Another option to consider: many credit unions and community organizations offer free or low-cost tax preparation services through IRS-certified volunteers. I used my local credit union last year for a return with W2 and some 1099 income, and they did a great job. Might be worth checking if there's something like this in your area?

For what it's worth, I paid $650 for tax prep last year with a similar situation (self-employment, W2, and investment income). That was with a local CPA, not a chain. The way I look at it - yes it's expensive, but the peace of mind knowing it's done right and I'm not leaving money on the table is worth it to me.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation but with mutual fund shares that I've been holding for about 8 years. Over that time, I've received several nondividend distributions that I honestly just ignored because I didn't understand what they were. Now that I'm planning to sell some of these shares, I'm realizing I need to go back and figure out all those distributions to calculate my adjusted cost basis correctly. Does anyone know if there's a statute of limitations on how far back I need to track these adjustments? And if I can't find records of some of the older distributions, is there a way to request that information from the fund company? I'm kicking myself for not keeping better records earlier, but better late than never I guess!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I just want to add one more tip that saved me a lot of headache - if you have multiple lots of the same stock purchased at different times, make sure you're applying the nondividend distributions correctly to each lot. The distributions typically reduce the basis of all shares you owned at the time of the distribution, not just specific lots. So if you bought 100 shares in January and another 100 shares in March, then received a nondividend distribution in June, that distribution would reduce the basis of all 200 shares proportionally. This becomes really important when you're selling only some of your shares and need to specify which lots you're selling (for tax loss harvesting or other strategies). I made the mistake of only reducing the basis on the shares I was selling, which would have been incorrect. Your broker's 1099-B won't show these per-lot adjustments, so you need to track it yourself. The IRS Publication 551 has some examples of this if you want to see the math worked out. It's a bit tedious but getting it right is worth it!

One thing nobody's mentioning - many banks won't let you open a business account for an out-of-state LLC without proof of foreign qualification in your home state. I tried to do exactly what ur suggesting last year & Bank of America, Chase & even my local credit union all asked for my Statement of Foreign Qualification when I tried opening the account. Had to go back & register in my home state anyway lol

I went through this exact same dilemma when I started my consulting business last year. After doing extensive research and talking to a business attorney, I can tell you that trying to "fly under the radar" with an out-of-state LLC is definitely not worth the risk. Here's what I learned: California has some of the most aggressive enforcement when it comes to tracking down businesses operating within their borders. They have automated systems that cross-reference federal tax filings with state business registrations, and they actively pursue businesses trying to avoid registration requirements. The penalties can be severe - not just back fees, but also interest, penalties, and potential loss of your liability protection. Even worse, if you're ever involved in a legal dispute, opposing counsel could argue that your LLC isn't properly registered and therefore your personal assets aren't protected. I ended up registering in my home state and it wasn't nearly as complicated or expensive as I initially thought. The peace of mind knowing everything is above board is worth the extra cost. Don't risk your business and personal assets to save a few hundred dollars in fees.

I'm also in PA and filed electronically on February 28th - still waiting on my state refund too. This is really frustrating because I need that money for some upcoming expenses. What's weird is that I filed almost the exact same return last year (same job, similar income) and got my PA refund in about 2 weeks. Now it's been over 3 weeks with no movement on the "Where's My Refund" tool. I've tried calling the PA Department of Revenue but like others mentioned, I just get stuck on hold forever. Starting to think there really is something different about their processing this year. Has anyone had any luck getting through to them recently, or found any other ways to get actual information about what's causing these delays?

I'm also in PA and experiencing the same delays - filed electronically on February 12th and still waiting. What's really concerning is that I've noticed PA's processing seems inconsistent even among people who filed around the same time. My coworker filed a week after me with a similar W-2 return and got her refund last Friday, while I'm still stuck in "processing" limbo. I've been doing some research and it seems like PA did implement stricter identity verification procedures this year after some fraud issues in 2023 that cost them millions. They're now requiring additional verification for returns that meet certain criteria - things like address changes, first-time filers, or even certain income thresholds. The frustrating part is they don't tell you if your return is in this additional review queue. I finally got through to someone using a callback service (similar to what others mentioned) and learned my return was flagged simply because I moved apartments last year. They said it could take another 2-3 weeks for the verification to complete. Might be worth checking if any of you had similar life changes that could trigger their new screening process.

Has anyone used the attribution rules to their advantage with family members? I'm thinking about giving my spouse ownership in one of my LLCs to potentially optimize our retirement contributions, but I'm not sure if that would trigger control group issues.

I've been following this discussion closely as someone who recently went through a similar multi-LLC Solo 401k setup. One thing I'd add is the importance of maintaining separate books and records for each entity, even if they end up not being a control group. The IRS will scrutinize whether your businesses are truly separate operations during an audit. Also, make sure you're tracking compensation from each entity separately. Even if the businesses aren't a control group, you can only contribute to a Solo 401k based on the earned income from that specific business. I made the mistake of trying to use combined income across entities and had to correct it later. The documentation from services like taxr.ai that others mentioned becomes really valuable here because it shows you considered all the rules properly. I keep mine with my tax records as backup documentation.