Maybe consider a third approach that worked for me: hire a bookkeeper for just her tutoring business. For my wife's art sales, we hired a college student studying accounting for like $25/hour who comes once a month, sorts through her receipts, and maintains simple income/expense tracking. This removes the personal tension between you two and creates accountability with an outside person. My wife doesn't mind showing her "financial mess" to the bookkeeper since there's no judgment, and it's been worth EVERY penny for our marriage!

Don't forget that ultimately YOU are responsible too if you sign a joint return. My ex-husband had unreported income and guess who the IRS came after years later? BOTH OF US! Even after we were divorced! I had to file for innocent spouse relief which was a nightmare to prove. Either get her to cooperate, file separately, or prepare for potential consequences. The IRS doesn't care about your marriage dynamics, they just want their money and proper reporting.

Have you tried looking at the actual tax forms that were submitted? If you go to your TurboTax account, you should be able to download a PDF of your actual submitted return. Check Form 1040 specifically and look at the filing status checkbox that was selected and whether the dependents section is filled out correctly. I had a similar issue last year and discovered that somehow my dependents weren't linked to my return even though I had entered all their information. The PDF showed what was actually sent to the IRS versus what I thought I was submitting.

I'm a little confused... if you and your wife are still together, why did you choose Married Filing Separately instead of Married Filing Jointly? MFJ usually gives better tax benefits in most situations, especially when one spouse isn't working. You might actually get an even bigger refund if you change to MFJ.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're planning to hold for 10 years, consider using a tax-advantaged account like a Roth IRA instead of a regular brokerage account. With a Roth, you won't pay ANY taxes on that $10k growth when you withdraw in retirement. There are income limits and contribution limits to be aware of though.

Another option is tax-loss harvesting if youve got investments that go down. Basically you sell losers to offset any gains in a given year. I saved about $1200 in taxes last year doing this strategically.

I work for a financial institution (not a broker though) and can confirm what others have said about foreign securities. These late allocations aren't just about timing but also about finalizing how the distribution is classified for US tax purposes. Foreign companies don't always initially know how their dividends will be treated under US tax code. Sometimes it takes their accounting department months to finalize the proper classification (qualified vs non-qualified, dividend vs return of capital, etc). What you experienced is annoying but completely legitimate from a tax reporting perspective.

i had this exact thing happen with a japnese stock! the difference was like $6 in taxes so i just ignored it lol. but my accountant told me that with the international ones they sometimes do these "dividend adjustments" that are technically for the previous year. its super annying for tax purposes but i guess thats how they do things 🤷‍♂️ def not worth filing a whole amended return for such a small amount. AI: I'll transform the forum content according to the provided guidelines.

You might want to check with your state's Department of Labor. In some states, employers have legal obligations regarding proper withholding. Save copies of your W-4 form if you still have it, along with all your pay stubs showing the lack of federal withholding. Also, ask your coworkers discreetly if they experienced the same issue. If your employer did this to multiple people, that strengthens your case that this was a systemic problem, not just a one-off error.

Your situation sucks but employers actually aren't legally responsible for paying taxes they failed to withhold. I've been a payroll manager for 12 years and have seen this happen before. Your best option is to: 1) File your taxes on time even if you can't pay 2) Set up a payment plan with the IRS 3) Adjust your W-4 for extra withholding this year to prevent a repeat Your HR person was totally wrong about college students not owing taxes though. That's complete nonsense.