Just to throw in my experience - I skipped filing Form 6251 last year when I had a small ISO exercise (around $6,000 spread) because my calculations showed I owed zero AMT. Got a letter from the IRS three months later asking me to submit the form. Wasn't a full audit or anything, but definitely created extra work I could have avoided.

Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like Form 6251 is pretty much required when you have ISO activity, even if you don't owe AMT. I'm dealing with a similar situation - exercised some ISOs last year and trying to figure out the most cost-effective way to handle my taxes. Has anyone tried just preparing the Form 6251 by hand and then entering the results into FreeTaxUSA manually? I'm wondering if that might be a middle-ground approach that avoids the expensive software while still meeting the IRS requirements. The form itself doesn't seem too complex if you have your Form 3921 information handy. Also curious if there are any good resources or guides specifically for calculating AMT on ISOs that don't require expensive software subscriptions?

I was in the same boat last year with tons of mileage from gig work. FreeTaxUSA let me add all my mileage expenses on Schedule C for free. Just make sure you have your total miles driven for business, your total overall miles for the year, and the dates you started and stopped using your car for business. The standard mileage rate is usually the best option unless you have a really expensive car with high maintenance costs.

Just wanted to add that TurboTax Free Edition also supports Schedule C for reporting your 1099-NEC mileage, though they do try to upsell you to their paid version pretty aggressively. I used it last year for my contractor work and it walked me through the mileage deduction step by step. One tip that saved me - when you're entering your vehicle information, make sure you select "started using for business" as the date you actually began doing contract work, not when you bought the car. This affects how much depreciation you can claim if you go the actual expense route instead of standard mileage. Also keep in mind that if you use your car for both personal and business, you can only deduct the business portion. So if you drove 15,000 business miles out of 25,000 total miles, you can only deduct 60% of your car expenses.

Great post! I made the switch from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA last year and had a similar experience. The import feature really is a lifesaver - I was dreading having to re-enter all my personal info and previous year details. One thing I'd add is that FreeTaxUSA's explanations for each deduction are actually really helpful. They break down the requirements in plain English, which helped me understand my taxes better than TurboTax's more simplified approach. The only downside I found was that their mobile app isn't as polished as TurboTax's, but since I do my taxes on my computer anyway, that wasn't a big deal. Definitely sticking with FreeTaxUSA going forward - the savings alone make it worth it!

This is exactly what I needed to hear! I've been on the fence about switching from TurboTax for the past two years because their prices keep going up, but I was worried about losing all my previous data. Knowing that FreeTaxUSA can import from TurboTax is huge - that was honestly my biggest concern about switching. I have a pretty straightforward tax situation (W-2, some investment income, mortgage interest) so it sounds like FreeTaxUSA would handle everything I need without the premium pricing. The fact that you saved $65 and got the same quality return really seals the deal for me. Thanks for sharing your experience! Definitely going to make the switch for next year's filing season.

Some states have what they call a "convenience rule" too. New York, Nebraska, Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania have these rules where if your employer is based in their state, they may tax your income even if you're working remotely from another state. It's worth looking into if your employer is based in one of those states!

As someone who travels a lot for work, I've found using a time-tracking app on my phone is super helpful for documenting exactly which days I worked in which states. Makes it way easier come tax time to calculate the percentages. Also, most states have a minimum threshold before you need to file - either income amount or number of days worked there.

I work in banking (not for SBTPG) and can share that ACH transfers follow standard protocols regardless of the sender. Once the IRS initiates the transfer on your DDD, it typically takes 24 hours to reach SBTPG. I received my DDD on February 26th this year, SBTPG showed funded on February 28th around noon, and the money hit my bank account on March 1st. This 2-3 day timeline has been consistent for me across multiple tax years.

As someone who's been using SBTPG for several years now, I can confirm the 2-3 day pattern most people are describing. What I've found helpful is understanding that there are actually three distinct phases: 1) IRS processes your refund and shows DDD on transcript, 2) SBTPG receives funds and updates to "funded" status (usually 1-2 days after DDD), and 3) SBTPG transfers to your bank account (another 1-2 days). The total timeline from transcript DDD to money in your account is typically 3-4 business days. For business planning purposes, I'd recommend budgeting for the longer end of that range to avoid cash flow issues. One tip: SBTPG usually updates their status overnight, so checking first thing in the morning tends to be more productive than checking throughout the day.