I switched from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA last year because I was tired of their price increases and it was fine. The interface isnt as fancy but it gets the job done and saved me like $70. just be aware that the state return does cost money but its way less than the competition. And the federal is truely free unless u need audit protection or something.

I've been using FreeTaxUSA for about 5 years now and can definitely vouch for its legitimacy. They're IRS-authorized and I've never had any issues with my returns being accepted or processed. Regarding the state return confusion - yes, FreeTaxUSA handles both federal and state, but the state portion typically costs around $14.99. When you're going through the filing process, you'll complete your federal return first, then it will automatically populate most of your state information and ask any state-specific questions. At the final step, you'll see options to e-file both returns together. One thing I really appreciate about FreeTaxUSA is their transparency - all fees are clearly shown before you pay, unlike some other services that hit you with surprise charges. The $15 state fee is still way cheaper than what I was paying with other major tax software, and the federal filing really is completely free for most tax situations. Don't worry about missing your state taxes - the software won't let you submit an incomplete return and will clearly show you what's being filed where before you finalize everything.

Did you and your spouse consider whether filing separately is actually saving you money overall? I did this for 3 years because of my wife's student loans, but we finally ran the numbers both ways and realized we were paying about $1,800 more in taxes just to save about $1,200 in student loan payments. Worth double-checking with your actual numbers - sometimes the tax hit from MFS is bigger than the student loan savings!

Great question! I went through this exact same situation last year. The $375k limit applies to each spouse individually when filing MFS, so you're in good shape. Since your mortgage is $560k total and you're splitting it 50/50, each of you would be claiming $280k of mortgage debt, which is well under the individual $375k limit. This means you can each deduct your full portion of the $31,000 interest ($15,500 each). One thing to keep in mind - make sure you're consistent with how you split all home-related expenses (mortgage interest, property taxes, etc.). Also remember that if one spouse itemizes, the other must also itemize, but it sounds like you're both planning to do that anyway. The approach you're taking should work perfectly for your situation!

Don't forget that if you've been in the partnership for 7 years, you'll likely qualify for long-term capital gains rates on most of your gain (except for the Section 751 "hot assets" portion). Current long-term capital gains rates are 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your income level, plus the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax if your income is high enough. This could save you a ton compared to ordinary income tax rates! Make sure you're tracking your holding period correctly.

Great discussion everyone! As someone who went through a similar partnership sale two years ago, I want to emphasize the importance of getting a professional Section 751 analysis done. I thought I understood the basics, but it turned out our manufacturing partnership had significant "hot assets" that I completely missed. We had accounts receivable that qualified under Section 751, plus some inventory that had appreciated substantially since we switched to FIFO accounting. About 30% of what I thought would be capital gains ended up being ordinary income taxed at much higher rates. The difference in my tax bill was over $15,000! Also, @Ravi, since you mentioned equipment loans - make sure you understand exactly how the debt relief is calculated. In our case, the partnership had recently refinanced, and the debt allocation among partners had shifted slightly from our original percentages. The buyer's attorney caught this during due diligence, but it could have been a nasty surprise at tax time. One last tip: if your partnership has made any Section 754 elections in the past (usually when partners have left), this can create additional basis adjustments that affect your calculation. Worth double-checking your partnership's tax returns from prior years.

Going through this exact same frustration right now! My solo 401k with Schwab hit $270k last year and I just discovered I need to file Form 5500-EZ. Like you, my CPA basically said "good luck with that" and quoted me some ridiculous fees for a TPA. After reading through all these responses, I'm feeling much more confident about tackling this myself. The combination approach that @Kiara Greene described sounds perfect - use Claimyr to get my specific questions answered by an actual IRS agent, then handle the EFAST2 filing myself. It's honestly frustrating that something this important for solo business owners isn't better explained or supported by the financial institutions holding our money. Schwab takes their fees but leaves us hanging when it comes to compliance requirements. At least now I know I'm not alone in dealing with this! Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this thread is going to save me hundreds (maybe thousands) in unnecessary TPA fees.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation! My individual 401k just hit the $250k threshold and I'm completely overwhelmed by the Form 5500 requirement. My CPA also basically said "not my department" which left me scrambling to figure out what to do. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly enlightening - especially the breakdown from @Kiara Greene about using Claimyr to talk directly to an IRS specialist first, then handling the EFAST2 filing yourself. The fact that you can get this done for under $50 versus paying $800+ to a TPA is exactly what I needed to hear. I had no idea that solo 401k filings were actually much simpler than the multi-participant plans, or that most of the Form 5500-EZ doesn't even apply to single-participant situations. It sounds like a lot of the complexity and fear around this form comes from CPAs and TPAs not wanting to deal with something outside their usual wheelhouse. Has anyone run into issues with the EFAST2 system itself being glitchy or hard to navigate? I'm pretty comfortable with technology but want to know what I'm getting into before I start the registration process.

Don't forget that healthcare.gov specifically wants your PROJECTED annual income, not just what you've made so far. If you make $3,000 in profits over 3 months, they don't just want to see that - they want to see that projected to $12,000 for the year (assuming steady income). One mistake I made was just submitting my year-to-date income without the annual projection. My documentation kept getting rejected until I explicitly showed the math for how my partial-year income translated to an annual estimate.

For your inventory issue specifically - you're right to think about including that $650 in inventory value. Since you're in a buy/repair/sell business, that inventory represents future income that should be part of your annual projection. The key is to be consistent with your accounting method. If you've been using cash basis (only counting money when it actually comes in/goes out), then your inventory should be valued at what you paid for it, not what you expect to sell it for. If you switch to accrual accounting, you'd count the expected sale value, but then you'd also need to account for all your other income and expenses on an accrual basis. For healthcare.gov documentation, I'd recommend sticking with cash basis but including a line item like "Current inventory at cost: $650 - represents X units expected to generate approximately $Y in future sales over next Z months." This shows them you understand your business has ongoing value beyond just completed transactions. Also make sure your ledger clearly states the time period covered and includes your methodology for the annual projection. Something like "Income projection based on [method] - estimated annual net profit: $X" helps prevent the vague rejection letters you've been getting.