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Mia Alvarez
If your withheld amount looks wrong, make sure you're not confusing federal with state or FICA withholdings. I made that mistake last year and spent weeks trying to resolve an issue that didn't actually exist lol
Luis Johnson
I had this exact same issue last year! The Wage and Income transcript is definitely the way to go - it shows everything the IRS has on file including all the EINs of companies that withheld taxes from you. One thing to watch out for though is that sometimes employers file corrections after your W-2 is issued, so what's on the transcript might be different (and more accurate) than what's on your actual W-2. Also make sure you're looking at the right tax year - I accidentally pulled 2022 data when I needed 2023 and was confused for way longer than I should have been! The transcript will show you exactly who submitted what withholding info under your SSN.
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18 Does anyone know if dental and vision insurance premiums count toward the medical expense deduction too? My W-2 doesn't break anything out either.
5 Yes, dental and vision premiums count as medical expenses for deduction purposes! I itemized last year and was able to include them. Just like regular health insurance, they need to be paid with after-tax dollars to be deductible.
Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who went through a similar situation last year. One thing that might help is to check if your husband's employer offers an HSA (Health Savings Account) or FSA (Flexible Spending Account). If you're contributing to either of these, those contributions would also reduce your taxable income and might explain why some health-related expenses aren't showing up where you expect them on the W-2. Also, if you do end up itemizing and can deduct some of your medical expenses, don't forget to include things like prescription costs, doctor visits, and even mileage to medical appointments (it's 22 cents per mile for 2024). These smaller expenses can add up and help you reach that 7.5% AGI threshold more easily. FreeTaxUSA actually has a pretty good medical expense tracker if you dig into the itemized deductions section - it walks you through all the different categories of qualifying expenses.
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Has anyone tried getting W2s directly from ADP or other payroll companies? I know several of my former jobs used ADP for payroll, and they supposedly keep records for many years. Just wondering if that's a viable option before I go through the IRS transcript hassle.
Miguel Diaz
ā¢Yes! This was actually the easiest solution for me. I created an account on ADP's website using my personal info and was able to access W2s from three different former employers that used their payroll services. They had records going back about 7 years. Definitely worth checking if your employers used ADP, Paychex, or another major payroll provider.
Sean Doyle
Don't feel bad about being behind on your taxes - you're definitely not alone in this situation! I went through something similar a few years back and it felt overwhelming at first, but it's totally manageable once you get started. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple timeline of my work history first. Even if you can't remember exact dates or company names, try to recall the general timeframe and locations where you worked. Then cross-reference that with your bank statements if you still have access to old ones - look for direct deposits or paychecks that might help you identify employers. Also, don't let perfect be the enemy of good here. The IRS is generally pretty reasonable when you're making a good faith effort to catch up on back taxes, especially if you're being proactive about it. Focus on getting the information you can gather easily first, then tackle the harder-to-find stuff. You mentioned this is technically your first time filing - consider getting help from a tax professional who deals with back taxes regularly. They often have experience with these exact situations and can guide you through the process while making sure you don't miss any deductions or credits you might be entitled to.
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Nick Kravitz
I'm a bookkeeper and see this issue all the time. Here's a simpler way to approach capex calculation from Schedule L: 1. Calculate the change in gross fixed assets (End - Beginning): $14.3M - $10.5M = $3.8M 2. Calculate the change in accumulated depreciation: $6.5M - $9.1M = -$2.6M 3. The negative change in accum. depreciation means assets were disposed of 4. True capex = Change in gross assets + Value of disposed assets The tricky part is finding the value of disposed assets. Look at Form 4797 for this info, or you can estimate by looking at the details of which asset classes changed. Also, don't forget to subtract any non-cash acquisitions like equipment acquired through business combinations or leases newly capitalized.
Hannah White
ā¢Can you explain why we add the value of disposed assets rather than subtracting it? That seems counterintuitive to me.
Nick Kravitz
ā¢We add the value of disposed assets because we're trying to calculate the total new investments made (capex). Think of it this way: If you started with $10.5M in assets, ended with $14.3M, but sold $5M worth of old equipment during the year, then you must have purchased $8.8M of new equipment ($10.5M + $8.8M - $5M = $14.3M). The $3.8M increase in gross assets ($14.3M - $10.5M) only tells part of the story. It's the net change after both additions and disposals. To find true capex, you need to account for both sides of the transaction. If we only looked at the net change in gross assets ($3.8M), we'd be significantly undercounting the actual capital expenditures made during the year.
