Emma, I'm so relieved you trusted your instincts and didn't sign anything! Those pressure tactics are absolutely classic scam behavior - legitimate tax professionals never rush you into making immediate decisions about something as important as resolving tax debt. Since you've already taken the smart step of freezing your credit, I'd also recommend filing a police report with your local department. Having an official report on file can be helpful if any identity theft issues come up later, and some banks or creditors may require it for certain fraud protections. For your actual $8000 tax situation, definitely bypass these third-party companies and work directly with the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. The Fresh Start Initiative has made their payment plans much more accessible - I've seen people get monthly payments as low as $50 depending on their financial hardship. You'll save thousands in fees that these "relief" companies typically charge. Also consider placing a fraud alert with the credit bureaus in addition to the freeze - it requires creditors to verify your identity before opening new accounts and provides an extra layer of protection. The fact that you gave them an empty gift card instead of real payment info was absolutely brilliant thinking! That probably prevented immediate financial damage while you figured out something was wrong. Your experience is going to help so many other people recognize these warning signs before they fall victim.

Emma, I'm so glad you trusted your gut and didn't fall for this scam! Those high-pressure tactics and demands for immediate signatures are textbook red flags. You absolutely made the right call backing away when something felt off. Since you've already frozen your credit (smart move!), I'd also recommend getting your free annual credit report from annualcreditreport.com to establish a baseline of what's currently on your file. This way you'll be able to spot any fraudulent accounts that might get opened despite the freeze. For your actual $8000 tax debt, definitely work directly with the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 rather than through any third-party companies. The IRS offers reasonable payment plans through their Fresh Start program - often as low as $25-50 per month depending on your financial situation. You'll avoid the massive fees these "relief" companies charge and work with the actual source. Also consider getting an Identity Protection PIN through your IRS online account - it's free and prevents anyone from filing fraudulent returns using your SSN, which is especially important now that they have that information. Your quick thinking with the empty gift card instead of real payment info was brilliant! That probably saved you from immediate financial damage. Thanks for sharing this experience - it's going to help so many others recognize these warning signs before they get taken advantage of.

Welcome to the world of W2 employment! That 21% withholding rate is absolutely normal for your income bracket. Here's what's likely happening with your paychecks: Your total tax burden breaks down roughly like this: - Federal income tax: ~10-12% (varies based on your W-4 settings) - Social Security: 6.2% (fixed rate) - Medicare: 1.45% (fixed rate) - State income tax: varies by state, typically 0-6% - Possibly local/city taxes depending on location The good news is that since you started mid-year, you'll very likely get a refund when you file. The payroll system calculates withholding assuming you'll make that salary for the full 12 months, but since you only worked part of the year, your actual annual income will be lower than what the withholding was based on. For next year, once you've been working the full year, the withholding should be much more accurate. You can always adjust your W-4 if you find you're getting huge refunds (meaning you're giving the government an interest-free loan) or if you end up owing money at tax time. The sticker shock of seeing gross vs. net pay is real, but you're in a totally normal situation for someone at your income level!

One thing I'd add to this great discussion - make sure you're also contributing to any employer-sponsored retirement accounts like a 401(k) if your company offers one! These contributions come out pre-tax, which means they reduce your taxable income and can lower that withholding percentage you're seeing. Plus many employers offer matching contributions, which is essentially free money. For example, if you contribute $200/month to a 401(k), that's $2,400 less in taxable income for the year, which could save you several hundred dollars in taxes. It's a win-win since you're saving for retirement AND reducing your current tax burden. Just something to consider as you get more comfortable with your W-2 job!

This is really helpful information! I'm in a similar situation as a freelance consultant. One thing I'd add is that if you're doing a lot of business travel with tolls, consider getting a dedicated business checking account and linking your E-ZPass to that account for automatic replenishment. This creates a clear paper trail that separates business toll expenses from personal ones right from the start. I also keep a simple spreadsheet where I log each business trip with the date, destination, purpose, and estimated toll cost. At the end of the month, I reconcile this against my E-ZPass statement. It takes maybe 15 minutes a month but makes tax prep so much smoother. The IRS loves clear documentation, and having everything organized upfront saves tons of stress later!

