The thing that most people miss with RSUs is the basis reporting on Form 8949. When your RSUs vest, the FMV becomes your W-2 income AND becomes your cost basis for those shares. If you sold shares to cover taxes, you need to report those sales with the adjusted basis. Here's how to fix this: 1) Get your original Form 8949 that you filed 2) Create a corrected version showing the proper basis for each RSU transaction 3) Include a statement explaining the connection between your W-2 RSU income and the 1099-B transactions 4) Reference IRS Publication 525 which specifically addresses RSU taxation The most important part is proving that you're not trying to avoid taxes - you already paid them through your W-2 withholding at vesting.

I had almost the EXACT same situation last year! My CP3219A was for $12,450 in supposedly unreported income from RSUs. Here's what worked for me: 1. I called my broker and had them create a special statement that specifically showed which 1099-B transactions were from RSU vesting events 2. Got a letter from my employer confirming the exact RSU value included in my W-2 Box 1 3. Created a spreadsheet matching each RSU transaction to the corresponding vesting date and W-2 income 4. Wrote a cover letter explaining the double-counting mistake 5. Filed Form 8949 with a statement in column (f) for each transaction saying "BASIS ALREADY REPORTED AS INCOME ON W-2" The IRS accepted everything and closed the case. Don't panic - this is fixable!

I'm in a similar unmarried situation and just had a consultation with a CPA about this. Here's what might help: 1) Have you calculated the difference between what you'd gain by filing HOH vs what your boyfriend might lose in healthcare subsidies? Sometimes the higher-earning parent filing HOH and claiming the kids provides more overall family benefit even if there's a small premium increase. 2) Make sure you're considering the Child Tax Credit which is up to $2,000 per qualifying child for 2024 tax year. This could be significant with two kids. 3) Look at childcare expenses if applicable - the Child and Dependent Care Credit might be more valuable to you as the higher earner. The best solution is usually to run the numbers both ways (you claim kids vs. he claims kids) and see which produces the best overall result for your household.

Did either of you use those Premium Tax Credits for the Obamacare plan? If so, be super careful about changing who claims the kids because it can cause major headaches with the Form 8962 reconciliation. My partner and I did this wrong one year and ended up owing $3200 back to the IRS because the subsidy was calculated based on different info than what we filed.

I'm in a similar boat but with rental property sales. Just a note on capital gains - don't forget state taxes too! Depending on where you live, states can take a significant bite on top of federal capital gains taxes. I'm in California and was shocked at how much extra I owed to the state when I sold some investment property last year.

Has anyone used tax-loss harvesting to offset capital gains? I'm thinking about selling some underperforming stocks to balance out my gains but not sure if it's worth it or how exactly it works.

I created a custom Excel spreadsheet that helps with ERTC/PPP optimization that I'm happy to share. It's not as fancy as dedicated software, but it has formulas that calculate different scenarios based on which wages you allocate where. Key features: 1. Separates employees by quarter/PPP period 2. Calculates ERTC for different qualified wage caps 3. Optimizes PPP forgiveness with non-payroll expenses 4. Shows total benefit comparison between different allocation methods Message me your email if you want a copy. It comes with no guarantees but has worked well for my 30-employee manufacturing business.

Has anyone actually had their ERTC claim accepted and received a check yet? We submitted amended 941s for Q2-Q4 2020 and Q1-Q3 2021 almost a year ago and haven't heard anything. Our CPA says the IRS is backlogged by 18-24 months on these claims. Just wondering if there's any light at the end of this tunnel...

I had a similar experience but the opposite way - TurboTax showed $280 more than TaxSlayer. Turns out TurboTax was correctly applying a savers credit that TaxSlayer missed. One trick I learned: you can view the actual forms before filing with either service. If you look at the completed 1040 forms from both and compare them line by line, you'll usually spot where the difference is coming from. It's usually on one specific line or schedule, and once you find it, you can research whether that specific calculation is correct.

Just to add another perspective - sometimes the difference isn't because one software is "right" and the other is "wrong." Tax law has gray areas where reasonable people can interpret things differently. If you're self-employed or have investment income, check how each platform is handling your qualified business income deduction or investment expense allocations. These areas have some subjective elements where different software might make different but equally legitimate calculations. I personally would go through the comparison process others have suggested, but if both approaches seem reasonable, I'd probably go with the higher refund. Just make sure you can justify the positions taken on your return if asked!