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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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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls ā 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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- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
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Taylor To
One thing to keep in mind is that there are different safe harbor requirements depending on your income level. If your AGI was over $150,000 last year, you need to cover 110% of last year's tax liability (instead of 100%) to meet the safe harbor. Also, don't forget that if you're self-employed, you still need to make sure you're covering your self-employment taxes through either estimated payments or additional withholding. Those can add up fast!
Ella Cofer
ā¢Do you know if the safe harbor is calculated on total tax liability or just income tax? Like does it include the self-employment tax portion too when figuring the 100% or 110% of last year's taxes?
Taylor To
ā¢The safe harbor amount is based on your total tax liability, which includes both income tax and self-employment tax. So when people talk about covering 100% (or 110% for higher incomes) of last year's tax, they're referring to the total amount on line 24 of your Form 1040 from last year - that's your total tax, including self-employment taxes. That's why self-employment income can really complicate things, because you're responsible for both the employee and employer portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes, which adds about 15.3% on top of your regular income tax.
Kevin Bell
Just wanted to add that you can also adjust withholding from other sources besides your W-2 job if that's easier. My spouse adjusts withholding from their pension for this exact reason whenever we have unexpected 1099 income. Form W-4P is used for pension withholding, and Form W-4V for certain government payments like Social Security. All of these count as withholding that's treated as paid evenly throughout the year!
That's a great tip! I didn't realize you could adjust Social Security withholding too. Is there a limit to how much you can withhold from Social Security benefits specifically?
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Don't forget to keep really good records for your AOTC claim! My brother got audited last year because he claimed the full credit but didn't have receipts for his textbooks. Save ALL receipts for required books, supplies, and equipment. The IRS is pretty strict about documentation for education credits.
Maya Diaz
ā¢Oh that's scary! I haven't been great about keeping receipts for my textbooks... do digital receipts from Amazon and the campus bookstore work too? And how long should I keep these records?
Digital receipts are absolutely fine! Just make sure they clearly show what was purchased (the book title), the date, and the amount. I recommend saving them as PDFs and keeping them in a dedicated folder on your computer or cloud storage. You should keep all tax-related records for at least 3 years after you file your return, since that's typically how far back the IRS can go for an audit. Some experts recommend keeping them for 6-7 years to be extra safe. My brother's audit happened about 2 years after he filed that return.
Quick heads up - another requirement for the AOTC that people sometimes miss is that you can't have a felony drug conviction. Also, if someone else claims you as a dependent (like your parents), then THEY would get the credit, not you. Make sure you coordinate with your parents so you don't both try to claim it!
The felony drug conviction restriction was actually removed a few years ago! That's no longer a disqualifying factor for the AOTC as of the tax law changes in 2021.
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Has anyone considered the opportunity cost of stretching a degree program? If completing faster means you could potentially get a higher-paying job or promotion sooner, the tax hit might be worth it. I stretched my MBA from 2 years to 3.5 years to stay under the $5250, and honestly regret it. The salary increase I could have had 18 months earlier far outweighs what I saved in taxes.
Emily Sanjay
ā¢That's a really good point. I didn't even think about the delayed earnings potential. Do you have any rough numbers on what that looked like for you financially? Just trying to do my own math here.
In my case, I was making about $85k during my MBA. The role I moved into after graduating paid $112k. So that's roughly $27k per year in lost salary increase, which means delaying graduation by 18 months cost me about $40k in potential earnings. My total tuition was $36k, and by stretching it I saved paying taxes on about $22k (the amount over the $5250 limit across 3.5 years). At my tax bracket that saved me around $6k in taxes. So I essentially lost $34k ($40k in delayed earnings minus $6k tax savings) by stretching the program. Obviously everyone's numbers will be different, but definitely consider the full financial picture, not just the immediate tax hit.
Are there any options for getting the tax amount back through work? My company offers something called a "gross-up" where they add extra money to cover the taxes on the amount over $5250. Might be worth asking your HR if they do something similar?
