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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls ā which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
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Dylan Cooper
Has anyone mentioned state taxes yet? If your state has income tax, you're probably behind on those too, and each state has different penalties and payment options. Don't forget to address both federal AND state when you're getting caught up!
This is such an important point! I once got caught up on federal but completely forgot about state taxes. Ended up with a state tax lien that was a nightmare to deal with. Some states are even more aggressive with collections than the IRS.
StarSailor
Make sure when you file that you look into business deductions carefully. As self-employed, you can deduct legitimate business expenses like home office, equipment, software, professional development, travel for business, etc. This could substantially reduce what you owe. Might be worth consulting with a tax professional who specializes in self-employment taxes before filing.
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Daniel Price
4 Something important nobody's mentioned yet - check if your parents are claiming you as a dependent on their US taxes! If they are, you can't claim education credits yourself. They would have to claim them based on any expenses they actually paid for your education. I learned this the hard way last year when both my parents and I tried claiming my education expenses (they paid for my housing, I paid for books and materials), and it caused a whole mess with the IRS that took months to sort out.
Daniel Price
ā¢2 This is super important info! How can you check if your parents are claiming you? My parents and I don't really talk about taxes, but I'm pretty sure they might be claiming me since they send me some money every month for living expenses. Would that disqualify me completely?
Daniel Price
ā¢4 The most direct way to check is simply to ask your parents if they're claiming you as a dependent. There's no database you can access to verify this yourself. If your parents are sending you money for living expenses, that doesn't automatically mean they're claiming you. The dependency test is more complex than that - it involves your age, student status, how much of your own support you provide, and other factors. If you provide more than half of your own total support for the year, your parents generally can't claim you even if they help with some expenses.
Daniel Price
10 Quick tip about documenting those second-hand book purchases without receipts: take photos of the books with the course number and your name visible, screenshots of any electronic transfers you made to pay for them, and keep a spreadsheet with dates, amounts, and course information. Also save your course syllabi that show these materials were required. I did this for my study abroad in Spain, and it was enough documentation when I claimed the Lifetime Learning Credit. I got about $200 back, which wasn't huge but definitely helped!
Daniel Price
ā¢23 This is super helpful! Would Venmo or PayPal transfers to classmates count as documentation? That's how I've been paying for most of my secondhand books.
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Khalil Urso
Don't forget about state taxes on capital gains too! Depending on your state, you might owe additional tax on those gains. Some states tax capital gains at the same rate as ordinary income, while others have their own special rates. I got hit with an unexpected state tax bill last year because I only focused on federal.
Ugh I didn't even think about state taxes! I'm in California - does anyone know how they handle capital gains? Is it just added to regular income?
Khalil Urso
ā¢California taxes all capital gains as ordinary income at your marginal tax rate, which can go as high as 13.3% for high-income earners. There's no special capital gains rate like there is federally. So your $32,000 in gains will be taxed at your regular CA income tax rate. For other readers: States vary widely in how they handle capital gains. Some like Nevada, Florida, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming have no state income tax at all, so no capital gains tax. Others like New Hampshire only tax investment income.
Myles Regis
Anyone know if tax loss harvesting is still worth it for offsetting capital gains? I have some stocks that are down about $8k this year and wondering if I should sell them to offset some of my gains from other investments.
Brian Downey
ā¢Absolutely worth it! You can offset capital gains completely with capital losses, and if your losses exceed your gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 against ordinary income. Any remaining losses can be carried forward to future years. Just be careful of wash sale rules if you plan to buy back similar investments within 30 days.
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Aaron Lee
Something nobody's mentioned is that you should make sure you enter the 401k distribution correctly in your tax software. When I did this last year, TurboTax initially calculated that I owed the 10% penalty because I didn't check the right exemption box. Double check that you've properly indicated any applicable exceptions to the penalty. Also, while the 20% withholding will be counted toward your total tax, remember the distribution itself will be added to your income, which could potentially push you into a higher tax bracket or reduce some of your credits. Every situation is different - it might be worth consulting with a tax professional given your specific circumstances.
Logan Scott
ā¢Thanks for bringing this up. I'm worried about how the 401K distribution might affect our Earned Income Credit. Do you know if retirement distributions count as income for calculating the EIC? We're really counting on that credit this year with our reduced income.
Aaron Lee
ā¢Yes, 401k distributions do count as income for calculating the Earned Income Credit, which is something to be aware of. The distribution could potentially reduce your EIC amount since it increases your AGI. However, it won't completely disqualify you if your overall income still falls within the EIC thresholds. For the Child Tax Credit, the same principle applies - the 401k distribution increases your income, which could affect the amount you receive if you're near a phase-out threshold. In your specific situation though, if you're truly below the poverty line even after counting the distribution, you'll likely still qualify for the full credits, but it's definitely something to watch when you're preparing your return.
Were you able to document the foundation repairs as a qualified hardship? I had to take a 401k withdrawal for medical expenses last year and was able to avoid the 10% penalty entirely by showing that the expenses exceeded 7.5% of my adjusted gross income. The financial institution still withheld the 20% for taxes, but I got that back when I filed because my actual tax rate was lower. Just make sure you keep ALL receipts and documentation from the foundation repair. The IRS can request proof up to 3 years after you file.
Is fixing a foundation considered a qualified hardship though? I thought it was limited to preventing foreclosure, medical expenses, education, or first-time home purchases. I don't think home repairs qualify unless they were to repair damage from a federally declared disaster.
Sofia Ramirez
I'm in a similar situation (expat, business owner, investments) and my return was 94 pages this year. What I do is focus on the key numbers and let my accountant handle the details. The big things to check are: - All income sources are included - Major deductions match your records - Foreign accounts are all listed - Your basis calculations look reasonable Don't try to understand every page or you'll go crazy. The tax code is ridiculous now, especially for expats. I literally just check the bottom line and sample a few key areas.
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Dmitry Volkov
ā¢Do you ever worry about missing something big by just checking samples? I'm dealing with a similarly huge return and I'm paranoid I'm going to miss something that'll come back to bite me later.
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Sofia Ramirez
ā¢Honestly, I used to worry about that constantly. But I've found that most major errors happen in the data input stage - like missing an income source or claiming an incorrect deduction amount. That's why I focus on verifying those elements instead of trying to check all the calculations. The calculation errors tend to be caught by the tax software anyway. I've had my accountant for 7 years now, and we've developed a system where he highlights any significant changes from previous years or areas where he had to make judgment calls. This approach has worked well - I've been audited once, and everything checked out fine. The peace of mind is worth the occasional risk of a small mistake.
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StarSeeker
Gosh I thought I was the only one! š« My tax return hit 108 pages this year. I'm an expat too with a small consulting business and some investments. The FBAR stuff alone was like 20 pages! My solution was to pay my accountant extra to walk me through the major sections over Zoom. Cost me an extra hour of his time but at least I understand the big picture components now. I still can't follow all the crazy calculations but I feel better knowing the inputs are correct.
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Ava Martinez
ā¢That's actually a really smart approach. How much extra did your accountant charge for the walkthrough? Mine currently just sends me the finished return with a basic cover letter.
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