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$600 is definitely on the higher side. I'd recommend shopping around a bit. H&R Block quoted me $350 for a similar situation (multi-state, 3 W-2s, and some investment stuff). Just make sure whoever you go with is experienced with multi-state returns and early withdrawals from retirement accounts.
Thanks for the suggestion! Did H&R Block handle your multi-state situation well? I've heard mixed things about them for more complicated situations.
They did okay with my multi-state stuff, but I had to be really proactive and double-check their work. The person I got was relatively new and missed allocating some of my income correctly between states at first. After I pointed it out, they fixed it, but it made me wonder what else might have been missed if I hadn't been paying attention. If you go with H&R Block or similar, try to get their more experienced preparers and ask specifically about their experience with multi-state returns and early retirement withdrawals. The quality really varies depending on which preparer you get assigned to.
Former tax preparer here! To give you a different perspective - yes, $600 is within the normal range for your situation. The multi-state issue alone typically adds $150-200 to the base price at many firms, and early IRA withdrawals add complexity because we have to determine if any exceptions apply to reduce the penalty. Four W-2s isn't a big deal by itself, but combined with everything else, your return requires significantly more time than an average one.
Is there anything the OP could do to reduce the cost? Maybe organizing documents in a specific way or doing some of the prep work themselves?
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Consider doing a 1031 exchange if you're interested in owning other real estate! You can defer paying capital gains tax if you reinvest the proceeds into a "like-kind" property. You'd need to identify the new property within 45 days of selling and complete the purchase within 180 days, but it could save you a lot in taxes.
My brother tried to do a 1031 exchange last year and it was a complete nightmare with all the timing restrictions. Make sure you have a qualified intermediary lined up BEFORE you sell if you go this route!
Is no one going to mention that $87,000 for 35 acres that was supposedly "worthless" sounds suspiciously low if a mining company is interested? You might want to get your own appraisal or consult with a lawyer before accepting their first offer. Mining companies typically don't make offers unless they know something valuable is there.
THIS! My cousin sold some "worthless" land in Wyoming to a mining company for what seemed like a great price, only to find out later they discovered a major lithium deposit. Do your homework before selling!
Oh wow, I hadn't even thought about that! I was just excited about getting money for land I thought was worthless. Maybe I should look into what exactly they're mining for and get a second opinion on the value. Thanks for bringing this up - definitely don't want to get taken advantage of!
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One important thing nobody's mentioned - when you respond to the 886-A, make sure you keep copies of EVERYTHING you send to the IRS. I learned this the hard way when they claimed they never received my documentation during an audit last year. Also, if you're recalculating using the standard mileage method, make sure you have a mileage log that shows business vs. personal use. They often request this as follow-up if you don't provide it initially. Without a log, they might reject the standard mileage claim too.
Is it too late to create a mileage log now? I kept rough track in my calendar of my routes and deliveries but didn't have a formal "mileage log" per se. Can I recreate one from my notes?
You can reconstruct a reasonable mileage log from your existing notes and calendars. The IRS doesn't require a specific format - they just need to see evidence that you tracked business vs personal miles. Include dates, starting location, destination, purpose of trip, and mileage for each business drive. Be honest about reconstructing it from your notes - don't claim it's an original contemporaneous log if it isn't. Many small business owners have to reconstruct logs during audits, and the IRS understands this as long as you have some supporting documentation like your delivery schedules, client meetings, etc.
Has anyone actually calculated whether it's better to use standard mileage vs actual expenses for newspaper delivery? I'm curious because I do food delivery and always claimed mileage (about 19,000 miles last year) but never bothered to track my actual car expenses to compare.
For high-mileage, lower-cost vehicles, standard mileage rate usually wins. I've done both delivery and rideshare for years. When I tracked both methods side by side last year, standard mileage gave me a $9,850 deduction while actual expenses would have been around $7,200. But it totally depends on your vehicle and situation.
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Most companies these days structure these as taxable cash payments because the formal HRAs require a lot more administration and paperwork. You can easily check by looking at your first paystub after the reimbursement kicks in - if they're withholding taxes from it, there's your answer! Also worth asking if they offer a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan instead, which can make these benefits pre-tax. But honestly, even with taxes taken out, $375/month is still free money if you're already covered elsewhere.
Can you explain what a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan is? Never heard of this before. Is this something I should specifically ask my HR about?
A Section 125 Cafeteria Plan (named after the section of the tax code) allows employees to pay for certain benefits with pre-tax dollars. It's essentially a menu of benefit options where you can choose between taxable benefits (like cash) and non-taxable benefits (like health insurance, FSAs, etc.). Yes, definitely ask your HR if they have this plan option. If they do, and you opt for the cash option within this plan, it might be structured in a way that reduces your tax burden. But be aware that most small to medium companies don't have this set up because it's administratively complex. Still worth asking though!
My company does this too! They call it a "health stipend" and deposit $400/month into my checking account for waiving coverage, but they absolutely do withhold taxes on it. It shows up on my paystub as "Benefit Waiver Pay" and gets taxed just like regular income. I did the math and even after taxes, I still come out ahead by about $3200/year by staying on my wife's insurance and taking the taxable payment. Just be prepared that $375/month will probably be more like $250-275 after taxes depending on your tax bracket.
This matches my experience too. My employer gives $320/month for declining their insurance, and it's definitely taxed. Shows up as "Benefit Opt-Out Pay" on my paystub.
Finnegan Gunn
I dealt with this exact situation recently. Make sure you file Form 8606 for BOTH tax years - one for 2020 (to report the nondeductible contribution) and one for 2021 (to report the Roth conversion). The 2020 form establishes your basis of $6,000, and the 2021 form reports the conversion and calculates the taxable amount. Since your rollover IRA existed when you did the conversion, you'll need to use the pro-rata formula to determine how much is taxable. Pro-rata formula: (Nondeductible contributions ÷ Total IRA balance) × Amount converted = Nontaxable portion For example, if your total IRA balance (including the rollover IRA) was $46,000 when you converted $6,000, then: $6,000 ÷ $46,000 × $6,000 = $782.61 would be the nontaxable portion, and the rest would be taxable.
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Miguel Harvey
•But wait, wouldn't the timing matter here? If they did the conversion before rolling over the 401k, then the pro-rata rule might not apply since there was only after-tax money in the IRA system at conversion time, right?
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Finnegan Gunn
•You're absolutely right, the timing is crucial. I missed that detail. If the Roth conversion happened before the 401k rollover, then there would only be the $6,000 nondeductible contribution in the IRA system at that time. In that case, the entire conversion would likely be nontaxable. The pro-rata rule looks at all IRA balances as of December 31 of the year of conversion, but there's an exception for funds that weren't in the IRA system at the time of conversion. If the 401k rollover happened after the conversion, the rollover wouldn't affect the taxability of the conversion.
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Ashley Simian
Has anyone else had problems with FreeTaxUSA calculating Form 8606 correctly? Last year it kept showing my conversion as fully taxable even though I had basis in my traditional IRA.
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Oliver Cheng
•I had issues with it too. You need to make sure you enter your "basis" from prior years correctly. There's a specific screen where you enter the total nondeductible contributions you've made in previous years. If you skip that or enter zero, it assumes everything is taxable.
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