Ugh, I feel your pain. The IRS is seriously understaffed and overworked. It's not just you - the whole system is broken. Have you considered reaching out to a tax professional? They might have better ways to contact the IRS.

I've been dealing with this exact same issue! What finally worked for me was calling the Practitioner Priority Service line (if you have a tax pro help you) or trying the main number but calling exactly at 7am EST when they open. Also, don't hang up when you get the busy signal - sometimes if you wait a few seconds it'll actually put you in the queue. The key is persistence and timing. I know it's frustrating but keep at it! You might also want to check if your issue can be resolved online through your IRS account first - sometimes that saves you the call entirely. Hang in there! 💪

Anyone recommend a good tax software for self employed people? I've always used FreeFileTaxes but not sure it handles 1099s well...

As someone who's been self-employed for 5 years, I can confirm what others have said - your friend definitely misunderstood the 50% rule! You'll pay income tax on 100% of your net business income (the $42k minus any legitimate business expenses like your laptop and software). For self-employment tax, you pay 15.3% on about 92.35% of your net income (this accounts for the employer portion). Then you get to deduct half of that self-employment tax amount when calculating your income tax - but that's a much smaller benefit than only paying tax on half your income! Your 30% savings rate is probably pretty close to what you'll need. Just make sure you're tracking all your business expenses throughout the year - even small things like a portion of your internet bill if you work from home, office supplies, professional development courses, etc. Those deductions add up and can significantly reduce your tax burden. Good luck with your filing!

14 Did you check if there were any non-cash distributions included in that K-1 total? Sometimes S-Corps distribute property or pay expenses on behalf of shareholders that count as distributions but don't show up as direct deposits.

This sounds incredibly frustrating! I went through something similar with my S-Corp K-1 last year. The key thing to understand is that S-Corporations are "pass-through" entities, which means you're taxed on your proportional share of the company's total profits, regardless of how much cash was actually distributed to you. That $20,000 difference likely represents retained earnings - profits that the company earned but kept in the business rather than distributing to shareholders. Unfortunately, you still owe taxes on it even though you never received the cash. My advice: 1) Request a detailed breakdown from the company's accountant showing exactly what makes up your K-1 amounts, 2) Ask for documentation of all distributions made during the tax year, and 3) Get clarification on any retained earnings or reinvested profits. The good news is that when the company eventually does distribute those retained earnings in future years, you won't be taxed again since you already paid taxes on them. Your "basis" in the company increases by the amount of undistributed income you're taxed on. Keep detailed records of this for future reference!

I used to work at one of the major tax prep companies and can tell you the pricing tiers often include the features you need. For TurboTax, you need the Premier version to get the investment data import feature, which is why it costs more than FreeTaxUSA. Some tips: 1. Check if any financial institutions offer discounted or free tax software. Many brokers offer TurboTax at a discount to their customers. 2. If you decide to pay for TurboTax, buy it directly through their website, not in-store. There are often online-only discounts. 3. Consider a multi-year strategy: Use TurboTax in years with heavy trading, FreeTaxUSA in quieter years. 4. Often overlooked: TaxAct has import capabilities for major brokerages at a lower price than TurboTax. Don't dismiss the time value - if you have hundreds of transactions, paying $70 more for software that saves you 3+ hours of data entry is worth it for most people.

Another option to consider is TaxHawk - I've been using it for the past couple years and it's significantly cheaper than TurboTax but has better import capabilities than FreeTaxUSA. They support direct import from most major brokerages including Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, and E*TRADE. The interface isn't quite as polished as TurboTax, but for investment transactions it gets the job done. I was able to import about 150 transactions last year without any issues. They also handle wash sale calculations automatically which saved me a lot of headache. Price-wise, their Deluxe version (which includes investment features) runs about $40-50, so it's a nice middle ground between FreeTaxUSA and TurboTax Premier. Might be worth checking if they support your specific broker before you decide on going back to TurboTax.

Anyone else think its ridiculous that the IRS can't just tell us EXACTLY what's happening with our refund? Why do we need to decode these vague reference numbers? It's OUR money they're holding onto! The 9001 code is just their way of saying "we're not telling you anything useful" 🙄 Every year it's the same story. File early, wait forever, get some cryptic code instead of actual information. Meanwhile they charge penalties and interest the second WE are late with anything. The double standard is infuriating.

I'm going through the exact same thing! Filed January 15th, accepted on the 17th, and I've been stuck with that 9001 code for over 6 weeks now. What's really frustrating is that TurboTax estimated February 10th for my refund date, so I planned my budget around that. I finally broke down and tried calling the IRS last week. After being on hold for 3 hours (seriously!), the agent told me my return was selected for "additional review" but couldn't tell me what specifically they were reviewing or how much longer it would take. She just said to keep checking WMR and that I'd get a letter if they needed anything from me. The most annoying part is that I double-checked everything before filing. All my documents matched, I didn't claim anything unusual, and my return was pretty straightforward. It feels completely random who gets stuck in this limbo. Hang in there - from what I'm reading here, it sounds like most people eventually get their refunds, it just takes way longer than the IRS advertises.