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You should definitely file the SS-8! I was in almost the exact same situation last year - worked as an "after school coordinator" at an elementary school, got paid hourly, they controlled all my work, but they gave me a 1099. I filed the SS-8 in April after filing my taxes and got a determination in December that I was indeed an employee. Filed an amended return with Form 8919 and got back about $1400 in self-employment taxes I shouldn't have paid. My employer was initially annoyed but ultimately had to fix their classification system for everyone. They couldn't legally fire me for filing, though things were awkward for a bit. Regarding your 2021 situation - yes, you should have filed taxes on that income since the threshold for self-employment income is only $400.
Did you keep working there while the SS-8 was being processed? I'm worried about the awkwardness but really can't afford to pay that extra tax. Was the amended return process complicated?
Yes, I continued working there the whole time. It was definitely awkward for a few weeks after they received the IRS letter asking for their side of the story. My supervisor made a few passive-aggressive comments but nothing they could actually fire me for. By the time the determination came through, they'd mostly gotten over it. The amended return wasn't too difficult. I used Form 8919 with code G (I believe) since I had already received a favorable SS-8 determination. Then filed a 1040X showing the difference. It took about 3 months to get my refund after amending. One tip - include a copy of your SS-8 determination letter with your amended return to speed up processing. And remember, the employer will be responsible for paying their portion of the Social Security and Medicare taxes that they should have been paying all along.
Has anyone here used TurboTax to file the amended return after getting a favorable SS-8 determination? I'm in a similar situation but not sure which tax software handles this scenario best.
I wouldn't recommend TurboTax for this specific situation. I tried using it for my worker misclassification amendment and it didn't handle Form 8919 well at all. I ended up using FreeTaxUSA which was much better for this particular scenario and way cheaper too.
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One thing nobody's mentioned - make sure your fiancée signs a document stating she's releasing her claim to the child as a dependent for tax purposes. Use Form 8332. Even though she's not filing, having this documentation is important if you ever get audited. The IRS tends to side with the biological parent unless there's clear documentation.
Didn't know about that form! Would that still be necessary even if she's not filing taxes at all this year? I'm concerned because we're not married yet so I'm not technically the stepparent from a legal standpoint.
Form 8332 is technically designed for the custodial parent to release the claim to a non-custodial parent, so it's not exactly the right form for your situation. Since you're not married and not the biological parent, what you really need is documentation showing that you provided more than half the child's support and that he lived with you all year. I'd recommend keeping records of all housing payments, childcare expenses, medical costs, clothing, food, etc. that you've paid for. Also document that the child lived with you for the full year. While the mother doesn't need to file a formal release if she's not filing taxes, having a signed statement from her acknowledging that you provided the majority of support would be helpful documentation if questioned.
Has anybody used TurboTax to handle this kind of dependent situation? I'm dealing with claiming my partner's child (not married) and not sure if the regular tax software can handle these "qualifying relative" situations correctly.
I used TurboTax last year for a similar situation with my girlfriend's kids. It does ask the right questions, but the wording can be confusing. Make sure you select "Other qualifying relative" not "qualifying child" when it asks about relationship. If you answer that you're not related and they lived with you all year, it should guide you to the right outcome.
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For the transfer pricing documentation, don't forget you might need a country-by-country report depending on your company size. We had to scramble to comply with this when our revenue hit the threshold. Different countries have different thresholds and requirements too - some want documentation prepared in advance, others only if you're audited. Also watch out for permanent establishment risks not just from offices but from employees who travel frequently to other countries. We had a sales guy spending so much time in Germany that they determined we had a "permanent establishment" there even without an office.
Thanks for mentioning this! Do you know roughly what revenue threshold typically triggers the country-by-country reporting requirement? And how did you handle the permanent establishment issue in Germany - did you have to create a legal entity there or was there another solution?
