Can you explain more about how you calculated that extra withholding amount? I'm in a similar situation but not sure exactly how to figure out the right number for line 4(c). Do you just use last year's investment income or try to estimate the current year?

I look at our investment income from the previous year as a starting point. For example, if our 1099s showed $10,000 in investment income and we're in the 22% tax bracket, that's $2,200 in taxes. If I get paid bi-weekly (26 paychecks), I'd put about $85 extra on line 4(c). I actually use a slightly more complex approach now. I take our average investment income over the past 3 years to account for fluctuations. If we have an unusually good year, I might bump it up mid-year when I see how the investments are performing. You can update your W-4 anytime with your employer.

This is what we do! Our investments are too unpredictable to set a fixed withholding. We just make estimated payments using the 1040-ES form in the quarters when we have significant capital gains or dividends. It's much more accurate than trying to guess at the beginning of the year.

Thanks for the tip! I just checked WMR and it still says "Refund Approved" with the full amount and the same direct deposit date that's on my transcript. No mention of any adjustments or changes. Hoping that's another good sign!

That's definitely a good sign! In my experience, if both your transcript and WMR are showing the full amount with an approved status this close to your deposit date, you're very likely to receive the full refund. The system usually updates both if an offset is being processed.

This is true! Same thing happened to my brother. His refund got offset for state taxes but he called and argued that he was on a payment plan so they shouldn't have taken it. Took about 6 weeks but they sent him a check for the full offset amount.

Is there any way to do the Mega Backdoor Roth if your employer plan doesn't allow after-tax contributions? I've heard about using Solo 401ks but I'm not sure if that would work for someone with just a regular W-2 job and no side business.

Unfortunately, you need a 401k plan that specifically allows after-tax contributions (beyond the regular pre-tax or Roth 401k limits) to do the Mega Backdoor Roth. Without that plan feature, this strategy isn't available. If you have any self-employment income, even from a small side business or freelance work, you could potentially establish a Solo 401k with the right provisions. However, this only works with actual self-employment income - you can't use a Solo 401k for your W-2 income from your main employer.

This is my concern too. I feel like "tax-free forever" is too good to be true, especially as the government looks for more revenue. But at the same time, I'm not sure what alternative is better? Traditional accounts are definitely going to be taxed at withdrawal.

I'd definitely be interested in seeing that code! My Python skills are pretty basic but I can probably figure it out with some examples. Would it work for someone who's not a developer but can follow instructions?

Absolutely! It's actually pretty straightforward, even for Python beginners. The code is about 25 lines and mainly uses the camelot library which does most of the heavy lifting. You just need to install Python (if you don't already have it), then pip install camelot-py and pandas. I'll set up a simple version that works with the standard Workforce Intuit format and share it via DM. It basically loops through a folder of PDFs, extracts the tables, and outputs them to either CSV or Excel. You'll just need to point it to your folder of PDFs by changing one line in the code. I've documented it well with comments so you can see what each part does.

We tried that route and got a flat "no" - they said it was an enterprise-only feature and wanted an extra $5k per year to upgrade our whole account just for that functionality. Total ripoff.

Do most consulting companies actually offer this? I'm a consultant too and had no idea this might be a thing. Is this common for larger firms or just certain industries?

It's definitely more common with mid-to-large consulting firms that specialize in industries where multi-state work is normal (IT, healthcare, engineering). My company (about 500 consultants) started offering it after too many people complained about tax preparation costs. Smaller firms might not, but it never hurts to ask HR. Some companies don't advertise it well - ours is buried in the benefits portal under "lifestyle perks" rather than with the main benefits. Worth checking your company intranet or asking colleagues if they know about any discounts.

Wait can you explain more? I thought state returns are separate from federal? Why would filing them on different platforms cause issues as long as you enter the same W-2 info?

The issue is that your state returns reference information from your federal return (adjusted gross income, deductions, etc.). Each tax software might calculate these numbers slightly differently based on how they interpret certain situations or which deductions they find. For example, if TurboTax calculates your AGI as $58,750 on your federal return (which affects your CA return), but then FreeTaxUSA calculates it as $58,600 when you try to do just your NY return there, you've now reported two different AGIs to different states. States compare notes with the IRS and each other. When they see discrepancies, it raises flags. You'd need to manually ensure every number matches exactly across platforms, which defeats the purpose of using software in the first place.