Something nobody's mentioned yet - if you're making under 12k but over 400 bucks, you probably won't owe income tax, but you WILL owe self-employment tax (which is basically Social Security and Medicare). That's about 15.3% of your net profit. So if you made $2,800 but had $800 in expenses, your net profit would be $2,000, and you'd owe about $306 in self-employment tax. Don't be caught off guard by this! A lot of new freelancers don't budget for it and get surprised at tax time.

Unfortunately, there's no way to reduce the self-employment tax rate itself - it's a flat 15.3% on your net self-employment income. However, you can reduce what you pay it on by maximizing your business deductions. The reason self-employment tax kicks in at just $400 while regular income tax has higher thresholds is that self-employment tax is specifically for Social Security and Medicare contributions. When you're an employee, your employer pays half of these taxes for you, but when you're self-employed, you pay both the employee and employer portions. The good news is that you can deduct half of your self-employment tax when calculating your income tax, and you're building credits toward your future Social Security and Medicare benefits. It might seem unfair now, but you're essentially paying into your own retirement and healthcare system. Also, if you're making quarterly estimated tax payments (which you should be if you expect to owe more than $1,000), you can spread this cost out over the year instead of getting hit with one big bill at tax time.

19 Does anyone know if the 6,000+ pound rule applies to electric vehicles too? Thinking about getting a Rivian truck which is over that weight limit, but I've heard EVs have different rules?

One thing I'd add as a tax professional - make sure you understand the business use percentage requirements before making your December 31st purchase. The IRS is very strict about the "more than 50% business use" rule for Section 179 eligibility. If you're buying a vehicle that you'll use for both business and personal purposes, you need to be realistic about your business use percentage. Keep detailed mileage logs from day one - I've seen too many clients get into trouble during audits because they couldn't substantiate their claimed business use percentage. Also, remember that if your business use drops below 50% in any subsequent year, you may have to "recapture" some of the Section 179 deduction. This is especially important for vehicles since personal use patterns can change over time.

idk why they make this so complicated fr. like why we gotta be code breakers to get our own money back smh

The code 291 from November 4th is actually a good sign - it means they removed your original tax assessment of $1,365, which suggests they're finalizing adjustments in your favor. Combined with all the credit activity (766s being added then 767s removing them), it looks like they're recalculating everything based on your amendment. The March freeze was probably just routine review given the complexity of your return with SE income and multiple credits. Since you're seeing recent activity (the 291 and notice from 11/4), you should expect resolution soon - likely within the next few weeks rather than waiting until the full 20-week mark.

Tax professional here: This is standard procedure for Louisiana's verification program. They randomly select returns to verify income reporting accuracy. Best practices: 1) Send copies not originals 2) Use certified mail 3) Keep proof of mailing 4) Include letter reference number on all docs 5) Make copies of everything you send. Average processing time after docs received is 30-45 days. Pro tip: Use taxr.ai to analyze your federal transcripts first - it can help identify any discrepancies that might trigger state reviews. Worth the $1 cost to avoid headaches later.

Same thing happened to me last year! I was freaking out at first but it really is just routine. Louisiana does these verification checks pretty regularly. I sent in copies of everything they requested and got my refund about 5 weeks later. Just make sure you respond within their deadline - I think they give you like 30 days to send the docs. Don't stress too much about it!

Got my 846 code last week. Money showed up two days later. Bank held it one more day. Finally got access yesterday. Three weeks total from filing. Not bad. Better than last year. Much better than 2021. IRS seems to be catching up finally.

This is really encouraging to hear! I filed about 2.5 weeks ago and have been anxiously checking my transcript daily with no updates yet. Reading these success stories gives me hope that things are moving faster this year. Quick question - when you say your refund "just hit" your account, was it there when you woke up this morning or did you get a notification from your bank? I have alerts set up but I'm wondering if I should be checking more frequently. Also, did your transcript show any other codes before the 846 appeared, or did it go straight from processing to refund issued?