Question for anybody who's filed Form 8828 before... Does turbtax handle this form correctly? I tried putting in my info and it's calculating a really high recapture amount that doesn't seem right based on what I've read.

Based on your situation, you're absolutely in the clear! Since you owned your home for 11+ years after getting your MCC in 2013, you're well past the 9-year recapture period. The recapture tax under Form 8828 only applies to homes sold within 9 years of receiving the mortgage credit certificate. You don't need to file Form 8828 at all, and you don't need to worry about any recapture tax liability. The 9-year timeline you mentioned is exactly right - it's designed to protect homeowners who stay in their homes long-term, which is exactly what you did. Just to put your mind at ease: even if you hypothetically needed to file the form (which you don't), married couples filing jointly would only need to submit one Form 8828, not separate forms for each spouse. But again, since you're past the 9-year mark, this is all academic for your situation. Congratulations on being a long-term homeowner - the MCC program worked exactly as intended in your case!

Have you considered a Cash Balance plan? With your income level, it might be worth looking into. It's a type of defined benefit plan that could allow you to contribute significantly more than a Solo 401k, especially if you're a bit older and trying to catch up on retirement savings.

Speaking from experience as a self-employed photographer with similar income - don't overlook a backdoor Roth IRA in addition to whatever main retirement plan you choose. I max out my Solo 401k first but also do the backdoor Roth for that tax-free growth. The contribution is small compared to what you can put in a Solo 401k but the long-term tax benefits are huge.

Has anyone calculated how much time they're losing on this? I've spent exactly 3.5 hours over 2 days trying to access my transcripts. Need them to verify my $4,750 refund status. Called IRS exactly 8 times with average wait time of 47 minutes before disconnecting. This is costing people real money in wasted time.

I'm experiencing the same issue! Been trying to access my transcripts since yesterday morning for a loan application and keep getting timed out. This is really concerning since I have a deadline coming up. Has anyone tried using the mobile app instead of the website? Sometimes different platforms have different server loads. Also wondering if there's an official IRS Twitter account or status page where they post about these outages?

I'd recommend a slightly different approach that worked for me. Instead of selling the same stock in both accounts, consider selling the taxable account position for the tax loss, then immediately exchanging the IRA position for something different but similar (like a competitor in the same industry). This way you're not holding the "substantially identical" security in your IRA anymore, which should allow you to claim the tax loss. And since there are no tax consequences for selling at a loss in the IRA anyway, you're not giving anything up. Just make sure whatever you exchange into isn't considered "substantially identical" to the original security. This approach let me harvest the tax loss without being completely out of the market for 31 days.

This is a really common situation that catches a lot of people off guard! You're absolutely right to be concerned about the wash sale implications. Unfortunately, since you purchased the same stock in your IRA on January 15th (just 7 days after your taxable account purchase), selling the taxable position on February 18th would indeed trigger a disallowed wash sale. The IRS looks at all your accounts - including retirement accounts - when applying the wash sale rule. Here's what I'd suggest: If you want to claim the tax loss, you'll need to sell both positions and wait at least 31 days before repurchasing the same stock in either account. Since you mentioned the stock isn't recovering anyway, this might actually work in your favor from an investment perspective. One thing to keep in mind - your broker's 1099-B will likely NOT flag this as a wash sale because most brokers only track wash sales within the same account. It's your responsibility to identify and properly adjust for cross-account wash sales when filing your return. If you're looking to stay invested in the same sector, consider selling both positions and immediately buying a similar but not identical stock (like a competitor or sector ETF) to avoid being completely out of the market during the 31-day waiting period.

A quick tip if you do take this job - I make a deduction worksheet for all 1099 work. Track mileage between work sites (not commuting), any supplies you buy, portion of phone/internet if you use them for work, professional subscriptions, software, etc. Keep ALL receipts, take photos of them with your phone right away (they fade!). Also track any home office space if you do some work from home.

Just wanted to add another perspective here - I was in almost the exact same situation last year (required to work in their office, set schedule, but given a W9). After doing some research, I decided to take the job but immediately started documenting everything that showed I was really an employee, not a contractor. Things like: emails about required work hours, office policies I had to follow, equipment they provided, training materials, etc. After 6 months, I filed Form SS-8 with the IRS to get an official determination on my classification. The IRS ruled I was misclassified as a contractor and should have been an employee. Long story short - I got a refund for the extra self-employment taxes I paid, and my employer had to reclassify me and pay their portion of payroll taxes going forward. It was a bit of a process but totally worth it financially. If you take this job, document everything that shows they control how, when, and where you work. It could save you thousands later if you need to challenge the classification.