IRS

Can't reach IRS? Claimyr connects you to a live IRS agent in minutes.

Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.



Fox KTVUABC 7CBSSan Francisco Chronicle

Using Claimyr will:

  • Connect you to a human agent at the IRS
  • Skip the long phone menu
  • Call the correct department
  • Redial until on hold
  • Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
  • Give you free callbacks if the IRS drops your call

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!


Really made a difference

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!

Read all of our Trustpilot reviews


Ask the community...

  • DO post questions about your issues.
  • DO answer questions and support each other.
  • DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
  • DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)

Aisha Khan

•

I'm a grad student and went through this last year. For educational grants, your school should provide a 1098-T showing tuition and scholarships/grants. But for research grants, they often DON'T send any form! Super annoying! If the grant was for research work you did (like you were essentially employed as a researcher), it should technically be on a W-2. If it was just a stipend or fellowship with no work requirements, you still have to report it as income on your 1040 under "other income" even with no form.

0 coins

Ethan Taylor

•

But isn't there some education credit we can claim against grant money? I remember someone telling me you can deduct research expenses or something?

0 coins

Aisha Khan

•

There's a difference between tax credits for education and how you handle grant money. You might qualify for the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit based on your educational expenses, but that's separate from how you report your grant. For research expenses, if your grant is specifically for research and you have expenses directly related to that research, those expenses may offset the taxable portion of your grant. Keep all receipts for lab supplies, research materials, travel to research sites, etc. The rules get complicated though, so documenting everything is important. The key distinction is whether the grant required you to perform services (like research work) or was simply awarded to support your education.

0 coins

Yuki Ito

•

Has anyone used TurboTax for reporting grants without tax forms? It keeps asking me for a 1099 but I don't have one!!

0 coins

Carmen Lopez

•

I used FreeTaxUSA instead of TurboTax for my fellowship grant. There's a specific section for scholarships and grants not reported on a tax form. Much easier than TurboTax for this situation!

0 coins

A small refund is actually GOOD. It means you weren't giving the government an interest free loan all year. I aim for owing a small amount (but not enough to trigger penalties). If you want to check your preparer's work, look at your total federal income tax withholding on your W-2 (Box 2) and compare it to your total tax on your 1040 (Line 24). If your withholding is just slightly higher than your total tax, then everything is probably correct.

0 coins

Thanks for this explanation! I checked and my withholding in Box 2 was $15,980 and my total tax on Line 24 was $15,600, so the math does check out for the $380 refund. I guess I was just expecting more because I've always gotten bigger refunds before. Is it normal for the refund to vary this much from year to year? Last year I got back around $2,400.

0 coins

The big difference between last year's $2,400 refund and this year's $380 is worth investigating. Something significant changed in either your withholding or your tax situation. Most likely explanations: 1) You updated your W-4 withholding form last year and it's now more accurate, 2) You had additional tax credits or deductions last year that you didn't have this year, or 3) Your income increased putting you in a higher tax bracket while your withholding didn't increase proportionally. I'd recommend comparing last year's return line by line with this year's to spot the differences.

0 coins

Levi Parker

•

Am I the only one who thinks tax preparers are a waste of money for simple returns? For a single person with just W-2 income, you could easily use TurboTax or FreeTaxUSA and save yourself the prep fees. Those programs would also explain your refund amount and alert you if something seemed off.

0 coins

Libby Hassan

•

Not a waste at all. I tried doing my own taxes for years and always stressed about making mistakes. My tax guy catches things I would miss and the peace of mind is worth every penny. Plus, he's available if I get any letters from the IRS.

0 coins

I agree with you. I've been doing my own taxes for years with just W-2 income using FreeTaxUSA. It's like $15 for state filing and federal is free. The software walks you through everything and double-checks for errors. Plus you learn how taxes actually work instead of just handing everything over to someone else.

0 coins

Harper Hill

•

Could you maybe talk to your girlfriend about it and explain how much money you'd both save if she amended her return? Might be easier than dealing with the IRS. When me and my ex were in this situation, we calculated that I'd save $1800 by filing HOH while she'd only save like $500 filing single with the dependent. Made the conversation easier when she saw the numbers.

0 coins

Jacob Lewis

•

I tried that approach but she's worried about the hassle of amending and possibly triggering an audit. Plus she already spent her refund so she's concerned she'd have to pay some back. How complicated was the amending process for your ex?

