You might qualify for head of household too which gives you a better tax bracket. Also look into earned income credit if your income qualifies!

I went through something very similar! Since you have the protection order and full custody, you absolutely have the right to claim them. The key things that helped me: keep copies of the protection order, school enrollment showing your address, medical records, and any documentation of expenses you've paid. Also consider filing as Head of Household status if you haven't already - it can save you quite a bit. You've got this mama! 💪

I think everyone's missing the simplest solution here: Get your salary right! If you're working in the business more than your 2% would suggest, you should be paid a reasonable salary for that work BEFORE profits are distributed. My CPA recommended we document market rate compensation for everyone's actual roles. This totally legitimizes paying you more through salary (a business expense) before calculating the profits that flow through based on ownership.

This is exactly the situation I found myself in a few years ago! The key insight that saved me was understanding that S-Corp taxation is rigid - profits MUST flow through based on ownership percentages, period. You can't change that. However, you have flexibility in how you get compensated BEFORE those profits are calculated. Here's what worked for me: 1) **Salary adjustment**: Document your actual role and responsibilities, then research market rates for similar positions. If you're doing $50K worth of work but only getting paid $30K salary, increase it to market rate. This reduces company profits before the 98/2 split. 2) **Track your basis religiously**: Start now, even if you have to reconstruct it. Your basis increases by your K-1 income each year and decreases by distributions. Once it goes negative, all future distributions are capital gains until you build it back up. 3) **Consider the gift tax implications**: If you're taking distributions beyond your ownership percentage, your brother is essentially gifting you money. This might have gift tax consequences for him if the amounts are large. The harsh reality is there's no magic way to avoid this fundamental issue - either increase your ownership percentage, increase your salary to reflect your actual contribution, or accept that excess distributions will have tax consequences. Don't try to get too creative with the accounting - the IRS has seen every trick with S-Corps and family businesses. Keep it clean and defensible.

Quick question - does anyone know if workers comp affects how much I can contribute to my IRA? Since it's not "earned income" I'm wondering if I can only use my regular job income to calculate my max contribution?

Just to add another perspective - I dealt with workers comp last year too and want to emphasize something important that might get overlooked. Even though workers comp isn't taxable, if you had any settlement or lump sum payment that included interest or punitive damages, THOSE portions might be taxable. Most basic workers comp payments for medical expenses and wage replacement are non-taxable, but if there was any legal settlement involved, make sure you get a breakdown of what each portion covers. I almost missed this detail and it could have caused issues later. Also, if you're in a state that has its own workers comp tax (which is rare but exists), that's separate from federal taxes. The IRS rules about non-taxable status still apply for your federal return regardless of state rules.

Does anyone know if there's a deadline for when companies have to get these 1099s right? I got one with not just wrong address but wrong payment amount! It's showing $1,800 more than they actually paid me!

Just want to confirm what others have said - the address discrepancy on your 1099s is not something to stress about. I work in tax compliance and see this situation constantly. The IRS matching system relies on your SSN and name, not the address on the 1099 forms. However, I'd strongly recommend filing Form 8822 (Change of Address) with the IRS before you file your return, or at minimum make sure your current address is on your 2024 tax return. This ensures any future correspondence goes to the right place. One additional tip: keep copies of all those 1099s even with the old address, as they serve as your documentation that you reported all the income correctly. The address issue won't affect the validity of the forms for your records.

I've been dealing with this exact same issue for the past week! The IRS Online Payment Agreement system has been completely broken for me too. After reading through all these suggestions, I ended up trying the Free File Fillable Forms approach that @StarSailor} mentioned and it actually worked! For anyone else struggling with this, here's what I did: Go to the IRS website, click on "File Your Taxes for Free" then "Free File Fillable Forms." Look for Form 9465 (Installment Agreement Request) in the forms list. It's basically the same information you'd enter in the payment agreement application, but this system actually processes it properly. I submitted mine yesterday evening and got an email confirmation this morning that it was received. Much less frustrating than fighting with that broken payment agreement page for days. Just make sure you have your exact tax liability amount and proposed monthly payment ready before you start.

I've been lurking on this thread for a few days while dealing with the exact same problem, and I wanted to share what finally worked for me after trying almost everything mentioned here. Like many of you, I was getting constant error messages when trying to set up my payment plan through the main IRS Online Payment Agreement system. I tried different browsers, clearing cache, off-peak hours - nothing worked. The frustration was real! After reading through all the suggestions here, I decided to try multiple approaches simultaneously rather than putting all my eggs in one basket: 1. I submitted Form 9465 through the Free File Fillable Forms (thanks @StarSailor} and @Oliver Wagner for that tip!) 2. I also used Claimyr to get a callback from the IRS as backup The Free File Fillable Forms route worked perfectly - no errors, smooth process, got confirmation within 2 hours. But I also got my Claimyr callback the next day and spoke with an IRS agent who confirmed my online submission had been received and processed. What I learned from the agent that might help others: They said the technical issues with the main payment agreement system started after a security update about 3 weeks ago. The Free File system uses older, more stable infrastructure which is why it's working when the main system isn't. She also mentioned that if you submit through Free File Fillable Forms AND call them, they can expedite the approval process since they can see your online submission immediately in their system. For anyone still struggling - don't give up! The Free File route really does work, and it's free unlike some of the third-party services mentioned. Just make sure you have your exact tax liability amount handy before you start.