Has anyone tried using TaxSlayer for business returns? Their website says they support 1120-S but I can't tell if they have good guidance for Schedule L specifically.

I've been struggling with Schedule L myself and found that the key is understanding that it's basically a snapshot of your business assets and liabilities at two points in time - beginning and end of tax year. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple mapping document between my QuickBooks chart of accounts and Schedule L line items. For example, my "Equipment" account maps to line 10a (Depreciable assets), and my "Accumulated Depreciation" account maps to line 10b. The biggest gotcha I found was that retained earnings on Schedule L needs to match your tax basis, not book basis. So if you have differences between book and tax income (like different depreciation methods), you'll need to adjust retained earnings accordingly. Have you tried running a "Balance Sheet Standard" report in QuickBooks for 12/31 of your tax year? That should give you most of the ending numbers you need. For beginning numbers, either use last year's ending balances or run the same report for the first day of your tax year.

I had about $13k in tax debt a few years ago. One thing nobody's mentioned yet - check if you qualify for penalty relief due to reasonable cause based on your medical issues. I had a major surgery that left me unable to work, and the IRS reduced my penalties by almost 40%. You'll need to submit documentation of your medical condition and explain how it prevented you from paying your taxes on time. Form 843 is used for this request. The IRS can be surprisingly reasonable if you have legitimate health problems that affected your ability to pay.

I went through something very similar with about $18k in back taxes from 2021-2022. The medical hardship angle that others mentioned is definitely worth pursuing - I got about $3,200 in penalties waived by documenting how my health issues prevented me from maintaining consistent income. A few practical tips from my experience: First, don't wait for the IRS letters to escalate further. Once they start mentioning liens or levies, your options become more limited and stressful. Second, when you do set up that installment agreement, ask about making slightly higher payments if you can manage it - even an extra $50/month will save you hundreds in interest over time. Also, keep detailed records of every interaction with the IRS. Get confirmation numbers for any agreements and save copies of all correspondence. I learned this the hard way when there was confusion about my payment plan terms six months later. The good news is once you have an active payment plan in place, the collection pressure stops completely. You'll still get monthly statements, but no more threatening letters or calls. It's honestly such a relief to have a clear path forward instead of just dreading opening the mail.

Stupid question maybe, but could your client just efile Form 8822 to update their address with the IRS so any future correspondence goes to you instead? That way if there is a notice about mismatched payments you'll see it right away and can respond quickly.

This is exactly the kind of mess that makes household employee taxes so frustrating to deal with! I've seen this scenario play out multiple times with different payroll companies, not just ADP. The approach everyone's suggesting about documenting on Schedule 3 with a detailed statement is correct, but I'd add one more critical step: make sure you keep detailed records of ALL correspondence with ADP about this issue. Save emails, take notes during phone calls with dates and representative names, and request everything in writing. I had a similar case last year where the client got an IRS notice 18 months later questioning the tax credits. Having that paper trail was essential to quickly resolve the issue. The IRS agent was able to match up the payments once we provided ADP's documentation showing the specific dates and amounts. Also, consider filing the return with the explanation statement attached, but then immediately follow up with a cover letter sent separately to the same processing center. Sometimes the attached statements get separated during processing, so having a duplicate explanation can prevent delays. One last tip - if your client has any estimated tax payments due for the current year, you might want to slightly overpay to create a small buffer in case there are any reconciliation issues with the household employee taxes.

One thing nobody has mentioned yet - if you're dealing with a TON of transactions (like hundreds or thousands), you might want to consider using specific tax software for investors before importing to any tax software. I'm a day trader with over 1,500 transactions last year and I use special software to consolidate everything first, then just enter the summary in FreeTaxUSA. No mailing required. Also, keep in mind that the IRS already gets copies of your 1099s directly from brokers, which is why most e-filing doesn't require you to mail anything. The only time you typically need to mail supporting docs is if you're claiming something unusual that the IRS wouldn't automatically know about.

I switched from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA two years ago and haven't looked back! To directly answer your question - yes, FreeTaxUSA handles summary reporting for 1099-B forms without requiring you to mail physical documents to the IRS when e-filing. I had a similar frustration with TurboTax constantly telling me I needed to mail supporting docs. With FreeTaxUSA, I just enter my summary totals from my 1099-B (total proceeds, total cost basis, total gain/loss) and the software handles everything electronically. No trips to the post office required! The interface isn't as flashy as TurboTax, but it's straightforward and way cheaper. Federal is free for most situations, and state filing is only about $15. I've saved hundreds compared to what I was paying TurboTax, especially since they kept pushing expensive "deluxe" versions for investment reporting. One heads up though - the first year switching will require manually entering your basic info and any carryovers from previous returns since they can't import TurboTax files. But after that, it saves everything for next year.

Wait I'm still confused. If I have an HSA through my work and they put money in AND I put money in through my paycheck... where do I see the total? My W-2 has a smaller number than what I think went in total. How do I know if it's right?

Just wanted to add my experience since I had the exact same confusion last year! Your employer is 100% correct - Box 12W only shows YOUR payroll deductions ($475), not the employer contributions ($900). I made the mistake of questioning my HR department about this too, and they patiently explained that employer HSA contributions don't appear anywhere on your W-2. They're not taxable income to you, so there's no need to report them there. The key thing to remember when doing your taxes is that you'll need both numbers: your $475 from Box 12W AND your employer's $900 (which you can get from your HSA year-end statement or calculate as the difference). Most tax software will ask for both amounts in separate fields when you get to the HSA section. Don't worry - this is one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of HSA reporting. You're definitely not alone in being confused by it!