Hey! Tax professional here - wanted to add something important that I haven't seen mentioned yet. Since you mentioned this was your first job with "actual tax withholding," make sure you understand what all those deductions on your pay stub mean! Your W-2 will show not just federal income tax withholding, but also Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA). Unlike federal income tax which you might get refunded, FICA taxes are generally not refundable - they go toward your future Social Security and Medicare benefits. Also, if you had any pre-tax deductions like health insurance or parking through the bank's benefits (some internships offer limited benefits), those will affect the taxable income shown on your W-2 compared to your gross pay. The good news is that as a summer-only intern, you probably fall into the lowest tax bracket and should get most of your federal withholding back as a refund. Just wanted to set proper expectations so you're not confused when you see all the different numbers on the form!

One more thing to keep in mind - if you moved after your internship ended (which is super common for students), make sure to set up mail forwarding with USPS or contact the bank's HR directly to update your address. I've seen so many students miss their W-2s because they moved back to campus or to a new apartment and forgot to update their info with former employers. You can usually find the HR contact info on old pay stubs or any employee handbook they gave you. Most companies are pretty good about updating addresses if you reach out before the end of the year. Way easier than trying to track down a lost W-2 later! Also, if the bank offered direct deposit, they might have an employee portal where you can check/update your address and potentially access your W-2 electronically when it's ready. Worth logging in to see if you still have access.

Has anyone considered a third option? You could lease your truck to the S-Corp through a formal lease agreement. The S-Corp pays you lease payments (which are fully deductible business expenses for the company) and you report the lease income on your personal return. This avoids the whole depreciation issue while still giving the company a deduction for the vehicle use.

Great question Sofia! As others have confirmed, you're correct that the S-Corp cannot claim bonus depreciation on your personally-owned truck. Since the asset isn't owned by the corporation, only you as the individual owner can claim depreciation on your personal tax return. However, I'd suggest comparing all your options carefully. The accountable plan reimbursement you're currently using is actually quite beneficial - you get tax-free reimbursements from the company, and the S-Corp gets a full business deduction for the payments. Before considering selling the truck to the S-Corp (which creates potential tax complications as Dmitry mentioned), run the numbers on both the standard mileage rate versus actual expenses through your accountable plan. Given that you have a heavy truck over 6,000 lbs with high operating costs, the actual expense method will likely be more advantageous than the 67 cents per mile standard rate. The key is maintaining detailed records of business versus personal use regardless of which method you choose. Your current setup might already be optimal from a tax perspective!

I'm in the exact same situation as you - just started investing this year and had no idea about the tax reporting requirements! Reading through all these responses has been incredibly educational. The consensus seems clear that every single stock sale needs to be reported, no matter how small. What I found most helpful from this discussion is the advice about starting good record-keeping habits immediately rather than trying to piece everything together later. I'm going to implement that Google Sheets approach that Jamal mentioned and also look into those CSV export features from my broker. The wash sale rule is definitely something I need to research more - it sounds like it's easy to accidentally trigger when you're just starting out and learning. And I had no idea that losses could offset other income up to $3,000 per year, which could actually be beneficial given that most of us beginners seem to be learning through some early losses! Thanks for asking this question - it's exactly what I needed to see discussed in detail. Better to figure this out now than be scrambling during tax season!

