Just checked my paystubs and you might be onto something! I see the federal withholding but there's nothing listed for state taxes at all. My company is headquartered in TX (no state income tax) but I live and work remotely in IL. Could this be why I'm showing such a big tax bill? Do I need to make estimated tax payments to Illinois or something?

That's almost certainly your problem! Illinois definitely has state income tax (4.95% flat rate I believe), and if your company isn't withholding it because they're Texas-based, you'll owe all of that at tax time. You should immediately contact your HR department and ask them to start withholding Illinois state tax. For the amount you've already earned without withholding, you might want to make an estimated tax payment to Illinois to avoid underpayment penalties. The Illinois Department of Revenue website has forms for this.

This happened to my nephew! He checked "exempt" thinking it meant exempt from filling out the complicated parts of the form. Ended up with zero withholding and a massive tax bill. Double check your W-4 and paystubs!

I just pulled up a copy of my W-4 and I definitely didn't check the exempt box. But I did notice something weird - my employer is still using the old W-4 form (the one with allowances) even though I thought that changed years ago? Could this be causing withholding issues? I claimed "0" allowances thinking that was the most conservative option, but maybe that doesn't work the same way with the new tax laws?

Solar credits are definitely causing delays this year. Mine took 55 days to process last year. The IRS is reviewing them more carefully because there's been a lot of fraud with energy credits. Double-check you had all the proper certification documents for your installation. As long as everything was done properly, you'll get your refund - it just takes extra time.

Thanks for the info! That makes me feel better. We definitely have all the certification documents and receipts from our installer. I guess I'll just have to be patient. Did you end up having to contact the IRS directly or did your refund just show up eventually?

The "no record of return filed" on transcript usually means they haven't started processing it yet. Had this happen last year and eventually it updated. Check again in a week. Mine took 49 days total with CTC and dependent care credits.

Thanks for the advice on tracking expenses. I've actually been keeping all my gas receipts and noting my mileage in my phone. It was about 480 miles total over the two weeks just for work-related driving. I also had to buy some office supplies they claimed would be provided but weren't. Do you know if I can still claim these deductions if I file the misclassification complaint? I'm worried about doing something wrong on my taxes while this is all getting sorted out.

You can still document all these expenses while your misclassification complaint is pending. The best approach is to keep everything organized as if you will need to file Schedule C (self-employment), but hold off on actually filing until you get a determination on your status. If the IRS rules that you were misclassified as a contractor and should have been an employee, the company will be responsible for their portion of FICA taxes (the employer half of Social Security and Medicare taxes). In that case, you'd file as an employee with a W-2 that the company would be required to provide, and many of those business expenses wouldn't be deductible anymore under current tax law for W-2 employees.

Even with arbitration clauses, labor board complaints are still valid in most states! Companies can't contract around labor laws. Had this exact situation and still won my case through the state despite the arbitration clause.

You're absolutely right! I should have been clearer about that. Labor board complaints and tax filings with the IRS are still options regardless of arbitration clauses, as these are government agencies enforcing laws rather than private litigation. What I meant was that if the OP is considering a private lawsuit for things beyond just wage claims (like potential fraud or other civil claims), that's where arbitration clauses can create hurdles. But you're 100% correct that for the core issues of misclassification and wage theft, the state labor board is still a valid path forward regardless of what the contract says.

That's really smart! Do you have any specific tips on how to document all those different responsibilities? Like do you keep a time log or something?

Oh that's a good point about the calendar year requirement. My business tends to be seasonal with a lot of income at the end of the year, so that might actually work out well for planning purposes. Do you happen to know if I'd need to start taking a salary immediately after forming the S-Corp? Or could I wait until I've built up some reserves in the business account first?

You should start taking a reasonable salary as soon as the S-Corp election is effective. The IRS looks suspiciously at S-Corps that distribute profits without paying any salary, as that appears to be avoiding payroll taxes. That said, you don't necessarily need to take a salary with every single payment that comes in. Many S-Corp owners set up quarterly or monthly payroll for themselves, allowing some cash to accumulate in the business account before processing payroll. Just make sure that by the end of the tax year, you've paid yourself a reasonable salary relative to the profit the business generated. Your payroll schedule should be consistent and documented as part of your business practices.

That's actually a really good point. I did pay with my credit card, so I could probably dispute the charge. Do you know what kind of documentation I'd need to provide to the credit card company? Would screenshots of my unanswered emails be enough?

Screenshots of emails, chat transcripts, and dates/times of attempted communications would be perfect documentation. Most credit card companies have a fairly straightforward dispute process - you'll typically need to fill out a form explaining that you paid for services that weren't delivered despite multiple attempts to resolve the issue. The key is demonstrating that you made reasonable efforts to work with the merchant first. Include specific details like "Sent emails on March 5, 12, and 19 with no response" and "Initiated customer service chat on March 25 which was terminated by representative without resolution." Credit card companies generally side with customers in cases where services weren't provided, especially when you have documentation showing the company was unresponsive.

That's actually genius. Do you remember which manager you contacted? I'm having similar issues with them right now.