Welcome to the community, StarSailor! Your action plan sounds perfect - starting with the EFTPS technical support line and having Firefox as a backup is exactly what I'd recommend based on all the success stories shared here. One additional tip I'd like to add for newcomers dealing with EFTPS issues: if you do end up calling the tech support line, have your EIN and EFTPS PIN ready before you dial. The techs can resolve most account-level issues (like the flagging problems several people mentioned) much faster when they can immediately verify your identity and pull up your account details. Also, when you set up Firefox with Paolo's security settings, I'd suggest testing your login a few times over the course of a day to make sure it's consistently working before your actual payment deadline. That way you'll know for certain that your backup solution is reliable. It's great seeing how this community has developed such a comprehensive troubleshooting guide through everyone's shared experiences. These kinds of technical issues with government sites are so frustrating when you're dealing with tax deadlines, but having multiple proven solutions makes it much less stressful!

As someone who's been dealing with EFTPS access issues on and off for the past year, I wanted to add another potential solution that hasn't been mentioned yet. Sometimes the problem isn't with your browser settings or account flags, but with your local network configuration. I discovered this when I was having login issues at my office but could access EFTPS perfectly fine from my home computer. It turned out our office firewall was blocking certain SSL certificates that EFTPS requires for the login.gov integration. Our IT person had to whitelist specific government certificate authorities in our firewall settings. If you're accessing EFTPS from a business network (especially if you have robust security software or firewalls), you might want to try logging in from a different network - like your phone's hotspot or a home internet connection - to see if that resolves the issue. If it works from a different network, then you know it's a firewall/network configuration problem rather than a browser or account issue. This could be particularly helpful for people who have tried all the browser fixes and called tech support but are still having problems. Sometimes the issue is at a completely different layer of the technology stack than what most troubleshooting guides address.

Slightly off topic but make sure you keep that 1099-INT form for at least 3 years even after filing! I closed an account in 2022, lost the form, and then got audited in 2023. Was a nightmare trying to get a copy of the 1099 from the bank since the account was closed.

Just to add another data point - I'm a CPA and deal with this question constantly during tax season. The partial account numbers on 1099 forms are absolutely fine to use as-is. In fact, I tell my clients never to try to "complete" or guess at the full account number, as that could actually cause matching issues with the IRS system. The IRS computer systems are specifically programmed to expect these masked account numbers. What they're really matching on is your SSN, the payer's EIN, and the dollar amounts reported. The account number field is more for your own record-keeping than for IRS matching purposes. So Kaitlyn, you can confidently file your return with just those last 4 digits exactly as they appear on your 1099-INT. No need to torture yourself with bank customer service!

I've been following this discussion closely as someone who made the LLC to S-corp switch two years ago. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the timing aspect - you can't just flip a switch whenever you want. The S-corp election has to be made by March 15th to be effective for the current tax year, or you're stuck waiting until the following year. Also, while everyone's focusing on the self-employment tax savings (which are real), don't overlook some of the other benefits that come with S-corp status. For example, if you ever want to bring on business partners or investors, the corporate structure makes that much cleaner. And if you're planning to sell your business eventually, buyers often prefer dealing with corporations over LLCs. That said, I completely agree with the $120k+ profit threshold that several people mentioned. Below that, the juice usually isn't worth the squeeze unless you have very specific circumstances. My advice would be to model it out properly (whether using one of those AI tools mentioned or working with a good CPA) rather than just listening to what worked for someone else's completely different situation.

As someone who's been through this exact decision process, I want to echo what several others have said about the income threshold being crucial. I made the switch from LLC to S-corp when I hit about $140k in profit, and the math finally made sense. What really helped me was tracking my quarterly estimated payments for a full year before making the switch. This gave me a clear picture of my actual tax burden and helped me model out the potential savings more accurately. I realized I was paying about $21k annually in self-employment taxes alone on top of income taxes. The "reasonable salary" discussion is absolutely critical - I ended up setting mine at $95k based on industry salary surveys for my role and experience level. This means I still pay full employment taxes on that portion, but the remaining $45k in distributions only gets hit with income tax. Net result: about $6,900 in annual tax savings even after increased accounting and payroll costs. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier: start documenting your business processes and keeping more formal records BEFORE you make the switch. The IRS expects S-corps to operate more like traditional corporations, so having that documentation trail helps justify your tax structure if you ever get audited. For anyone still on the fence, I'd recommend calculating your self-employment tax specifically (15.3% of net profit) and seeing if that number alone justifies the additional complexity. If you're paying less than $8-10k in self-employment tax annually, the administrative burden probably isn't worth it.

Uber actually provides a yearly tax summary in your driver account even if you don't get a 1099. Just go to the tax information section in your account and you should find a detailed breakdown of all your earnings, Uber's cut, fees, etc. Just use those numbers on Schedule C.

Just to add to what others have said - don't forget about tracking your vehicle expenses beyond just mileage! As an Uber driver, you can deduct things like car washes, phone mounts, phone chargers, and even a portion of your car insurance if you use the actual expense method instead of the standard mileage rate. Also, keep in mind that since you're reporting self-employment income, you'll likely owe self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) on top of regular income tax. This is about 15.3% of your net earnings, so factor that in when planning. You might want to make estimated quarterly payments next year if you continue driving to avoid owing a large amount at tax time. The good news is that with proper deductions, your actual tax liability on that $638 might be quite small. Just make sure to keep detailed records of all your driving-related expenses!

Has anyone actually been audited for education expenses? I'm wondering how closely the IRS looks at things like internet costs. I'm planning to claim about 60% of my internet bill since that's roughly how much I use for school, but I'm nervous about whether that's too aggressive.

I went through an audit two years ago that included my education expenses, including internet costs. Here's what I learned from that experience: The IRS auditor was actually quite reasonable about internet expenses. What they cared most about was having a logical method for calculating the percentage and being able to back it up with documentation. I had claimed 45% of my internet costs based on tracking my usage for two months and extrapolating from there. The key documents they wanted to see were: 1) Course syllabi or school communications showing internet was required, 2) My internet bills for the tax year, 3) My calculation method (I used a simple spreadsheet tracking hours), and 4) My class schedule to verify the time periods. 60% doesn't sound unreasonable if you can justify it. What saved me was being conservative and having a clear paper trail. I'd recommend keeping a usage log for at least a few weeks to establish your pattern, even if you estimate the rest of the year from that sample. The auditor appreciated that I had actual data rather than just guessing. One tip: if you're taking mostly online classes and using internet primarily for school during certain months, your percentage might legitimately vary throughout the year. You don't have to use the same percentage for every month if your usage patterns actually changed.