bruh CA stay playing with our money fr fr 🤡

Got mine authorized on 2/14 too! Just checked my account and the deposit hit this morning. Used Wells Fargo for DD. The 10 business day timeline seems pretty accurate - mine took about 8 business days total. Hope yours comes through soon! 🤞

Quick piece of advice nobody mentioned yet - whoever claims the child should also be the one to claim any childcare expenses on Form 2441 for the Child and Dependent Care Credit. That credit can be worth up to $3,000 for one kid! Since you mentioned paying more for daycare, you might benefit more from claiming your daughter even beyond the dependent exemption itself. Also worth checking if either of your employers offers dependent care FSA - that's pre-tax money you can use for daycare which is basically an automatic 22-24% discount depending on your tax bracket.

Carmen, I've been in a similar situation and here's what I learned after making some mistakes early on. The key is to run the numbers both ways before deciding - don't just go with the "lower income should claim" rule of thumb. Since you make more ($62k vs $48k), the IRS tiebreaker rules technically give you the right to claim your daughter. But that doesn't mean it's always the best financial decision for your household overall. Here's what I'd suggest: Calculate your taxes both ways. Look at the total refund/tax owed for both of you combined when (1) you claim her and file Head of Household vs (2) she claims her and files Head of Household. The difference can be significant - sometimes hundreds or even over $1000. Don't forget to factor in the Child and Dependent Care Credit for those daycare expenses - that can be worth up to $3,000 and only the person claiming the child can use it. Since you're paying more for daycare and health insurance, this might tip the scales in favor of you claiming her. Also consider your girlfriend's student loan situation if she has any - sometimes the education credits and deductions can make it more beneficial for the lower-income parent to claim the child. Bottom line: The IRS doesn't care who claims her as long as you both don't try to claim her in the same year. So run the numbers and go with whatever maximizes your household's total tax benefit!

Depends on if you got any credits or deductions tbh. Clean returns go faster

California is definitely running behind this year - I'm seeing a lot of people waiting 4-6 weeks even after processing. The good news is once it shows "processed" you're basically in the queue and it will come. I'd expect it within the next 2-3 weeks if you did direct deposit. Paper checks take longer obviously. Just keep an eye on your bank account!

I messed up by using Direct Pay for my first two quarters last year with my EIN instead of SSN, and got a nasty surprise at tax time! The payments weren't showing up on my account and I had to go through a whole thing with the IRS to get it sorted. Just my two cents: Direct Pay might seem easier at first but EFTPS is definitely better long-term. The setup is a bit more involved but totally worth it.

As someone who went through this exact confusion when I started my SMLLC, I can definitely relate to the stress! Here's what I learned after making some mistakes: For a single-member LLC that's disregarded for tax purposes, EFTPS is absolutely the better choice for quarterly estimated payments. Yes, the initial setup takes about a week (they mail you a PIN), but once you're enrolled, you can: - Schedule all four quarterly payments at the beginning of the year - Set up automatic recurring payments - Access detailed payment history for record-keeping - Make changes or cancel scheduled payments if needed Direct Pay is really designed for one-time payments and doesn't save your information or allow advance scheduling. Regarding the SSN vs EIN question - definitely use your SSN. Since your LLC is disregarded, all income flows through to your personal tax return (Form 1040), so the estimated tax payments need to be associated with your Social Security Number, not your business EIN. One tip: When calculating your quarterly payments, don't forget to include both income tax AND self-employment tax in your estimates. The self-employment tax portion catches a lot of new LLC owners off guard! The IRS has a pretty good estimated tax worksheet in Publication 505 that can help you figure out how much to pay each quarter based on your expected annual income.

I run a design agency and regularly give performance bonuses to my contractors. Here's what I do: I simply add a line item on their invoice for "performance bonus" or "additional project compensation" and pay it along with their regular fees. Then I include the total on their 1099-NEC at year end. No need to overthink this! Just make sure you're documenting everything properly for your records.

This is such a thoughtful question! I love that you want to reward your contractor for great work. From my experience as a small business owner, I've found that contractors actually prefer receiving additional compensation rather than gifts because it helps them with their business cash flow and is straightforward from a tax perspective. One thing I'd add to the great advice already given - consider timing the bonus payment strategically. If your contractor makes quarterly estimated tax payments, you might want to give them a heads up about the timing so they can plan accordingly. I usually ask my contractors if they prefer to receive performance bonuses in certain quarters to help with their tax planning. Also, don't forget to keep detailed records showing why the bonus was given (specific projects, performance metrics, etc.). This helps justify it as legitimate business expense for your taxes and maintains the clear service-based relationship with your contractor.