One thing to consider is how your kids' tax benefits would change. If you get married, both of you would claim the kids on a joint return. If you stay unmarried, only one person can claim each child for things like Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Credit.

Based on your situation, getting married before December 31st would likely save you money on taxes. With your boyfriend earning $96k as the sole income and you staying home with the kids, you'd probably benefit from the married filing jointly status. The key factors working in your favor: the MFJ standard deduction ($27,700) is significantly higher than what he currently gets as Head of Household ($20,800), plus you'd potentially move into lower tax brackets with the combined filing. The new house purchase adds another layer of potential savings through mortgage interest deductions. However, I'd strongly recommend running the actual numbers before making such an important decision. You could use a tax calculator to compare Head of Household vs Married Filing Jointly scenarios, or better yet, try to get official guidance. Don't let the wedding timing be driven solely by taxes though - there are many other financial and legal implications to consider with marriage! The December 31st timing does work tax-wise since the IRS considers your marital status as of the last day of the year for the entire tax year.

Just a heads up, the IRS has gotten much more efficient with their document matching system. My sister forgot a small 1099 (about $800) a couple years ago and got a letter exactly 6 months after filing. They assessed the additional tax plus interest and a small penalty. The letter gave her the option to either accept their calculation or file an amended return if she thought it was wrong. Accepting their calculation was easier but she couldn't claim any additional deductions related to that income. Just something to consider!

I'd definitely recommend filing the amended return sooner rather than later. The IRS automated matching system will catch this - they receive copies of all W-2s and 1099s electronically, so there's really no chance it will "fly under the radar." The key thing is that if you amend before they send you a notice, you'll avoid the accuracy-related penalty (which is typically 20% of the additional tax). You'll still owe interest from the original due date, but that's much better than dealing with penalties on top of it. Form 1040-X isn't too complicated - you'll show the original amounts, the corrected amounts, and the differences. Make sure to attach the missing W-2 and include a brief explanation of what happened. The IRS is generally understanding about honest mistakes like this. From a practical standpoint, with $1,200 in additional income, you're probably looking at owing somewhere between $150-300 in additional federal tax (depending on your tax bracket), plus a small amount of interest. Much better to handle it proactively than wait for them to catch it and send you a CP2000 notice.

Back to the original question about Free Tax USA - I've used it for my small side business (photography) for 3 years now. It handles 1099s just fine, but if you have a lot of inventory or cost of goods sold, that's where it gets a bit trickier to use. The interface for listing individual business expenses is a bit tedious compared to some other software - you have to enter them one by one rather than in a spreadsheet format. But the price difference is huge, especially if you're comparing to paid preparers.

Has anyone compared Free Tax USA to TurboTax for business filers? I've been using TurboTax for years but the price keeps creeping up every year. Now they want $170 just for the basic self-employed version before adding state filing!

The 37% figure is misleading because it assumes you're paying the full 22% rate on all your income, which isn't how tax brackets work. With your expected annual income of around $21,840, most of your earnings will be taxed at 10% and 12%, not 22%. Here's a rough breakdown for your situation: - Self-employment tax: 15.3% (but you can deduct half of this) - Federal income tax: Effective rate will be closer to 12-14% after deductions - Total effective rate: Around 25-27%, not 37% Since you're doing graphic design work, you'll have solid deduction opportunities: home office expenses, software subscriptions, equipment depreciation, internet costs, and supplies. Keep detailed records of everything work-related. One crucial thing - you'll need to make quarterly estimated tax payments since no taxes are being withheld. Set aside about 25-30% of each payment in a separate account for taxes. Missing quarterly payments can result in penalties even if you get a refund when you file. The transition from W-2 to 1099 always feels scary at first, but once you understand the system and take advantage of the deductions available to business owners, it's often more tax-efficient than being an employee.

Great question about quarterly payments! You can use Form 1040ES to calculate your estimated tax payments - it includes worksheets that walk you through the math. The IRS also has an online estimator tool that's pretty helpful. For equipment like your laptop, you actually have options! Under Section 179, you can often deduct the full cost in the year you bought it (up to certain limits) if you use it primarily for business. Alternatively, you can depreciate it over several years. For a laptop used mainly for graphic design work, the full deduction in year one is usually the better choice. The key is documenting your business use percentage. If you use the laptop 80% for work and 20% for personal stuff, you can deduct 80% of its cost. Keep a log for a few weeks to establish this percentage - it'll help if the IRS ever asks questions. One more tip: consider getting a business checking account to keep your 1099 income and expenses separate from personal finances. Makes record-keeping much easier and looks more professional if you ever get audited.

don't waste time with all of these complicated solutions... just print and mail your return! Seriously, I spent 2 weeks trying to fix my sprintax return last yr and ended up mailing it anyway. Got my refund in like 6 weeks which isn't even that much slower than e-file. Sometimes the old fashioned way is easier lol

I had the exact same issue with Sprintax last year! The "rejected with no error code" problem is surprisingly common with non-resident returns. Here's what worked for me: 1. Log into your Sprintax account and check the "Filing Status" or "Tax Returns" section - sometimes the detailed rejection reason shows up there 24-48 hours after the initial rejection email. 2. If you still don't see specifics, contact Sprintax support directly through their chat or email. They can pull up the actual IRS rejection code from their system that doesn't always get passed through to your account dashboard. 3. Common causes for silent rejections on non-resident returns: mismatched personal info with IRS records, incorrect tax treaty claims, or issues with how foreign income is categorized. Since you mentioned this is your 3rd year using Sprintax, double-check if your visa status or tax residency determination changed between 2023 and 2024 - sometimes the system flags these transitions. If you're really pressed for time, you can always generate the paper version from Sprintax and mail it as a backup while troubleshooting the e-file issue. Good luck!