Has anyone here actually successfully used the TAS recently? I tried back in 2023 for a different tax issue and they sent me a letter saying they were too backlogged to take new cases except in extreme hardship situations.

You're right that they've been overwhelmed in recent years, but their backlog has improved significantly in the last 6-8 months. The key is to clearly demonstrate the financial hardship the audit is causing you - be specific about any loans you've had to take, mental health impacts, inability to make financial decisions due to the uncertainty, etc. I've found that if you include supporting documentation of hardship with your Form 911, you're much more likely to be accepted. Also, calling your local TAS office directly (rather than just mailing in the form) can help get your case prioritized.

Thank you so much for this suggestion! I never would have thought of contacting my representative. Did you reach out to your House rep or Senator? And did they ask for anything specific besides the privacy form?

Did your in-laws ever get any of their money back? My parents already paid the $1,500 deposit and I'm trying to figure out if they can cancel and get that refunded.

Unfortunately no. The contract had tons of fine print saying the deposit was "non-refundable" for "services already rendered," which apparently included the initial consultation and some paperwork they filed. They threatened to send my in-laws to collections when they tried to cancel, so they ended up just walking away from the money. If your parents haven't signed anything binding yet, tell them to stop immediately. If they have, they should review the contract carefully for cancellation terms and possibly consult with a consumer protection attorney. Some states have cooling-off periods for certain contracts.

Don't most of those free file programs only work for the current tax year? I tried using one for an older return and it wouldn't let me.

You're right that most free services focus on current year returns, but some tax software lets you buy previous year versions. TurboTax, H&R Block, and TaxAct all sell prior year software. For truly free options, the IRS still provides prior year forms on their website that can be filled out manually. It's more work, but if someone has relatively simple returns, it's doable. There are also Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs that help eligible taxpayers with current and some prior year returns for free.

Do you know how I figure out how much to pay for those quarterly payments? Is it just roughly 25% of what I'd expect to owe for the year?

You have a couple of options for calculating your estimated payments: You can pay 100% of your prior year tax (110% if your AGI was over $150,000), divided into four equal payments. This is the safest method to avoid penalties. Alternatively, you can estimate your current year tax and divide by four. This works better if your income fluctuates a lot or if you expect significantly lower income than last year. The IRS has a form called 1040-ES that includes a worksheet to help calculate your payments. You can also use tax software to calculate this for you. Just remember that you need to account for both income tax and self-employment tax on that K1 income.

Can you really do that? Just ask them to withhold extra? How do you figure out how much extra to withhold?

That sounds helpful! Do I need some kind of professional evaluation to do this component depreciation thing or can I figure it out myself?

For a single small rental property, you can probably DIY it with good documentation. Basically, you need to break out the costs of appliances, carpet, window treatments, etc. and depreciate them separately on a 5-7 year schedule instead of lumping them into the building's 27.5 year schedule. Professional cost segregation studies are typically used for larger properties or commercial buildings where the potential tax savings justify the cost. For your situation, just keep good records of anything you replace or upgrade, note the value, and depreciate those items on their shorter schedules. Most tax software can handle this if you set up each component separately.

This is so important! My brother didn't know this when he inherited our dad's rental property and he used the original purchase price. He missed out on thousands in depreciation deductions before his accountant caught the mistake.

This is helpful but you missed Code C which is for taxable cost of group-term life insurance over $50,000. That's the one I always get confused about because I have to pay taxes on that benefit even though I never saw the money!

You're absolutely right about Code C! That's an important one I should have included. For group-term life insurance over $50,000 provided by your employer, the cost of coverage over $50,000 is considered taxable income. The confusing part is that this amount is already included in your Box 1 wages, so you don't need to add it again when filing. It's basically showing you what portion of your taxable wages came from this benefit that you never actually received as cash.

What tax software did you use? I have 3 W-2s this year (worked multiple jobs) and I'm worried about messing something up with all these codes.