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I think you're still leaving money on the table even being conservative. As an S-Corp owner myself (tech consulting), here are legitimate deductions that often get missed: 1. Health insurance premiums (yours and family) - deductible as business expense 2. Home office deduction - percentage of all utilities/internet/mortgage 3. Cell phone plan (business percentage) 4. Professional development (books, courses, conferences) 5. Business travel (can include partial vacation if primarily business) 6. Retirement plan administration fees 7. Business portion of vehicle expenses The key is DOCUMENTATION. Keep receipts for everything, maintain a mileage log, and have written business purposes for major expenses. For larger items like vehicles, create a written business justification document before purchasing. Your lawyer was half right - you can be more aggressive, but groceries are personal and won't fly in an audit.
This is actually really helpful, thanks! For the health insurance, does that include vision/dental premiums too? And does it matter that my wife is on my plan as well? I'm guessing I'd need to keep good documentation for the business travel with partial vacation - any tips on best practices there?
Yes, vision and dental premiums are included along with regular health insurance. If your wife is on the plan, her premiums are also deductible as long as she's your spouse (or a dependent) - this is one of the best benefits of S-Corp ownership! For business travel with personal elements, the key is having the primary purpose be business. Document all business activities during the trip (meetings, conferences, client visits) with dates and times. Keep all receipts separately categorized as business vs. personal. Transportation to the destination is fully deductible if the primary purpose is business, but meals and lodging are only deductible for the business days. For example, if you have a 5-day trip with 3 business days and 2 personal days, your flight is 100% deductible but only 3/5 of lodging would be deductible.
As someone who got audited last year after being aggressive with deductions on my S-Corp, let me share what triggered the audit and what ended up being allowed: - Home office: ALLOWED with proper documentation showing exclusive use - Vehicle: PARTIALLY ALLOWED - they disallowed a portion due to inadequate mileage logs - Cell phone: ALLOWED at 80% business use with documentation - Travel: MOSTLY ALLOWED but they scrutinized any trips with partial personal time - Meals: CAREFULLY REVIEWED - needed attendee names and business purpose - Groceries: COMPLETELY DISALLOWED (just like everyone here is saying) The audit cost me about $25k in accounting/legal fees even though most deductions were ultimately allowed. My advice: be aggressive but ONLY on things you can thoroughly document. The Section 179 vehicle deduction is legit but requires meticulous records.
Oof that's rough. How did they even determine the home office was exclusively for business? Did they come to your house? I've always been worried about claiming that deduction.
They didn't physically visit my home, but they required photos of the space from multiple angles, a floor plan with measurements, and a written explanation of how the space is used. They also asked for utility bills and verification that no personal activities happened in that space. What tripped many people up is the "exclusive use" requirement. If you have a desk in your living room or a guest bedroom that sometimes serves as an office, it won't qualify. The space must be used exclusively for business. I have a dedicated room that's only my office - no TV, no guest bed, nothing personal - which is why that deduction was allowed.
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9 Have you tried looking at your previous year's state tax return to compare? Sometimes seeing what was different between last year and this year can help identify the issue. Also, different tax software can give different results based on how questions are asked and how information is entered. It might be worth trying a second software just to compare results.
16 That's a good point about different software. I've actually gotten different results between TurboTax and H&R Block before. Which tax software do you think is most accurate for state returns specifically?
9 I've found that TaxAct and H&R Block are both pretty good for state returns. Each software has its strengths, but the questions they ask can sometimes lead to different deductions being found. As for accuracy, they all use the same tax laws and formulas, so technically they should all give the same result if you enter identical information. The differences usually come from how they guide you through the process and what deductions they help you discover.
21 Make sure you're filing as a resident for the right state! I accidentally filed as a full-year resident for a state I had moved from halfway through the year, and it made my state taxes MUCH higher than they should have been. If you moved during the tax year, you might need to file part-year returns in multiple states.
11 This happened to me too! I moved from California to Arizona and filed full-year for both states accidentally. Ended up paying double taxes until I figured it out and filed amended returns.
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Quick tip: If the 1099-C is for a non-business debt and your wife was insolvent at the time of cancellation, make sure to file Form 982 with your amended return. That's the form to exclude cancelled debt from income due to insolvency. You'll need to calculate her total assets vs total liabilities immediately before the cancellation. You might be able to exclude all or part of the amount from your taxable income!
Thanks for this! How exactly would I be able to prove she was insolvent from 12 years ago? Would we need bank statements from that time? I'm not sure we'd even have access to those anymore.
