I'm dealing with a very similar situation and want to thank everyone for sharing their experiences! I had to repay about $11,000 in wages from 2022 to my former employer last year, and like many others here, I figured out the income tax portions but was completely lost on the FICA piece. Based on what I'm reading, it sounds like my best bet is to start by contacting my former employer's payroll department directly. The point about them being able to recover their matching portion through Form 941 adjustments is really helpful - I hadn't realized there was a financial incentive for them to cooperate. If that doesn't work out, I'll need to go the Form 843 route with the IRS. One question I have - for those who filed Form 843, did you include any calculation worksheets or just rely on the narrative explanation in Part II? I want to make sure I provide enough detail without overwhelming them with paperwork. Also, has anyone dealt with a situation where the original wages included both regular pay and commission? I'm wondering if that affects how the FICA refund is calculated or if it's all treated the same way. This community has been incredibly helpful - much more so than the generic advice I've found elsewhere online!

I'm new to this community but found this thread while researching my own wage repayment situation. I had to return about $6,200 in wages to my former employer earlier this year, and like many others here, I was completely unaware that I could recover the FICA taxes that were withheld. After reading through all these helpful experiences, I have a couple of questions. First, for those who successfully contacted their former employer's payroll department - how did you phrase your initial request? I want to make sure I approach this professionally and include all the necessary details. Second, I'm curious about timing. My wage repayment happened in March 2024 for wages I received in late 2023. Does the fact that this crossed tax years affect my ability to claim the FICA refund, or is the process the same regardless of when the repayment occurred? Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories - this thread has been incredibly educational and gives me hope that I can recover money I didn't even know I was entitled to!

I successfully avoided the RAL (Refund Anticipation Loan) trap by using a fee-free VITA site for my tax preparation and setting up direct deposit. My AGI was $72,000 last year, so I qualified for their free services. I received my full refund in exactly 11 days with no preparation fees or advance charges. The IRS Direct Pay system processed my refund efficiently, and I didn't have to sacrifice any portion of my tax return to a third-party preparer or loan servicer.

As someone who's been through this decision process, I'd strongly recommend avoiding Express1040's refund advance. The math just doesn't work in your favor - you're essentially paying premium interest rates for money that's already yours and will arrive soon anyway. Since you mentioned your refund is substantial and you're not desperate for cash, you're in the perfect position to simply wait for the standard processing time. File electronically with direct deposit and you'll typically see your refund in 10-21 days without sacrificing hundreds of dollars in fees. The peace of mind of keeping your full refund amount is worth the short wait, especially when these advances often come with hidden costs that aren't immediately apparent during signup.

Just wanted to share my experience since I was pulling my hair out over this same issue yesterday! After trying all the suggestions here, I finally found my W2 in a completely different spot than where it used to be. In our company's UKG Pro setup, they moved it to "Myself" > "My Information" > "Documents" > "Tax Forms" - which is totally different from the old location under the main dashboard. What really helped me was actually calling our IT helpdesk instead of HR. They knew exactly where the tax documents had been moved to after the update and walked me through it in 2 minutes. Sometimes the IT folks have better knowledge of the system changes than HR does, especially right after major updates like this. Also, if you're still having trouble, check if your company sent out any emails about the UKG Pro update - I found one buried in my inbox from last month that actually had a PDF guide showing the new menu locations. Companies often send these communications but they get lost in all the other emails we receive. Hope this helps someone else avoid the frustration I went through!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread! I was having the exact same issue and was about to miss the tax filing deadline. Between Tyler's directions to check under "Myself" > "Pay" > "Tax Documents", Amy's search function tip, and Paolo's suggestion to clear browser cache and log back in, I finally found my W2. It's really frustrating when companies make these interface changes without proper communication, but seeing how this community came together to help each other figure it out gives me hope. I'm bookmarking this thread for next year because let's be honest - they'll probably move everything around again by then! Special thanks to Andre for the HR insider tips - that explanation about Employee Self Service permissions probably explains why some of us had more trouble than others finding the documents. This kind of information should really be communicated better during system updates.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same issue! Our family partnership received K-1s with both boxes 14A and 14C filled out, and when I entered the 14C amount into FreeTaxUSA, my tax liability shot up by over $6,000 instantly. After reading through all these responses, I'm now convinced our accountant made the same mistake. We had a profitable year with about $45k net income per partner, but somehow they put our gross revenue figure ($62k) in Box 14C. Based on what everyone's saying about the $6,120 maximum for the optional method, that's clearly wrong. What's really frustrating is that we've been paying this accountant for three years, and now I'm wondering if they've been making this same error the whole time. That could mean we've been overpaying self-employment taxes by thousands of dollars annually! I'm planning to call them tomorrow morning with the Publication 533 reference that was mentioned. If they can't justify using the optional method for a profitable partnership, I'm demanding corrected K-1s and looking into amending our previous returns. This thread has been incredibly helpful - thank you to everyone who shared their experiences!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm a tax attorney and see this Box 14C error frequently with partnership clients. What you're experiencing is unfortunately very common due to widespread misunderstanding of the optional method among practitioners. The key points everyone has made are spot-on: Box 14C is ONLY for the nonfarm optional method, which is capped at $6,120 for 2024 and is designed for partners with low or negative net earnings who want to maintain Social Security credits. Your accountant treating it as a place to report gross revenue shows a fundamental misunderstanding of partnership tax law. One additional point I'd add - when you do get this corrected, make sure your accountant understands the difference between the "regular method" (Box 14A) and "optional method" (Box 14C) going forward. The IRS instructions are admittedly confusing, but there's no excuse for putting unlimited amounts in Box 14C when the law clearly caps it. Also, if you've been filing incorrectly for multiple years, you can amend returns going back three years from your filing date. Given the amounts people are mentioning here ($6k-$12k in extra taxes), those amended returns could result in substantial refunds plus interest from the IRS. Don't let your accountant dismiss this as a minor issue - partnership SE tax errors are serious and costly!

I went through this process last month and it was much easier than I expected. Here's what happened: Step 1: Called the number on the letter to schedule an appointment (took about 20 minutes on hold) Step 2: Arrived 15 minutes early with my driver's license, social security card, and the letter Step 3: Waited about 10 minutes past my appointment time Step 4: Met with an agent who verified my ID and asked basic questions about my return Step 5: Got confirmation that my identity was verified Step 6: My WMR updated 4 days later Step 7: Received my refund 8 days after verification I was so relieved when it was over! The anticipation was much worse than the actual appointment.

I just went through this process two weeks ago and honestly, everyone here is right - it's way less scary than it sounds! I was a nervous wreck beforehand but the whole thing was pretty smooth. My timeline was similar to what others have shared: made the appointment about 2.5 weeks out, brought my driver's license, SS card, and the verification letter. The actual appointment took maybe 20 minutes total. The agent was really professional and just asked me to confirm some basic info from my return - nothing weird or tricky. The waiting part after is probably the hardest! My transcript updated exactly 5 days later (I was checking obsessively lol), and I got my refund deposited 6 days after that. So about 11 days total from verification to money in my account. One thing that helped my anxiety was calling ahead the day before my appointment to confirm they had everything they needed from me. The person I spoke with was super helpful and reassured me I had all the right documents. You've got this! The hardest part is just getting yourself there - the actual process is totally manageable. 😊