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Paolo Ricci
Don't forget about quarterly estimated tax payments! This was my biggest shock in my first year of business. Since you don't have an employer withholding taxes, you're supposed to make estimated tax payments every quarter. If this is your first year and you're filing late, you might face some penalties for not making those payments. But going forward, try to set aside about 25-30% of your profits for taxes (including self-employment tax which is an extra 15.3%). I learned this the hard way and got hit with a big tax bill plus penalties. Now I just automatically transfer 30% of every sale into a separate savings account for taxes.
StarSailor
β’Oh no, I had no idea about quarterly payments! So I should have been paying throughout 2024 already? How do I even calculate how much to pay each quarter when my income varies so much month to month?
Paolo Ricci
β’Yes, you should have been making quarterly payments for 2024, but don't panic too much - first-time business owners often miss this. The payments are due in April, June, September, and January of the following year. For calculating the amount, you have a few options. The safest way is to pay 100% of your previous year's tax liability divided by four (or 110% if your income was over $150,000). Since this is your first year, you can estimate based on your projected annual profit. The IRS Form 1040-ES has worksheets to help you calculate this. If your income varies a lot, you can also use the "annualized income installment method" which lets you pay based on what you actually earned each quarter.
Amina Toure
If you're doing your Schedule C for the first time, definitely don't forget about the QBI deduction (Qualified Business Income). As a sole proprietor, you might qualify for a deduction of up to 20% of your net business income! It's on Form 8995. I missed this my first year and later realized I left money on the table. It's one of those newer deductions that a lot of first-time business owners aren't aware of.
The QBI is huge! But doesn't it phase out at certain income levels? I think there are also limitations based on business type.
Amina Toure
β’You're right about the phase-outs, but they start pretty high - around $170,700 for single filers or $341,400 for married filing jointly (for 2024). Since OP mentioned making about $24,000, they should be well under the threshold. There are limitations for certain service businesses like law, medicine, consulting, etc., but a woodworking business making physical products would generally qualify without those restrictions. The basic calculation is straightforward for most small businesses under the income thresholds - typically 20% of your net Schedule C income.
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AstroAlpha
Have you guys ever tried running the numbers both ways? That's what I did last year. Just entered everything in TurboTax twice - once filing joint and once filing separate. Took an extra hour but I could see exactly which one gave us a better refund. For us, joint was better by about $2,100.
Yara Khoury
β’This is actually smart but annoying to do. Does TurboTax charge you for both calculations or just the one you end up filing?
AstroAlpha
β’TurboTax only charges you when you actually file, so you can run both scenarios without paying twice. You just need to save two separate files/accounts - one for each filing method. Then compare the results before deciding which one to actually submit and pay for. I found it a bit tedious but worth the peace of mind knowing I was choosing the best option. Just make sure you only file one of them!
One thing nobody mentioned - if either of you has income-based student loan payments, filing separately might save you money overall even if you pay more in taxes! My wife and I file separately because her income-based repayment plan would jump by $400/month if we filed jointly. The tax hit is about $1,800 more, but we save $4,800 on loan payments, so it's worth it for us.
Paolo Longo
β’Totally this! My husband and I are in the exact same boat. Our tax guy told us to file separately last year because of my IBR plan. We paid like $1,200 more in taxes but saved over $3,000 in student loan payments. Math doesn't lie!
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Ana ErdoΔan
Have you considered requesting a transcript of your account from the IRS? It would show all correspondence they claim to have sent and might help your case if there are gaps or inconsistencies. You can request it online through the IRS website or by submitting Form 4506-T. Also, investment income is definitely taxable even for expats - the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion only applies to earned income like wages or self-employment income, not capital gains. But if these were educational funds in a specific type of account like a 529 plan and used for qualified education expenses, that's a different story.
Benjamin Kim
β’Thanks for this suggestion! I didn't even know I could request a transcript. Would this show if they actually sent notices or just that they generated them? Because if they generated notices but sent them to the wrong address, I'd think that still supports my case.
