Grant's advice on business structures saved me about $22k in taxes last year. But you need to understand he's not giving advice for regular people. His strategies work when you: 1) Have multiple income streams 2) Own significant real estate 3) Have a legitimate business 4) Can afford good tax professionals I implemented his advice about S-Corps and pass-through entities after making about $380k/year, and it was worth it. Below that? Probably not worth the complexity and annual costs.

I've been following this conversation and wanted to add my perspective as someone who's implemented some of Cardone's strategies. The key thing people miss is that his advice isn't meant to be copied exactly - it's meant to show you what's possible at different income levels. I started with basic strategies when I was making $150k (maxing retirement accounts, proper business expense tracking) and gradually added more sophisticated approaches as my income grew. Now at $450k annually, I use some of his entity structuring advice, but I had to modify it significantly for my situation. The biggest mistake I see people make is jumping straight to the complex stuff without building the foundation first. Start with legitimate basics: proper bookkeeping, maxing tax-advantaged accounts, and understanding what actually qualifies as business expenses. Then layer on more advanced strategies as your income and business complexity justify it. Also, never implement tax strategies without running them by a qualified CPA who knows your specific situation. Cardone's advice is educational, but it's not personalized tax advice.

Watch out for state tax differences too! The W9 is federal, but some states treat single-member LLCs differently than the IRS does. Here in California, I still have to file a separate tax return for my LLC and pay an annual $800 fee even though it's disregarded federally.

This is such a common source of confusion! I went through the exact same thing when I started my LLC last year. The key thing to remember is that for tax purposes, how your business is structured legally (LLC) and how it's treated for taxes can be two different things. Since you're a single-member LLC and haven't made any special tax elections, you're what the IRS calls a "disregarded entity" - meaning for tax purposes, you're treated just like a sole proprietor. So you'd check "Individual/sole proprietor or single-member LLC" on box 3. On the form, put your name on the "Name" line and your LLC business name on the "Business name/disregarded entity name" line. You can use either your SSN or your LLC's EIN (if you have one) - both are acceptable for single-member LLCs. Don't stress too much about it - you're definitely not alone in finding this confusing! The IRS could definitely make their forms clearer on this point.

Navy Federal member here with some alternative information. According to Treasury Regulation §31.6302-1(h), financial institutions are actually required to credit accounts on the effective date specified in the ACH entry (the DDD), not before. Navy Federal's early release is technically a courtesy where they're fronting the money before they receive it from the Treasury. I'd suggest setting up text alerts for any deposit activity and then planning your budget based on the actual DDD, treating any early deposit as a pleasant surprise rather than an expectation.

Navy Federal member here with a 3/15 DDD as well! From what I've experienced over the past few years, Navy Fed is pretty consistent about releasing refunds 1-2 days early, but Friday DDDs can be tricky since they might hold it until Monday depending on their weekend processing. I'd recommend having a backup plan for those spring activity payments just in case it doesn't hit until the actual date. Also, if you haven't already, definitely set up mobile alerts - I've found that deposits sometimes show up in the mobile app before the website updates. Fingers crossed we all get ours early this year!

I've been tracking Card.com deposit patterns for several years. There's a consistent trend. Most deposits arrive between 12pm-5pm on the exact DDD. Some premium accounts may receive funds one day early. Check your account type to set proper expectations. The IRS sends funds in batches, not all at once. Your batch might be scheduled for later in the day. I wouldn't worry until after 6pm on your DDD.

I just got my deposit from Card.com about an hour ago! Had DDD of 3/15 too. Filed using standard deduction, no EITC or CTC. Transcript showed TC 846 with today's date. Amount matched exactly what WMR showed. No pending period - funds immediately available. So relieved because I was getting anxious checking my account every 15 minutes since midnight!

One more thing to note - if you used Column Tax through Nerdwallet last year but create a brand new account directly with Column Tax this year, you won't automatically see last year's info. You need to use the same login credentials you created originally. I made this mistake and ended up with two accounts. Had to contact support to merge them. Save yourself the headache!

Just wanted to share my experience for anyone else dealing with this Column Tax situation. I was panicking like Lucas because I couldn't find it anywhere through the usual channels I used last year. After reading through all these comments, I went directly to columntax.com and was able to log in with my old credentials - everything was there! However, I did run into the same pricing issue that Natalie mentioned. My return that qualified for free filing last year is now requiring the Premium upgrade. I decided to bite the bullet and pay the $89 since all my info was already there and I really didn't want to start over with a new platform this close to the deadline. The filing process was just as smooth as last year, so at least the product quality hasn't changed even if the pricing structure has. For anyone on the fence about paying vs switching to a different service - if you have a relatively straightforward return, it might be worth exploring FreeTaxUSA like Noah suggested. But if you have multiple income sources or more complex deductions, the time savings of having everything pre-populated in Column Tax might justify the cost.