I actually prepared and filed the 1040X myself using paper forms because the amendment was pretty simple - just correcting an education credit amount. So I don't have a preparer to contact. And I do have the physical copy, it's just missing the date in the signature section, which apparently is a deal-breaker for my financial aid office. They're super strict about having complete documentation.

That's unfortunate. In that case, I think your best options are what others have suggested - either visiting a Taxpayer Assistance Center in person for immediate help or using one of the services mentioned to get through to the IRS more efficiently. Since you mentioned your deadline is approaching, I'd probably pursue multiple options simultaneously. Start the process with taxr.ai since that seemed to work for someone else with your exact issue, but also try to schedule an in-person appointment at a TAC as a backup plan.

I heard they're severely understaffed and dealing with massive backlogs still. My cousin works for the IRS and says they're processing literally millions of paper forms with too few employees. Apparently the best times to call are early Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday mornings right when they open.

Thanks for the tip. Maybe I'll try calling at 7am on Tuesday and see if that helps. It's just frustrating that they make it so difficult to get basic documents that we're legally required to have.

1 You make a good point about intent. We definitely went into this planning to be partners from day one - we split costs 50/50, made decisions together, and had a handshake agreement about profit sharing. So it sounds like we really should file as a partnership for 2023. If we do file Form 1065 for 2023 now, how complicated is the process for a business that technically existed but had no income, only startup expenses?

7 Since your intent was clearly to operate as partners from the beginning with your 50/50 cost splitting and shared decision-making, filing Form 1065 for 2023 is definitely the correct approach. Filing a Form 1065 for a startup year with only expenses isn't particularly complicated. You'll report zero income and list all the qualified business expenses on the appropriate lines. The form will show a loss, which will flow through to each partner's K-1 based on your ownership percentages. Make sure to include a statement that clearly identifies these as startup costs under IRC Section 195. The main challenge is just categorizing all your expenses correctly.

11 I used TurboTax Business for a late 2022 partnership return last year. You need to buy the software for the specific tax year you're filing for (so 2023 TurboTax Business for a 2023 return). They keep previous years' versions available for download on their website specifically for late filings.

That's not correct. You can't claim Head of Household if you're married (unless you're legally separated or meet very specific requirements). If he's married and living with his wife, Married Filing Jointly is the correct status, not Head of Household.

Oh shoot, you're right - I was mixing up the requirements. For some reason I was thinking Head of Household was for anyone supporting dependents, but you're correct that married couples living together can't use it. Thanks for the correction! Married Filing Jointly would indeed be the right status in this case.

Actually, your spouse doesn't need earned income for you to contribute to a spousal IRA as long as you file jointly and have sufficient earned income yourself. It's one of the few exceptions to the "earned income" requirement for IRA contributions.

This is actually not entirely accurate. While some taxes can be discharged in bankruptcy, there are strict requirements. Self-employment taxes specifically have additional complications because they include both income tax and what would normally be FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare). The FICA portion is much harder to discharge. Also, filing fraudulent returns or willful evasion will prevent discharge regardless of timing. Given that OP deliberately chose not to pay the taxes to fund their business instead, a bankruptcy judge might view that as willful evasion.

Thanks for bringing this up! I'm definitely worried they won't send the 1099 now. Should I just email them and explicitly ask if they'll be sending a 1099-NEC since I'm classified as a vendor in their system? I have all my payment records but would obviously prefer to have the official form.

Yes, I'd recommend sending them a polite email asking for confirmation that they'll be issuing you a 1099-NEC for the 2024 tax year. Something like: "I understand I'm classified as a vendor in your system, and I just wanted to confirm you'll be issuing a 1099-NEC for tax purposes since the payments exceeded $600 this year." If they come back and say they don't issue 1099s to vendors, you can politely inform them that IRS rules require a 1099-NEC for independent contractors/vendors who were paid $600 or more for services. Sometimes the accounting department just needs a friendly reminder about the requirements.

Do you need a different form to track expenses for a vendor vs a contractor? I always get confused about this stuff.