Quick question for anyone who's dealt with this recently - I'm using TurboTax Business for my S-Corp and personal returns. Does it automatically handle the NOL carryforward worksheets and calculations between tax years? Or do I need to manually track this somewhere?

I'm dealing with a similar S-Corp NOL situation and wanted to add some practical tips from my experience last year. Make sure you have good documentation of your stock basis before claiming the loss - the IRS can challenge NOL deductions if you can't prove sufficient basis in your S-Corp stock. Keep detailed records of any loans you made to the company, capital contributions, and prior year income/losses. These all affect your basis calculation and determine how much of the NOL you can actually deduct. I had to reconstruct three years of basis calculations when the IRS questioned my NOL deduction. Also, consider whether the Section 199A QBI deduction might interact with your NOL situation in future profitable years. The interplay between NOLs and QBI can be complex, so it's worth understanding now while you're setting up your tracking systems. One more thing - if your photography business picks up significantly next year, be aware of the potential Section 461(l) excess business loss limitation. It caps business losses at $270,000 for single filers, with excess amounts treated as NOLs subject to the 80% limitation in future years.

Just a heads up - make sure your daughter's father isn't claiming the Earned Income Credit (EIC) if he's taking the Child Tax Credit. The rules for EIC are different and require the child to have lived with the taxpayer for more than half the year. If he claims both and gets audited, it could cause problems for both of you.

Based on what everyone's shared here, it sounds like you're in good shape regarding your past Medicaid benefits. The key thing to remember is that Medicaid eligibility is determined based on your circumstances at the time you received the benefits, not who claims your daughter on taxes later. Since you accurately reported your household situation when you applied for and maintained Medicaid coverage throughout 2024, allowing her father to claim the child tax credit shouldn't create any retroactive issues with the benefits you already received. Just make sure you follow the proper procedures - complete Form 8332 as mentioned above to officially release your claim to the exemption, and don't forget to report your new employment status to your state Medicaid office for future coverage decisions. This way you're being transparent about your changing circumstances while protecting the benefits you legitimately received when you qualified for them. It's really nice that her father has been supporting you both, and it sounds fair that he should get the tax benefit for that support!

One thing to check: are you calculating the percentages against your gross pay or your "FICA wages" specifically? Most paystubs actually list a separate line for "FICA wages" or "Social Security wages" which already accounts for pre-tax deductions. If you divide your SS tax by THAT number, you should get exactly 6.2%.

This is such a helpful thread! I've been struggling with the same issue and it's great to see so many different explanations. Just wanted to add one more thing that caught me off guard - if you have any dependent care FSA contributions, those are also pre-tax for FICA purposes (up to $5,000/year). I was only contributing $100/month but it was enough to throw off my calculations slightly. It's one of those smaller deductions that's easy to overlook when you're trying to figure out why your percentages don't match the standard rates. Between health insurance, 401k, transit benefits, and dependent care FSA, it all adds up to explain the discrepancy!

Has anyone here actually calculated what the penalty would be for a missed Q4 payment? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the hassle of making a separate payment now vs just handling it when I file in April. If I owe roughly $2,000 for Q4, how bad would the penalty be?

For the IRS website issue, you're absolutely right - since we're in 2025 now, the estimated tax payment option defaults to the current year. The workaround is to use "Make a Payment" and select "Apply Payment to Account" or "Amount Owed" instead of the estimated tax option. When you get to the payment screen, you can specify tax year 2024. Regarding the 1040-ES form - your buddy is partially right. You don't need to mail the form to the IRS, but you should still use it to calculate the correct payment amount rather than just guessing based on tax brackets. The form accounts for your specific situation, deductions, and credits. It's worth the 20 minutes to fill out, especially as a new self-employed person. Don't wait until you file your return. The underpayment penalty starts accruing from the original due date (January 16, 2025 for Q4 2024), not when you file. Even if the penalty isn't huge, making the payment now shows good faith and stops the daily interest charges. Plus, you'll have one less thing to worry about when tax season gets hectic. Welcome to self-employment! The estimated tax system takes some getting used to, but you'll get the hang of it.

Just to add another point - remember that for EITC, your daughter needs to have lived with you for more than half the year. Time away at college counts as temporary absence so that's fine in your case. But also double-check if your income falls within the EITC limits since they change every year.

One thing to keep in mind is that even though your daughter can file her own return for her bookstore income, she likely won't owe any federal taxes since she only made $2,800 (well below the standard deduction). However, she should still file if taxes were withheld from her paychecks - she'll probably get a full refund of any federal taxes that were taken out. Also, since you mentioned you're a single mom, make sure you're filing as Head of Household rather than Single - this gives you a higher standard deduction and potentially more favorable tax brackets. You qualify for Head of Household status since you're unmarried and have a qualifying dependent living with you for more than half the year.