0 coins

Harper Hill

•

The amending process isn't that bad honestly. She just needed to file a 1040-X form which is basically just marking what changed from the original return. If she used tax software, most of them can help with amendments pretty easily. My ex was done in about 30 minutes. As for paying back refund money, yeah that could happen if her refund would be less without claiming your son. But waiting could be worse - if you both get audited later, she might have to pay back the refund PLUS penalties and interest. Might be worth running the numbers both ways to show her exactly what the difference would be.

0 coins

Caden Nguyen

•

I got audited for this exact situation a few years ago and it was a mess! Both me and my girlfriend claimed HOH with the same address and the IRS flagged it immediately. They made us prove who provided more support and who should actually claim the dependent. Ended up with her having to amend and pay back some refund money plus I had to send in all kinds of documentation showing I paid the mortgage, utilities, etc.

0 coins

Avery Flores

•

What kind of documentation did they want? I'm in a similar situation but most of our bills are paid from a joint account so I'm not sure how I'd prove I contributed more.

0 coins

You might want to check if you need to enter your basis in the Traditional IRA as well. I had a similar issue with another tax program (not FreeTaxUSA), and I had to manually enter my cumulative basis in my Traditional IRA from previous years' non-deductible contributions. There should be a screen somewhere that asks for "Your basis in traditional IRAs" or something similar. Also, look out for the distribution code in Box 7 of your 1099-R. It should typically be code "7" for a normal IRA distribution. If it's coded differently, that might be confusing the software.

0 coins

I checked and my 1099-R does have code 7 in Box 7. This is my first year doing a backdoor Roth so I don't have any previous basis - it was just a contribution and immediate conversion. I'm going to try completing the entire return and see if it fixes itself in the review stage like others suggested. If that doesn't work, I might just have to call their support line.

0 coins

That's good that you have code 7 and no previous basis to worry about! Definitely try the complete-and-review approach. One last thing to check - make sure you're entering the contribution as a 2023 contribution (assuming that's when you made it) and not as a prior year contribution. Sometimes that distinction can trip up the software too. Let us know if it works out! These backdoor Roth issues are so common but so frustrating.

0 coins

One thing nobody mentioned - did you check if you have any other Traditional IRA money from previous years? The Pro-Rata rule could be kicking in. If you had, say, a rollover IRA or any other traditional IRA money beyond what you contributed for the backdoor, you can't just convert the non-deductible portion tax-free. The conversion gets taxed proportionally. FreeTaxUSA might actually be calculating correctly if you have other IRA assets!

0 coins

Jayden Reed

•

This is an excellent point! The pro-rata rule is the downfall of many backdoor Roth attempts. If you have ANY other money in ANY traditional IRA accounts (including SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs), the backdoor strategy gets complicated fast.

0 coins

Have you considered just learning how to properly handle the backdoor Roth yourself? Form 8606 isn't that complicated once you understand the basic concept. I've been doing my own backdoor Roth for 4 years now and honestly it takes me about 10 extra minutes in TurboTax. There are some great step-by-step guides online. The key things to remember: 1) Report the non-deductible traditional IRA contribution first 2) Then report the conversion to Roth separately 3) Make sure you have no other traditional IRA balances to avoid pro-rata complications Most tax preparers at chain places aren't trained for anything beyond basic returns.

0 coins

Even with guides, I always worry about missing something important. Does TurboTax actually guide you through the backdoor Roth process well? Which version do you need to handle this correctly?

0 coins

TurboTax Premier handles backdoor Roth conversions well. The software will ask if you made contributions to a traditional IRA, and you indicate they were non-deductible. Later, it asks about conversions to Roth IRAs. Just make sure you have the exact dates and amounts for both transactions. The most important thing is understanding the concept beforehand so you recognize if something doesn't look right. The software generates Form 8606 automatically, but I always review it to ensure it shows the non-deductible contribution basis correctly. Many online guides show what the completed form should look like for comparison.

0 coins

Nick Kravitz

•

i used the same tax prep chain for years and they were ok for simple returns but last year i started a side business and they totally messed up my schedule c. charged me $290 and didnt even know what business expenses i could deduct!!!! ended up redoing it myself with taxact and found over $2100 in deductions they missed. these places are just glorified data entry clerks using the same software we can buy ourselves lol

0 coins

Hannah White

•

I had the exact opposite experience. Found a local CPA who specializes in small businesses and she found so many legitimate deductions I didn't know about. Sometimes it's worth paying more for actual expertise instead of the chains. Maybe try searching for someone who specifically works with your industry?

0 coins

Prev1...39983999400040014002...5643Next