IRS
CommunityGovernment Services
Can't reach IRS? Claimyr calls for you, so you don't have to wait on hold.
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the IRS
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the IRS drops your call
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
Married filing jointly but spouse refuses to share her tutoring income details for tax filing
I'm at my wits end trying to file our taxes jointly. My spouse has a small tutoring business on the side but completely avoids giving me any details about her income or expenses. Every tax season, I attempt to organize her financial information so we can properly report everything, but she constantly dodges the topic. I'm pretty sure she's not hiding anything deliberately - she just seems to have a complete mental block when it comes to dealing with finances or paperwork. Her record-keeping is practically non-existent. I'm worried about potential penalties if we get audited, and I've told her she'll be responsible for any fines if the IRS comes knocking. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? What options do I have for filing jointly when one spouse won't cooperate with providing their income information?
Join the conversation
Help with taxes on my stock market investments - do I pay on total or just profits?
I'm thinking about putting about $20k of my savings into the stock market as a long-term investment. Let's say after 10 years it grows to around $30k total value (fingers crossed lol). When I eventually cash out and withdraw that money, I'm confused about how the taxes work. Would I need to pay taxes on the entire $30k amount? Or just on the $10k profit/gains that I made from the original investment? This is my first time really thinking about investing beyond my 401k and I want to make sure I understand the tax implications before I jump in. Any help would be super appreciated!
Join the conversation
One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're planning to hold for 10 years, consider using a tax-advantaged account like a Roth IRA instead of a regular brokerage account. With a Roth, you won't pay ANY taxes on that $10k growth when you withdraw in retirement. There are income limits and contribution limits to be aware of though.
Thats a really good point - I didnt even think about using a retirement account! Arent there penalties though if I need to take the money out before retirement age?
Yes, there are penalties if you withdraw the earnings before age 59½ - typically a 10% penalty plus taxes. However, you can always withdraw your original contributions (not the earnings) from a Roth IRA at any time without penalties or taxes. So in your example, you could always take out the original $20k anytime you want with no penalty. Only the $10k in gains would be subject to penalties for early withdrawal. This makes Roth IRAs more flexible than other retirement accounts while still giving you the tax advantages.
Another option is tax-loss harvesting if youve got investments that go down. Basically you sell losers to offset any gains in a given year. I saved about $1200 in taxes last year doing this strategically.
But be careful with wash sale rules! If you buy the same or "substantially identical" stock within 30 days before or after selling at a loss, you can't claim that loss for tax purposes. I learned this the hard way.
Employer failed to withhold federal taxes, now I owe $1700 - what options do I have?
So I started this job back in March and was pretty excited about the steady income. When I filled out my tax forms, I clearly marked single with 0 dependents. Everything seemed fine for months - my direct deposits showed deductions for Social Security and state income tax, so I assumed federal taxes were being taken out too. Fast forward to last week when I got my W-2, and I was shocked to see ZERO federal tax was withheld for the entire year! I immediately went to our payroll person, and she gave me this ridiculous excuse that "young professionals in their first career position often don't owe taxes" or something equally absurd. That's obviously not true! I now owe around $2,300 in federal taxes that I wasn't expecting to pay. The kicker is that I checked my most recent pay stub from last Friday, and suddenly federal taxes ARE being withheld! She clearly fixed the error but never acknowledged the mistake or said anything to me about it. This is 100% my employer's error and I'm freaking out about how I'm going to come up with $2,300. Does anyone know what my options are here? Can I make my employer pay the taxes they should have withheld? Or am I just screwed because ultimately it's my responsibility?
Join the conversation
You might want to check with your state's Department of Labor. In some states, employers have legal obligations regarding proper withholding. Save copies of your W-4 form if you still have it, along with all your pay stubs showing the lack of federal withholding. Also, ask your coworkers discreetly if they experienced the same issue. If your employer did this to multiple people, that strengthens your case that this was a systemic problem, not just a one-off error.
That's a good point about checking with coworkers. I'm friendly with a couple other people who started around the same time as me. I'll ask them to check their W-2s too. Do you know how I would go about filing a complaint with the Department of Labor if it turns out this happened to others too?
Most state Department of Labor websites have an online complaint form specifically for wage and hour violations, which would include improper withholding issues. Look for sections labeled "wage complaints" or "workplace rights" on your state DOL website. Before filing, gather all your documentation: your original W-4 showing you selected single with zero dependents, several pay stubs showing no federal withholding, your W-2 confirming zero withholding for the year, and any written communication with your employer about the issue. If coworkers had the same experience, ask if they'd be willing to be mentioned in your complaint.
Your situation sucks but employers actually aren't legally responsible for paying taxes they failed to withhold. I've been a payroll manager for 12 years and have seen this happen before. Your best option is to: 1) File your taxes on time even if you can't pay 2) Set up a payment plan with the IRS 3) Adjust your W-4 for extra withholding this year to prevent a repeat Your HR person was totally wrong about college students not owing taxes though. That's complete nonsense.
Wait, so employers can just "accidentally" not withhold taxes and face zero consequences? That seems like a system ripe for abuse. Couldn't companies just "forget" to withhold as a way to effectively pay employees more without actually increasing their stated wages?
