i'm so confused after reading all this lol. so does reducing my income mean i get more money back or not?? i made like $42k last year and already filed but now i'm worried i messed up

Hey Heather! Your confusion is totally understandable - taxes can be really overwhelming. The simple answer is yes, reducing your taxable income can increase your refund, but let me break it down in plain terms. Think of it this way: throughout the year, your employer withheld taxes from each paycheck based on your gross income. But when you file your tax return, the IRS only taxes your "taxable income" - which is your gross income minus deductions. So if you can legitimately reduce that taxable income number, you've essentially overpaid taxes all year, and the IRS owes you that money back as a refund. With your situation ($62k job starting in August, $43k before that, 7% to 401k, $2,100 student loan interest), you're already doing some good things! Your 401k contributions and student loan interest are both reducing your taxable income right now. Since you're still within the filing deadline, you could potentially contribute to a traditional IRA for 2024 (up to $7,000 if you're under 50) and designate it as a 2024 contribution. This would directly reduce your 2024 taxable income and likely increase your refund. Don't stress too much - you're asking the right questions and already on a good path!

This is so frustrating! I'm in the same exact situation - filed federal weeks ago and have been waiting on Missouri forms forever. That 01/30/2025 date keeps getting pushed back and TurboTax support just gives generic responses. I'm seriously considering switching to H&R Block or FreeTaxUSA at this point since they seem to have their Missouri forms ready. Has anyone had success with Missouri Department of Revenue's free filing option? Wondering if that might be faster than waiting for TurboTax to get their act together.

I'm in the exact same situation and it's driving me crazy! Been checking TurboTax every day hoping to see Missouri forms available but keep getting that same "01/30/2025" message. What's really annoying is that I can see other states have their forms ready but Missouri is just stuck in limbo. I even tried contacting TurboTax support and they basically just said "wait for the email notification" which isn't helpful at all. At this point I'm seriously considering just doing my Missouri return directly through the state website since it sounds like they might have their forms ready sooner than TurboTax does. Has anyone else noticed if the delay is specifically with TurboTax or if other tax software companies are having the same Missouri issues?

Did your bank even send you a notice that they were cancelling the debt? Seems shady that they write it off after 12 years with no warning and then you get hit with the tax bill.

I feel for you - this exact thing happened to my sister a couple years ago and it was such a stressful surprise! One thing that might help ease your mind a bit: even though amended returns take longer to process (usually 16+ weeks), the IRS will often still issue your original refund while they're processing the amendment. So you might not have to wait months for all your money. Also, definitely look into that insolvency exclusion others mentioned. My sister ended up qualifying and it made a huge difference. She had to dig up old records but it was worth it - saved her thousands in taxes she thought she'd owe. The most important thing is to file that amendment though. The IRS will definitely catch the discrepancy eventually since they get a copy of every 1099-C that's issued. Better to be proactive about it than deal with penalties and interest later!

I've been running my single-member S Corp for about 18 months now and went through this exact same confusion when I started. You're absolutely right that Gusto and similar services don't handle distributions - and that's actually by design, not a limitation. Here's what I learned: distributions aren't "payroll" in the traditional sense, so they don't go through payroll processing systems. They're profit distributions that you take as an owner, and they're handled completely differently for tax purposes. My setup that works really well: - Gusto processes my monthly salary (which I set based on industry research for my role) - I take distributions quarterly by simply transferring money from business to personal account - I track everything in QuickBooks Online, categorizing distributions properly - My CPA handles the tax reporting on forms 1120S and K-1 The key is making sure your salary meets the "reasonable compensation" test. I researched what people in similar roles in my area earn and documented my reasoning. The IRS wants to see that you're not trying to avoid payroll taxes by taking everything as distributions. Don't stress about finding a single platform that does both - the two-part system actually makes more sense once you understand the tax implications. Focus on good documentation and you'll be fine!

I went through this exact same confusion when I started my single-member S Corp last year! You're absolutely right that most payroll services don't handle distributions, and honestly, that's actually how it should work from a tax compliance perspective. Here's what I ended up doing after a lot of research and talking with my CPA: **For salary:** I use ADP Run for my payroll processing. They handle all the tax withholdings, quarterly filings, and generate my W-2. I set my salary at about 60% of what I'd pay myself if I were an employee doing the same work. **For distributions:** These are just simple transfers from my business checking account to my personal account. I document them in QuickBooks as "Owner Distributions" and track them monthly. No payroll service needed because they're not subject to payroll taxes. The key insight my accountant shared: trying to process distributions through payroll would actually create problems because they're fundamentally different types of payments with different tax treatments. Distributions show up on your K-1, not your W-2. My advice is to stick with Gusto for payroll (they're solid) and just handle distributions separately. Focus your energy on documenting why your salary amount is reasonable for your industry and role - that's what really matters for IRS compliance. The two-system approach felt clunky at first, but now it makes perfect sense and keeps everything clean for tax purposes.

This is such a comprehensive thread - thank you everyone for sharing your experiences! I just went through this exact same issue yesterday and wanted to add one more potential solution. If you're using ADP on mobile and having trouble, try switching to "Desktop View" in your mobile browser settings before accessing the ADP portal. This forces the mobile browser to load the full desktop interface, which often shows information that's hidden in the mobile-optimized version. I found my state ID this way after the regular mobile app kept showing me an incomplete view of my W-2. The desktop view showed Box 15 clearly labeled with "Employer State ID No." that was completely invisible in the mobile interface. Just another option to try before reaching out to HR or calling ADP support!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I just ran into this exact same issue with ADP this morning and was getting so frustrated. Reading through everyone's solutions, it looks like there are multiple approaches depending on your specific ADP setup. I'm going to try the desktop browser + print preview method first since that seems to be the most consistently successful approach mentioned here. Really appreciate how everyone shared their specific navigation steps and even the behind-the-scenes info about different ADP packages from the HR perspective. It's clear that ADP's interface varies quite a bit between employers, which explains why this is such a common problem. Will definitely bookmark this thread in case I run into similar issues in the future. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their experiences and solutions!