One thing I'd recommend is setting up a separate business toll account if your provider allows it. I have two E-ZPass accounts - one for personal use and one strictly for business travel. This eliminates the need to sort through mixed statements at tax time. The business account automatically deducts from my business checking account, creating a clean paper trail. For those using apps like MileIQ, most of them have a notes feature where you can quickly record toll amounts for each business trip. This creates a single record with both mileage and toll data. I also take photos of any cash toll receipts with my phone immediately - they fade over time and become unreadable. Remember that parking fees at client locations are also deductible separately from the standard mileage rate, just like tolls. I keep a small envelope in my car specifically for parking receipts since those are easy to lose track of.

Just wanted to add another important detail that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure you're accurately reporting the dates on your transactions to get the correct short-term vs long-term classification. The holding period is calculated from the day after you purchase to the day you sell, not including the purchase date. I've seen people miscalculate this when they're right at the one-year boundary. For example, if you bought a stock on March 15, 2023, you'd need to hold it until at least March 16, 2024 for it to qualify as long-term. Selling on March 15, 2024 (exactly one year) would still be considered short-term. This is especially important for your $4,800 in losses that you classified as short-term - double-check those dates to make sure none of them accidentally qualify as long-term. Getting the classification wrong could affect how your carryovers are calculated and applied in future years. Your brokerage 1099-B should show the correct classification, but it's worth verifying if you're entering the data manually into H&R Block.

Great question about capital loss carryovers! You're dealing with a pretty common situation, and the good news is that the rules are straightforward once you understand them. With your $4,800 in short-term losses and $7,200 in long-term losses (totaling $12,000), here's exactly what happens for 2024: You'll get to deduct $3,000 against your ordinary income this year, and the remaining $9,000 carries forward to 2025. The IRS applies short-term losses first when calculating that $3,000 deduction against ordinary income, so you'll use $3,000 of your short-term losses, leaving you with $1,800 in short-term carryover and the full $7,200 in long-term carryover. Unfortunately, you don't get to choose which losses to apply first - the tax code has specific ordering rules that your H&R Block software will follow automatically. The character of your losses (short vs long-term) is preserved in the carryover, which actually matters for future years when you might have gains to offset. The carryover process is automatic - you don't need to do anything special to "roll" the unused losses to next year. Just make sure to keep good records of your carryover amounts since the IRS doesn't track this for you. Your Schedule D and any capital loss carryover worksheet from your 2024 return will show these amounts for reference when filing your 2025 taxes.

This is exactly the kind of situation where getting professional help or using specialized tools makes sense. I went through something similar with multiple years of missing 8606 forms, and the complexity of calculating basis carryforward between years can get tricky fast. One thing I'd add to the great advice already given - when you file those standalone 8606 forms, make copies of everything and keep detailed records. The IRS systems don't always link these forms perfectly to your main tax records, so having your own documentation is crucial. Also, double-check your 2021 amended return to make sure the corrected 8606 properly reflects the basis from 2019 and 2020. If you didn't include that carryforward basis, you might need to amend 2021 again once you get the earlier years sorted out. The whole chain has to be correct for your basis tracking to work properly going forward.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is the timing consideration for when you file these standalone 8606 forms. While you can file them at any time, I'd recommend getting them submitted sooner rather than later, especially for 2019 and 2020. The reason is that if you ever need to take distributions from your IRA or do Roth conversions, having your basis properly documented with the IRS becomes critical. I've seen cases where people waited years to file missing 8606 forms, then when they needed to prove their basis during a distribution, the IRS was more skeptical about accepting late-filed forms. Also, make sure you're using the correct version of Form 8606 for each tax year - don't use the current year's form for prior years. The IRS wants to see the form version that was actually in effect for that specific tax year. You can find prior year forms in the IRS forms archive on their website. One last tip: when you mail these forms, include a brief cover letter for each year explaining that you're filing a standalone Form 8606 to report nondeductible IRA contributions. This helps the IRS processor understand why they're receiving just this form rather than a complete return or amendment.