Double check it's not an advance payment on your 2025 tax refund. With two jobs, you might be having too much tax withheld if you didn't adjust your TD1 forms properly. The CRA sometimes makes adjustments mid-year if they detect significant overwithholding. Happened to a friend of mine last year!

I'd recommend checking your CRA My Account first - that's your best bet for getting a definitive answer without waiting on hold. Look under "Benefits and Credits" to see if there are any recent payments listed with explanations. The timing of starting your second job is likely relevant. When employers submit your employment information to CRA, it can trigger automatic benefit calculations. Since you mentioned it's labeled "fed-prov/terr Canada," it's almost certainly a legitimate government benefit - either GST/HST credit, Canada Workers Benefit, or a provincial supplement you qualify for. Keep the money separate until you confirm what it is, but don't stress too much. These surprise deposits are usually benefits you're actually entitled to receive based on your tax filing and current income situation.

A little off topic but make sure you've set aside enough for your 2025 estimated tax payments if you're still planning on selling more investments! I got hit with a penalty last year because I didn't realize I needed to make quarterly estimated payments on investment gains. The penalty wasn't huge but still annoying on top of the tax bill.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation - owing about 8k after some unexpected freelance income this year. After reading through all these responses, I'm leaning toward paying in full rather than setting up a payment plan, especially since you mentioned you're planning to buy a house. The debt-to-income ratio impact that Benjamin mentioned is really important. Even a small monthly payment to the IRS could potentially reduce your mortgage qualification amount. Since you have the 80k sitting in savings and your tax bill is 13k, you'd still have 67k left for your down payment and emergency fund, which seems like a solid position. One thing I'd add - if you do decide to pay in full, consider using a credit card that offers cashback or rewards if you can pay it off immediately. Some people earn 1-2% back on tax payments this way, though there's usually a processing fee of around 1.87-1.99%, so you'd only come out slightly ahead with a good rewards card. Just another small optimization to consider!

19 You might also want to check which tax treaty benefits you're actually trying to access with South Korea. I do business there, and depending on what type of income you're receiving, the US-Korea tax treaty has different requirements for certification. Some provisions only look at where the entity is formed, while others require substantive presence and ownership.

Based on my experience with mixed-ownership LLCs, I'd recommend getting clarity on exactly what your South Korean partners need before investing too much time in the Form 8802 process. In my case, I had a similar ownership structure (55% US, 45% foreign) and went through the entire Form 8802 application process, only to find out that the Korean company actually needed entity-level certification for their withholding tax compliance, not partner-level certification. Since your LLC is taxed as a partnership, you'll only get certification for your 51% portion as others mentioned. But many foreign companies expect a single certificate covering 100% of the entity's income for their tax reporting purposes. I'd suggest having a direct conversation with your Korean partners about whether partial certification will work for their needs, or if you need to explore the corporate tax election route to get entity-level certification. Could save you a lot of time and potential rejections.

This is such great information everyone! I'm dealing with a similar situation - my W2 shows $29,640 in box 12c with code DD and I was panicking thinking I somehow paid that much for health insurance. But after reading through all these responses, I checked my final paystub from December and my year-to-date health insurance deduction was only $6,720. So my employer must have contributed about $22,920 toward my family coverage! It's crazy how much employers actually pay for our health benefits. I never really thought about it before seeing this number on my W2. Makes me appreciate my job a lot more knowing they're covering over 75% of my health insurance costs. Thanks to everyone who explained this - definitely saving me a call to HR tomorrow morning!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I just wanted to add that if anyone is still confused about their W2 after reading all these explanations, you can also contact your HR department directly. They should be able to break down exactly how much you contributed versus what your employer paid. Also, keep in mind that if you're married filing jointly, both spouses' Box 12c amounts get combined when you're looking at your total household healthcare costs. My husband and I were initially shocked when we added our amounts together ($18,500 + $22,300 = $40,800), but then we realized that represents the full cost of covering our entire family with excellent benefits through both our employers. One more tip: if you're considering making changes to your health plan during open enrollment, this Box 12c information can help you understand the true cost difference between plan options, not just what comes out of your paycheck!

Has anyone dealt with a situation where you owned a house together during the divorce process? We're selling our house as part of the divorce but it won't close until after we file taxes. Not sure how to handle this on my return if I file separately.

Just wanted to add another important consideration that hasn't been mentioned - if you're receiving any kind of spousal support or alimony payments during the separation, this can significantly impact which filing status makes the most sense financially. If you're the one paying support, you can deduct those payments when filing separately (but not if you file jointly). If you're receiving support, you'll need to report it as income regardless of filing status. This could push you into a higher tax bracket or affect your eligibility for certain credits. Also, don't forget about state taxes! Some states have different rules than federal, so even if you're required to file as Married Filing Separately for federal taxes, your state might have different options available. Worth checking with a local tax professional who knows your state's specific rules.