Just wanted to share my experience as someone who went through the exact same confusion last year! I'm a bartender in San Diego and was totally lost about tip reporting until I got some professional help. A few key things I learned that might help: 1. **All tips are taxable income** - this was my biggest misconception. I thought only the tips that showed up on my paystub counted. 2. **Box 8 (allocated tips) is NOT where you report your actual tips** - this is just what your employer thinks you should have earned based on sales. You still need to report your actual tips elsewhere. 3. **Form 4137 is your friend** - this is specifically for reporting cash tips that weren't included on your W-2. It also calculates the additional FICA taxes you owe on those unreported tips. 4. **Keep records starting NOW** - even if you're mid-year, start tracking daily. I use a simple spreadsheet with date, cash tips, card tips, and tip-outs. The biggest game-changer for me was learning about quarterly estimated taxes. With your tip amounts ($950-1150/week), you're definitely going to owe more than $1,000 at year-end, which means you should be making quarterly payments to avoid penalties. I'd highly recommend consulting with a tax professional who understands service industry workers - it was worth every penny to get clarity on my specific situation. Good luck!

I've been lurking on this thread as a fellow service industry worker and wanted to jump in with something that might help everyone here. I work as a server at a busy restaurant and went through this exact same confusion about tip reporting last year. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that if you're consistently earning the amounts you described ($950-1150/week), you should also be thinking about opening a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) if you have any 1099 income on the side (like catering gigs, private bartending, etc.). Even small amounts of self-employment income can open up much better retirement savings options than what's available to regular W-2 employees. Also, a practical tip for the daily tracking - I started taking a quick photo of my cash tips at the end of each shift before I count and put them away. It creates a timestamped record that's really helpful if you ever need to reconstruct your earnings. I keep these photos in a separate album on my phone labeled "Tax Records." For the quarterly payment question that keeps coming up - the IRS has a safe harbor rule where if you pay 100% of last year's tax liability through quarterly payments (110% if your AGI was over $150K), you won't get penalized even if you still owe at year-end. This can be easier to calculate than trying to estimate your current year liability exactly. The key thing is getting organized now rather than scrambling at tax time. Trust me, future you will be so grateful!

I completely understand your frustration - I just went through this exact same ordeal two weeks ago! The key issue is that having an ID.me account is different from being verified specifically for IRS purposes. Here's what finally worked for me: 1. Go to IRS.gov first (not ID.me directly) 2. Click "Sign in to your Online Account" 3. When it redirects to ID.me, log in with your existing credentials 4. Look for the authorization step - this is where you give the IRS permission to access your ID.me verification 5. Complete that authorization to link the systems I was in the same boat waiting for my refund while working from home, and the stress was real. The whole process took about 15 minutes once I figured out the right sequence. The IRS really needs to explain this better - it's like they designed it to be as confusing as possible! Once you get through it though, you'll finally be able to track your refund status online. Hope this helps you get your money faster!

I've been through this exact same frustrating experience! The confusion stems from the fact that ID.me verification for the IRS is actually a two-part process that they don't explain well anywhere. Having an existing ID.me account is just step one - you still need to complete the IRS-specific authorization. Here's the sequence that finally worked for me: 1. Start at IRS.gov (never go to ID.me directly first) 2. Click "Sign in to your Online Account" 3. When redirected to ID.me, log in with your existing credentials 4. The crucial step: look for the authorization screen asking permission to share your verified identity with the IRS 5. Accept this authorization - this creates the actual link between the systems I was also working remotely and desperately waiting for my refund when I hit this wall. The whole thing felt like they designed it to be deliberately confusing! But once I completed that authorization step, I could finally access my account and track my refund status. The entire process took about 10 minutes once I knew the right path. It's honestly ridiculous that the IRS doesn't make this distinction clear - having the key doesn't help if no one tells you which door it opens! Hope this gets you sorted quickly so you can get your money.

I'm going through this same situation right now! Filed my return in early February with direct deposit info that I've used successfully for the past 4 years, but my WMR status just switched to "check mailed" yesterday with no explanation. Reading through these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea there were so many potential triggers for this conversion. I'm particularly concerned because I'm also dealing with an upcoming move (civilian job relocation, not military, but similar mail forwarding concerns). My transcript shows the check was mailed on March 5th, so I'm hoping it arrives soon. Has anyone had experience with how long USPS mail forwarding typically takes for IRS refund checks? I'm worried about the timing since my forwarding service doesn't start until next week. This whole process feels unnecessarily stressful when you're already dealing with the logistics of moving!

