Thanks for this specific advice! I just checked my transcript again and I do see a TC 898 code with an amount of $4,436. Next to it there's some abbreviation that looks like "CHLDSPPRT" which I'm guessing means child support? But that makes no sense - I don't have any children or support obligations that I'm aware of.

That definitely means child support offset. The "CHLDSPPRT" code is specifically for child support payments that have been flagged in the system. This sounds like it could be a case of mistaken identity or someone with a similar name/SSN. You should immediately contact your state's child support enforcement agency to figure out what's going on. They can verify if there's a support order in your name. Sometimes people with similar names get mixed up in the system.

I work for a tax prep company and we've definitely seen an increase. I think a lot of it has to do with student loan collections resuming after the pandemic pause ended. People forgot they had defaulted loans before the pause and now they're getting hit with offsets.

Just to clarify, you cannot put a negative number on line 4(c) of the W-4. That line only allows for additional withholding, not reduced withholding. To reduce withholding, you'd need to use line 4(b) to indicate deductions that would lower your taxable income, or line 3 for tax credits and dependents. The IRS won't accept a form with negative values in those fields.

He gets paid every two weeks. I hadn't thought about how the pay frequency might affect things! Does getting paid weekly really help that much with the withholding calculations?

Oh that's good to know! I'm in Pennsylvania - does anyone know if we have something similar here? How would I find out if my state offers rent credits?

Pennsylvania has what's called a "Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program" that might apply to you depending on your age, income, and other factors. It's primarily designed for seniors, widows/widowers over 50, and people with disabilities, but it's worth checking if you qualify. The best way to find out about rent-related tax benefits in your state is to visit your state's department of revenue website - for PA, it would be the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue site. They usually have specific sections about rebates and credits available. You can also use the IRS's Interactive Tax Assistant or contact your state tax agency directly to ask about rent-related tax benefits.

You should report what you actually paid, not what was scheduled or what your landlord claims. Check if there's a reason for the discrepancy - did you miss a payment? Did you prepay January 2024 rent in December 2023 (which would count for 2023)? Ask your landlord to explain the difference.

That's a really good point I hadn't considered. Do you know if there's any way to "make up" for those missed Social Security contributions? Or am I just permanently losing those quarters of coverage for retirement calculations?

When you file your back returns with Schedule SE for each year, you'll essentially be making up those Social Security and Medicare contributions (albeit with penalties and interest). The good news is that once you pay these taxes, those quarters will count toward your coverage for Social Security benefit calculations. There's no permanent loss of credit. The bad news is that self-employment tax is a significant amount (about 15.3% of your net earnings) on top of income tax. This often catches people by surprise when filing back returns. Make sure your tax professional looks for all legitimate business deductions on Schedule C to reduce your net profit, which in turn reduces your self-employment tax liability.

This is solid advice. I did exactly this when dealing with my unfiled returns. Filed the current year on time, then worked backwards. The revenue officer specifically mentioned this showed "good faith" and it seemed to help during negotiations. Also helped psychologically to feel like I wasn't continuing to dig the hole deeper.

I did mail paper returns for all three years because I had to include some supporting documentation. Did you do anything special to make the process go faster for the 2021 return?

I didn't do anything special for the 2021 return - it just happened to get processed faster. Paper returns are unfortunately at the mercy of whichever processing center they get sent to and how backed up that specific location is. One thing I learned later is that you can actually e-file amended returns for tax years 2019 and later using certain tax software, even with supporting documentation (you can scan and attach PDFs). E-filed amendments tend to process much faster than paper ones. For future reference, that might be a better option if you ever need to amend again.

I did this for my amended returns too. The in-person agent was WAY more helpful than phone support. She even spotted a mistake in my 2019 amendment that would have caused issues and let me fix it on the spot.

That's great to hear your experience was similar! The in-person assistance is definitely underrated. The agents at the Taxpayer Assistance Centers seem to have more time to thoroughly review your situation compared to phone agents who are trying to get through as many calls as possible. I've found they can also sometimes expedite processing if you have a legitimate hardship situation or if there's been an unusually long delay. Did they offer to help speed things up in your case?