Wait WHAT? You had to pay $800 for a business that never operated? That seems absolutely ridiculous! Is that legal?

Yes, unfortunately it is legal. California charges an $800 minimum franchise tax to all LLCs registered in the state, whether they do business or not. Many states have similar fees, though California's is notoriously high. The logic behind it is that you're paying for the privilege and benefits of having limited liability protection, regardless of whether you use it. First-year LLCs in California now get a break on this fee, but after that, you owe it annually until you properly dissolve the entity. That's why it's so important to formally dissolve an LLC you're not using - otherwise these fees keep accumulating year after year.

I actually haven't done that part yet - I only dealt with the tax returns through the revenue department! Thanks for pointing this out. Looks like I need to file dissolution paperwork with the Secretary of State as well to completely close everything down.

I asked my tax preparer about this last week! Amended returns for tax year 2021 would normally be due by April 18, 2023 (the standard 3-year amendment period). If you're in the disaster area, this deadline is also extended to October 16, 2023. So yes, you have until October to file that 2021 amended return!

Thank you so much for checking on this! That's a huge relief as I'm still gathering documentation for some expenses that were damaged in the flooding. Good to know I have until October to get everything together for the amendment.

It's automatic! If your primary residence or business is located in the federally declared disaster area, you don't need to file any extension forms. The IRS automatically provides the relief to anyone in the covered disaster areas. The system is set up to recognize your location based on your address on file with the IRS.

Thanks for this info! I had no idea the IRS could help with missing W2s or that employers had a deadline for sending them. My company is definitely past that February 15th deadline now so maybe that's why they're being so slow about it. I'll definitely try calling that number. Do you know if there's a way to check online whether my employer has already submitted my W2 info to the IRS? That would save me time on the phone if I could see it's already in their system.

Unfortunately there isn't an online way to check if your specific W2 has been filed with the IRS yet. The only way to get that information is by calling them directly. One thing you might try though is creating an account on the IRS website (if you don't already have one) at irs.gov/account. While it won't show your current year W2 info before you file, it will at least give you access to request a wage and income transcript from previous years, which can be helpful for reference.

This is the most important advice in the thread honestly. The extension is ONLY for filing paperwork, not for paying what you owe! I think a lot of people don't realize this.

1 I actually didn't know that was an option! Would the loan show up on my credit report? And what happens if I leave my current job before it's paid back?

22 401k loans don't appear on your credit report since you're essentially borrowing from yourself, not a financial institution. If you leave your job before repaying the loan, that's where it gets tricky. You'll typically need to repay the full remaining loan balance by the tax filing deadline (including extensions) for the year you leave your job. If you don't repay by that deadline, the outstanding loan amount is treated as a distribution, subject to taxes and the 10% early withdrawal penalty - exactly what you were trying to avoid in the first place. So only do this if you're stable in your job.

17 Does tax software like TurboTax automatically include this form when you report a 401k withdrawal or do you have to specifically request it?

Do you need to collect sales tax based on where your business is located or where your customers are? I ship to people all over the country and I'm so confused about this part.

You need to collect based on where your customers are located, not where your business is. This is called "destination-based" taxation and most states use this approach. So if you're in Texas but shipping to a customer in California, you'd charge California sales tax (assuming you have nexus in California). Each state has different rules for when you establish "nexus" (the obligation to collect), but generally it's based on either physical presence (having inventory, employees, etc. in the state) or economic presence (selling over a certain dollar amount or number of transactions to customers in that state).

I tried doing spreadsheets but it got so complicated with different tax rates in different counties and cities. What do you do when you have to calculate different rates for different customers?