This has been such an incredibly helpful thread to read through! I'm also a complete beginner who just made my first few stock trades this year and was totally clueless about the tax implications. What really stands out to me from everyone's advice is how important it is to start tracking everything properly from day one - which thankfully I'm learning now rather than next February! I'm definitely going to set up that Google Sheets system and look into automating CSV downloads from my broker. The wash sale rule is something I had never heard of before, but it sounds like it could easily trip up new investors like us who might panic sell and then rebuy the same stock quickly. I'll need to research that more carefully. One question I have after reading all this - for those using tax software like TurboTax, does it automatically flag potential wash sales when you're entering your 1099-B information? Or do you need to identify and calculate those adjustments yourself? Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here. It's reassuring to know that while stock taxation seems complex at first, it becomes manageable once you establish good habits and understand the basic rules.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in year 2 of my S-Corp and have been making the same mistake - thinking I could avoid salary requirements by not taking distributions. Reading everyone's experiences here has made it clear that's not how it works. What really resonates with me is the emphasis on documentation. I've been so focused on just keeping my business running that I never thought about creating a paper trail to justify my compensation decisions. The idea of researching comparable salaries and creating a formal board resolution (even as a sole owner) makes perfect sense for audit protection. Based on all the advice here, it sounds like I need to stop procrastinating and get my payroll set up ASAP. The 60-70% of market rate approach during cash-tight growth phases seems like a reasonable middle ground between compliance and cash flow management. One thing I'm curious about - for those who mentioned using payroll services like Gusto, do you find the monthly cost worth it compared to handling quarterly payroll taxes manually? I'm trying to weigh the convenience against the expense, especially since every dollar counts right now while I'm reinvesting everything back into growth. Thanks to everyone who shared their real experiences - this kind of practical guidance from people who've actually been through IRS scrutiny is invaluable!

Thanks everyone for this incredibly detailed discussion! As someone who just formed an S-Corp last month, this thread has been a real education. I was completely unaware that the salary requirement applied even when not taking distributions - I thought I could postpone the whole payroll setup until I started paying myself. The consistent message across all your experiences is crystal clear: active S-Corp owners need reasonable compensation regardless of distributions. What's been most helpful is seeing the practical approaches people have taken - especially the 60-70% of market rate strategy during tight cash flow periods with proper documentation. I'm definitely going to follow the action plan that's emerged from this discussion: research comparable salaries in my industry, document my reasoning with a formal board resolution, and set up payroll service to handle the tax compliance automatically. The point about payroll service costs being much less than potential IRS penalties really resonates. One follow-up question for those who've implemented this - when you researched "comparable salaries," did you focus more on local market rates or national averages? My business is location-independent, so I'm wondering whether I should benchmark against my physical location or the broader market where my clients are located. This thread has saved me from making a costly mistake. Better to get compliant from the start than try to fix it later!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I was pulling my hair out over the same issue with my Schwab 1099-B. I kept seeing gain/loss calculations right there on the form but getting warnings about missing cost basis info. After reading through everyone's explanations, I finally understand that it's all about what gets reported to the IRS versus what the brokerage shows me. The key insight about checking the "Cost Basis Reported to IRS" column on the 1099-B is gold - I wish they made that more obvious! For anyone else dealing with this, I found that most of my "non-covered" transactions were from stock purchases I made back in 2009-2010 (before the reporting requirements kicked in) and some transfers from an old Merrill account. Makes total sense now why those would need code B on Form 8949 even though Schwab calculated the gains correctly on my form. One thing I'd add is that if you're using tax software, double-check that it's not automatically importing these as "covered" transactions. I caught TaxAct trying to treat everything as if it was reported to the IRS, which would have been wrong for about half my trades.

I've been dealing with this exact same confusion for years and finally have a system that works! What really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track the status of each transaction before tax season even starts. Here's what I do: Every time I sell something, I immediately check Fidelity's "Positions" page to see if that security shows up as "covered" or "non-covered" for cost basis reporting. I log this in my spreadsheet along with the basic transaction details (date sold, proceeds, my calculated gain/loss). Then when my 1099-B arrives, I can quickly cross-reference my spreadsheet against the "Cost Basis Reported to IRS" column to make sure everything matches up. Any "No" entries in that column go straight to the "needs code B on Form 8949" pile. This has saved me so much stress during tax season because I'm not scrambling to figure out which transactions are causing the "missing cost basis" warnings. Plus it helps catch any discrepancies between what I calculated during the year versus what shows up on the actual 1099-B. The whole system takes maybe 5 minutes per transaction when I sell, but saves hours of confusion in March/April!