You'd need to make your best good-faith effort to document her financial situation at that time. Old bank statements, credit reports, loan documents, property records, etc. would be helpful. If you don't have everything, create a reasonable estimate based on what you do know, and document your methodology. The IRS understands that records from many years ago may not be complete. Just be prepared to explain and defend your calculations if questioned. The key is showing that her debts exceeded her assets at the time the debt was cancelled.
Did your bank even send you a notice that they were cancelling the debt? Seems shady that they write it off after 12 years with no warning and then you get hit with the tax bill.
This happened to me too. No notice whatsoever until the 1099-C showed up. Apparently they're only required to send the 1099-C, not a separate cancellation notice. Super annoying.
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Another thing to consider is whether anything else changed in your tax situation between last year and this year. Did you: - Lose any tax credits you had before? - Have any changes in deductions? - Have any changes in your filing status? - Start receiving any new types of income? - Change your retirement contributions? Sometimes it's not just the withholding at your job that affects your refund, but other factors in your overall tax picture.
Thanks for bringing this up! I double-checked everything and my overall tax situation is pretty much identical to last year. Same filing status (single), same standard deduction, no dependents, no additional income sources, and my 401k contribution percentage is the same. The only significant change was switching employers, which is why the withholding issue makes the most sense. After reading everyone's comments, I'm going to submit a new W-4 with additional withholding in line 4c. Hopefully that'll fix things for next year's return!
Good thinking to check all those factors! Since everything else remained consistent, it definitely sounds like the withholding change from your new employer is the culprit. Using line 4c for additional withholding is exactly the right approach. Just be careful not to overwithhold too much - remember that a smaller refund means you had more money in your paychecks throughout the year. Some financial advisors actually recommend aiming for a small refund since it means you're not giving the government an interest-free loan. But I understand many people prefer the forced savings of a larger refund!
Does anyone know if its better to use the "two jobs" checkbox in Step 2 of the W-4 or just put an extra amount in Step 4c? My spouse and I both work and I'm trying to avoid owing at tax time.
If both you and your spouse work, the Step 2 checkbox is actually designed specifically for your situation. It adjusts your withholding to account for the higher tax bracket you might be in when combining both incomes. The downside is that it might overwithhold a bit. If you want more precise control, you could use the IRS withholding calculator online to get an exact dollar amount for Step 4c instead. That's what I did, and it worked out perfectly - we got a small refund instead of owing like we did the previous year.
Zainab Mahmoud
This might sound obvious but did you go through ALL of TaxAct's screens? I had almost the exact same issue (said I owed $400 when I should've gotten $600 back). When I looked closer, I noticed there was a "Personal Info" section I thought I completed, but I missed a question about whether I could be claimed as a dependent. The software defaulted to "Yes" which dramatically reduced my standard deduction. Once I fixed that single checkbox, everything calculated correctly. I've used TaxAct for 6 years and this is the first time I've had this problem. Their interface changed this year and it's really easy to miss important questions.
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Esmeralda Gómez
•You're a genius! I just went back and found I had the exact same issue. There was a checkbox in the Personal Info section about being claimed as a dependent that somehow got set to "Yes" even though I definitely can't be claimed by anyone. As soon as I fixed that one setting, my refund jumped from owing $372 to getting back $570, exactly what my calculations showed. It's crazy how one checkbox could completely throw off the standard deduction calculation. Has TaxAct always been this finicky? I've used them for years but never ran into this problem before.
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Zainab Mahmoud
•TaxAct definitely changed their interface this year, and I think they're having some issues with it. In previous years, that dependent question was much more prominently displayed and clearly explained. This year it's buried in a series of personal information screens that are easy to click through without carefully reading. I've heard similar stories from several people using TaxAct this year. The good news is once you find and fix that setting, the calculations should be completely accurate. Always a good idea to double-check your final 1040 form before filing to make sure the standard deduction amount ($13,850 for single filers in 2024) appears correctly on the form.
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Ava Williams
Just a tip - most tax software lets you view your actual Form 1040 before filing. If you look at line 12 on your 1040, it should show your standard deduction amount. If that line shows $0 or some reduced amount instead of $13,850 (assuming you're filing single), that confirms the standard deduction isn't being applied correctly. I always check my actual tax forms in the preview/print section before submitting anything. It's saved me from tons of errors over the years!
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Esmeralda Gómez
•Thanks for this! I just checked my Form 1040 preview and line 12 was showing only $500 instead of $13,850. After fixing the dependent checkbox issue others mentioned, it now shows the full $13,850. Checking the actual tax forms is definitely going to be my new practice before submitting anything. Would've caught this issue immediately if I'd done that first!
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