Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I just wanted to confirm what I'm hearing - so for my 4 pages of short-term transactions, I should put the subtotal for just that specific page's transactions at the bottom of each page, right? Then when I get to Schedule D, I'll add up all 4 subtotals from the different Form 8949 pages? Also, I saw someone mention checking the "continuation sheet" box - where exactly is that on the form? I want to make sure I don't miss that detail since it sounds important for the IRS processing. One more quick question - do I need to write "Page 1 of 4", "Page 2 of 4" etc. anywhere on the forms, or does the continuation sheet checkbox handle that?

Just wanted to add a helpful tip for anyone dealing with multiple Form 8949 pages - make sure you're using the correct version of the form! I made the mistake last year of downloading an outdated version from a random website and didn't realize until I was halfway through entering all my transactions. The IRS website always has the current year's forms, and they sometimes make small changes to the layout or instructions that can affect how you handle the subtotals. Also, if you're e-filing, your tax software should automatically use the correct version, but it's worth double-checking if you're preparing paper forms. Another thing I learned the hard way - if you have both short-term and long-term transactions, you'll need separate sets of Form 8949 pages for each (Part I for short-term, Part II for long-term). Each set gets its own subtotals that then go to different sections of Schedule D. Don't mix them on the same pages or your totals will be wrong!

2 Has anyone used the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) for making quarterly payments? I just registered for it after getting hit with the same penalty, but I'm finding the system pretty confusing to navigate.

I went through this exact same situation last year! The key thing to understand is that the IRS requires taxes to be paid throughout the year, not just at filing time. Since your husband's 1099 income has no withholding, you need to make up for it somehow. Here's what worked for us: I calculated our total expected tax liability for the year, subtracted what was already being withheld from my W-2, then divided the remainder by my remaining pay periods. I submitted a new W-4 to increase my withholding by that amount. This approach was actually easier than making quarterly payments because it's automatic - no remembering due dates or scrambling to make payments. Just make sure to recalculate if either of your incomes changes significantly during the year. One warning though - don't forget about self-employment tax on the 1099 income! That's an additional 15.3% on top of regular income tax that catches a lot of people off guard. Make sure you factor that into your calculations.

Has anyone used the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator for this kind of situation? I tried using it with multiple income sources but got confused about how to enter the self-employment part.

Ruby, you're in a pretty straightforward situation despite having multiple income streams. Here's the breakdown: Your self-employment income of $1,450 will trigger self-employment tax (about $205 as Micah calculated), but since your total annual tax liability will be well under $1,000, you can skip quarterly payments and just pay when you file. One thing to watch out for - make sure your W-2 job is withholding enough federal tax. With $2,300 from the library job, they should be withholding some federal income tax even though your total income might be below the standard deduction threshold. You want to avoid owing a big chunk at tax time. For Michigan specifically, you'll owe about $62 in state income tax on your self-employment income (4.25% of $1,450), but again, this is small enough that you don't need to make estimated payments. Keep good records of your freelance expenses - business supplies, computer equipment, etc. These can reduce your self-employment income and lower that $205 self-employment tax.

Honestly these transcript codes are like trying to read hieroglyphics without the rosetta stone 🤣

Just went through the same thing with my cycle 20250604! The confusion is totally understandable - these IRS codes are like a foreign language 😅 From what I learned after dealing with this exact situation: the "04" in your cycle code means Wednesday processing day, and with your return already processed on 02-24-2025, you should see that $9,527 hit your account pretty soon. The April dates you're seeing are just tax year reference dates, not your actual deposit date. One thing that really helped me was using taxr.ai to decode my transcript - it breaks down all these confusing codes and gives you a clear timeline. Saved me from refreshing WMR every 5 minutes lol. For $1 it's totally worth the peace of mind, especially when you've got bills coming up like you mentioned. Hope this helps and you get your refund soon! 🤞

Don't forget to look at your state withholding too! A lot of times when people get raises they focus on updating federal withholding but forget about state. I made this mistake and got hammered with a state tax bill even though my federal withholding was fine. Especially with that kind of income jump, your state tax liability increased significantly too.

Your situation is completely normal and actually pretty predictable with that kind of income jump. The math checks out - $25k withholding on $185k income is only about 13.5%, but your actual tax rate on that income is going to be closer to 20-25% when you combine federal and state. Here's what happened: When you jumped from $105k to $185k, a big chunk of that additional $80k gets taxed at 24% federal (and potentially some at 32% if you hit that bracket), plus your state rate on top. Your payroll withholding was probably still calculated based on your previous income level and didn't adjust quickly enough for the promotion and bonuses. For next year, definitely update your W-4 immediately using the IRS withholding calculator. You'll want to either increase your withholding percentage or add a fixed dollar amount per paycheck to avoid this surprise again. Bonuses are often withheld at a flat 22%, which might not be enough given your new tax bracket. A CPA probably isn't necessary unless you have complex investments or business income. The amount you owe is frustrating but totally reasonable given the income increase. Focus on adjusting your withholding going forward rather than second-guessing your return.