I work in payroll and deal with this regularly. One thing nobody's mentioned - if the employee had any accrued vacation payout or final wages paid AFTER death, those should be treated differently tax-wise. Those payments go on a 1099-MISC to the estate or beneficiary, not on the W-2. Also, ask for the death certificate copy for your records - you'll need it. In Texas, if they're claiming common law marriage, have them complete a Declaration of Informal Marriage form (it's a Texas state form) if they haven't already filed one with the county clerk.

I'm sorry for your loss and the difficult situation you're navigating. This is definitely a complex area that requires careful attention to both federal and Texas state requirements. A few additional points that might help: **Timing considerations:** Since it's already December and the husband is asking about the W-2, you might want to proactively communicate the standard January 31st deadline for W-2 distribution. This can help manage expectations while you're gathering the proper documentation. **Documentation for common law marriage:** In addition to what others mentioned, Texas recognizes common law marriage if three elements are met: (1) they agreed to be married, (2) lived together in Texas as spouses, and (3) represented themselves publicly as married. Evidence could include joint utility bills, insurance policies listing each other as spouses, joint bank accounts, or sworn affidavits from friends/family who knew them as a married couple. **Estate considerations:** Even if you determine they weren't legally married, the W-2 still needs to be issued - it would just go to whoever is handling the estate (could be a parent, sibling, or court-appointed administrator). **Record keeping:** Make sure to document whatever verification process you use for your company's records. This protects you if questions arise later from other family members or during any potential audit. Consider reaching out to your company's legal counsel or tax advisor if you have access to one, especially given the complexity around the marriage status verification.

Quick question - does anyone know if TurboTax handles this community property LLC situation correctly? I tried entering our business info and it keeps pushing me toward filing two separate Schedule Cs, but after reading this thread, I'm not sure that's right for our Nevada LLC.

I've been dealing with this exact same issue for our LLC in California! After reading through all these responses, I think the key takeaway is that the "correct" approach might depend on your specific operating agreement and how you've structured your LLC. What I found helpful was getting clarity on whether both spouses are considered "active participants" in the business. If you're both materially participating, then the self-employment tax treatment becomes more important for Social Security credit purposes. But if one spouse is more of a passive investor, then a single Schedule C under the active spouse's name might make more sense. For your $87,000 income situation, I'd strongly recommend getting a consultation with a tax professional who specializes in small business and community property issues. The cost of professional advice is probably worth it to avoid potential issues down the road, especially since community property state rules can be tricky to navigate correctly. One thing I learned is that the IRS has specific guidance (Rev. Proc. 2002-69) about community property and self-employment tax that might be relevant to your situation. It's worth reviewing if you haven't already!

Quick question - do either of you get any tax benefits from paying the mortgage through your personal accounts instead of a joint account? Like cashback or rewards that might outweigh the convenience of the joint account?

Great advice from everyone here! Just wanted to add a few practical considerations from someone who went through this exact situation about 2 years ago. Beyond the tax implications (which others have covered well), consider setting up automatic transfers from your individual accounts to the joint account a few days before your mortgage due date. This way you're not scrambling each month to make sure the funds are there. Also, even though you're both contributing equally now, life happens - someone might lose a job, get a promotion, have medical expenses, etc. It's worth having a conversation now about how you'd handle temporary imbalances in contributions while still maintaining your individual tax positions correctly. One last tip: keep a simple spreadsheet tracking who contributed what each month. It'll make tax time much easier and provides good documentation if you ever need to prove your deduction percentages to the IRS. We just have a basic Google Sheet with date, amount from each person, and running totals. Congrats on the house purchase and good luck with the upcoming proposal! 🏠💍

Has anyone here used the Marcus app to see their interest breakdown by account? I found that if you go to Documents > Tax Documents in the app, it actually shows the interest earned for each account separately, which made it easier for me to verify the total matches what's on the 1099-INT before I entered it in my tax software.

Great question! I went through this exact same situation with my Marcus accounts last year. Yes, you should definitely add up all the Box 1 amounts from all five accounts - that's your total taxable interest income from Marcus that needs to be reported. A few additional tips from my experience: 1. Make sure to cross-reference the account numbers listed on your 1099-INT with your actual Marcus accounts to ensure nothing was missed 2. The interest from your 2026 CD is indeed taxable for 2024 if it was credited to your account during 2024, even though you can't access the principal without penalty 3. Keep a copy of your 1099-INT and consider creating a simple spreadsheet showing the breakdown by account - this can be helpful if the IRS ever has questions One thing to watch out for: if you opened or closed any accounts during 2024, make sure those partial-year interest amounts are included too. Marcus is pretty good about including everything on the 1099-INT, but it's worth double-checking against your monthly statements. The manual addition approach is definitely the right way to go when the import function doesn't capture everything correctly!

I had a similar situation on April 15, 2023. My congressman's office received confirmation from TAS on May 2nd, 2023 that my refund would be processed. The actual deposit hit my account on May 17th, 2023 - exactly 15 days after TAS confirmed the release. The technical process involves the TAS issuing what's called an OAR (Operations Assistance Request) to the specific IRS department holding your return, which typically has a 5-10 business day response requirement.

Hey Cedric! I went through something very similar last year - filed in February and didn't get my refund until August after getting my congressman involved. The TAS process can feel really slow, but once they issue that Operations Assistance Request (OAR), things usually move pretty quickly. In my case, I got my refund about 10 days after receiving the confirmation email from TAS. The July 9th date is basically their internal deadline to give you an update, but your actual refund could come much sooner. I'd definitely recommend keeping an eye on your bank account and maybe checking your transcript online if you can access it. The waiting is the worst part, but you're in good hands with TAS - they really do get results!