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If I could give 10 stars I would
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.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
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!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
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.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
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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I use a really simple system that works great for me. I have one credit card I ONLY use for tax-deductible purchases (business expenses, medical, charitable donations, etc). Then I have a Google Drive folder with subfolders for each deduction category. Whenever I get an email receipt, I forward it to the appropriate folder. For paper stuff, I take a quick pic with my phone and upload it there too. I also keep a simple spreadsheet with dates, amounts, and categories that I update about once a week. Takes like 5 minutes but saves hours of headaches at tax time. The key is making it super easy to maintain!
I like the dedicated credit card idea! Question though - how do you handle cash expenses? That's where I always mess up since there's no digital trail.
For cash expenses, I immediately take a photo of the receipt with my phone and add it to my digital system. I try to make this a habit right after making the purchase. If it's a business expense, I'll quickly note what it was for in my photo album so I don't forget the purpose later. I also keep a small zippered pouch in my car specifically for collecting any cash receipts I might get while out. Then once a week when I'm updating my spreadsheet, I go through that pouch, photograph anything I missed, and then file or discard the physical receipts. The key is having consistent touchpoints with your system rather than letting things pile up.
I just use TurboTax all year round honestly. They have a feature where you can upload and store documents throughout the year. Is anyone else using tax software as their actual organization system too? Works great for me because everything's already in the system when I file.
I tried that approach with H&R Block last year and found it limiting. Does TurboTax let you categorize receipts in detail? Like can you tag business expenses by project or client? My main issue is sorting through hundreds of business purchases at year end.
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I get these letters periodically. The 1040SR is just the senior version of the regular 1040 form. If you're over 65, TurboTax automatically uses this form. What likely happened is the IRS found some minor discrepancy - maybe you forgot to report some small interest income from a bank account or something. They adjusted your tax due by $341.25, but since you were already owed a refund of that same amount, it zeroed out. They're just letting you know they made this change. The good news is you don't owe anything! Just keep the letter for your records in case you ever get audited. They want you to have documentation of all adjustments they make.
If the IRS adjusted their return, does that mean they need to amend their state return too? I had something similar happen and wasn't sure if state taxes would be affected.
It depends on what the adjustment was for. If the IRS adjustment was for something that affects your state taxes (like adjusted income or deductions), then yes, you may need to amend your state return. However, many IRS adjustments don't impact state taxes at all. For example, if the adjustment was related to federal tax credits that don't exist at the state level, then your state return would be unaffected. I'd recommend checking your state tax authority's website or giving them a call to confirm whether you need to file an amendment based on a federal adjustment.
I had the EXACT same thing happen! For me, it turned out I had some dividend income that was reported to the IRS by my investment company but I forgot to include it on my return. The adjustment was basically the IRS fixing my mistake. Since the extra tax owed was less than my refund, they just subtracted it from my refund amount. Nothing to worry about - just the IRS being surprisingly efficient for once lol. Keep the letter for your records though.
Does TurboTax not catch this stuff automatically? I thought it was supposed to import all your tax forms and prevent these kinds of mistakes?
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Anyone notice that Credit Karma sometimes doesn't catch educational credits? I'm a grad student and missed out on about $1500 last year because it didn't prompt me properly for my education expenses.
YES! Same thing happened to me with the Lifetime Learning Credit. TurboTax asked me specific questions about my courses and tuition that Credit Karma completely missed. Made a $2000 difference in my refund.
Good to know I'm not alone! This year I'm definitely double-checking with multiple services. I've learned my lesson about trusting just one tax program, especially for situations like education credits or self-employment stuff.
One thing nobody's mentioned - check if you entered your state information the same way in both programs. Sometimes state withholding or deductions can affect your federal return calculation, especially if you live in a high-tax state. I had a similar issue between FreeTaxUSA and TurboTax last year and it turned out I had entered my state property tax differently in each one.
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Just to add another perspective as a tax preparer - what you're describing is super common. The "dependent but has income" situation confuses a lot of people. Key things to remember: 1) A dependent who works still files their OWN tax return 2) They just check the box "Someone can claim me as a dependent" 3) Their standard deduction is limited to either $1,150 or their earned income + $400 (whichever is greater, up to the regular standard deduction) 4) They can't claim certain credits like EIC if they're a dependent With $13,500 in income, your daughter will still likely get a refund of most of her withheld federal taxes, just not as much as if she were independent. This is totally normal and happens with millions of college students every year!
Thank you for these specifics! Quick question - if she files with the "someone can claim me" box checked, does that impact MY return at all? Or are we good since I already filed claiming her? I'm worried about triggering audits or having to amend something.
Your return isn't impacted at all. You've already claimed her correctly as your dependent, so you're all set. Her checking that box on her return simply aligns with what you've already done, preventing conflicts in the system. No need to amend anything on your end. This happens millions of times every tax season with parents and their working college students. The IRS expects this situation and has a clear process for it. Once she files correctly with that box checked, everything should process smoothly without raising any audit flags.
One thing nobody has mentioned - if your daughter is upset about getting a smaller refund, remind her that being your dependent likely benefits her in other ways! You probably keep her on your health insurance, right? Plus the education benefits you can claim (like the American Opportunity Credit) are usually worth way more than what she'd get filing independently. Maybe do the math together to show her the family as a whole saves more with her as your dependent? That helped when my kid was upset about a similar situation.
This is such good advice. I sat down with my daughter and showed her that me claiming her education credits saved our family over $2,500 in taxes, while her filing independently would've only gotten her an extra $400. Made it a lot easier for her to accept the dependent status when she saw the bigger financial picture!
Sydney Torres
One thing nobody's mentioned yet - make sure your grandparents' bank account info is entered correctly in the payment plan. I had a situation where I transposed two digits in my account number, and it caused a "payment not honored" scenario which triggered penalties and a payment plan default. Double-check all those details before finalizing the filing! Also, remember that there's usually a setup fee for payment plans unless you're setting up a direct debit agreement. The fee is lower if you set everything up online vs. by phone or mail. I think it's around $31 for online setup with direct debit last time I checked.
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Lucas Parker
•Thanks for the heads up! I did double-check the bank details, but I'll verify them one more time. And yes, there was a fee that was added to the total balance. I opted for the direct debit option to keep things simple for my grandparents - they won't have to remember to make the payment each month.
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Sydney Torres
•Sounds like you've got it covered then! The direct debit option is definitely the way to go - not only is the setup fee lower, but it also ensures they won't accidentally miss a payment. One last tip: if your grandparents ever need to change the bank account information for the direct debits, do it at least 7-10 business days before the next scheduled payment to make sure it processes correctly.
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Kaitlyn Jenkins
Just an FYI - when you file through FreeTaxUSA or any other tax software, on the payment screen you can just select "I'll mail a check" or similar option. Then just don't mail a check. Your installment plan will take over and handle the payments. I do this every year since I'm always on a payment plan. The key is making sure that you've entered the EXACT same information on both systems. Same name spelling, same address format, etc. That helps the IRS computer systems match everything up correctly.
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Caleb Bell
•This is actually bad advice. You should select a payment option that indicates you're not paying with the return, but don't select "mail a check" if you're not going to mail one. There are specific options for "I'll pay directly to the IRS" or similar that are more appropriate and won't potentially flag your account for a missed check payment.
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