I paid $3,500 to a tax attorney last year for my OIC. They handled both federal and state tax debts totaling about $67,000. My settlement was accepted at $8,500 (about 13% of what I owed). The process took almost 9 months from start to finish. My attorney spent hours gathering documents, preparing financial statements, writing a hardship letter, and following up with the IRS multiple times. Based on the amount of work involved and the outcome, I feel the fee was completely reasonable. One tip: ask if they charge a flat fee or hourly rate. Flat fee was better for me because the process took longer than expected. Also ask about their success rate specifically with OICs.

I tried doing an OIC myself first and ABSOLUTELY REGRET it!! Wasted 5 months and got rejected for "incomplete financial information" even though I sent everything they asked for. Then I hired a tax attorney who charged $4,200 flat fee for both federal and state. They refiled everything and my offer got accepted 6 months later. Settled $93k of tax debt for $11k. So worth every penny of their fee!!! My advice: don't try to save money by doing it yourself or hiring the cheapest person. This is one area where experience really matters. I probably lost more in penalties and interest during those wasted 5 months than I paid my attorney.

Has anyone had luck using tax software with electronic W2s? I'm having a similar issue but honestly just want to get my taxes done. I downloaded the PDF from my company portal but TurboTax is giving me errors when I try to upload it. Says something about the format not being recognized.

This is a really common issue that many people don't realize they have rights about! Your employer absolutely cannot force you to only receive electronic W2s without your explicit consent. The IRS requires employers to provide paper W2s in several situations: 1. If you never consented to electronic delivery in the first place 2. If you withdraw your consent for electronic delivery (even if you previously agreed) 3. If their electronic system doesn't meet IRS accessibility requirements The fact that they're citing being a "green company" as justification doesn't override federal tax law. I'd recommend sending HR a formal email stating: "I am withdrawing my consent for electronic W2 delivery and formally requesting a paper copy of my W2 form as required under IRS regulations." Keep a copy of this email for your records. If they continue to refuse, you can contact the IRS directly about the non-compliance. Employers can face penalties for not providing W2s in the required format, so most HR departments will comply once they realize you know your rights. Don't let them make you feel like you're being difficult - you're entitled to receive your tax documents in a format you can actually use!

I had almost the exact same situation last year, and it turned out fine eventually. My check was supposedly mailed March 10th, but didn't arrive until April 3rd - almost 3.5 weeks later. The USPS seems to handle these Treasury checks differently, possibly for security reasons. In my experience, they tend to arrive toward the end of the estimated window, but they do arrive.

I'm in a similar boat - my check was mailed 3/12 and still nothing. What's really frustrating is that the IRS website basically just says "wait" without giving any real timeline or options. I've been tracking my mail through Informed Delivery like someone mentioned, but no luck yet. The stress of waiting when you really need that money is awful. Have you tried calling the IRS taxpayer assistance line? I've been putting it off because I know it's going to be hours on hold, but might be worth it just to confirm they actually sent it out.

Be careful with that $500k exclusion! My neighbors got hit with a surprise tax bill because they had rented out their house for 3 years during the 27 years they owned it. Since it wasn't their primary residence for that period, they had to do some complicated partial exclusion calculations. Make sure you've lived in the house for 2 out of the 5 years immediately preceding the sale AND check if you've used the property for anything other than your primary residence during your ownership.

Great point about the home office deduction! This is something many people overlook. If you've claimed depreciation on any part of your home for business use, you'll need to "recapture" that depreciation when you sell - meaning you'll pay taxes on the amount you previously deducted, even if the rest of your gain qualifies for the exclusion. The recapture is taxed at a maximum rate of 25%, which can be a nasty surprise if you're not expecting it. Keep records of any home office deductions you've claimed over the years so you can calculate this correctly. Also worth noting - if you converted part of your home to rental property at any point (like renting out a basement apartment), similar rules apply. The IRS gets pretty strict about mixed-use properties when it comes to the primary residence exclusion.

Sorry to come in late on this thread but I just want to make sure I'm understanding right. I have SPAXX in my Fidelity account and I got $329 in dividends last year according to my 1099-DIV. So I just put that on line 3b of my 1040 and pay regular income tax on it? Not the lower qualified dividend rate?

Just wanted to add some clarity for anyone still confused about SPAXX reporting. I work as a tax preparer and see this confusion every tax season. The key thing to remember is that SPAXX is structured as a mutual fund that invests in government securities, not a traditional bank savings account. That's why the income is technically "dividends" rather than "interest" - even though it functions like a savings account from your perspective. Here's what you need to know for your tax return: - Report the total from your 1099-DIV Box 1a (ordinary dividends) on Form 1040 line 3b - Do NOT include SPAXX dividends on line 3a (qualified dividends) - they don't qualify for the lower tax rate - The income is taxable at your ordinary income tax rates, just like wages or traditional interest If you want truly tax-exempt income, look for municipal money market funds (these will have "Municipal" or "Tax-Free" in the name). But remember, tax-exempt funds typically have lower yields to compensate for the tax advantage.