This whole system is such a scam. The government knows exactly how much we owe, but they make us figure it out ourselves and then penalize us if we get it wrong. Meanwhile, rich people pay nothing with their fancy accountants finding loopholes. Last year I owed $600 after getting refunds for years and nearly had a heart attack.

I went through something very similar when I switched jobs mid-year! The key thing to understand is that your withholding is calculated based on what your employer thinks your annual income will be, but if you started a higher-paying job partway through the year, the calculations can get thrown off. When you were making $32k, you were likely in the 12% tax bracket, but jumping to $68k puts you into the 22% bracket for a portion of your income. The $5.3k withheld might have been appropriate if you had earned $68k for the full year, but since you probably earned less than that (due to starting the job partway through), the withholding percentage was based on incomplete information. The fact that you only owe $15 means your withholding was actually pretty accurate overall! Many people in your situation end up owing much more. For next year, I'd recommend using the IRS withholding calculator in January to make sure your W-4 is set up correctly for a full year at your new salary level.

Does anyone know if I can file a 1065 partnership return myself using regular tax software, or do I need to hire an accountant? I'm also a small manufacturer with a 50/50 partnership, but the quotes I've received from CPAs are outrageous!

I went through this exact same situation last year when my wife and I converted our craft business to an LLC! The Form 1125-A confusion is totally normal - I must have read the instructions 50 times before it clicked. Since you're manufacturing products from raw materials, you definitely need Form 1125-A. Here's what helped me understand it: think of it as tracking the "journey" of your materials from purchase to finished product. Your beginning inventory is zero (first year), then you add all material costs throughout the year, subtract what you actually used in products you sold, and what's left is your ending inventory. The key insight that saved me was realizing that materials sitting in my workshop on December 31st - even if it's just $50 worth of fabric or wood - counts as ending inventory and affects your taxes. I initially tried to say my ending inventory was zero because we "use everything quickly," but my accountant caught that mistake. One thing that really helped was doing a physical count on December 31st and taking photos of all unused materials with rough cost estimates. Made the whole process much clearer for the following year too.

Does anyone know if there are any specific deductions we can take as survey takers? Like can I write off my internet bill or part of my cell phone if I use it for mobile surveys?

Great question! I went through this exact same situation last year. You're absolutely right to be tracking everything - that spreadsheet will be your best friend come tax time. To add to what others have mentioned, there's actually a good online calculator that can help estimate your self-employment tax burden based on your survey income. Since you're looking at potentially $1200-1500, you'd be well over the $400 threshold for self-employment tax, so you'll owe both income tax and the 15.3% self-employment tax on that amount. One thing I learned the hard way - if you expect to owe more than $1000 in taxes for the year (including on your survey income), you might need to make quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid an underpayment penalty. Since you're already at $780 and expecting more, this could apply to you depending on your regular job's withholding. The good news is that once you get the hang of reporting this income, it becomes pretty routine. Just make sure to save those spreadsheet records - the IRS can ask for documentation even if the survey companies don't send you 1099 forms.

Has anyone actually successfully filed a superseding return electronically? I'm seeing mixed info here. The IRS publication says superseding returns can be filed electronically but it sounds like the Free File system might reject it as a duplicate filing anyway?

I actually went through this exact situation last year with Free File fillable forms. Here's what I learned from experience: The Free File fillable forms system will almost certainly reject your superseding return electronically because their duplicate detection system can't distinguish between a duplicate filing error and an intentional superseding return. The system just sees that you've already filed and blocks it. What worked for me was using the Free File fillable forms to prepare my superseding return completely, then printing it out and mailing it. The key steps are: 1. Complete your entire corrected return in Free File fillable forms 2. Print the complete return (all forms and schedules) 3. Write "SUPERSEDING RETURN" in red ink at the very top of Form 1040 4. Mail it to the processing center for your state before the deadline (including extensions) Make sure you include ALL the same forms and schedules as your original return, even if they didn't change. The superseding return completely replaces your original filing, so it needs to be complete. One important note - if you're expecting a larger refund, the IRS will typically send you the difference. If you owe more, you'll need to pay the additional amount. The superseding return essentially cancels out your original return as if it never existed. The postmark date is what counts for meeting the deadline, not when the IRS processes it, so don't wait too long to mail it if you're getting close to April 15th!

I called the Kentucky Department of Revenue directly on February 5th about this issue. They confirmed that several tax software providers, including TurboTax, are still going through the certification process for e-filing. The representative estimated that most software would be certified by February 17th at the latest. If you're concerned about budgeting and need your refund quickly, you might want to consider filing your federal return now to get that portion of your refund sooner. Just make sure you set aside any state tax you might owe when that filing becomes available. The penalties for late state filing don't start until after April 15th, so there's no financial disadvantage to waiting a few weeks for the Kentucky forms to become available.

I'm experiencing the exact same issue here in Kentucky! Filed with TurboTax for the past 4 years and never had this problem before. Just completed my entire return yesterday and got that same frustrating message about Kentucky forms not being available for e-filing yet. After reading through all these responses, it sounds like this is definitely a widespread issue caused by Kentucky's tax rate change from 5% to 4.5%. I'm feeling a bit better knowing it's not just me or something wrong with my specific return. I think I'm going to go ahead and file my federal return now since I'm expecting a decent refund there, and then wait for the email notification about Kentucky. Based on what Diego shared about the February 17th estimate from the Kentucky DOR, hopefully we'll all be able to file our state returns soon. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community really helps during tax season stress!