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.

Depends on your state. I'm in California and it's the opposite - got federal in 2 weeks but still waiting on state after 30 days. Their system is swamped this year.

Interesting to hear the different experiences. I'm in Michigan and they've been super fast with processing state returns this year. I wonder if the federal delay has something to do with the type of credits claimed. I did have both education credits and child tax credits on mine which might be slowing things down.

Usually when that happens the deposit will hit your account on Friday (the business day before). That happened with mine - said Sunday but showed up Friday morning. Check both days just to be safe!

Thanks for this advice! I never thought about filing an identity theft form, but that makes sense if my info is being used on an account that isn't mine. Have you dealt with incorrect income reporting yourself? How long did it take to get resolved?

Yes, I had a similar issue when a company I briefly consulted for reported all their platform income under my SSN by mistake. It took about 5 months to fully resolve, which was frustrating but eventually worked out. The Identity Theft Affidavit is helpful because it flags your account in the IRS system and can help prevent collection activities while you're resolving the dispute. Just be clear in your explanation that this is a case of incorrect income reporting by a business, not someone stealing your identity for credit fraud.

This is exactly what happened to me in 2023! Request those transcripts ASAP because they'll show the exact source of the reporting. In my case, it was a former business partner who kept using my SSN for company accounts after I left. Such a nightmare to fix.

This is exactly what I'm worried about. Did they go after his spouse too? My main concern is whether they can touch my income since the debt was from before we were married.

They didn't go after his spouse directly because they filed separately, but since you've already filed jointly, that ship has unfortunately sailed. When you file jointly, you essentially take on responsibility for each other's tax debts in the eyes of the IRS. They absolutely can garnish your wages even though the debt originated before marriage. The joint return creates what they call "joint and several liability." My friend's situation got even worse because they also put a tax lien on their house which made it impossible to refinance or sell without paying the debt. The collection agency has most of the same powers as the IRS itself, so definitely don't ignore this thinking it'll just go away. The 10-year statute of limitations is your best friend here if you can verify when it started and if anything has happened to extend it.

Innocent Spouse Relief probably won't work here because they already filed jointly after marriage. That usually only works if the spouse didn't know about the tax issue when they signed the joint return. The IRS takes the position that filing jointly means accepting responsibility for past tax debts.

But this seems super unfair to people barely getting by. So the tax code basically says "ur so poor u dont owe taxes... unless ur self employed then pay up"?? Is there any way around this or any special credits for low income self employed people?

You make a good point about the seeming unfairness. There are actually some options that can help. You may qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which is specifically designed for lower-income workers, including self-employed people. This credit is refundable, meaning you can get money back even if you don't owe income tax. Also, don't forget about business deductions. You can deduct legitimate business expenses from your self-employment income before calculating the 15.3% tax. This includes things like supplies, mileage, home office expenses, phone/internet costs used for business, etc. For many gig workers, these deductions can significantly reduce the taxable self-employment income, sometimes by 30-50% depending on your situation.

TurboTax does handle this correctly. I was in this situation and it asked if I had any self-employment income. When I entered my DoorDash earnings, it automatically added Schedule C and SE to my return. It also walked me through possible deductions like mileage and phone expenses that helped lower the self-employment tax I owed.