Do 1099-C's need to have verification signatures to be valid?
Weird situation I'm dealing with right now. I just received a 1099-C from my old bank for a debt they discharged last summer. The amount is about $8,700 which I thought was correct, but I noticed there's no signature on the form. I didn't think anything of it until my brother (who works at a different bank) said all tax forms need to be signed to be valid. Now I'm confused because I already included this on my tax return I just filed last week. The form has all my info and the bank's info filled out correctly, and the amount matches what I expected to be forgiven. But there's literally no signature anywhere - not even a digital or printed one from a bank representative. Do I need to wait for them to send a properly signed form? Should I amend my return? Or is my brother just wrong and 1099-C forms don't actually need signatures? Getting anxious about this since I don't want to get in trouble with the IRS for reporting a cancellation of debt incorrectly.
Join the conversation
Just to add some extra info: even if your 1099-C has errors or is missing some elements, you still need to report it. If you don't and the IRS gets a copy (which they will), you'll get a notice asking about the discrepancy. Better to report it and attach an explanation if needed. I went through this last year when my student loan servicer sent a 1099-C with the wrong box checked. I reported it as issued, then included a statement explaining the error. Saved me from getting one of those scary IRS letters months later.
If I get a 1099-C for a debt that was actually paid, not canceled, what's the process for disputing it? Do I still report it?
Yes, you should still report it even if you plan to dispute it. The best approach is to include the 1099-C information on your return, then attach Form 8275 (Disclosure Statement) explaining why you believe the debt wasn't actually cancelled. The key is to immediately contact the issuer in writing requesting a corrected form. Keep detailed documentation of all communications. If they agree it was an error, they should issue a corrected 1099-C showing zero cancellation amount. Once you receive that, you can file an amended return if needed. This approach shows good faith compliance while you're resolving the dispute.
FYI banks don't always get these right. My credit union sent out 1099-Cs to everyone who closed accounts last year by mistake lmao. They had to send out a mass email saying to ignore them. If ur bank sent a bunch out "accidentally" maybe check if they made a system error?
Wow, that's wild! Did they send corrected forms or just tell people to ignore them? Seems like the IRS would still have the incorrect info.
Received a revised 2022 1099-DIV from broker in May 2023 -- why didn't it move to the 2023 1099-DIV?
So I just got a weird situation with my taxes. My broker sent me a revised 2022 1099-DIV in late May of 2023. The revision showed an increased non-qualified dividend amount. When I looked at the transactions, they appeared in my account in May 2023, but the descriptions had 2022 dates. I'm really confused about what happened here. The stock is foreign but trades directly on NYSE (not an ADR). The qualified dividend portion and foreign tax withholding stayed exactly the same - only the non-qualified amount increased. I know sometimes distributions from REITs paid in January or February can be reported on the previous year's 1099-DIV. But MAY?? That seems crazy late! I've had corrected 1099s before when distributions were reclassified between dividend and return of capital, but this isn't a reclassification - this is actual new money that hit my account in May. I'm not planning to file a 1040X since the tax difference is tiny - about $14 federal and maybe $4 state. If the IRS sends me a notice, I'll just pay it. But I'm super curious what might be going on with this unusual situation. Anyone experienced something similar or have insight on why foreign stock dividends might get reported this way?
Join the conversation
I work for a financial institution (not a broker though) and can confirm what others have said about foreign securities. These late allocations aren't just about timing but also about finalizing how the distribution is classified for US tax purposes. Foreign companies don't always initially know how their dividends will be treated under US tax code. Sometimes it takes their accounting department months to finalize the proper classification (qualified vs non-qualified, dividend vs return of capital, etc). What you experienced is annoying but completely legitimate from a tax reporting perspective.
This makes sense! Do foreign companies have different deadlines for issuing their corrections compared to US companies? The whole situation seems really inefficient for taxpayers.
i had this exact thing happen with a japnese stock! the difference was like $6 in taxes so i just ignored it lol. but my accountant told me that with the international ones they sometimes do these "dividend adjustments" that are technically for the previous year. its super annying for tax purposes but i guess thats how they do things 🤷♂️ def not worth filing a whole amended return for such a small amount. AI: I'll transform the forum content according to the provided guidelines.
Carmen Ruiz
Maybe consider a third approach that worked for me: hire a bookkeeper for just her tutoring business. For my wife's art sales, we hired a college student studying accounting for like $25/hour who comes once a month, sorts through her receipts, and maintains simple income/expense tracking. This removes the personal tension between you two and creates accountability with an outside person. My wife doesn't mind showing her "financial mess" to the bookkeeper since there's no judgment, and it's been worth EVERY penny for our marriage!
0 coins
Andre Lefebvre
Wouldn't a bookkeeper be expensive for just a small tutoring income? Seems like overkill unless she's making significant money from it.
0 coins
Zoe Alexopoulos
Don't forget that ultimately YOU are responsible too if you sign a joint return. My ex-husband had unreported income and guess who the IRS came after years later? BOTH OF US! Even after we were divorced! I had to file for innocent spouse relief which was a nightmare to prove. Either get her to cooperate, file separately, or prepare for potential consequences. The IRS doesn't care about your marriage dynamics, they just want their money and proper reporting.
0 coins