Has anyone used TurboTax to compare these methods? Is there a way to see side-by-side which one gives better deductions without manually calculating everything twice?

Great question! I faced this exact dilemma last year with my marketing consulting business. Here's what I learned from running both calculations: For your 2019 CR-V with 15,000 business miles at 70% business use, the standard mileage would give you $10,050 (15,000 × $0.67). But with a newer vehicle like yours, actual expenses might be better. Here's a quick way to estimate: Add up your annual car costs (loan payments, insurance, gas, maintenance, registration, etc.) and multiply by 70%. Don't forget depreciation - that's usually the biggest factor with newer cars. For a 2019 CR-V, you might be looking at $4,000-6,000 in annual depreciation alone. One thing that helped me decide was tracking everything for just one month to get a sense of my actual costs, then extrapolating. If your monthly car expenses × 12 × 70% comes out higher than $10,050, actual expenses is probably better. Also consider your future plans - if you're planning to keep this car for many years and expect high maintenance costs as it ages, starting with actual expenses now might be smart since you can't switch later. But if you typically trade cars every few years, standard mileage gives you more flexibility. The key is being meticulous with record-keeping whichever method you choose!

Has the company given you any timeline for when they might respond? Tax day is coming up fast and you might need to file for an extension if they can't get this sorted quickly. Extensions are easy to file with Form 4868, and it gives you an extra 6 months to file the actual return!

I went through almost the exact same thing two years ago! The panic is totally understandable, but you're going to be okay. The advice about reporting the full 1099 amount on Schedule C and then deducting the overage as an expense is spot on - that's exactly what my CPA had me do. One thing I'd add is to create a simple spreadsheet documenting every payment you actually received from that company. Include dates, amounts, check numbers or transaction IDs, and match them to your bank deposits. This became invaluable when I had to respond to questions later. Also, don't stress too much about the timing. Even if the company doesn't get you a corrected 1099 before the deadline, you can still file correctly using the method everyone's described. I never did get a corrected form and everything worked out fine. The IRS understands these situations happen more often than you'd think. Keep pushing the company for that correction though - send a follow-up email every few days with your documentation attached so they can't claim they don't have the info they need!

I see everyone suggesting complicated solutions, but have you tried just asking your parents? If they claimed you as a dependent last year, they could probably just help you with this whole process. That's what I did my first time.

Hey Alejandro! I went through this exact same situation last year with TaxAct and that AGI verification step. Based on what you've described, since your parents claimed you as a dependent last year and you didn't file your own return, you should definitely enter "0" for your prior year AGI like Monique mentioned. Don't feel bad about getting stuck on this - it's honestly one of the most confusing parts for first-time filers because the software doesn't explain it clearly. The good news is once you get past this step, the rest should be much smoother! If entering "0" doesn't work for some reason, you can also look for TaxAct's "forgot my AGI" option which should give you alternatives like requesting a PIN from the IRS instead. But in your situation, the "0" should definitely work since you weren't filing independently last year. You've got this! Don't give up on doing it yourself - you're so close to figuring it out.

I've dealt with this exact situation and found that creating a simple one-page "entity structure diagram" has been a game-changer. I include it with every W9 submission showing: Corporate Parent Inc (Tax Entity) ↓ owns Disregarded LLC (Operating Entity) Then I add bullet points: • All income reported to Corporate Parent Inc (EIN: XXX-XX-XXXX) • Business operations conducted as Disregarded LLC • No change to payment methods or business relationships • IRS requires this format for proper tax reporting This visual approach has eliminated about 95% of follow-up questions. Vendors seem to grasp it much better when they can see the relationship structure rather than trying to parse through text explanations. I keep a template saved and just customize the entity names for each situation. The key is making it as simple and visual as possible - most AP folks aren't tax experts and just need to understand "why this looks different but everything else stays the same.

The entity structure diagram approach is brilliant! I'm definitely stealing that idea. One thing I'd add is to include the IRS publication reference (Publication 3402) right on the diagram itself. Something like "Per IRS Pub 3402: Disregarded entities must report under parent's name/EIN." I've also found it helpful to include a small FAQ section on the back that addresses common vendor concerns like "Will this affect how I pay invoices?" (No) and "Do I need to update my vendor portal?" (Just the W9 on file). The visual element really does make a huge difference. People who got confused by paragraphs of explanation immediately understand a simple org chart. Thanks for sharing this - it's going to save me so many headaches!

This is actually a pretty common scenario that catches a lot of people off guard! The wage and income transcript operates on a completely different timeline than your account and return transcripts. Think of it this way - the IRS can process your return and issue your refund based on what YOU reported, but the wage transcript shows what your EMPLOYERS reported to them. These employer submissions get processed in batches and often don't show up in the transcript system until several months later. Since you've already received your refund, it means the IRS was able to match your reported income with their records internally, even if it's not visible in the public transcript system yet. I'd expect to see your wage data populate sometime between now and June, which is totally normal timing.

I've been through this exact situation multiple times over the years, and it's one of those IRS quirks that seems designed to cause unnecessary anxiety! The key thing to remember is that there are essentially two different data flows happening: your filed return gets processed immediately for refund purposes, while employer-reported data (W-2s, 1099s) goes through a completely separate batch processing system that can take months to appear in transcripts. Since you mentioned you've already received your 2023 refund, that's actually the best indicator that everything matched up correctly on the IRS side - they wouldn't have issued the refund if there were major discrepancies. The wage transcript delay is purely a system limitation, not a reflection of any problems with your tax situation. I typically see most wage transcripts fully populate by late May or early June, so you're well within the normal timeframe.