has anyone tried getting their w2 info through the irs "get transcript" online? i heard you can get wage & income transcripts that show all your w2 info there but when i tried to set up an account it wanted a credit card number or loan account number for verification and i don't have either of those things? super annoying.

I went through this exact same situation last year! Here's what worked for me: First, try sending a certified letter to your previous employer's HR department requesting your W-2. This creates a paper trail and shows you made a formal request. Include your full name, SSN, employment dates, and current mailing address. If that doesn't work within 2 weeks, definitely call the IRS at 800-829-1040. They can contact your employer directly and will also send you a wage and income transcript that has all the same information as your W-2. The transcript is actually accepted by most tax software and preparers. One tip: if you have your final paystub from that job, it should show your year-to-date earnings and withholdings, which is basically all the info that would be on your W-2. Many tax preparers can work with that if you're in a real time crunch. Don't stress too much - this happens more often than you'd think, and there are definitely ways to get the info you need before the deadline!

Is no one gonna talk about offshore accounts? Like aren't all these billionaires just hiding money in the Cayman Islands or something to avoid the 23.8% capital gains entirely? I thought that was the main thing they did.

Something that hasn't been fully explored here is how stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) complicate the tax picture for tech billionaires. When executives receive stock compensation, they often pay ordinary income tax rates (up to 37%) when the options vest or RSUs are delivered, not the lower capital gains rates. However, any appreciation after that point is subject to capital gains treatment. So if a CEO exercises options at $50/share, pays ordinary income tax on that amount, and later sells at $200/share, only the $150/share gain gets the preferential capital gains treatment. This means that for many tech billionaires, a significant portion of their wealth was already taxed at the higher ordinary income rates. The 23.8% capital gains rate only applies to the appreciation that occurs after they actually own the stock outright. This context is important when evaluating their overall tax burden on stock sales - they're not getting the lower rate on the entire transaction value.

Just to clarify something - FED OASDI/EE is the technical term for the employee portion of Social Security tax (6.2%), and FED MED/EE is the employee portion of Medicare tax (1.45%). Your employer also pays matching amounts (OASDI/ER and MED/ER) which you won't see on your pay stub. When you adjusted your withholding, you were only changing your federal income tax withholding, not these FICA taxes. Definitely reach out to your payroll department ASAP.

This is definitely a payroll error that needs immediate attention. As others have mentioned, FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare) are mandatory and cannot be eliminated by changing your federal income tax withholding on your W-4 form. Here's what likely happened: When you increased your withholding, someone in payroll may have accidentally miscoded your tax setup or employee classification. I've seen cases where employees get temporarily classified as contractors or exempt employees by mistake, which would stop FICA withholding. You should contact your payroll department immediately because: 1. You're legally required to pay these taxes 2. Your employer is also required to withhold and match them 3. The longer this goes unfixed, the more complicated it becomes to correct When you speak with HR/payroll, ask them to: - Verify your employee classification in their system - Check that your tax setup wasn't accidentally changed when you updated your withholding - Provide you with corrected pay stubs showing the proper FICA withholding - Adjust future paychecks to make up for any missing contributions Don't wait on this - payroll tax issues can create problems for both you and your employer if not addressed quickly.

For what it's worth, I had this exact same error last year. The problem was that I checked the box saying my main home was in the US for more than half the year, but then I incorrectly filled out Part I-B instead of Part I-A on Schedule 8812. Double check which part of Schedule 8812 you're completing. If you checked the US residency box, you should be filling out Part I-A, not Part I-B. The error happens when there's a mismatch between your residency selection and which calculation section you complete.

I had the exact same IND-460 error with Schedule 8812 last month and it drove me crazy! After hours of troubleshooting, I found the issue was in the calculation flow between forms. Here's what fixed it for me: Go to your Form 1040 Line 19 and write down that exact amount. Then go to Schedule 8812 and make sure you're using the correct worksheet (Part I-A if you're a US resident, Part I-B if not). The amount that flows to Line 15 on Schedule 8812 MUST match Line 19 on your 1040 exactly. The error happens because Free Fillable Forms doesn't automatically sync these amounts like paid software does. You have to manually ensure they match. Also double-check that you haven't accidentally entered the same child in multiple places or mixed up refundable vs non-refundable credit amounts. Once I made sure these numbers were identical and consistent with my residency status, the error disappeared and I could finally e-file!

As someone who's been through this exact situation multiple times, I can share that H&R Block's timing with the Emerald Card is generally consistent but not guaranteed. In my experience over the past 4 years, I've received my refund 1 day early about 75% of the time. The key factor seems to be when the IRS actually transmits the ACH file to H&R Block - if it's sent on a Thursday for a Friday DDD, you'll likely see it Thursday evening or Friday morning. However, if there are any processing delays on the IRS side, it comes exactly on the DDD. I'd recommend setting your expectations for the exact date (5/15/2024) but don't be surprised if you wake up to find it in your account on 5/14. The uncertainty is frustrating, but at least the Emerald Card doesn't charge fees for the deposit itself!

Thanks for this detailed question! As a fellow taxpayer who's dealt with similar timing uncertainties, I can share that H&R Block's Emerald Card deposit timing really does vary. From what I've observed and experienced, they tend to follow the ACH processing window pretty closely - so if the IRS sends the file early (which they usually do), H&R Block typically makes it available within hours rather than holding it until the exact DDD. However, I've learned not to count on it for budgeting purposes since there can always be processing delays on either the IRS or H&R Block side. Your DDD of 5/15/2024 falling on a Wednesday is actually good timing since weekday DDDs tend to be more predictable than weekend ones. I'd suggest checking your account Tuesday evening/night just in case, but plan your finances around Wednesday to be safe. The anticipation is always nerve-wracking, but at least the Emerald Card doesn't have deposit fees like some other tax refund products!