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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls ā which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Isaac Wright
One option nobody's mentioned yet is splitting the difference. You could adjust your withholding to reduce it somewhat, but not eliminate the refund entirely. That way you still get more in your paychecks now, but you're also building in a safety margin in case your tax calculations aren't perfect. I do this every year - aim for a modest refund of $1,000-2,000 as insurance against unexpected tax issues, while keeping my regular withholding reasonable. The perfect withholding would theoretically result in $0 owed and $0 refund, but that's nearly impossible to achieve with changing circumstances throughout the year.
Maya Diaz
ā¢How exactly do you calculate this "insurance amount"? I've tried to do this before but always end up way off, either getting much bigger refunds than I planned or owing a little.
Isaac Wright
ā¢I use what I call the "10% buffer rule." I calculate what my ideal withholding should be for zero refund/zero amount due, then I add 10% extra to that amount as my safety margin. For example, if my calculated correct withholding is $1,000 per month, I'll actually withhold $1,100 per month. This typically results in a refund of about $1,200 at year end, which I'm comfortable with. It's small enough that I'm not giving a huge interest-free loan to the government, but large enough to absorb unexpected tax changes or calculation errors.
Tami Morgan
Has anyone here actually applied an overpayment to the next year and then adjusted withholding to $0 for a quarter? My accountant warned me this could trigger an automated review because it looks unusual. Just wondering about real experiences.
Rami Samuels
ā¢I've done this for the past three years with no issues. Applied about $8K of my refund to the next year's taxes each time, then adjusted my withholding way down for Q1 and part of Q2. Never triggered any special review or audit flags. The IRS systems treat it as a perfectly normal transaction because it is - it's a built-in option on the tax forms for a reason.
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Sole proprietorship is the simplest business structure but just remember you'll need to pay self-employment tax (about 15.3%) on your photography income. Even if it's under $1k, you still need to report it.
Owen Jenkins
ā¢Wait, self-employment tax is 15.3%?? That seems super high. Is that on top of regular income tax? I thought since I made less than $1,350 I might not even need to report it.
Yes, self-employment tax is 15.3% which covers Social Security and Medicare taxes. When you work for an employer, they pay half of this and you pay half, but as a self-employed person, you cover the entire amount. This is in addition to your regular income tax. However, there's good news - you only have to file and pay self-employment tax if your net earnings are $400 or more. So if your photography income after expenses is less than $400, you wouldn't owe self-employment tax. But you should still report the income on your tax return regardless of the amount. Those equipment deductions might actually bring your net profit below the $400 threshold, which would save you from owing the self-employment tax.
Don't forget you can also write off other stuff besides just equipment! I do wedding photography and deduct my website costs, part of my cell phone bill, mileage to/from shoots, lightroom subscription, business cards, etc.
Isaac Wright
ā¢Can you write off education costs too? I took some online photography courses to improve my skills.
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Ravi Patel
I had this exact problem and TurboTax was NOT helpful! I ended up calculating my estimated payments manually and here's what worked for me: For Line 18, you need to list the DATE and AMOUNT of each payment you actually made, regardless of when it was due. The dates matter because the IRS calculates interest based on how late the payments were. If you have your bank records or IRS payment confirmations, just go through and list each payment chronologically with the exact date. Don't try to organize them by which quarter they were "for" - just list them in the order you paid them.
Thank you! This makes so much more sense than what TurboTax was saying. One question though - if I made multiple payments for a single quarter (like I paid half of Q3 in August and half in September), do I list those as separate entries?
Omar Zaki
Don't panic about Form 2210! Most people get confused by it. One tip: if your total tax underpayment is less than $1,000, you may not even need to file this form at all - there's a safe harbor provision. If you're stuck on Line 18, just list all payments in chronological order with exact dates. And remember that even if you do have a penalty, it's just interest - not some huge fine. The penalty rates change quarterly but have been around 5-7% annually. Not pleasant but not the end of the world either!
Thank you all SO MUCH for your help! I feel much better about this now. I'll list my payments chronologically with exact dates. And I'll definitely check out that Schedule AI option since most of my income was in the last quarter. Turns out I was overthinking this whole thing!
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Be careful about amending right away! Make sure you understand EXACTLY what the preparer did first. My sister had a similar situation and rushed to amend her return, but ended up creating more problems because she didn't understand what she was fixing. Get a professional review of your return (a legitimate CPA, not another random preparer). You might also want to check if your preparer has credentials - some people call themselves "tax preparers" without any qualifications at all.
That's good advice. Do you know how much it typically costs to have a CPA review a return that's already been filed? I'm already out the $125 I paid the fraudulent preparer plus whatever I'll end up owing the IRS... trying not to break the bank here.
Most CPAs will do a basic review of your situation for around $100-200, which I know feels like throwing good money after bad, but it's worth it to make sure everything gets fixed correctly. Some might even do a quick initial consultation for free to at least point you in the right direction. You can also check with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program if your income is under about $60k. They provide free tax help and might be able to advise you on next steps without charging anything.
Does the tax return have an EFIN or PTIN number on it anywhere? All legitimate tax preparers have to have these identification numbers. If they're missing, that's another red flag that you're dealing with someone who isn't properly registered with the IRS.
Also check if they signed the return as a preparer! That's required by law - if they didn't sign it that's a HUGE red flag. Legitimate preparers always sign the "Paid Preparer" section of the return and include their PTIN. If they did your taxes but didn't sign, they're trying to avoid accountability.
Jamal Brown
Don't forget that if you're still holding the remaining 171 shares, you'll want to keep extremely detailed records of your cost basis for when you eventually sell! I learned this the hard way. My company did 3 acquisitions over 5 years, which meant our stock went through multiple conversions. When I finally sold shares last year, I had absolutely zero documentation from the original grants 8 years ago. Ended up having to piece everything together from old paystubs and emails. I'd recommend creating a spreadsheet right now with: - Grant date - Vest date - FMV on vest date - Number of shares - Any adjustments for stock splits/mergers Trust me, future you will be eternally grateful when you need this info 5+ years from now!
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Fatima Al-Rashid
ā¢Is there a good template for tracking this? My company has done RSUs, ISOs, and ESPPs over the years and I'm already losing track of which shares came from where and when each lot vested.
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Jamal Brown
ā¢I don't have a specific template, but I created one in Google Sheets that works well. The key columns I use are: Grant Type (RSU/ISO/ESPP), Grant Date, Vest Date, Shares Granted, Shares Vested, FMV at Grant, FMV at Vest, Shares Sold for Taxes, Net Shares Received, and Cost Basis per Share. I also add notes for any corporate actions like splits or mergers that affected share counts. This has saved me countless hours at tax time. The most important thing is to update it immediately when new shares vest, because trying to reconstruct this later is a nightmare.
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Giovanni Rossi
Is anyone else's broker just completely useless with providing this info? My company uses E*Trade and their 1099-B just shows the proceeds from the shares sold for taxes but nothing about the actual RSU grant or vesting details. And their customer service people just read from scripts and don't understand RSU tax treatment at all.
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Aaliyah Jackson
ā¢E*Trade is awful for this! I switched jobs and my new company uses Fidelity, which is SO much better. They provide a supplemental tax statement that shows your original W-2 income amount for RSUs and the corresponding cost basis adjustment. Made my taxes 100x easier this year.
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