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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!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – 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!
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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.
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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!
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Another thing to keep in mind with dependent care FSA - you need to use all the money by the deadline or you lose it (unlike HSA which rolls over). I learned this the hard way last year when I put too much in and couldn't use $700 before the deadline. Some employers offer a grace period of a few months after the year ends, but not all do. Make sure you check your plan rules!
Does anyone know if you can use dependent care FSA for summer camp? My kids are school age but need supervision during summer months. Would that qualify as a dependent care expense?
Yes, summer day camps generally qualify as eligible dependent care expenses for FSA purposes! This includes general day camps, as well as specialized camps focusing on sports, arts, or academics. The key requirement is that the camp enables you to work or look for work. Overnight camps do NOT qualify though, as they're considered primarily for entertainment rather than care. Also, kindergarten and higher education costs aren't eligible, as they're considered educational rather than care expenses.
Here's a simple way to think about dependent care FSA vs medical FSA: Medical FSA: Money comes out pre-tax, you spend it on medical expenses, never shows up on your tax return again. Simple! Dependent care FSA: Money comes out pre-tax, BUT the government also offers dependent care tax credits. Form 2441 makes sure you don't double dip by adding the FSA back to your income and then calculating if the credit would've been better. It's basically a "which is better" calculation.
Thx for the clear explanation! So if I'm in the 24% bracket plus 7% state tax, am I saving 31% by using the dependent care FSA? Or is there more to it?
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Just want to add some clarification based on my experience as someone who helps with ACA enrollment. The specific rule that allows your cousin to keep his premium tax credits is in the IRS regulations (26 CFR § 1.36B-2(b)(6)) which creates an exception for people with income below 100% FPL. The key factor is that at the time of enrollment, the Marketplace determined he was ELIGIBLE for the advance premium tax credits based on his projected income. Since his actual income ended up lower than expected, this special rule kicks in to prevent him from having to repay. This is different from someone who knowingly provides incorrect income estimates. The system is designed to be forgiving for unexpected income changes while still maintaining program integrity.
Does this same rule apply to people who enrolled but then lost their job mid-year? My sister's income dropped below the threshold after a layoff but she still had marketplace coverage with premium tax credits for the full year.
Yes, this same rule applies to job loss situations as well. The critical factor is that when your sister initially enrolled, she provided an income estimate that qualified her for premium tax credits. The fact that her income later dropped below the threshold due to an unexpected layoff is exactly the type of situation this rule was designed to protect. The IRS recognizes that income can be unpredictable, especially with job loss, reduced hours, or difficulty finding employment. As long as the Marketplace determined she was eligible for advance premium tax credits at enrollment based on her good-faith income projection, she should be able to claim the premium tax credit for the entire year even though her actual income ended up below 100% FPL.
Question about this situation - does it matter what immigration status the person has? My friend is on a student visa and had a similar situation with marketplace coverage and low income. Will the same rules apply to him or are there different rules for different visa types?
Immigration status definitely matters for ACA coverage. F-1 student visa holders are typically considered "non-resident aliens" for tax purposes for the first 5 calendar years, which affects eligibility. They're usually required to have health insurance through their school anyway, not the marketplace. If your friend got marketplace coverage, they might have issues because students on F-1 visas often don't qualify for premium tax credits. It depends on how long they've been in the US and whether they pass the "substantial presence test" for tax residency.
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TaxWise is back up for me as of 8:45pm ET! Just managed to submit 3 extensions. Still running slow but at least it's working. Hurry before it crashes again!
Still getting timeout errors on my end. What browser are you using? I'm wondering if that's making a difference.
I'm using Chrome with all extensions disabled. Try clearing your cache completely and restarting your browser. I also found that using their mobile site rather than the full desktop version seems more stable right now. If you're still having trouble, try logging in from a different device entirely. I switched from my office computer to my personal laptop and that's when it finally worked.
This is why I always tell clients April 14th is the deadline for giving me their info. TaxWise pulls this every year during high volume periods. Last year their servers crashed on April 14th and the year before it was April 15th too. You'd think with the subscription fees we pay they could invest in better infrastructure...
100% agree. I've started telling clients April 10th is the "deadline" just to build in this buffer. Still had a few stragglers insisting on April 15th filing though, and now look at this mess. TaxWise should offer partial refunds for today's outage.
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Just a heads up - while Dubai has no income tax, there are other financial considerations for international students: 1. VAT is 5% on most purchases 2. Some banking services have fees 3. If you're sending money internationally, there may be transfer fees 4. Your student visa has costs for renewal None of this is related to income tax, but factor these into your budget. Also, keep excellent records of which days you're physically present in which countries - this matters a LOT for determining tax residency status in your home country.
Does anyone know how much the student visa renewal typically costs? And do international students get any discounts on banking services? I'm planning my budget for next semester.
Student visa renewal costs around 1,100-1,500 AED (roughly $300-400 USD) depending on the emirate and institution. This typically includes the visa fee, medical examination, and Emirates ID card. For banking, several UAE banks offer student accounts with reduced or waived fees. Emirates NBD and ADCB have specific student packages with no minimum balance requirements and free international transfers to certain countries. Some universities also have partnerships with specific banks that provide additional benefits to their students. Check with your institution as they might have recommendations based on existing relationships.
Don't forget about double taxation agreements! I'm studying in Dubai now and had to check if there's a treaty between UAE and my country (Malaysia). This affects how foreign income is taxed. Check if your country has such an agreement with UAE. Even without one, most countries have unilateral relief to prevent double taxation. For example, I still have to declare my worldwide income in Malaysia, but I get tax credits for any income that theoretically would've been taxed in UAE (even though UAE doesn't actually tax it).
Does everyone know if there's a good resource to check these agreements? I'm from South Africa and not sure where to look for this info.
Samantha Johnson
22 If you're tech savvy at all, check out the IRS's free Filing Information Returns Electronically (FIRE) system. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's completely free for e-filing your 1099s directly with the IRS. The catch is you need to use their specific format for the data file. I wrote a simple Python script that converts my Excel data to their required format. Saved my company thousands in filing fees over the years.
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Samantha Johnson
•17 Have you run into any issues with the FIRE system rejecting files? I tried it once and got frustrated with all the format requirements and ended up just paying a service.
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Samantha Johnson
•22 The FIRE system can be finicky about formatting, for sure. The most common rejection issues I've encountered were with TIN/name mismatches and control sequence errors in the file. My advice is to run the file through their test system first before submitting - that catches most formatting problems. Once you get a clean template working, you can reuse it year after year. The learning curve is steep but worth it if you're doing this regularly and want to avoid service fees.
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Samantha Johnson
2 Has anyone tried the 1099 service offered through Microsoft's Excel? I heard they added a built-in feature for small businesses that lets you generate forms directly from spreadsheet data.
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Samantha Johnson
•14 I used the Excel 1099 service last year and it was decent for a small number of forms (I did about 25). The integration is pretty seamless if you're already using Excel. It's not the cheapest option though - I think I paid around $3.50 per form plus e-filing fees. And it doesn't handle state-specific forms, so I still had to do those separately. Might be worth looking at if you're only doing federal 1099-NECs and already have everything in Excel format.
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Samantha Johnson
•2 Thanks for the info! I might check it out for next year. For now I'm going with Tax1099 since several people recommended it and it handles the state forms too.
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