This is why I hate Schedule L. The instructions are so vague!!! I spent like 3 hours on this last night and still couldn't figure it out. Has anyone used TurboTax Business for this? Does it automatically calculate capex or do I still need to manually figure this out? I dont want to spend $170 on the software if it doesnt even help with this.
Thanks for the tip about QuickBooks. I already use QB for bookkeeping but I guess I need to look more closely at the fixed asset reports. Is there a specific report that shows capex clearly? I never noticed one that explicitly says "capital expenditures" when I look through the reports section.
In QuickBooks, you'll want to look at the "Fixed Asset Listing" report under Reports > Company & Financial. This shows all your fixed asset transactions including purchases and disposals with dates and amounts. You can also run a "Fixed Asset Item List" to see changes by asset category. For a cleaner capex view, try the "Statement of Cash Flows" report which has a section for "Cash Flows from Investing Activities" - this will show your capital expenditures and asset sales separately. Just make sure your asset purchases are properly categorized as fixed assets rather than expenses when you enter them. The key is making sure you're consistently recording asset purchases to fixed asset accounts (not expense accounts) and properly recording disposals when you sell or retire equipment.
Rajiv Kumar
I'm in the exact same situation! Filed our 941-X for 2020 Q2 and Q3 back in September 2021 and still nothing. We're a small restaurant that kept 8 employees on payroll even when we were only doing takeout orders during the lockdowns. The credit would be around $42,000 for us. I've been following this thread closely and just wanted to say thank you to everyone sharing their experiences and suggestions. It's reassuring to know we're not alone in this endless waiting game, even though it's frustrating that so many small businesses are still stuck in limbo. Based on what I'm reading here, it sounds like persistence is key - whether that's through the phone services mentioned, document review tools, or just keeping detailed records for follow-up letters. Has anyone had success with congressional inquiries? I've heard mixed things about whether local representatives can actually help with IRS issues like this.
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Rami Samuels
This thread has been incredibly helpful - thank you all for sharing your experiences! I'm in a similar situation with our 2020 ERC claim filed via 941-X in late 2021, still waiting. Reading through everyone's updates, it seems like there are really three main approaches that have worked: 1) Using tools like taxr.ai to identify and fix potential errors in your filing, 2) Getting through to the IRS via services like Claimyr to get actual status updates, and 3) Being persistent with follow-up documentation and inquiry letters. What strikes me is how many of you discovered errors or missing documentation that was causing delays - makes me wonder if I should review my own filing more carefully. The IRS clearly isn't going to tell you what's wrong; you have to figure it out yourself. For those still waiting like me, it's frustrating but somewhat comforting to know this isn't unusual. Emma Wilson's 26-month timeline gives me hope that these claims are still being processed, just very slowly. I think I'll try the document review approach first, then maybe the phone service if I can't identify any obvious issues with my filing. Has anyone here had their claim outright denied, or have most of you who waited long enough eventually received payment?
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Charlotte White
ā¢Great summary of the options, Rami! I'm new to this community but have been lurking and reading through everyone's experiences. Like you, I filed my 941-X for 2020 in late 2021 and am still waiting on about $38,000 in ERC refunds. From what I've gathered here, most people who waited it out eventually got paid - I haven't seen anyone report an outright denial yet, which is encouraging. The delays seem to be more about processing backlogs and catching errors rather than the IRS rejecting legitimate claims. I think your three-step approach makes sense. I'm planning to start with reviewing my documentation first too. Based on what Paolo and Amina shared about finding calculation errors they didn't know they had, it seems like there might be common mistakes that are easy to overlook but cause major delays. Has anyone kept track of what the most common errors are that these review tools find? Might be helpful for those of us doing our own document review to know what to look for specifically.
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Brandon Parker
ā¢From what I've seen people mention in various threads and forums, the most common errors that cause ERC delays seem to be: 1) Inconsistent employee counts between quarters on the 941-X, 2) Calculation errors on qualified wages (especially the $10,000 per employee limit), 3) Missing or insufficient documentation of revenue decline, and 4) Errors in the credit calculation itself on Line 26 of the 941-X form. I've been dealing with this for almost 2 years now and finally got movement on my claim after discovering I had made a mistake in my qualified wage calculations. I had double-counted some wages that were already claimed for PPP forgiveness, which apparently flags your return for manual review. The revenue decline documentation seems to be another big one - you need to be very specific about how you calculated the percentage decline and have supporting financial records. The IRS wants to see clear month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter comparisons, not just general statements about business being down. Hope this helps! It's definitely worth doing a thorough review before trying the other approaches.
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