17 In most places, you don't need a business license for occasional tutoring work. I've been tutoring for years and file as an independent contractor without one. However, local regulations can vary, so you might want to check your specific city/county requirements. Some places have exemptions for small businesses under certain income thresholds.

5 Thanks for the info! I checked with my city and they have an exemption for "casual or minor" businesses making under $5,000 annually, which definitely covers my tutoring. That's such a relief - one less thing to worry about!

2 Wait seriously?? So if I made $550 tutoring last semester, I'd owe 15.3% of that in self-employment tax on top of regular income tax? That seems really high for such a small amount.

You definitely need to keep making those installment payments. The court ruling upheld the constitutionality of the tax, so the payment obligations remain in force. If you stop making payments, you'll likely face penalties and interest. I'm in the same boat - still paying the installments. The ruling basically confirms we have to keep paying. If you miss an installment payment, the entire remaining balance becomes due immediately, plus penalties and interest.

Thanks for the info. I was hoping there might be some relief, but I'll keep making the payments as scheduled. Still feels wrong to be taxed on money I never actually received as income. I've got 3 more years of payments to go.

The Constitution only allows direct taxes if they're apportioned among the states by population, which makes a true wealth tax basically impossible to implement. This Section 965 thing was clearly designed to dance around that limitation by calling it an income tax rather than a wealth tax.

You're right about the apportionment requirement being the key constitutional obstacle. The clever part of Section 965 was that it targeted "income" that had technically never been taxed by the US, rather than existing wealth. By focusing on previously untaxed foreign earnings, it maintained the character of an income tax. I think the Court intentionally kept their ruling narrow to avoid setting any precedent for or against wealth taxes generally. They basically said "this specific tax is constitutional" without drawing any broader conclusions about wealth taxation. Political hot potato they clearly didn't want to touch!

Does the 1099-R specifically show which part is the excess contribution vs. the earnings? My form just shows a total amount and I'm not sure how to separate them for tax purposes.

The 1099-R usually doesn't clearly separate the excess contribution from the earnings - it typically just shows the total distribution amount in Box 1. Your financial institution should have provided a separate statement breaking down what portion was the original excess contribution and what portion was earnings. If you didn't receive this breakdown, contact your IRA custodian immediately and ask for it. You need this information to properly report the distribution on your taxes since only the earnings portion is typically taxable (assuming you're correcting the excess contribution properly).

I used TurboTax last year for this exact scenario. It asked me questions about the 1099-R and whether it was for an excess contribution. Make sure you enter the distribution code "P" correctly when prompted. The software should then guide you through the correct reporting, but double-check the final return to make sure it's handling it as a non-taxable return of excess contributions (except for the earnings portion).

That's really helpful - I didn't realize the W-4 had changed that much! I haven't actually updated my W-4 in about 3 years, so that could definitely be part of the problem. Is there a specific line or section on the new form I should pay attention to for my situation?

The most important part for your situation is Step 2 of the new W-4 form. It gives you three options for handling multiple jobs: (a) using their online calculator for most accuracy, (b) using the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3 of the form, or (c) a simplified method if you have only two jobs with similar pay. Since you have three jobs with different pay levels, option (a) using the Tax Withholding Estimator on the IRS website would be your best bet. It's more detailed than the worksheet and will account for your specific situation. The calculator will tell you exactly what to put on line 4(c) of your W-4 for additional withholding. Just make sure you have recent pay stubs from all three jobs when you use it.

The multiple jobs worksheet still exists but it's been revised. It's now part of Step 2 on the new W-4 form. It's actually more comprehensive than the old version but a bit more complicated to fill out. I found the online withholding calculator easier to use than the paper worksheet since it does all the calculations for you.

Thanks for the insight! I actually have been keeping a tip journal (just in my notes app), but it's definitely not matching what they put in box 8. Should I just report what I actually made according to my records? And will that cause problems with the IRS since it doesn't match my W-2?

Absolutely report what you actually made according to your records. That's what the law requires - you pay taxes on your actual income, not some arbitrary allocation. Keep your notes app records and any documentation from your employer showing the tip distributions from the pool. If there's a significant difference between your records and the box 8 amount, it might be worth discussing with your employer first to understand how they calculated it. Sometimes there are simple errors that can be corrected with an amended W-2.

Unfortunately not anymore. The tax law changes from a few years back eliminated most unreimbursed employee expense deductions. Used to be you could deduct those under miscellaneous itemized deductions but that's gone now. Some states still allow it on state taxes tho.