Can't reach IRS? Claimyr connects you to a live IRS agent in minutes.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the IRS
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the IRS drops your call
If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Join the conversation
Join the conversation
Ughhh I'm still waiting for mine and it's February 12th! This is sooo annoying because my tax guy needs all my docs by the 20th or he won't guarantee filing before April. Anyone else in the same boat? I had like 200+ trades last year so maybe that's why?
I had over 300 trades and got mine yesterday. Check if you did any weird stuff like options or penny stocks. My buddy trades options and hasn't gotten his forms yet, while I mostly stuck to regular stocks and ETFs.
Thanks for the info. I did mess around with some options trading last summer, so maybe that's what's causing the delay. Guess I'll just have to tell my tax guy to wait. So frustrating!
Still waiting on mine too! I've been checking the app every day like it's going to magically appear. I did a mix of stocks and crypto trades throughout 2024, probably around 150 transactions total. It's so frustrating because I usually file my taxes in early February to get my refund ASAP, but this year I'm stuck waiting on Robinhood. Has anyone tried downloading their transaction history and just calculating everything manually? I'm tempted to do that rather than wait until the 15th, but I'm worried I'll mess something up with the cost basis calculations or miss some dividend that got reinvested automatically.
I'm in the exact same situation! Also waiting on Robinhood with around 100 trades last year including some crypto. I actually tried calculating everything manually using my transaction history, but it got really complicated fast - especially with the crypto transactions and figuring out which lots were sold for the cost basis calculations. I ended up giving up on the manual approach because I was worried about making errors that could trigger an audit later. The wash sale rules alone are confusing enough without trying to track everything across different assets. I figure it's better to wait for the official forms even if it means filing later than usual. At least we know they have to get them to us by the 15th!
Join the conversation
Has anyone tried the IRS Business Services Online (BSO) portal? Their website says small businesses can file up to 25 1099s for free directly through that system. Seems like it might be the most straightforward option if you only have a few contractors.
I tried using the BSO last year for my 5 contractors and it worked but the interface is terrible. You have to enter everything manually one by one and there's no way to save your progress and come back later. Take screenshots of every page because if you make a mistake it's a nightmare to correct.
I was in the exact same situation last year with my small consulting business - needed to file 1099-NECs for just 4 contractors and was completely overwhelmed by all the red ink requirements and disclaimers. After reading through all these suggestions, I ended up using the IRS Business Services Online portal that Omar mentioned, and despite Chloe's warning about the interface, it actually worked fine for me. Yes, the BSO interface is a bit clunky and you do have to enter everything manually, but for just a few contractors it's really not that bad. The key is having all your contractor information organized beforehand - their W-9 forms with SSNs/EINs, addresses, and total payments. I made sure to double-check everything before submitting because correcting errors later is indeed a pain. The whole process took me about 45 minutes for 4 forms, and it's completely free. You get immediate confirmation when the forms are accepted, which gave me peace of mind that I met the deadline. For anyone with just a handful of contractors, I'd recommend trying the BSO first before paying for a service - you can always fall back on the paid options if you run into issues.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the BSO portal! As someone who's been putting off dealing with my 1099-NECs, it's really helpful to hear that it actually worked smoothly for someone. I have 3 contractors to report and have been dreading the whole process, but 45 minutes doesn't sound too bad at all. Did you need to create any special accounts or register beforehand, or can you just go straight to filing once you have all the contractor info ready?
Join the conversation
Just curious - did either of you have any major tax changes from the previous year? Like buying a house, having a child, changing filing status, etc.? I got hit with a big tax bill the year after we bought our house because I didn't adjust my withholding to account for no longer taking the standard deduction.
This happened to me too! I got married and my spouse and I both kept our W-4s set as "Single" which caused massive underwithholding. When two people with similar incomes file jointly, it can push you into a higher tax bracket than either of you anticipated with your individual withholding.
I'm a tax professional and I see this scenario regularly - unfortunately, you're dealing with a perfect storm of issues. The 1.5-2% withholding rate is drastically wrong for someone earning $38k, even if filing married jointly. Here's what likely happened: Your husband's employer is probably still using his old W-4 from before 2020, and their payroll system may not be properly handling the transition to the new withholding calculations. Many employers defaulted to minimal withholding when they couldn't properly interpret old forms. For immediate action: 1) Have your husband complete a NEW 2023 W-4 immediately and submit it to payroll with a written request to confirm the change, 2) Request in writing that payroll explain their current withholding calculation and provide the tax tables they're using, 3) Document everything for your penalty abatement request. The $4,100 liability sounds about right unfortunately - with your combined $100k income filing jointly, his severe underwithholding would create exactly this kind of shortfall. The good news is you have a strong case for penalty relief since this appears to be employer error despite correct employee information. Also consider making estimated tax payments for 2024 while you get his withholding fixed to avoid repeating this situation.
