're consistently slow with tax refunds compared to other banks my friends use. What's frustrating is that I can see pending transactions for everything else (like my paycheck that comes Friday but shows pending Wednesday), but tax refunds seem to be handled differently. I called their customer service yesterday and they basically said "wait until the official date" without being able to tell me if they've even received anything from Treasury yet. At this point I'm just setting a phone reminder to check tomorrow morning and trying not to stress about it. Thanks for posting this - at least I know I'm not the only one dealing with KeyBank's slow processing!

Has anyone used the FreeTaxUSA software instead of TurboTax for household employee taxes? I'm wondering if it handles Schedule H any better. TurboTax is so expensive, especially when you need the higher-tier versions just for Schedule H.

Just went through this exact situation myself! I was also using a payroll service (HomePay) and got completely confused about where to enter everything in TurboTax. Here's what I learned after calling both the payroll service and spending way too much time on IRS.gov: 1. Yes, enter those federal tax payments as estimated taxes - that's correct 2. When TurboTax asks about quarterly payment dates, don't stress about matching the "official" quarterly dates. Just group your payments by quarter and use the date of your last payment in each quarter 3. Make sure you're also completing the Schedule H section separately - this shows what you owe vs. what you've already paid 4. Double-check that your nanny received their W-2 and that the wage amounts match between your Schedule H and their W-2 The thing that helped me most was realizing these are two separate things: Schedule H calculates your household employment tax liability, while the estimated payments section gives you credit for taxes already paid. Once I understood that distinction, everything clicked into place. Also, if you paid over $2,700 in wages to your nanny in 2024, you definitely need to file Schedule H - it's not optional even if you used a payroll service.