IRS
CommunityGovernment Services
Can't reach IRS? Claimyr calls for you, so you don't have to wait on hold.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
160,000+ people connected since 2021
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the IRS
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the IRS drops your call
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
For 2023 tax filing, what home office write-offs/credits can I claim as a W-2 employee working from home?
I just moved into a new place last month and ended up spending way more than I planned setting up my home office. Since my company is fully remote now, I had to buy a desk, office chair, monitor, keyboard, and a bunch of other stuff that cost me around $1,200 total. I'm wondering if any of this can be deducted when I file my 2023 taxes? I actually decided to rent a 2-bedroom instead of a 1-bedroom specifically so I could have a dedicated home office space. Is there any way to write off part of my rent for the office room? Important: I'm a regular W-2 employee, not self-employed or a contractor. Just trying to figure out if there's any tax benefit I can get for all these work-from-home expenses since my company didn't reimburse me for any of it.
Join the conversation
Can I claim tax benefits on 1099 income for my home office and laptop without registering a business?
Title: Can I claim tax benefits on 1099 income for my home office and laptop without registering a business? 1 I recently accepted a position as a 1099 contractor that's fully remote. I'm working from my home office space and had to purchase a new laptop ($1,250) specifically for this contract work. I'm trying to figure out if I can deduct these expenses when I file my taxes next year. The home office is about 15% of my total living space and I use it exclusively for this contract work. I'm confused about whether I need to formally register as a business to take these deductions or if I can claim them simply by receiving 1099 income. I've heard different things from friends - some say I need an LLC, others say I just need to file a Schedule C. Can anyone clarify what's required to legally deduct my home office space and the laptop purchase for my 1099 contract work? Thanks in advance for any guidance!
Join the conversation
7 Quick tip from someone who's been filing with 1099 income for years: track EVERYTHING. Mileage to meet clients, internet bills, office supplies, software subscriptions, professional development courses, etc. I use a separate credit card for all business expenses to make it easier at tax time. And don't forget about quarterly estimated tax payments! The IRS expects you to pay taxes throughout the year when you're self-employed, not just at filing time. I learned this the hard way my first year and got hit with penalties.
16 Do you have a recommendation for tracking mileage? I sometimes drive to client sites and I'm terrible at remembering to log it.
7 I use MileIQ for tracking mileage - it runs in the background on your phone and automatically detects drives. You just swipe left for personal trips and right for business trips. Super easy and creates IRS-compliant records. For quarterly taxes, I set aside 30% of every payment I receive into a separate savings account. That usually covers both federal and state taxes, plus the self-employment tax. Then I make payments online through the IRS Direct Pay system every quarter.
2 One important thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're making decent money on your 1099 work, consider setting up a Solo 401(k) or SEP IRA. You can contribute WAY more than regular employees can to a standard 401(k), which can significantly reduce your taxable income. I put about 20% of my 1099 income into my Solo 401(k) last year and it saved me thousands in taxes while building my retirement. You can open one at most major brokerages like Fidelity or Vanguard pretty easily.
11 This is great advice! Does the Solo 401k have the same contribution limits as a regular 401k? And can I still contribute to my Roth IRA too?
Understanding QBI Deduction for Rental Properties - Trade or Business Requirement?
I've been exploring the QBI deduction for my rental properties and wanted to confirm my understanding. From what I've gathered, for rental income to qualify for the Qualified Business Income deduction, the rental activity needs to meet the "trade or business" standard. If I'm just collecting rent checks from tenants without much involvement, would this be considered purely passive income that doesn't qualify for QBI? It seems like there's a distinction between passive rental collection versus active rental business management when it comes to this deduction. Can someone clarify if my understanding is correct that simply collecting rental income without it rising to the level of a trade or business would disqualify me from taking the QBI deduction? I'm trying to determine if my current rental setup would qualify before I file for 2025.
Join the conversation
Don't forget there's a special rule for "self-rentals" too! If you own a business AND rent property to that same business, different rules apply for QBI purposes. That rental income typically qualifies for QBI regardless of whether it meets the trade/business standard, as long as there's common ownership. Also, if your income is under the threshold ($170,050 for singles or $340,100 for married filing jointly for 2025), you don't have to worry about whether your rental is a specified service business or not.
Ooh, that's interesting about self-rentals. What about if I own a single-member LLC that owns both my business and a building, and the business operates in that building? Would that qualify as self-rental for QBI purposes?
For self-rentals and QBI, the key is having common ownership between the rental activity and the operating business, not necessarily the exact same entity. If your single-member LLC owns both the business operations and the building, it's actually simpler - it's all within one entity so there's no "rental" happening for tax purposes. The self-rental rule typically applies when you have separate entities or activities - like if you personally owned the building and rented it to your LLC business. In that case, the rental income would generally qualify for QBI regardless of whether the rental itself meets the trade or business standard.
