Great to see you taking a proactive approach with this situation! One additional thing to consider - if your employer does classify you as a contractor but you believe you should be an employee, you can file Form SS-8 with the IRS to request an official determination of your worker status. This form asks detailed questions about your work relationship and the IRS will make a binding determination. It takes several months to get a response, but it gives you official documentation if there's ever a dispute. You can also file Form 8919 when you file your taxes to pay only the employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes if you believe you were misclassified. Just be aware that filing these forms essentially reports your employer to the IRS, so it could strain your working relationship. Most people try to resolve it directly with the employer first, but it's good to know these options exist as a backup plan. Also, document everything from your conversations with your boss about this arrangement. If the IRS ever investigates, having written records of how the classification decision was made can be very helpful for your case.

This is such a common situation and I'm glad you're getting good advice here! I went through something similar with a tech startup about two years ago. They kept pushing the "flexibility" angle of contractor status, but what they really wanted was to avoid paying their share of employment taxes. Here's what I learned the hard way: even if you negotiate a higher rate to offset the self-employment taxes, you're still losing out on other employee protections. No unemployment insurance eligibility, no workers' comp coverage, and in many states you lose certain labor law protections. The "business expense deduction" argument they're making is often oversold too. Unless you're actually incurring significant expenses that are directly related to the work (separate from your side business), those deductions won't be as valuable as they make it sound. I'd strongly recommend pushing for proper W-2 classification. If they're a legitimate business, setting up payroll isn't actually that complicated - there are plenty of services like Gusto or ADP that make it pretty straightforward for small companies. The fact that they're calling it a "hassle" makes me think they're more interested in saving money than doing right by their employees. Trust your instincts on this one - if it feels sketchy, it probably is.

For partnership taxation, the format matters less than consistent practice with examples. Whatever resource you choose, make sure to work through all the examples. I learned best by creating my own "case studies" and tracking basis through multiple years of contributions, operations, and distributions. One approach I found helpful was to start with a simple partnership with two equal partners, then work my way up to more complex scenarios - adding debt, special allocations, etc. Seeing how each new element affects the calculations helped me build a mental framework.

As someone who's been working with partnership taxation for about 15 years, I'd echo the book recommendations already mentioned - especially "The Logic of Subchapter K" as a starting point. But I wanted to add that the IRS's own "Advanced Issues in Partnership Taxation" course materials are actually quite good once you have the fundamentals down. They're available through the IRS website under their continuing education section. One thing I wish someone had told me early on: don't try to memorize all the rules at once. Partnership taxation is incredibly complex, and even experienced practitioners regularly reference materials. Focus on understanding the conceptual framework first - why partnerships are treated as pass-through entities, how basis protects partners from double taxation, and how allocations work in theory. The mechanical calculations become much easier once you grasp these underlying concepts. Also, consider joining the ABA Tax Section or your state's tax section - they often have partnership tax committees that publish practical guides and host webinars specifically for practitioners dealing with these issues.

Has anyone successfully amended a return after the 3-year mark specifically for EIC issues? Did you face penalties?

I went through almost the exact same situation last year with my 2017 return. The key thing to understand is that the IRS has sophisticated matching systems that will absolutely catch the conflict when your ex files their return claiming the same child. Here's what I learned: You're correct that the 3-year deadline is mainly for getting refunds back, not for correcting errors. The IRS can assess additional tax on EIC issues for up to 6 years, and in some cases longer. I'd strongly recommend filing that 2018 amendment even though you won't get a refund. When I did mine, I included a detailed explanation letter with my divorce decree attached, clearly stating which credits I was entitled to versus which ones I wasn't. The IRS processed it without issues and actually sent me a letter acknowledging my voluntary compliance. The fact that your ex never filed their 2018 return actually works in your favor - it shows the IRS that you were the one trying to comply with tax obligations while they were ignoring theirs. When they finally do file, your proactive amendment will be on record showing good faith. One tip: keep detailed records of everything related to your child's custody and living arrangements for 2018. If the IRS does audit, they'll want proof of who was actually entitled to what.

I'm in a similar situation - filed on Jan 30th and still stuck at "Return Received" with no movement. It's frustrating seeing that same message about "still being processed" every single day when you check. From what I've been reading here and on other forums, it seems like the IRS is just really backed up this year. One thing that's helped me stay sane is setting a specific time to check (like once in the evening) instead of refreshing it multiple times throughout the day. The anxiety of checking constantly was getting to me! Has anyone noticed if certain days of the week tend to show updates more often? I've heard some people say weekends vs weekdays make a difference but not sure if that's actually true or just coincidence.

I've been in your exact situation before and I know how nerve-wracking it can be! The "Return Received" status with no movement is actually super common, especially during peak filing season. I filed around the same time last year and was stuck at that stage for almost 3 weeks before it suddenly jumped to "Refund Approved" and then got my deposit 2 days later. The key thing to remember is that "Return Received" just means your return made it into their system successfully and is waiting in the processing queue. It doesn't mean there are any problems or red flags - it's literally just sitting in line with thousands of other returns. One tip that helped me: try to check only once a day, preferably in the evening since that's when the system typically updates. I used to obsessively refresh it multiple times a day and it was driving me crazy! Also, if you can access your IRS transcript online, that sometimes shows activity before the WMR tool does. Stay patient - your refund is coming! 💪

Has anyone noticed that TurboTax's handling of mortgage interest deductions has gotten way worse in the last couple years? I remember it being much more straightforward before the tax law changes. Now it seems like they've overcomplicated everything with too many questions and confusing language.

I've been dealing with mortgage interest deduction issues in TurboTax for years, and here's what usually fixes the problem when entering multiple properties: Make sure you're being very specific about the property types and dates in each section. TurboTax gets confused when it thinks you might have had two primary residences at the same time. For your situation, when you enter the first mortgage (2017 house), make sure to specify the exact date you sold it. When you enter the second mortgage (June 2021 house), make sure it's clearly marked as your primary residence starting from the purchase date. The key is in those follow-up questions after entering the 1098 data - TurboTax asks things like "Is this your main home?" and "Did you use this property as your primary residence for the entire year?" Since you sold one and bought another mid-year, you need to answer those questions very carefully for each property. If TurboTax thinks there's any overlap or confusion about which was your primary residence when, it can zero out all the deductions as a safety measure. Try going through each property's questions one more time and pay close attention to the residence type and date range questions.