This is exactly the kind of professional insight we needed! Thank you for breaking down what likely happened. It makes so much sense that the old W-4 combined with updated tax calculations would create this mess. One follow-up question - when you mention making estimated tax payments for 2024, how do we calculate what those should be? Should we base it on what we owe now ($4,100) divided by 4 quarters, or is there a different calculation we should use while waiting for his employer to fix the withholding? Also, do you have any specific language we should use when requesting the penalty abatement? I want to make sure we frame this correctly as employer error rather than our mistake.
Join the conversation
This thread has been absolutely fantastic for understanding shipping deductions! I've been selling vintage books and collectibles for about a year now, but I've been treating it pretty casually until the 1099-K changes made me realize I need to get serious about tracking everything. One specific scenario I'm dealing with - I often sell book lots where I combine multiple items into one shipment, but sometimes the combined weight pushes me into a higher shipping tier than I originally quoted. For example, I might quote $8 for shipping three books separately, but when packed together they end up costing $12 to ship due to weight limits. Can I deduct the full $12 even though I only collected $8 from the buyer? Also, I've been using a lot of recycled packaging materials (boxes from my own Amazon orders, bubble wrap from things I've received, etc.) to keep costs down. Obviously I can't deduct these since I didn't pay for them, but what about when I need to buy additional tape or labels to make the recycled materials work properly? The discussion about tools like taxr.ai and Claimyr has been really eye-opening. As someone who's been dreading the tax implications of the new reporting thresholds, it's reassuring to know there are resources available to help navigate this stuff without needing to become a tax expert overnight!
Yes, you can absolutely deduct the full $12 you actually paid for shipping even though you only collected $8! This is exactly the same principle that's been mentioned throughout this thread - the IRS cares about your actual business expenses, not what you charged the customer. If your costs exceeded what you collected, that's just part of doing business and the full amount is deductible. For your recycled packaging materials situation - you're right that you can't deduct the "free" boxes and bubble wrap since you didn't purchase them specifically for business use. However, any additional supplies you buy to make them work (tape, labels, reinforcement materials, etc.) are absolutely deductible as business expenses. This is actually a smart cost-saving approach that many sellers use! I'm new to this community but have been lurking and learning so much from everyone's experiences. The combination of practical advice and tool recommendations like taxr.ai and Claimyr really makes the whole tax side of online selling feel much more manageable. Thanks for sharing your specific scenarios - they really help illustrate how these principles work in real situations!
This has been such a comprehensive discussion! I've been selling handmade ceramics and pottery online for about 10 months now, and I honestly had no idea I was missing so many deductible expenses until reading through everyone's experiences here. One situation I deal with regularly that I haven't seen mentioned - what about when you have to ship fragile items that require extra protective packaging? I often spend $3-5 extra per shipment on specialized foam padding, extra bubble wrap, and "Fragile" stickers to make sure my pottery arrives intact. These costs can really add up, especially since I sometimes need to double-box items. I assume all of this extra protective packaging is deductible as shipping expenses? Also, I've been wondering about shipping to Alaska and Hawaii - the costs are significantly higher than continental US shipping, sometimes $20-25 for what would normally be a $8 shipment. These are still legitimate shipping expenses that I can deduct at the full amount, right? The information about taxr.ai and Claimyr has been really valuable. As someone who's been putting off getting organized for taxes, knowing there are tools and services available to help makes this feel so much less overwhelming. Thanks to everyone who's shared their real-world experiences - this community is incredibly helpful for navigating these new reporting requirements!
Absolutely! All of that extra protective packaging you're using for your ceramics is completely deductible as shipping expenses. The specialized foam padding, extra bubble wrap, fragile stickers, and even the cost of double-boxing - these are all legitimate business expenses necessary to ensure your products arrive safely to customers. The IRS recognizes that different types of products require different shipping approaches, and fragile items naturally cost more to ship properly. And yes, shipping to Alaska and Hawaii at the full actual cost is definitely deductible! Whether it's $8 to ship to California or $25 to ship to Hawaii, if you paid it as a business expense for shipping sold items, you can deduct the full amount. The geographic location doesn't matter - what matters is that it was a necessary business expense. Your costs might be higher than other sellers due to the fragile nature of your products, but that's exactly why detailed record-keeping is so important. Keep all those receipts for specialty packaging materials - they really add up over the year and can make a significant difference in your deductible expenses!
GalaxyGlider
Called IRS today actually - they said cycle codes can vary based on workload distribution. Doesnt necessarily follow previous years.
0 coins
Mei Wong
•you actually got through to a human?! what sorcery is this? 😂
0 coins
Kai Santiago
Been dealing with this exact same confusion! I was cycle 03 last year and got my refund in 21 days, but the year before I was 05 and it took 6 weeks. From what I've learned lurking here, the cycle codes really are pretty random year to year - they're more about IRS processing capacity than anything predictable about your specific situation. That said, if you want to actually understand what's happening with your transcript instead of just guessing, I'd definitely check out some of the AI tools people are mentioning. Way less stressful than trying to decode all these cryptic codes yourself! 🤞
0 coins