I've been dealing with a similar situation and wanted to share what I learned from calling the IRS directly. After reading through all these helpful responses, I decided to bite the bullet and spend the time on hold. The representative explained that there's actually a specific code (766) that appears on your transcript when a direct deposit gets converted to a paper check due to bank rejection, versus code 971 which indicates an IRS-initiated conversion for security reasons. In my case, it was code 766 - my credit union had apparently updated their fraud detection protocols and started rejecting certain government deposits over $5,000 without prior notification to account holders. The IRS agent was able to confirm the exact mail date and said that for standard addresses, delivery typically takes 5-10 business days, but they're seeing delays due to increased mail volume this tax season. For anyone still waiting, she mentioned that if your check doesn't arrive within 4 weeks of the mail date, you can call back to initiate a payment trace without any additional fees. The whole call took about 90 minutes including hold time, but having concrete answers definitely reduced my stress level!

I just want to echo what everyone else is saying - definitely file the amendment sooner rather than later! I had a similar situation with a 403b rollover that I forgot to report, and I made the mistake of waiting to see if the IRS would notice. They did notice (about 4 months later), and while there wasn't a penalty since it was non-taxable, I had to spend time responding to their notice and providing all the documentation I could have just included with an amendment from the start. The IRS notice made it sound much more serious than it actually was, which caused unnecessary stress. One tip that helped me - when I finally responded to the IRS notice, I included a cover letter that clearly stated "NON-TAXABLE DIRECT ROLLOVER" at the top in bold letters, followed by a brief explanation. This seemed to help the IRS processor understand the situation quickly. You could do something similar with your amendment to make it crystal clear what happened. Since you already know about the issue and have time to handle it properly, filing the amendment now will save you from that whole back-and-forth process with IRS correspondence later.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation right now! I also forgot to include a 1099-R for a rollover from my old company's 401k to my Fidelity IRA. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - especially knowing that even though the taxable amount is $0, I still need to file an amended return to avoid potential IRS notices later. I was initially panicking thinking I might owe a huge penalty, but it's reassuring to hear from so many people who went through this and that it's really just a documentation issue rather than a tax liability problem. The advice about getting written confirmation from both the old plan administrator and the receiving institution is something I definitely need to do. One question I have - for those who filed amendments for similar situations, how long did it typically take for the IRS to process the amended return? I'm just curious about timing since I want to make sure this gets resolved before any automated systems flag the discrepancy. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this thread has been a lifesaver for understanding what I need to do!

Before you make any moves, I'd strongly recommend getting a clear understanding of your annuity's surrender schedule. That 8% surrender fee you mentioned could vary significantly depending on how long you've held the contract and what year you're in. Some annuities have declining surrender charges that drop each year, so waiting even 6-12 months might save you thousands. Others have "free withdrawal" provisions that let you take out 10-15% annually without surrender charges - you could potentially do partial rollovers over a few years to minimize fees. Also, double-check if your annuity qualifies for any exceptions to surrender charges, like financial hardship or unemployment. Some contracts have escape clauses that aren't well-publicized. The tax-free rollover strategy everyone's discussing is solid, but make sure the math still works after factoring in those surrender fees. Sometimes it's worth staying put a bit longer if the charges are going to drop significantly.

Just want to add one more consideration that's helped me with similar decisions - don't forget to factor in the "lost time" cost of staying in the underperforming annuity. Even if waiting a year saves you 2% in surrender charges, if your annuity is earning 2-3% while the market could potentially earn 7-10%, you might actually lose more money by waiting. I created a simple break-even analysis when I was in a similar spot: I calculated how much the surrender charge savings would be versus the potential opportunity cost of keeping money in the low-performing investment for another year. In my case, even with a 6% surrender charge, moving the money immediately to index funds came out ahead over any timeline longer than 18 months. Of course, this assumes market performance, which isn't guaranteed. But at your age, you have decades for compound growth to work in your favor. Sometimes paying the exit fee is worth it just to stop the bleeding and get your money working harder for your future. The partial withdrawal strategy Miguel mentioned is definitely worth exploring though - best of both worlds if your contract allows it!