Lol welcome to the club. Been waiting 6 months with this stupid code 😤

Ugh I feel your pain! Just went through this exact same thing last month. The 810 code basically means they think someone might be trying to steal your identity or file a fake return with your info. It's super frustrating but here's what worked for me: 1. Don't waste time calling the regular IRS line - they can't help with this 2. Call 800-830-5084 (the ID verification line) early morning or try the callback option 3. Have ALL your docs ready: driver's license, Social Security card, W-2s, last year's return 4. You might also get a letter (5071C) asking you to verify online at ID.me The whole process took about 8 weeks for me after I verified my identity. I know it sucks when you need that refund money but hang in there! Also seconding what others said about taxr.ai - I used it too and it actually explained why I got flagged (apparently filing early + moving states triggered their system 🙄). Worth the five bucks for peace of mind honestly.

11 Just want to mention that if your partnership had less than $250,000 in receipts AND less than $1 million in assets, you qualify for the Form 1065-EZ... oh wait, I'm totally wrong - there is no EZ version for partnerships! Sorry for the confusion. This is part of why partnership taxation is so frustrating for small businesses.

For what it's worth, I ended up going with paper filing for my barely-active LLC partnership last year and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The IRS website has pretty clear instructions for Form 1065, and since we had almost no transactions, most lines were just zeros anyway. The main thing is to make sure you don't miss the filing deadline (March 15th for partnerships, or September 15th with an extension). Even if you made no money, you still need to file or you could face penalties. I printed everything out, double-checked all the math (which was minimal), and mailed it certified mail so I had proof of delivery. Took maybe 2 hours total including printing and a trip to the post office. Saved me over $100 compared to TurboTax, which would have been more than our entire revenue for the year. Sometimes the old-school approach is the most cost-effective!

Has anyone here actually used FreeTaxUSA for their LLC taxes? I'm considering switching from TurboTax because of the cost but worried it might miss something important for my photography business.

I've been using FreeTaxUSA for my consulting LLC for 2 years now and it's worked well for me. The key thing to understand is that it DOES handle all the necessary forms for single-member LLCs - it just processes some of them behind the scenes. When you complete Schedule C in FreeTaxUSA, it automatically calculates your self-employment tax (Schedule SE) and includes it in your return. You won't see a separate SE form, but if you look at your final tax summary, you'll see the SE tax amount listed. Same thing happens with most other tax software. For your situation, you filed correctly! You don't need Form 1120S unless you specifically elected S-Corporation status (which requires filing Form 2553 with the IRS). The YouTube videos you watched were probably covering different LLC scenarios. One tip: FreeTaxUSA's business expense interview could be more thorough, so make sure you're claiming all eligible deductions. Keep good records of home office expenses, equipment purchases, travel, and client entertainment - these can add up to significant savings for video production work. The anxiety is totally normal - LLC taxation seems way more complicated than it actually is when you're doing it for the first time!

Look at your W-2 box 12 codes. Amazon has a bunch of benefits that show up there and affect your taxes in ways you might not realize. Like code DD (health insurance costs) doesn't affect your taxable income but code W (HSA contributions) and code BB (Roth contributions) do affect taxes differently. My guess is something changed in your benefits selections.

This is so frustrating but you're definitely not alone! I had the exact same shock last year when my refund went from $600 to like $80. What helped me understand it was looking at my total tax paid vs total tax owed instead of just focusing on the refund amount. Here's what I learned: when your income jumps from $36k to $49k, you're moving closer to higher tax brackets AND your withholding calculations get more accurate. Amazon's payroll system actually did you a favor by keeping more money in your paychecks throughout the year instead of over-withholding. Try this - add up all the federal taxes withheld from your paychecks this year (it's on your W-2 box 2) and compare it to last year. I bet you'll find you actually kept more money during the year, even though the refund is smaller. It's like getting your refund spread out over 26 paychecks instead of one lump sum in April. Still sucks when you're counting on that refund money though! For next year, you can always adjust your W-4 to have extra money withheld if you prefer the bigger refund.

11 Your sister may be in for a surprise. Venmo is owned by PayPal, and they've been cracking down on business transactions labeled as personal. They're getting better at detecting patterns that look like business activity even when marked as "friends and family." For 2025 taxes (covering 2024 income), payment apps are supposed to report to the IRS when someone receives over $600 in business transactions, not the old $20,000 threshold. So she might actually get a 1099-K even if she thinks she's flying under the radar.

Your sister is playing with fire here. I've seen this exact scenario play out badly for several people in my tax practice. The "friends and family" labeling on Venmo doesn't magically make business income disappear - it's still taxable regardless of how it's categorized or whether she receives a 1099. With $44k total income ($35k Venmo + $9k Rover), she's looking at roughly $6,200 in self-employment taxes alone, plus regular income tax on top of that. If she's in the 12% tax bracket, her total tax liability could easily be $8,000-10,000. The scariest part? Since she hasn't been making quarterly payments, she'll likely face underpayment penalties too. The IRS expects self-employed people to pay as they go, not wait until April. She needs to start setting aside money immediately and consider filing an amended return or voluntary disclosure if this has been going on for multiple years. The longer she waits, the worse the penalties get. I'd strongly recommend she consult with a tax professional ASAP - this isn't a DIY situation anymore.