Anyone know if foreign income taxes can be listed on Schedule A line 5a as well? I worked overseas for 3 months last year.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful explanations! This thread has been a lifesaver. I was getting so frustrated trying to understand the IRS language, but now I see that Line 5a is basically just asking whether I want to deduct state income taxes OR sales taxes (but not both). Since I live in a state with income tax, I'll probably go with the state income tax option and make sure to include any estimated payments I made during the year too. The $10,000 cap is good to know about - I didn't realize there was a limit on the total state and local tax deduction. Really appreciate everyone taking the time to break this down in plain English. Tax forms shouldn't be this confusing but at least there are helpful people like you all willing to explain things!

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!

Called turbo tax support and they said itll be ready by next week. Take that with a grain of salt tho

I'm dealing with the exact same thing! Been checking TurboTax daily and that 01/30/2025 date for Missouri forms keeps staring me in the face. Super annoying since I already got my federal refund back in early January. At this point I'm wondering if it's worth just switching to a different tax software that actually has their Missouri forms ready. Has anyone successfully switched mid-season without losing all their entered data?

Instead of trying to find a payroll service that does both (which I don't think exists), I recommend getting a good accountant who specializes in small business/S Corps and an accounting system like QuickBooks. My process is: - Gusto handles my regular salary payroll - I take quarterly distributions based on my accountant's guidance - These distributions are just transfers from biz account to personal - In QuickBooks, I categorize them as "Owner's Draw - Your Name" - At tax time, my accountant makes sure everything is reported properly on my 1120S and K-1 Been doing this for 4 years with no issues. The important thing is having good documentation of why your salary is "reasonable" - that's what the IRS cares about, not whether distributions go through a payroll system (they shouldn't).

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 had this exact situation with my education credits last year! The most annoying part was that TurboTax didn't clearly tell me WHICH form wasn't ready. Pro tip: You can check the IRS website directly for form availability. Go to irs.gov and search for "form status" or the specific form number you think might be delayed. They usually have announcements about which forms aren't finalized yet and estimated dates.

I went through this exact same frustration last month! After reading through all these suggestions, I ended up using both taxr.ai and Claimyr and they really helped me get unstuck. The taxr.ai tool quickly identified that my Form 8863 (education credits) wasn't finalized, and then Claimyr helped me get through to an IRS agent who confirmed it would be ready within a week. What I learned is that education credit forms are almost always the culprit when you get this message, especially if you paid for college expenses. The IRS frequently makes last-minute adjustments to these forms because the education credit rules change so often. My advice: Don't stress too much about the delay - it's really common and usually resolves quickly. Just save your progress in TurboTax and check back in a few days. The refund will still come, just maybe a week or two later than you hoped!