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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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Just to add another perspective - I've been a delivery subcontractor for 5 years now. You definitely want to track EVERYTHING. Beyond just gas, make sure you're deducting: 1. Any portion of insurance you pay 2. Parking and tolls (like mentioned above) 3. Car washes (if you pay for them) 4. Any required safety equipment or uniforms 5. Your cell phone percentage used for work 6. Meals during long shifts (50% deductible) My accountant catches stuff I would never think about. The actual expense method can actually work out better than mileage sometimes depending on your situation.
Isn't there a risk of getting audited if you claim too many expenses? I'm a new subcontractor and nervous about deducting too much.
There's always a small audit risk with any business deductions, but it's not about claiming "too many" expenses - it's about claiming legitimate business expenses and having proper documentation. Keep good records of everything - receipts, logs, payment statements. The IRS understands that businesses have expenses. As long as they're legitimate and you can back them up if questioned, you shouldn't be worried. It's your right to take all legal deductions you're entitled to! Just don't make things up or inflate numbers, and you'll be fine.
Quick question - does anyone use any specific apps to track their expenses as a subcontractor? I'm doing delivery work too and trying to stay organized for next year's taxes.
I've been using Stride for the past couple years. It's free and lets you track mileage with GPS plus all your other expenses. You can take photos of receipts right in the app. Really helpful at tax time because you can categorize everything properly for Schedule C.
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To add some clarification to what's been said - willful failure to pay taxes is a misdemeanor under 26 USC § 7203. The key element is "willfulness" which means voluntarily and intentionally violating a known legal duty. If you're making a good faith effort through an installment agreement, you're demonstrating that you're not willfully avoiding payment.
What if you start an installment agreement but then stop making payments? Is that considered willful at that point? Asking because I missed 2 payments during COVID and am worried.
Temporarily missing payments due to financial hardship, especially during extraordinary circumstances like COVID, generally wouldn't rise to the level of criminal willfulness. The IRS recognizes that financial situations change. If you missed payments due to genuine inability to pay, you should contact the IRS to explain your situation and potentially modify your installment agreement. Willfulness typically requires a pattern of deliberate avoidance despite having the ability to pay. The fact that you're concerned and wanting to get back on track shows good faith, which is the opposite of the willful intent required for criminal charges.
Anyone know if the IRS is more aggressive with certain types of income? Like if you're self-employed vs. W-2? I've heard they audit self-employed people way more often.
Self-employed people do get audited more often because there's more opportunity for under-reporting income or claiming inappropriate deductions. W-2 income is automatically reported to the IRS by employers, but self-employment income has fewer automatic verification systems. That said, the audit rate for everyone has dropped significantly in recent years due to IRS budget constraints.
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Just to add some additional info here - if you have ANY earned income from early 2023 before your disability prevented you from working, that counts toward the $2,500 threshold. Some people forget about jobs they had just for a month or two at the beginning of the year. Also, if your disability is approved retroactively and you get a lump sum payment later, that won't help for the earned income requirement, but you'll want to file Form 915 to potentially exclude some of that lump sum from taxation in the year you receive it.
Thanks for mentioning this! I actually did work in January 2023 very briefly before my condition worsened, but it was only about $1,200 in earnings. Is there any way that partial amount would help me qualify even though it's below the $2,500 threshold?
That $1,200 in earnings would count toward the $2,500 threshold, but unfortunately you'd still be short of the minimum needed to qualify for the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit. You'd need to reach at least $2,500 in earned income to start qualifying. However, it's still important to file a tax return showing this income, especially if you had any withholdings that might be refundable. Plus, having filed returns consistently will help when your disability is approved, as it creates a clearer picture of your work history and the onset of your inability to work.
Also consider looking into whether you might qualify for the Credit for Other Dependents, which is a non-refundable credit of up to $500 per dependent who doesn't qualify for the Child Tax Credit. Even without income, establishing a filing history can be important for future benefits.
This is actually not great advice for someone with zero income. Non-refundable credits can only reduce tax liability, and with no income there's no tax liability to reduce. So the Credit for Other Dependents wouldn't help in this specific situation.
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Another important difference is that with a 401k, your employer might match some of your contributions (free money!!!), but IRAs don't have any matching. Also, if you leave your job, you'll need to decide what to do with your 401k - either leave it there, roll it to your new employer's plan, or roll it to an IRA.
Can you contribute to both a 401k and an IRA in the same year? And if I already have a 401k at work, can I still deduct traditional IRA contributions?
Yes, you can definitely contribute to both a 401k and an IRA in the same year. They have separate contribution limits. Whether you can deduct traditional IRA contributions when you have a 401k depends on your income. For 2025, if you're single and your modified AGI is below $78,000, you can take a full deduction. Between $78,000-$88,000, you get a partial deduction. Above $88,000, no deduction. For married filing jointly, the phase-out range is $123,000-$143,000. Even if you can't deduct it, you could still do a non-deductible IRA contribution and then convert to Roth (the backdoor Roth strategy).
Don't forget another major difference - with a 401k you're usually limited to whatever investment options your employer's plan offers, which might be pretty limited and have higher fees. With an IRA you can open it anywhere (Vanguard, Fidelity, etc) and choose from thousands of investment options. That's why many people max their 401k up to any employer match, then contribute to an IRA, then go back to the 401k if they still have money to save.
Does it make more sense to max out your 401k first or your IRA first? My company matches the first 5% in my 401k but the investment options aren't great.
StardustSeeker
Does anyone use tax software that DOESN'T use whole dollar rounding? I've tried three different programs and they all seem to do it automatically. TurboTax, H&R Block, and TaxAct all rounded my numbers. Is there any software that lets you choose to keep cents?
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Paolo Marino
•Most professional tax software actually keeps track of the cents behind the scenes but displays whole dollars on the forms. I'm a bookkeeper (not a CPA) and we use Drake Software which does this. The precise calculations happen with all the cents included, even though the forms print with rounded numbers.
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Amina Bah
Honestly the whole dollar method has saved me from so many mistakes. I used to track every cent and would get frustrated when things didn't add up perfectly. Now I just round as I go and it's so much faster. The IRS instruction booklet literally says it's fine on page 13. My refund has never been affected by more than a dollar either way.
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