Ana ErdoΔan
β’The transcript would show when notices were generated and what address they were sent to. This can be crucial evidence if you're claiming lack of notification - if the transcript shows they were sending notices to an outdated address while having your current address on file for other purposes (like your stimulus payment), that strongly supports your argument. The transcript also shows exactly what type of investment was reported and the amount of gain calculated, which might help you determine if there were any special exemptions that could apply based on the nature of the educational fund.
Did anyone mention the Taxpayer Advocate Service? They're an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers resolve problems. This seems like exactly the kind of case they could help with - especially since there appears to be an issue with the IRS not properly notifying you despite having your correct address for other purposes. Their service is free and they have significant authority to cut through red tape. Just google "Taxpayer Advocate Service" and you'll find their contact info.
I second this! The Taxpayer Advocate Service helped me when I had a similar issue with incorrect notices. They assigned me a specific advocate who dealt with the IRS on my behalf. Saved me so much time and headache.
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Chris Elmeda
7 Something important to note that I don't think anyone mentioned yet - you'll want to make sure you have Form 8606 filled out correctly for both tax years. This form is crucial for documenting non-deductible IRA contributions and conversions. For your 2022 recharacterization, you might need to file an amended return for 2022 if you've already filed, depending on how you initially reported the contribution. For the 2023 conversion, you'll report it on your 2023 Form 8606. TurboTax should walk you through this, but sometimes it misses the nuances of recharacterizations across tax years. Double-check that both years' Form 8606 shows the correct basis and converted amounts.
Chris Elmeda
β’15 Wait, so I might need to amend my 2022 return? I already filed it last year and reported the contribution to my Traditional IRA, but the conversion didn't happen until 2023. Do I really need to go back and change something from last year's filing?
Chris Elmeda
β’7 No, you likely don't need to amend your 2022 return. If you correctly reported the 2022 Traditional IRA contribution on your 2022 return (on Form 8606 showing it as non-deductible), then you're fine for that year. The conversion that occurred in 2023 (even of 2022 contributions) gets reported on your 2023 return. The key is making sure your 2022 Form 8606 established your basis correctly, and then your 2023 Form 8606 shows the conversion. TurboTax should handle this if you input everything correctly in the IRA/retirement sections.
Chris Elmeda
11 Has anyone had success using the "backdoor Roth IRA" tool in TurboTax? I found this specific feature last year that walks you through exactly this scenario - contributions and conversions that span tax years. It's not super obvious to find but it made my similar situation much easier to report correctly.
Chris Elmeda
β’22 I tried using that feature but got confused when it asked about recharacterizations vs conversions. It seemed to treat them as completely different things, but in my mind they're related. Did you find it actually worked correctly for your situation?
Evelyn Rivera
I've been a tax preparer for 7 years and this is something that confuses a lot of people. Here's the simple version: Year 1 (2020): Report the full distribution on Form 8915-E and elect to spread it over 3 years. You pay tax on 1/3 of the amount. Year 2 (2021): Complete Form 8915-E again, referencing your original distribution. Pay tax on the second 1/3. Year 3 (2022): Complete Form 8915-E one last time. Pay tax on the final 1/3. You don't need a new 1099-R each year. The original 1099-R from 2020 is documentation for the entire distribution.
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Julia Hall
β’Does this also apply if the distribution was from a Roth IRA? I took money out in 2020 but thought Roth distributions aren't taxable anyway?
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Evelyn Rivera
β’For Roth IRAs, it's a bit different. If you've had the Roth for at least 5 years and are over 59Β½, then qualified distributions are tax-free. However, if you took an early distribution from a Roth in 2020 that would normally be partially taxable (like earnings withdrawn before 5 years), you could still use Form 8915-E to spread any taxable portion over 3 years. If your Roth distribution was entirely from contributions (not earnings), then it wouldn't be taxable regardless, and the 3-year spread wouldn't apply since there's no tax to spread.
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Arjun Patel
I'm seeing conflicting advice online about the 8915-E. Some sites say we need to file it for 2021 but others say we should use 8915-F instead. Which is correct?????
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Jade Lopez
β’Form 8915-F is the new form for reporting qualified disaster distributions in 2021, but it's for NEW disaster distributions. If you're reporting the SECOND year of a 2020 coronavirus distribution that you already started reporting on 8915-E, you continue with 8915-E for all three years.
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