Some companies definitely do this! Mine doesn't call it a "gross-up" but they essentially pay about 40% extra on the amount over $5250 to offset the taxes. Worth asking about.
Noah Ali
ā¢I actually did ask about this! My company said they don't offer any tax offset or gross-up for education reimbursement. Their policy is pretty rigid - $5250 tax-free per year, anything above that gets taxed, and that's it. I appreciate the suggestion though. Seems like I need to either stretch the program or just accept the tax hit as the cost of finishing faster.
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CosmicCowboy
One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're self-employed and didn't file, the penalties can be way worse because you might have missed quarterly estimated payments too. I learned this the hard way a few years back. If you have self-employment income, you could be looking at penalties for: - Not filing (5% per month up to 25%) - Not paying (0.5% per month up to 25%) - Underpayment of estimated taxes (federal short-term interest rate plus 3%) - Plus interest on all of the above
Oh crap, I did have some freelance income last year. Not a ton, maybe $8,000 or so, but I definitely didn't make any quarterly payments. Would I get hit with all those penalties even though it wasn't my main source of income?
CosmicCowboy
ā¢Yes, unfortunately the IRS doesn't distinguish between "main income" and "side income" - if you have self-employment earnings over $400, you're supposed to make estimated quarterly payments on that income. Your total penalty will depend on how much tax you owe on that $8,000. At that income level, you're looking at about 15.3% for self-employment tax plus your regular income tax rate. The good news is if this is your first time missing filing deadlines or estimated payments, you might qualify for first-time penalty abatement. Definitely mention that when you file or if you call the IRS.
Amina Diallo
Just a heads up that you should also check your state tax situation too! Most states have their own penalties for late filing and payment that are separate from federal. Some states are more aggressive than others about collecting penalties.
Good point! My state (California) hit me with penalties that were almost as much as the federal ones when I missed filing a couple years ago. I had no idea states could be so strict.
Pedro Sawyer
Just to add some clarity on the 1042-S issue specifically - I'm a university administrative assistant who deals with these for international students all the time. When a 1042-S is reissued, the issuer (usually the university or employer) is required to: 1. Check the "corrected" box at the top of the 1042-S 2. Submit the corrected form electronically to the IRS 3. Provide you with a paper copy marked "corrected" The most common problem I see is that sometimes the issuer provides the corrected copy to the recipient but forgets to submit the electronic correction to the IRS. Or they submit it late, after the IRS has already started their matching program. Ask your issuer to confirm they submitted the electronic correction AND the date they submitted it. If they submitted it after you filed your tax return, that's likely the source of the problem.
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Rosie Harper
ā¢Thank you so much for this specific information! I just checked my 1042-S again and it DOES have the "corrected" box checked at the top. I hadn't even noticed that before. So I'm guessing you're right that the timing between their correction and my filing might be the issue. I'll contact the issuer tomorrow and specifically ask about when they submitted the electronic correction to the IRS. That seems like the most likely explanation for why the IRS thinks there's a mismatch when my numbers actually match what's on my form.
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Pedro Sawyer
ā¢Glad I could help! That "corrected" box is definitely your smoking gun. Based on what you've said, I'm almost certain the timing is the issue. When you contact the issuer, ask them to provide you with documentation showing both the original and corrected submission dates. Having this documentation will make resolving the issue with the IRS much easier. You can include it with your response to show exactly what happened and why there appears to be a mismatch in their system.
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Mae Bennett
Has anyone actually resolved a 1042-S issue through the IRS website or is calling really the only way? I'm having a similar issue but really don't want to spend hours on the phone if I can avoid it.
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Beatrice Marshall
ā¢In my experience, these specific matching issues almost always require a phone call or a written response. The online account tools don't have functionality to resolve document matching problems. Your best option is probably to prepare a written response with copies of your documents and mail it to the address on your notice.
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