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If I could give 10 stars I would
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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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls ā which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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Oscar Murphy
Another option would be to make your "regular" commute officially part of your podcast business. Like, you could rebrand your show to specifically review your commute route businesses and traffic patterns daily. Then your commute becomes the actual content creation time and location for your business. My brother-in-law did something similar with his photography business where he specifically focused on documenting his daily train commute and now sells prints. The IRS has never questioned his deductions since the commute literally IS his business.
Nora Bennett
ā¢Is this actually legit though? Seems like you're just trying to find a loophole that would get flagged in an audit. Can you really just "decide" your commute is now your business?
Oscar Murphy
ā¢It's not about "deciding" your commute is your business - it's about actually establishing a legitimate business purpose that happens to use your commute route. My brother-in-law's commute photography project generates actual income through print sales, and he has documentation showing the business purpose of each trip. You'd need to be able to show that your podcast is truly focused on your commute route specifically, with actual content about locations along that route, and that you're consistently creating content during those drives. You also need real income from it. The IRS looks at whether there's a profit motive and if the activity is carried out in a businesslike manner. It's not a loophole if it's actually a legitimate business activity.
Ryan Andre
Don't forget that if you use the standard mileage rate (which most people should), you can't also deduct individual car expenses like gas, insurance, maintenance, etc. The standard rate (62.5 cents per mile for 2025) is supposed to cover all those costs. But if your car is expensive to operate, you might want to calculate actual expenses instead. Just keep ALL receipts and determine the percentage of business use vs personal use. And whichever method you choose in the first year you use the car for business, you're pretty much locked into for the life of that vehicle!
Lauren Zeb
ā¢One other thing to consider is that you'll need to fill out a Schedule C for your podcast income, which means you'll pay self-employment tax on that income (about 15.3%). So make sure your deductions are actually saving you more than you're paying in SE tax if this is a small side hustle.
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Another thing to check - did you have any large bonuses this year? Companies often withhold bonuses at a flat 22% rate, which is WAY too low if you're in a higher tax bracket. When I got a $30K bonus last year, they only withheld $6,600, but my actual tax rate on that money was closer to 35%. You might also want to look at your state withholding. Some states have their own W-4 equivalent forms, and underwithholding can happen at both federal and state levels.
Sarah Ali
ā¢YES! I did get a $40K signing bonus with my promotion that they withheld at exactly 22%! I had no idea that wasn't enough. How do you handle bonus withholding? Can you request that they take out more?
You definitely can request additional withholding on bonuses! Most payroll departments will accommodate this if you ask before the bonus is processed. For future bonuses, I recommend calculating roughly what your marginal tax rate is (federal + state + local if applicable) and requesting that percentage instead. For example, if you're in the 32% federal bracket plus 6% state, you might request 38% withholding on the bonus. This still might not cover it perfectly because of how tax brackets work, but it'll get you much closer than the default 22%.
One thing nobody's mentioned - check if you and your husband both selected "Married Filing Jointly" on your W-4 forms without additional adjustments. This is a super common mistake that causes major underwithholding for two-income households! The W-4 assumes that one spouse is the only income earner when you check "Married" without adjustments. So both your employers are withholding as if each of you is the sole breadwinner for the household, effectively giving you double the standard deduction and lower bracket calculations.
This happened to me and my wife! We were both claiming married and ended up owing $8k. The fix is pretty simple - either check the "withhold at higher single rate" box, or complete Step 2 of the new W-4 form where it asks about multiple jobs/spouses.
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Zara Rashid
Quick tip that nobody mentioned yet - if you use any of the major banks like Chase, Bank of America, etc., many of them have a direct link to IRS Free File in their online banking portals now. I found it under "Tax Services" in my online banking menu. Made submitting my 4868 super easy and I didn't have to create a separate account.
Oh really? I have Chase but never noticed that option. Is it something I can find on the mobile app or do I need to login through the website? Also, does it cost anything extra to use it through the bank portal?
Zara Rashid
ā¢You'll need to login through the website, not the mobile app (at least that was my experience). Look under "Tax Services" or sometimes "Additional Services" in the menu. It doesn't cost anything extra - it's basically just a link that takes you to the IRS Free File service, but it sometimes will auto-fill some of your basic info which saves a step.
Luca Romano
Important reminder that Form 4868 only extends your TIME TO FILE, not your TIME TO PAY!! If you owe money, you still need to pay by the original deadline or you'll get hit with penalties and interest. I learned this the hard way last year and ended up owing an extra $320 in penalties. š
Nia Jackson
ā¢How do you even estimate what you owe if you haven't done your taxes yet? That's what's confusing me about the whole extension process.
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Lourdes Fox
Don't forget to check if you need to file a FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if you had foreign bank accounts! If the aggregate value of all your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, you need to report them. This is separate from your tax return and has hefty penalties if you don't file. Also, depending on your specific situation, you might need to file Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) if your foreign assets exceed certain thresholds. The thresholds for Form 8938 are higher than for FBAR and depend on your filing status and whether you live in the US or abroad.
Nolan Carter
ā¢Oh no, I didn't even think about reporting my Japanese bank accounts! I had about $15,000 in my account before I moved everything to the US. Is there a deadline for filing this FBAR form? Is it the same as the tax return deadline?
Lourdes Fox
ā¢The FBAR deadline is April 15, but it automatically gets extended to October 15 if you miss the April deadline. You don't need to request the extension specifically for the FBAR. The form is filed electronically through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's BSA E-Filing System, not with your tax return. It's fairly straightforward - you just need to provide information about each account, including the maximum value during the year, account number, and the financial institution's information.
One word of caution from someone who's been through this: if you're planning to claim the Foreign Tax Credit, be prepared for potential delays in your refund. When I filed with Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit) for the first time, my return got flagged for review and my refund was delayed by almost 3 months. Not saying this will happen to everyone, but international tax situations do tend to get more scrutiny. Make sure you have all your documentation organized and ready in case they request additional information.
Adding to this - I had the same experience but also found that e-filing with the Foreign Tax Credit form went much smoother than paper filing. Paper filing with international forms seems to trigger more manual reviews and longer delays.
Yara Khalil
Another thing worth mentioning is that overtime might push you into a higher Medicare Additional Tax bracket if you're getting close to $200k income. I hit this last year and was shocked when filing taxes. Any income over $200k gets an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on top of everything else. So if your regular job pays $190k and you do $15k in overtime, the extra $5k over the threshold gets that additional tax. Not a huge percentage but still something to be aware of if you're in that income range.
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Keisha Brown
ā¢Is this something that employers automatically withhold or is it something you have to pay at tax time? I'm getting close to that range with all my overtime this year.
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Yara Khalil
ā¢Employers are supposed to automatically withhold the Additional Medicare Tax once your wages exceed $200k for the year. However, there's a quirk: if you have multiple jobs or your spouse works and you file jointly, your combined income might exceed the threshold even if no single employer pays you over $200k. In that case, your employers won't withhold the extra 0.9%, and you'll need to either make estimated tax payments or be prepared to pay it when you file. You can also request additional withholding on your W-4 to cover it. It caught me by surprise because I had two jobs last year that together put me over the threshold.
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Paolo Esposito
Something nobody has mentioned yet - check if your overtime is pushing you into a higher state tax bracket too! Federal isn't the only concern. In my state, the jump from 6% to 9% state tax hit me hard when I was working tons of OT last summer.
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Amina Toure
ā¢This is really important. I live in California and the state brackets have even more dramatic jumps than federal. My overtime last year pushed me from 8% to 9.3% state tax bracket and it definitely took a bite out of those extra earnings.
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