Thank you! I just double-checked and I did enter everything correctly from my W-2. The federal withholding amount on my W-2 is $5,460 which seems lower than it should be based on my income. I'm wondering if something changed with my withholding during the year without me realizing.

That withholding amount does sound low for a corporate salary. As a quick rule of thumb, your federal withholding should typically be around 15-20% of your income if you're single with no dependents. Check your first pay stub of the year against your most recent one - sometimes withholding percentages change mid-year due to payroll system updates or corporate policy changes. Your HR department should be able to provide a withholding history if you request it.

This happened to me too! My income went from $78k to $86k and I ended up owing $2,100 because my withholding didn't keep pace with the higher bracket. If you got a significant raise or bonus during the year, that's probably what happened.

Thats a really good point I hadn't considered. Did you end up getting special business insurance for your vehicle or is there some kind of rider they add to a personal policy?

I ended up getting what they call a "business use endorsement" added to my personal auto policy. It increased my premium by about 15%, but it properly covers me when I'm driving for business purposes. Some insurance companies offer specific business auto policies, but those are usually more appropriate for companies with multiple vehicles or employees driving for the business. For a sole proprietor like me who uses the same vehicle for both business and personal use, the endorsement was the more cost-effective option. Definitely worth calling your insurance agent to discuss your specific situation.

Is it better then to start using it for business immediately after purchase? Or does that create other issues? My accountant has me totally confused about this whole topic.

Did you claim any tax credits like the Earned Income Credit or Child Tax Credit? I've heard those always take longer to process.

I didn't claim any of those credits this year. Just standard W-2 employment income and the standard deduction. I claimed the child tax credit last year and that return definitely took longer - almost the full 21 days. So there does seem to be a clear pattern with certain credits triggering longer processing times.

Check if you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit. By law, the IRS cannot issue refunds for returns claiming these credits before mid-February, so that might explain the delay.

Does the Roth option for Solo 401k have income limitations like the regular Roth IRA? I've been avoiding looking into this because I thought I'd be over the income limits.

There are no income limitations for Roth contributions to a Solo 401k! This is one of the biggest advantages compared to Roth IRAs. You can make Roth contributions to the employee portion regardless of your income level. This is actually a great "backdoor" way for high-income earners to get money into a Roth account. Even if your S Corp starts doing really well and your income increases substantially in the future, you can still contribute to the Roth portion of your Solo 401k.

This is a really important point. The "reasonable compensation" requirement for S Corps needs to be balanced against maximizing the Section 199A deduction. With the pass-through deduction, you get a 20% deduction on your qualified business income (QBI), which is essentially your profit MINUS your salary. So there's a tradeoff - higher salary means more retirement contributions but less QBI deduction.

Yeh exactly! My accountant had me model different scenarios. If I paid myself $65k instead of $50k, I could put more in retirement but lost like $3k in QBI deduction. Gotta run the numbers both ways.

Thanks for the warning about the wait time! I just want to make sure - does filing an amendment increase my chances of getting audited? I've heard mixed things about this and it makes me nervous about filing one.

Filing an amendment doesn't inherently increase your audit risk. Amendments are actually quite common - millions are filed every year. What might increase scrutiny is the nature of what you're amending. Something simple like claiming a credit you qualified for but forgot is pretty straightforward. The IRS is more likely to look closely if there are dramatic changes to income or if you're suddenly claiming unusual deductions that weren't on your original return. For something like EITC that you legitimately qualify for, just make sure you have documentation of your income and meet all eligibility requirements.

I second FreeTaxUSA! It's what I've used for the past 3 years and it hasn't missed any credits I'm eligible for. It asks very specific questions about EITC. Plus it lets you go back and review every form before submitting so you can double-check everything.