these transcripts might as well be written in ancient egyptian hieroglyphics fr fr

Looking at your transcript, that 846 code dated 11-23-2024 is exactly what you want to see! That's the "refund issued" code and it means your $11,368.62 should have already hit your account or will very soon. If it's been issued since 11/23 and you haven't received it yet, I'd check with your bank first - sometimes they hold larger deposits for verification. The 811 code shows they removed the refund freeze on 11/6, so everything looks clear on the IRS side. You might also want to verify the direct deposit info they have on file matches your current bank account. Hope this helps!

One thing that confuses me about all this startup cost talk - if you start "marketing" but have no revenue for the year, don't you just end up carrying those losses forward anyway? What's the benefit of starting to recognize these expenses earlier if you have no income to offset?

Great question about startup costs vs business beginning! I went through this exact situation with my consulting LLC. The key insight that helped me was understanding that "business beginning" isn't about making your first sale - it's about when you start actively pursuing customers or clients. In my case, I had been developing my service offerings for months, but the IRS considers my business to have "begun" when I started networking events, created business cards, and launched my website - even though my first paid client didn't come for another 3 months. Since you mentioned you're planning to start selling "sometime next year," I'd suggest documenting any activities you're doing now that show you're preparing to generate revenue. Things like trademark applications, building a website, creating marketing materials, or establishing supplier relationships can all indicate your business has begun operations. One practical tip: keep a detailed timeline of all your business activities. This documentation becomes crucial if you ever need to justify to the IRS when your business actually began. The clearer your timeline, the stronger your position for claiming those startup deductions.

14 Be careful with mixing W-2 and 1099 work! I messed up last year and ended up owing WAY more than I expected. Make sure to use the Self-Employment Tax Calculator on the IRS website to estimate what you'll owe.

As a college student who just started mixing W-2 and gig work myself, I can't stress enough how important it is to track everything from day one! I made the mistake of not keeping receipts for my first month of delivery work and it was a nightmare trying to reconstruct my expenses. One thing that really helped me was opening a separate checking account just for my Doordash earnings. I deposit everything there and then transfer my estimated tax portion (about 30%) to a savings account immediately. This way I'm never tempted to spend my tax money and I always know exactly how much I've earned from gig work versus my regular job. Also, don't forget that as a student, you might still qualify for education credits even with the additional 1099 income - just make sure your total income doesn't push you out of eligibility ranges for things like the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

This is exactly what happened to us too! We got my husband's Letter 6419 first showing $450, then mine came about 10 days later with another $450. At first I panicked thinking we only received half of what we were supposed to get for our son. The IRS Customer Service portal at irs.gov confirmed we had received the full $900 in advance payments, just split evenly between us. When we filed jointly, we entered both amounts and everything processed smoothly. Pro tip: If you're using tax software, make sure you enter each spouse's 6419 amount in the correct field rather than just putting the total in one spot. The software needs to see how the payments were allocated between you two for proper reporting.

This happened to us as well! We received my Letter 6419 showing $600 for our two kids, but my spouse's letter didn't arrive for nearly three weeks. I was getting worried about filing deadlines. What really helped was calling the IRS using one of those callback services mentioned earlier in this thread - saved me hours of sitting on hold. The representative confirmed that married couples filing jointly do indeed get separate letters with the payments split 50/50, even if only one spouse has income. She also mentioned that if one letter gets lost in the mail, you can still file using the online portal information as long as you report the correct total amount you actually received. Just make sure your tax software has separate entry fields for each spouse's 6419 amount - don't try to combine them into one field or it might cause processing delays. For anyone still waiting on their second letter, I'd recommend checking that IRS Child Tax Credit portal first to see your total payments, then decide if you want to wait or just file with that information.

Can someone explain how CashApp Taxes handles wash sales on 1099-B forms? I have a similar merger situation but some of my trades might fall under wash sale rules.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation! My merger stocks also don't have acquisition dates on the 1099-B. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like "Various" is the way to go, but I'm still nervous about getting it wrong. One thing I discovered that might help others - if you still have your original brokerage statements from before the merger, those sometimes show the original purchase dates of the stocks that got converted. I found mine buried in old PDF statements and was able to piece together the holding periods that way. Also worth noting that some mergers are tax-free reorganizations where your holding period carries over from the original stock, while others might create a new acquisition date. The type of merger matters for tax purposes, so if you're unsure, it's definitely worth getting clarification rather than guessing.