Omar, I totally get the panic - I made the exact same transition from a W-2 marketing job to freelance consulting about 10 months ago and had identical fears about quarterly taxes! Here's the reality check that helped calm my nerves: you're only 3 months in and have missed just ONE quarterly deadline. That's totally recoverable, especially since the IRS tends to be understanding with first-year self-employed folks. My game plan that worked: immediately calculate your Q1 tax obligation (probably around $2,000-2,500 on that $14,500, depending on business deductions), pay it ASAP, then get current with your June 15th Q2 payment. This shows good faith effort and often helps with penalty relief. The 30% rule everyone mentions is solid gold - I wish I'd started it day one instead of month three! Set up that separate tax savings account and automate transfers immediately after each client payment. For your Adobe subscriptions, equipment, home office space, internet, phone (business portion), stock assets, fonts, courses - track every single business expense because they add up to serious deductions. One thing that really helped my anxiety: I scheduled a one-hour consultation with a local CPA just to make sure I wasn't missing anything major. Best $200 I spent - they found about $1,800 in deductions I hadn't considered and confirmed I was on the right track with my quarterly payment strategy. You're asking all the right questions and you're going to be fine! The learning curve is steep but manageable once you establish good habits.

Omar, I completely understand that overwhelming feeling! I transitioned from a corporate job to freelance web development about 7 months ago and went through the exact same panic about quarterly taxes. Here's what helped me get organized: First, don't beat yourself up about not setting money aside yet - you're only 3 months in and asking the right questions now. For your $14,500 in Q1, you're probably looking at around $2,200-2,700 for that missed payment (this includes both income tax and self-employment tax). My simple system that saved my sanity: Open a separate "tax savings" account immediately and automatically transfer 30% of every client payment. I set up the transfer to happen the same day payment hits my account - no thinking, no temptation to spend it elsewhere. As a graphic designer, make sure you're tracking ALL business expenses before calculating taxes: Adobe subscriptions, fonts, stock photos, equipment, home office space, internet/phone business portion, professional development, even design magazines. These deductions can significantly reduce what you actually owe. The good news about penalties: The IRS is typically understanding with first-year self-employed folks, especially when you make good faith efforts to catch up. Pay your missed Q1 amount ASAP (ideally with your June 15th payment) and you'll likely qualify for penalty relief. Don't let "self-employment tax" scare you - it's just the Social Security/Medicare taxes your employer used to cover half of. You've got this! The first year is definitely the learning curve, but once you establish the routine, it becomes as automatic as any other business expense.

As someone new to this community, I wanted to share a perspective that might be helpful for your decision. I've been working in tax for about 4 years and recently went through a similar evaluation process between different firm types. One thing I'd really encourage you to dig into is each company's approach to professional development during non-busy season periods. Some firms use the slower months effectively for training, skill building, and cross-department exposure, while others might have you doing busy work or even temporary layoffs. This can make a huge difference in your year-round job satisfaction and career growth. Also, since you mentioned you're deciding within the next couple weeks, have you been able to negotiate at all on either offer? In my experience, tax firms are often more flexible than they initially appear - especially on things like start date, additional PTO, or professional development budgets. Even if the base salary and 401k match seem fixed, there might be room to improve other aspects of the package. One practical tip: if you do go with JDA TSG, make sure to clarify their policy on remote work flexibility during non-peak periods. With the mentorship culture everyone's mentioned, you'll probably want to be in the office more initially anyway, but having that flexibility for the future could be valuable. Best of luck with whatever you choose - sounds like you've done your homework and have two solid options!

As someone new to this community, I wanted to add another perspective to this incredibly helpful discussion! I'm about 2 years into my tax career and have been researching both JDA TSG and TurboTax as well. One factor I haven't seen mentioned much is the seasonal staffing model differences. From what I've gathered, TurboTax relies heavily on seasonal workers during peak periods, which could mean either great collaboration with diverse talent or potential inconsistency in team dynamics year-over-year. JDA TSG seems to have more stable year-round staffing, which might provide better continuity in relationships and projects. Also, for anyone considering the tech exposure at TurboTax - it's worth asking specifically about which departments you'd be working with. Some roles might give you real insight into product development and user experience, while others might be more traditional tax prep that just happens to use their software. I'm curious if anyone has insights on how both companies handle the transition from tax season to non-peak periods? Do they have interesting projects lined up, or is it more about catching up on administrative tasks and preparing for the next season? This whole thread has been such a goldmine of real-world insights - thank you everyone for sharing your experiences so openly!

