17 Did you have to file an amended return because of the mismatch? I'm worried about something similar happening to me.

3 No, I didn't have to file an amended return, thankfully. The issue was caught before the end of the year, so my W2 ended up being correct. However, I did have to get a corrected earnings statement from my employer for that quarter to keep with my tax records in case of an audit. My HR department had to submit some corrections to the IRS for that quarter's reporting. Just make sure you update your employer immediately after getting your new Social Security card to avoid the headache I went through.

19 I used TurboTax last year after my name change. As long as you're filing with the same name that's on your Social Security card, you don't need to do anything special. Just enter your info as it appears on your W2. There's no special "I changed my name" option because the IRS only cares about what name is officially on your SS card at the time of filing.

I used QBSE for 2 years and switched to FreshBooks. Much better interface and their expense tracking is more intuitive. Plus it doesn't do that thing where QB tries to upgrade you constantly.

Does the 30% usually cover everything? My brother mentioned something about additional self-employment tax on top of regular income tax...

The 30% is usually enough to cover both income tax and self-employment tax for most income levels. Self-employment tax is about 15.3% (covers Social Security and Medicare that an employer would normally pay half of), and then your income tax rate depends on your total earnings. If you're making over $90k or so, you might want to set aside closer to 35% to be safe. I've found 30% works well for me earning between $60-80k annually. The first year is the hardest - after that you'll have a better idea of your actual tax rate based on your specific situation and deductions.

17 Do you know how long it typically takes for amended returns to be processed? I'm in a similar situation and worried about how long I'll be in tax limbo.

5 Right now amended returns are taking approximately 16-20 weeks to process according to the IRS website. However, in my experience with a similar situation, it took closer to 6 months because they had to process both years together. I recommend filing the amendments electronically if possible because paper amendments take even longer. Also, make sure you don't file your actual 2020 return until the amendments are fully processed, or it might create further confusion. You can request an extension if needed to give time for the amendments to clear the system.

9 I used the Taxpayer Advocate Service last year for a similar issue. You need to demonstrate that you're facing "significant hardship" as a result of the IRS delay. In my case, I was being denied a mortgage because of the incorrect tax filing. The advocate was helpful, but it still took about 2 months to resolve after they got involved. You can request assistance through Form 911 or by calling them directly.

2 Thanks for sharing your experience. My situation might qualify as a hardship since I'm unable to get approved for student loans because of this tax filing mess. I'll look into Form 911. Did you submit yours online or did you have to mail it in?

Thanks for mentioning this! I didn't even consider that there might be updated tables for 2025. Where can I find the most current versions? Is there a specific publication number or section on the IRS website?

You can find the most current withholding tables in Publication 15-T for 2025, which should be available on IRS.gov in the Forms and Publications section. The direct URL would be something like irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf (though you might need to update the year in the URL). I'd also recommend checking the IRS's Tax Withholding Assistant for Employers tool, which gets updated with the latest formulas and tables. That's probably the most foolproof way to ensure you're using the current information.

I noticed this too! I think it's because the Excel spreadsheet might be applying the withholding slightly differently. When I tested with my info (married filing jointly, $120k combined), the Excel sheet withheld about $37 more per paycheck than what I calculated with the 15-T tables.

Thanks for confirming! I wonder if this is intentional by the IRS to make sure people don't underwithhold. When I think about it, that $43 per check adds up to over $1,100 annually, which seems significant enough that it can't just be a rounding error.

Thanks for mentioning utilities! I forgot to include that in my original post. We actually have separate electric meters but shared water. Do I need some kind of formal calculation for the water usage or can I just use the square footage percentage? And can I deduct anything for my time spent doing repairs or only the actual materials?

For the shared water bill, using the square footage percentage is perfectly acceptable and is the most common method. Just be consistent with how you calculate it year to year. For your time spent doing repairs, unfortunately you cannot deduct the value of your own labor when you do repairs yourself - only the cost of materials. However, if you have a formal property management business and charge for your services, that's different. But for most individual landlords who make their own repairs, only the materials are deductible, not your time.

Your accountant is correct! You must take depreciation on the rental portion of your property - even if you don't claim it, the IRS will assume you did when you sell the property and you'll face "depreciation recapture" tax. Basically, you depreciate the rental portion of your property (excluding land value) over 27.5 years. So if 40% of your house is a rental and your house value (excluding land) is $200,000, you'd depreciate $80,000 over 27.5 years, meaning about $2,909 in depreciation deduction each year.