What about getting your foot in the door at a small local accounting firm instead? That's what I did two years ago. Started as an admin assistant during tax season, expressed interest in learning, and they trained me. Now I handle several small business clients. The pay was definitely better than what my friends at H&R and JH were making, plus I got exposure to QuickBooks, bookkeeping, and year-round tax planning that the chains don't really offer.

I'm in a similar situation - looking to learn business tax prep but concerned about the time investment vs. actual learning outcome. From what everyone's shared here, it sounds like Jackson Hewitt's free classes are more of a basic introduction rather than comprehensive business tax training. Has anyone tried combining multiple approaches? Like taking the JH classes for the foundational software experience, then supplementing with community college courses or online training specifically for Schedule C and business taxation? I'm wondering if that might be a more efficient path than hoping to learn everything through one source. Also curious about the seasonal nature of this work - for those who've done it, how do you handle the income gap between tax seasons? Do most people treat this as supplemental income to another job, or is there enough year-round work in tax prep to make it a primary focus?

One practical tip - talk to your bank about how these distributions appear on your statements! My bank was categorizing my SCorp distributions as "payroll" in their system which created a huge headache when I got reviewed. Make sure distributions are clearly labeled as "shareholder distribution" or something similar in your accounting system AND on bank statements if possible.

Great thread! As someone who's been running an SCorp for 5 years, I want to emphasize the importance of keeping detailed records even though there's no required frequency. I learned early on to create a simple spreadsheet tracking each distribution with the date, amount, my basis calculation at that time, and a reference to the corporate resolution number. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the timing consideration for tax planning. Even though you CAN take distributions whenever, it's smart to coordinate with your tax professional on timing - especially near year-end. Sometimes it makes sense to accelerate or delay distributions based on your overall tax situation for the year. Also, if you're planning any major distributions, give your accountant a heads up to double-check your basis calculation. I once almost took a distribution that would have exceeded my basis by a small amount, which would have created an unexpected capital gains tax situation. Better to be conservative and take slightly less than risk the tax complications.

Got the same code last year. Turned out they needed proof of my kids enrollment in school. Sent the docs and got my refund 6 weeks later. Hang in there!

Code 971 can be stressful but try not to panic! I went through this last year and it ended up being routine verification. The IRS just wanted to confirm some W-2 info that didn't match exactly what my employer reported (minor discrepancy in timing). Took about 8 weeks total but I did get my full refund plus interest. Keep checking your transcript weekly - you'll see progress with new codes when they start processing again. The waiting is the worst part but most of these reviews do resolve successfully!

I'm a volunteer board treasurer, and we specifically set up our reimbursement process to avoid this exact problem. Make sure you're using an expense reimbursement form that clearly documents these are HOA expenses, not payments for services. For next year, I'd suggest working with your board to implement a better system. Our association has a credit card that board members can use for purchases, which eliminates the need for reimbursements entirely. Alternatively, some property management companies can make purchases directly if given enough notice.

I went through this exact situation last year with my condo board reimbursements. What worked for me was creating a detailed spreadsheet that matched each expense category to the corresponding receipts, then reporting it on Schedule C with the 1099-NEC amount as income and the exact same amount as expenses. The key is being very specific in your expense descriptions - instead of just "HOA expenses," break it down like "Landscaping supplies - HOA maintenance," "Pool chemicals - HOA facility maintenance," etc. This creates a clear paper trail showing these were legitimate association expenses, not personal income. I also wrote a brief explanation letter that I attached to my return explaining the situation - that I'm an unpaid volunteer board member who was incorrectly issued a 1099-NEC for expense reimbursements. While not required, it helps clarify things if there are ever any questions. The good news is that since your income and expenses will be equal, you'll have zero net profit and zero self-employment tax. Just make sure to keep detailed records of everything in case of future questions.

Does anyone know if there's a way to just check what my maximum SEP contribution is based on last year's tax return? I'm trying to max out my contribution for 2024 but don't want to over-contribute and deal with excess contribution penalties.

Just wanted to add my experience with this exact same confusion! I'm a freelance graphic designer and went through this same headache last year. The key breakthrough for me was understanding that the IRS uses "compensation" differently for employees vs. self-employed people. For employees, compensation is their salary BEFORE the employer makes SEP contributions (hence 25%). But for us self-employed folks, our "compensation" is net earnings AFTER we deduct our own SEP contribution, which creates that circular math nightmare you described. Here's what helped me: I used the worksheet in IRS Publication 560 (Worksheet 2-1) which walks through this step by step. It's still confusing, but at least it's official IRS guidance. For your $85K example, the actual max would be around $17,000 as others mentioned. The formula essentially works out to: Maximum = Net Profit ÷ 1.25, which gives you that ~20% effective rate. One tip: if you're planning quarterly estimated taxes, just budget around 18-20% of your net profit for SEP contributions to be safe. You can always true up at year end once you know your exact numbers.