The country-by-country reporting threshold is generally €750 million (about $800 million) in annual consolidated group revenue for most countries following OECD guidelines. But there are local variations, and some countries have additional reporting requirements at lower thresholds. For our German permanent establishment issue, we ended up creating a formal subsidiary since we were planning expansion there anyway. But there are other approaches depending on your situation - some companies use a third-party employer of record, limit employee time in-country, or restructure responsibilities. The key is addressing it proactively rather than waiting for tax authorities to come knocking. In our case, we faced some back taxes and penalties before we got everything properly structured.
Does anyone know a good resource explaining how software licensing specifically works with transfer pricing? Most of the examples I see are about physical goods, but valuing intangibles like software seems way more complicated.
The OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines have a whole chapter on intangibles including software. But honestly it's super technical. I found the book "Transfer Pricing and Intellectual Property" by Abdallah and Murtuza more digestible - it has software examples. Software is tricky because you need to separate the value of the core IP from the local customization and support.
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Have you considered using a "blocker" corporation structure? This is something my business did with our hybrid activities. Essentially, we created a parent holding company that owned both the excluded activities (financial services) and a separate blocker corporation that contained only the qualified business activities (manufacturing in our case). The key is making sure the blocker corporation independently meets all QSBS requirements, including the gross asset test and the active business requirement. Investors then purchase shares directly in the blocker corporation rather than the parent company. Our tax attorney structured it so that profit flows appropriately between entities while maintaining the QSBS qualification.
That's really interesting! I hadn't heard of using a blocker corporation like that. Would this approach work better than simply having two separate subsidiaries under the parent company? And did you have to deal with any step-transaction concerns from the IRS?
The blocker approach works better than two subsidiaries under a parent because when you have subsidiaries, the parent's qualification depends on the aggregate activities of all subsidiaries. With the blocker structure, you're allowing direct investment into the qualified entity. We didn't face step-transaction concerns because we established the structure well before any sale was contemplated (about 3 years prior). The IRS generally respects properly structured entities with legitimate business purposes. The key is having proper governance, separate books, arm's length transactions between entities, and maintaining the structure for a substantial time before any sale. Also make sure your qualified corporation meets the active business requirement independently and isn't just a passive investment vehicle.
Be careful with Section 1202! Our company initially thought we qualified, claimed the QSBS exclusion on a partial sale, and then got audited. The IRS determined that just 15% of our "consulting" business was actually providing training (qualified) while 85% was financial advice (excluded). We had to pay back taxes plus penalties. Make sure whatever structure you set up has a clear operational separation between the activities, with separate accounting, management, and business purposes. And document EVERYTHING! Get your structure reviewed by someone who specializes in QSBS - most regular CPAs don't understand all the nuances.
How much was the penalty? I'm planning to sell shares in our business next year and now I'm worried about claiming QSBS incorrectly!
Jade Lopez
Another option you might not have considered: check last year's tax return if you claimed the childcare credit then too. The EIN would be listed on Form 2441 that you filed. You can get a transcript of your previous returns on the IRS website pretty easily.
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Alice Coleman
•That's really smart! I did claim them on last year's taxes so the EIN should definitely be on my old Form 2441. I'll check my copy of last year's return tonight. If I can't find my copy, is the transcript free to get from the IRS website?
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Jade Lopez
•Yes, getting your tax transcript from the IRS website is completely free! Just go to IRS.gov and search for "Get Transcript Online." You'll need to create an account if you don't already have one, and they'll verify your identity with some security questions. Once you're in, you can request a "Tax Return Transcript" for the previous year. It should show up immediately and you can download it as a PDF. Form 2441 will be included, and line 1 should have the provider's name, address, and EIN. Super easy and definitely faster than waiting for the IRS on the phone.
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Tony Brooks
Just a heads up - if you absolutely cannot find the EIN, the IRS does allow you to still claim the credit! You'll need to show you made a "reasonable effort" to get it (document your attempts) and fill out Form W-10. There's a special procedure for this situation specifically because so many small daycares close without providing proper documentation.
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Ella rollingthunder87
•This happened to me 2 years ago. I wrote "BUSINESS CLOSED" in the EIN field and attached a statement explaining my attempts to locate the information. The IRS accepted it without any issues.
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