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If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
Really made a difference
Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls ā which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
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Emma Wilson
Just an additional tip that might help - if you still have access to your Jackson Hewitt account, you might be able to log in and view your previous returns. Most tax preparers keep digital copies of returns they've filed for clients. If you can see last year's return, you can find your AGI on Line 11 of your 1040 form. That number should work as your electronic signature if you didn't set up a specific PIN.
Malik Thomas
ā¢Do you know if the AGI has to be exactly right? Like if my AGI was $48,296.75, would I enter 48296 or 48297? Or would I use cents too somehow?
Emma Wilson
ā¢You only need to enter the whole dollar amount without cents. So if your AGI was $48,296.75, you would just enter 48296. This is one of the most common mistakes people make. The system only asks for 5 digits though, which means if your AGI has more than 5 digits (like in your example), you'll need to enter all of them - not just 5 digits. The "5-digit" terminology is confusing because it's really asking for your Self-Select PIN if you created one, or your AGI if you didn't.
I ran into the exact same problem. For me, it turned out I needed to enter "0" as my electronic signature. If your AGI last year was zero or negative, that's what you need to enter!
Ravi Kapoor
ā¢This worked for me too! I had a really low income year in 2022 and my AGI was actually negative. I kept trying different numbers until I finally just entered "0" and my return was accepted.
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Another benefit of celebrities using companies that nobody mentioned yet is controlling image rights and intellectual property. My brother-in-law is an entertainment lawyer and explained that celebrities can license their name, image, catchphrases, etc. through these entities, which creates additional income streams and tax planning opportunities. It also helps with receiving royalty payments, appearance fees, and merchandising revenue in a more structured way. The company becomes the "brand" that contracts for all these different income sources.
Does this work for regular people too? Like if I have a small YouTube channel or something, would it make sense to set up a company?
It depends entirely on your income level and future expectations. For a small YouTube channel, it's probably not worth the setup and maintenance costs until you're earning at least $75-100K consistently. Below that threshold, the tax benefits usually don't outweigh the additional costs and paperwork. However, if you're growing rapidly or expect significant income in the near future, it might make sense to establish the structure early. This is especially true if you're branching into merchandise, speaking engagements, or other revenue streams beyond just ad revenue. The liability protection alone can be valuable as your public profile increases.
Ally Tailer
I worked as an assistant to a TV actor a few years back. One thing nobody's mentioned is that these company structures also help celebrities manage their teams. My boss had his entire entourage (personal assistant, security, stylists, etc.) employed through his company, which made everything from insurance to travel expenses way more manageable from a tax perspective. This might not apply to regular folks, but once you have multiple people working with you, having a company structure creates cleaner accounting and more potential deductions.
That's interesting! Did the actor also use the company to buy equipment or vehicles that were partly for business use? I've heard that's another tax advantage.
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Ryan Kim
One thing to check is if you entered all the EXACT same information in both systems. I've found that even small differences in how you categorize things can lead to huge differences in the final numbers. Last year I tried three different services and got refund estimates ranging from $1,200 to $3,700. Turned out I had categorized some business expenses slightly differently and one service asked a question about my home office that the others didn't. When I made sure everything was entered consistently, the refund amounts got much closer (within about $200 of each other).
Zoe Walker
ā¢Did you end up going with the highest refund amount? Did you get audited? I'm in a similar situation and not sure which service to trust.
Ryan Kim
ā¢I actually ended up going with the middle amount after triple checking everything. The highest one was making some questionable deductions that I wasn't completely comfortable with. I didn't get audited, but that doesn't mean much - the IRS can go back several years. I think the key is making sure you can document and justify every deduction you take, regardless of which service you use. If you can explain and prove why you deserve each credit and deduction, you should be fine with either service.
Elijah Brown
ALWAYS get a third opinion when you see big differences like this! I went through something similar when I had rental property income, self-employment, and investments all in one year. The different tax programs interpreted some things completely differently (especially depreciation methods and home office calculations). Ended up taking everything to an actual CPA who found even MORE deductions that both software programs missed.
How much did the CPA cost compared to using tax software? Was it worth the extra expense?
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One thing nobody's mentioned yet is state taxes! Even if you get the federal part figured out with the US-India treaty, don't forget that states don't necessarily follow the same rules. I'm a non-resident from Canada, and California still wanted to tax my dividend income even though it was reduced at the federal level. Make sure you check if your state has special rules for non-residents. Some states are really aggressive about taxing any income with a connection to the state, treaty or no treaty.
Thanks for bringing this up! I'm in Texas currently so I think I'm lucky since there's no state income tax. But I was planning to move to California next year so this is really helpful info. Does anyone know if I need to file state returns in multiple states if I moved during the tax year?
With Texas having no state income tax, you're definitely in a good position for now! If you move to California next year, you'll only need to file a California state return for the portion of the year you're a California resident. For most states, if you move mid-year, you'll file a part-year resident return for each state that has income tax. You'll typically allocate your income based on when it was earned or received while you were a resident of each state. For investment income like dividends and interest, it usually gets allocated based on your residency status when it was received. California is particularly strict about this, so definitely keep good records of your moving date and when you received any investment income.
Sophia Long
Don't overlook FBAR requirements if you have bank accounts in India! If your foreign accounts totaled over $10,000 at any point during the year, you need to file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) separately from your tax return. Penalties for not filing are BRUTAL. Also, Form 8938 might be required if your foreign assets exceed certain thresholds. This is separate from the tax treaty stuff but equally important for Indian non-residents.
The FBAR thing is super important. My friend got hit with a $10,000 penalty for an honest mistake of not knowing about this form. Are the thresholds different for residents vs non-residents? And is there a way to do a late filing if someone missed this in previous years?
Fatima Al-Qasimi
My daughter used Credit Karma Tax (now called Cash App Taxes) last year for her first time filing and it worked great! It's completely free for both federal AND state taxes, which is rare. The interface is really user-friendly too. She found it really educational and felt proud doing it herself. Just make sure your son has his W-2 form from his summer job and his social security number. If he has any specific questions while going through it, the software has pretty good explanations built in.
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StarStrider
ā¢Does Cash App Taxes handle things like education credits too? My kid is working but also in college and I'm worried about missing out on education tax benefits.
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
ā¢Yes, Cash App Taxes does handle education credits like the American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit. It covers most common tax situations that students and young adults encounter. For more complex situations though, you might want to double-check with another resource or consider upgrading to a paid version of software. But for a basic return with some education credits, the free version should work fine.
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Dylan Campbell
Has anyone mentioned that if your son made under a certain amount (I think it's around $12,950 for 2025), he might not be REQUIRED to file? But he should probably still file anyway because he'll likely get a refund of any withheld taxes!
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Sofia Torres
ā¢Yes! This is super important! I didn't file my first year working because I made under the threshold, then learned later I would've gotten a refund of everything withheld. Such a waste!
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