I'm so relieved to find this thread! I've been dealing with the exact same "Your information is not available at this time" message for about 5 weeks now and was starting to think I was the only one. Filed in late January and set up my payment plan right away, but the IRS website has been completely useless for checking my account status. After reading everyone's experiences here, I immediately checked my bank statements and you're all absolutely right - my payments have been going through perfectly on schedule despite the error message. It's such a relief to learn that the payment processing system works independently from their website display! I just tried the "Get Transcript" method that several people recommended and it actually shows my payment plan details clearly, even though the regular payment portal still gives me that frustrating error. That automated phone line at 1-888-353-4537 was also super helpful - got my account information in just a few minutes without having to wait on hold forever. It's honestly outrageous that the IRS website is this broken when so many of us are genuinely trying to stay compliant and pay what we owe. But knowing this is a widespread technical issue and not something we did wrong makes all the difference. Thanks to everyone for sharing their workarounds and experiences - this community support is invaluable when dealing with government system failures!

I'm experiencing this exact same issue and it's been driving me absolutely crazy! Filed my taxes in mid-February and set up my payment plan about a week later, but I've been getting that same "Your information is not available at this time" message for over a month now. Reading through everyone's responses here has been such a huge relief though - I had no idea this was such a widespread problem with the IRS website! I was starting to worry that I'd somehow messed up during the setup process or that my payment plan wasn't actually active. Like others have mentioned, I checked my bank account and my scheduled payments are definitely going through on time, which gives me a lot more confidence after seeing everyone's advice about the payment processing and website display being separate systems. I'm going to try that "Get Transcript" method that so many people recommended, and definitely calling that automated line at 1-888-353-4537. It's honestly ridiculous that we have to jump through all these hoops just to check our own tax information, but I'm grateful this community has figured out all the workarounds! The stress of not being able to confirm my payment plan status has been keeping me up at night, but knowing this is just a technical glitch on the IRS side and not an actual problem with our accounts is incredibly reassuring. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - it really helps to know we're all dealing with the same broken system!

For anyone else with this issue - check your previous years' W2s if you've been with the same employer. If boxes 3 and 5 had amounts in previous years but are suddenly empty this year, that's a red flag that something changed or there's an error.

Just want to add another perspective here - I'm a CPA and see this situation fairly regularly. Before you panic, definitely check if you're in any of these categories that Mason mentioned. But also look at your pay stub from your last paycheck of the year. Sometimes there are timing differences where the final payroll processing might not have been completed when the W2 was generated. Also, if you're dealing with multiple employers during the year, sometimes one might be exempt while another isn't, which can create confusion when you're comparing different W2s. One more thing to check - if you had any pre-tax deductions like a 401k, health insurance, or flexible spending account, those reduce your social security wages but not necessarily your regular wages in box 1. So boxes 1 and 3 might legitimately be different amounts, but box 3 should never be completely empty unless you're in one of those exempt categories. If none of these situations apply to you, definitely get that corrected W2 before filing!

Has anyone tried running this scenario through different tax software? I know inheriting an IRA is complicated but most tax programs should be able to calculate your RMD correctly. I'm dealing with an inherited Roth IRA which apparently has different rules.

I went through this exact same situation when my grandmother passed in 2021 at age 78. The confusion you're experiencing is totally understandable because the SECURE Act created these hybrid rules that many financial advisors are still getting wrong. Here's what I learned after consulting with a CPA who specializes in retirement accounts: Since your uncle died in 2021 (post-SECURE Act) and was already taking RMDs, you're subject to BOTH rules simultaneously - you must take annual RMDs based on your life expectancy AND completely empty the account by December 31, 2031 (10 years after the year of death). The key thing your tax preparer got wrong is that you don't have to take exactly 1/10 each year. You take the higher of: (1) the annual RMD calculated using the Single Life Expectancy Table, or (2) whatever amount ensures the account will be fully distributed by the 10-year deadline. I'd recommend getting a second opinion from a CPA or Enrolled Agent who specifically deals with inherited retirement accounts. The penalty for getting this wrong is 50% of the amount you should have distributed, so it's worth paying for expert advice to get it right.