Has anyone tried putting the property in an LLC with both owners as members? Our lawyer suggested this approach for our shared cabin. The operating agreement spells out each member's 50% responsibility for all expenses including taxes. The property tax bill goes to the LLC, and we each contribute to the LLC account.

One approach that worked well for my cousin and me was setting up an escrow account specifically for property taxes and other shared expenses. We each contribute our 50% share monthly (so about $283 each per month for your $6,800 annual tax bill). The account automatically pays the tax bill when due, and we both have access to statements showing exactly what each person contributed. This removes the stress of one person having to front the entire tax payment and wait for reimbursement. It also creates a clear paper trail for tax purposes since each person's contributions are documented. Most banks can set this up as a simple joint account with automatic transfers from your individual accounts. Just make sure the account agreement specifies that each person owns their contributions, not 50% of the total balance. The key is getting this arrangement documented in your co-ownership agreement so both the monthly contributions and the purpose of the account are legally clear. This way if your brother's income becomes unpredictable, you're not scrambling to cover his portion at tax time.

My sister had the exact same issue last year! Her refund went through "Santa Barbara TPG" which is another one of these temporary bank accounts. Turns out her preparer was adding a $150 "processing fee" that she never disclosed verbally. The paperwork mentioned it in tiny print on page 4 of something she quickly signed. When my sister confronted her, the preparer claimed it was "standard industry practice" and refused to refund anything. She reported her to the state board of accountancy and switched tax preparers.

This is definitely a red flag situation. As others have mentioned, legitimate refund transfers should be clearly disclosed with proper documentation. The fact that your SSN is embedded in an unknown bank account number is particularly concerning from an identity protection standpoint. I'd recommend taking these steps immediately: 1. Get your official IRS transcript to compare the actual refund amount with what you received 2. Look through all your tax paperwork for any mention of refund transfer fees or Metabank authorization 3. Consider placing a fraud alert on your credit reports since your SSN was used in ways you weren't aware of Even if the dollar amounts match up, the lack of proper disclosure about routing your refund through a third-party account is problematic. This could be a case where the preparer is legitimate but has poor business practices, or it could be something more serious. The transcript will help you determine which situation you're dealing with. If you discover any discrepancies or unauthorized fees, definitely report this to the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility and your state's board of accountancy if applicable.

Another option to consider is opening a SEP IRA instead of a Solo 401k. With a SEP, you can contribute up to 25% of your net self-employment income (slightly higher than the Solo 401k employer contribution rate). The setup is way simpler, and many brokerages offer them with no fees. The downside is you can't do the mega backdoor Roth strategy with a SEP IRA, but if your main goal is just to shelter some of your 1099 income from taxes, it might be the simplest solution. I've been using one for my freelance work for years and it takes me like 5 minutes a year to manage.

Something nobody's mentioned yet - make sure your side hustle actually qualifies as self-employment income! If you're just doing a one-off project and getting a 1099-NEC, but don't have an actual ongoing business with profit motive, the IRS might challenge your Solo 401k setup. My tax guy told me that you need to show that you're truly in business - having multiple clients, keeping good records, separate business bank account, etc. Made that mistake my first year of freelancing and had to do some backtracking.

Has anyone considered the timing difference when the advance payment is received in a different tax year than when it's reported on Form 5884-A? One of my partnerships received the advance in December 2021 but we're claiming the credit on the 2022 return (based on 2022 qualified wages).

I've been dealing with similar ERTC advance payment issues for several partnership clients. Based on my experience and consultations with other tax professionals, the correct approach is definitely option 2 - treat it as a reduction of salary expense, not as other income. The logic is straightforward: the ERTC is fundamentally a credit against employment taxes you've already paid on wages. When you receive an advance payment, you're getting those funds early, but it doesn't change the underlying nature of the transaction. The credit should reduce your wage deduction, which effectively increases your taxable income by the amount of wages that are no longer deductible. Here's my recommended approach: 1. Report the credit on Form 5884-A (flows to Schedule K, line 15) 2. Reduce wage expense by the credit amount on your tax return 3. Make an M-1 adjustment for the book-tax difference in wage expense One thing to watch out for - make sure you're only reducing wages that are eligible for the credit. If your client paid $500k in wages but only $320k qualified for ERTC, only reduce the deductible wage expense by the $320k credit amount. This treatment ensures you're not double-taxing the partnership on funds that represent a return of previously paid employment taxes.

One thing to consider - could you contribute to traditional IRAs for both you and your husband to lower your AGI? Might help with other income-based benefits even if EITC is out of reach.

The rollover option @Yuki Tanaka mentioned is crucial - if you took that pension distribution within the last 60 days, you can still roll it into an IRA and it would be treated as if the distribution never happened for tax purposes. This would bring your AGI back down significantly and potentially make you eligible for EITC again. Even if the 60-day window has passed, there are sometimes hardship exceptions available. Given that you mentioned needing the money for home repairs, it might be worth exploring whether any exceptions apply to your situation. If rollover isn't possible, definitely look into maximizing traditional IRA contributions for both you and your husband to reduce AGI. Also consider whether the home repairs qualify for any energy efficiency credits or other tax benefits that could help offset the higher tax burden from the pension distribution.