Question for anyone who knows - does a triple net lease (NNN) where the tenant pays all expenses and I basically just collect a check each month automatically disqualify me from QBI? I have two commercial properties with NNN leases and trying to figure out if I should even bother trying to claim QBI on them.
Triple net leases are specifically mentioned in IRS guidance as potentially problematic for QBI. In Rev. Proc. 2019-38, they explicitly excluded triple net leases from the safe harbor. But that doesn't automatically disqualify you from claiming QBI - it just means you can't use the safe harbor provision.
Thanks for clarifying that! So I'd need to prove my triple net lease activities constitute a trade/business outside of the safe harbor? Sounds like an uphill battle given how passive those arrangements are by design. I might need to talk to my accountant about this one.
Need tax software that accepts w2 and 1099-nec for non-resident with SSN
Hey tax people. I'm stuck in a weird situation and could use some advice. I have a valid Social Security Number but I'm not a US resident (yet - working on it). I need to file my taxes this year with both W2 income from my part-time job and some 1099-NEC income from freelance work I did. I tried using FreeTaxUSA but got rejected because apparently you need to be a US resident. Does anyone know what software I can use to file my taxes? I'm trying to avoid paying a ton since my income wasn't that great last year. Is there anything free on the IRS website that would work for my situation? Or any other options that won't break the bank? I know I need to file since I have the SSN and earned income here, but the residency thing is making this way more complicated than I expected. Thanks for any help!
Join the conversation
just wondering if anyone knows if we non-residents with SSNs have different filing deadlines? or is it still april 15 like everyone else?
The standard April 15 deadline (April 18 for 2025 due to the weekend) applies to non-residents as well. However, if you're a non-resident alien who doesn't have any US source income subject to withholding, you may have until June 15 to file.
One important thing to remember is that as a non-resident with 1099-NEC income, you might be subject to different self-employment tax rules depending on whether your country has a totalization agreement with the US. This can significantly impact how much you owe, so make sure whatever software you use addresses this!
I had no idea about totalization agreements! I'm from Brazil - do you know if that would apply to me?
Brazil currently doesn't have a totalization agreement with the US, so you would generally be subject to US self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare) on your 1099-NEC income. This is in addition to income tax. This is actually one of the trickier parts of filing as a non-resident with self-employment income, and why using specialized software can be worth the cost. The self-employment tax is roughly 15.3% on top of regular income tax, so it's a significant amount! Make sure whatever filing method you choose correctly calculates this for your 1099-NEC income.
So close to having a perfect tax filing with accelerated depreciation
I was reviewing my taxes last night and I'm literally just $18 away from having the perfect tax return this year. I've been experimenting with accelerating some depreciation on my rental property and it almost worked beautifully. The goal was to get to exactly zero owed/refunded, and I came SO close! Had I known, I could have made a tiny adjustment to my withholding in December and nailed it. Anyone else try to get their withholding perfect? I feel like I'm playing a weird tax game trying to hit that perfect zero mark, but I'm weirdly proud of how close I got this year.
Join the conversation
I've been playing the "perfect return" game for years! My best year was getting to $3 refund. For accelerated depreciation, make sure you're keeping good records. I got audited two years ago and they specifically looked at my bonus depreciation claims. Had all my documentation and passed with no changes, but it was stressful!
What kind of documentation did they want to see? I'm taking some bonus depreciation this year and paranoid about an audit.
You're playing on expert mode lol! I'm happy if I can just avoid owing a penalty. Quick tip though - I learned that if you owe less than $1,000 at tax time, there's no underpayment penalty. So aiming for a small amount due (like $500) is actually optimal from a cash flow perspective. You get use of your money all year AND avoid penalties.
Zoe Papanikolaou
I know you said you're not self-employed, but if you ever do any side work (even small gigs), you might qualify for partial home office deductions. I'm mainly a W-2 employee but I do some consulting on weekends, and I'm able to deduct a portion of my home office expenses against just that side income. Worth considering if you have any 1099 work at all.
0 coins
Jamal Wilson
How do you calculate the right percentage to claim? Is it based on income split, hours worked, or something else?
0 coins
Zoe Papanikolaou
You calculate it based on the square footage of your office space divided by your total home square footage. So if your office is 100 square feet in a 1,000 square foot apartment, you'd get a 10% deduction of eligible expenses. It's not based on income or hours worked at all. The more complicated part is that you can only deduct expenses against your self-employment income. So if your freelance work only brings in $2,000 but your deductible home office expenses would be $3,000, you're limited to deducting $2,000. The calculation can get a bit tricky but most tax software walks you through it.
0 coins
Mei Lin
Maybe check with your HR department? Some companies offer a home office stipend or reimbursement program for remote workers. My company gives us $500/year for home office equipment. Not a tax thing but better than nothing!
0 coins
Liam Fitzgerald
Seconding this. My company reimburses up to $750 for home office furniture and tech. They switched to this model instead of maintaining physical offices. Definitely worth asking your employer about!
0 coins