I didn't make any estimated payments - didn't know I needed to! Is there a threshold for when you need to start making those? My LLC only made about $4,000 in revenue last year, but I spent almost $3,500 getting everything set up.

Generally, you need to make estimated tax payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file your return. Since your profit was relatively small this first year, you might not have triggered that requirement yet. For next year though, if your business grows and you expect to owe more than $1,000 in taxes, you should make quarterly estimated payments. The IRS has a "safe harbor" provision - if you pay at least 90% of what you owe for the current year or 100% of what you owed last year (whichever is smaller), you won't face penalties.

Section 179 is great for new businesses! It lets you deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment in the year you buy it, rather than depreciating it over time. A laptop absolutely qualifies as long as it's used more than 50% for business. Just make sure you document that business use. There's a limit of $1,160,000 for 2025 (which you're obviously nowhere near), and the equipment must be placed in service during the tax year you're filing for. Many small business owners use Section 179 for computers, office furniture, and similar equipment.

That's a really good point about the battery size. Do you know if there's an easy way to check the kWh capacity? I'm looking at the Toyota RAV4 Prime but the dealer seems confused when I ask about battery specs.

You can find the battery capacity on most manufacturer websites under the technical specifications section. For the RAV4 Prime specifically, it has an 18.1 kWh battery pack, which definitely exceeds the 7 kWh minimum requirement for the credit. Don't rely on dealers for this technical info - many of them don't understand the tax credit requirements. Your best bet is to check the manufacturer's website or look at the EPA's fuel economy website (fueleconomy.gov) which lists the battery capacity for all PHEVs and EVs.

I used TurboTax Business last year for my S-Corp and it handled the commercial clean vehicle credit, but it was a bit tricky to find. You have to go through the business tax credits section, not the personal credits. It's part of Form 3800 (General Business Credit). Make sure you have all your documentation ready though - VIN, purchase date, evidence of when you placed it in service, etc.

Thanks for the info! That's helpful to know it's actually in there somewhere. I was poking around the personal credits section and couldn't find anything for business vehicles. Will look in the business credits section instead.

11 What's the difference between an EA and a CPA? I always thought they were basically the same thing.

19 EAs (Enrolled Agents) specialize specifically in taxation and are licensed directly by the IRS, while CPAs have a broader accounting education and are licensed by states. EAs focus almost exclusively on tax preparation, representation, and tax planning. CPAs can handle tax work but also do financial statement preparation, auditing, and broader financial planning. If your needs are purely tax-related, especially if you have a tax dispute or representation issue with the IRS, an EA might be perfectly suited and sometimes more affordable. For broader financial planning or business accounting needs beyond just taxes, a CPA might be better.

16 I tried Thumbtack last year for tax help. You get a lot of responses quickly, which is nice, but I found the quality really varied. Some were clearly just trying to get any business while others were legitimately qualified. The bigger issue was that the reviews weren't very detailed about tax expertise specifically. Someone might have 5 stars but mostly from doing simple returns, when you need help with something more complex.

Thanks for this suggestion! I just checked my SSA account and thankfully my earnings record seems correct despite the wrong SSN on my W-2s. My aunt (who does my taxes) mentioned something about how the IRS might have been matching my tax returns with the W-2s through a name/address match even with the wrong SSN. Does that sound right?

Yes, that absolutely sounds right. The IRS has pretty sophisticated matching algorithms that can often connect the dots even when there are discrepancies like transposed digits. They look at multiple factors beyond just the SSN, including name, address, employer information, and amounts reported. It's still important to get it corrected going forward, but the fact that your earnings record is showing correctly is a great sign. The SSA and IRS do share information, and it sounds like in your case, the systems worked as they should to ensure your earnings were properly credited despite the error.

Did you have any issues with your tax refunds for those years? I'm wondering if this kind of mistake affects how quickly refunds get processed.

Do you have any specific spreadsheet templates you'd be willing to share? We're trying to build our own tracking system but starting from scratch is time-consuming.

I don't have anything I can share publicly, but I can describe our basic setup. We created an Excel workbook with separate tabs for each state. Each tab has columns for filing type, frequency, due dates, extensions available, online filing portal links, and special notes/requirements. We also color-code cells based on industry relevance, since some filings only apply to specific client types. The most valuable column has been our "common mistakes" section where we document issues we've encountered previously with that particular filing.

We use Checkpoint and while it's comprehensive, the interface is clunky and finding specific filing requirements can be time-consuming. It's better for research than as a quick reference guide for compliance deadlines. We ended up building our own calendar system anyway.