Have u checked if your employers classified u as exempt from withholding by mistake? My husband's company did that one year on accident and we ended up owing like $4800!!! Check your most recent pay stub and make sure federal income tax is actually being taken out every paycheck.

This happened to me too! We went from getting about $2,800 back to owing $1,900 this year. I spent hours going through our pay stubs and comparing to last year - turns out we were both using the old "married" selection on our W-4s without realizing how the new form works. What really helped was printing out our last pay stub from December and calculating what percentage of our gross income was actually being withheld for federal taxes. Like you said, it was way too low - only about 8% for us when it should have been closer to 15% given our bracket. The good news is you can fix this going forward by updating your W-4s now. I used the IRS withholding calculator and it showed us exactly how much extra to withhold each paycheck to avoid this happening again next year. We're having an extra $120 per paycheck withheld now, which sounds like a lot but it's better than another surprise tax bill!

This whole nominee thing seems like it could be used for tax evasion. Whats stopping someone from just saying "oh these weren't my stocks they belonged to my cousin who is in a lower tax bracket"? Does the IRS actually check this stuff?

The key thing everyone needs to understand is that nominee relationships must be legitimate from the start - you can't retroactively create them for tax purposes. As a newcomer here, I've been reading through all these responses and wanted to add that the IRS has specific documentation requirements for nominee situations. You need to show: 1) Legal ownership of the assets (title documents, gift records, trust agreements) 2) Who provided the funds to purchase the investments 3) Who has actual control and decision-making authority 4) A clear paper trail showing the relationship existed before any tax reporting For Emma's original question about shifting income to her brother - this won't work because you own the account and the investments. The nominee concept only applies when someone receives income that legally belongs to someone else, not when you want to reassign your own income for tax savings. If you're genuinely dealing with a situation where you received 1099 forms for income that belongs to someone else, make sure you have all the documentation ready before filing anything. The IRS takes these situations seriously and will want proof that the nominee relationship is legitimate.

make sure u check ur mail everyday and respond to anything they send asap. dont sleep on this one

Ugh I feel your pain! I had code 428 show up on my transcript about 3 weeks ago and was freaking out. Turns out it was just the IRS doing additional verification on my return - nothing scary, just their standard process for certain situations. Mine cleared up after about 2 weeks without me having to do anything. The waiting is the worst part honestly. I kept checking my transcript like every day lol. Have you gotten any letters or notices in the mail yet? That's usually the next step if they need something from you specifically.

TaxSlayer isn't the problem. The IRS is just swamped right now. I'm a tax preparer and clients who filed in January with simple returns are getting paid, but anyone with credits or who filed after Feb 1st is seeing delays across ALL software platforms. Be patient, it'll come!

Filed with TaxSlayer on Feb 5th and still waiting too! I have EIC and ACTC on my return, so sounds like we're all in the same boat with those credits causing delays. My transcript updated yesterday with a 971 notice date but no deposit date yet. At least knowing it's normal processing and not an error makes me feel better. Hang in there - seems like March is when most of us with credits will see movement!

try calling the IRS directly... jk dont waste ur time, been on hold for 3 hrs today and got disconnected 💀

Same situation here - filed 2/3 and still getting that exact message. It's frustrating but at least we're not alone! I've been checking every few days but trying not to obsess over it. From what I've read, as long as you don't get any letters or notices, it's just a waiting game. Hang in there!