Just wanted to add that my business partner and I chose an LLC for our home renovation company, and we elected S-corp taxation after the first year when we started making decent profit. The key advantage was paying ourselves reasonable salaries and taking the rest as distributions, which saved us thousands in self-employment taxes. One mistake we made was not having a really solid operating agreement at the start. Def spend the money to have a lawyer draft one that covers what happens if one partner wants out, gets disabled, etc. We had a rough patch where my partner wanted to take on projects I thought were too risky, and without clear decision-making protocols in our agreement, it created some real tension.

Great discussion here! As someone who's been through the LLC vs LLP decision for my electrical contracting business, I'd echo what others have said about LLC being the better choice for contractors. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is worker classification issues. With construction, you'll likely work with both employees and subcontractors, and the IRS scrutinizes this heavily. LLCs give you more flexibility in how you structure these relationships compared to LLPs. Also, if you're planning to eventually bring on additional partners or investors down the road, LLCs make that much easier. We started as just two partners but brought in a third after year two when we landed some bigger commercial contracts. The LLC structure made adding him straightforward without having to restructure the entire business. For what it's worth, our accountant recommended starting simple with basic LLC partnership taxation for the first year or two, then evaluating S-corp election once you're consistently profitable and can justify the payroll overhead. That approach worked well for us - kept initial compliance costs low while we were figuring out the business.

This is a great discussion about FreeTaxUSA's record retention! I've been using them for 3 years now and can still access my 2021 return, so the 7-year timeframe mentioned earlier seems accurate in practice. One thing I'd add for anyone switching from TurboTax - make sure to save your final AGI amount from your last TurboTax return before you lose access. You'll need that number when filing with FreeTaxUSA next year for identity verification. I learned this the hard way when TurboTax locked me out after I stopped paying for their service. The cost savings really are incredible. I was paying $120+ with TurboTax for basically the same features I get with FreeTaxUSA for $15. Plus FreeTaxUSA's customer service has actually been more helpful in my experience - less upselling and more actual tax help. For backing up your data, I've started using a simple system: download the PDF return immediately after filing, save it with a clear filename like "2024_Tax_Return_Final.pdf", and store copies both locally and in cloud storage. Takes 2 minutes and gives you complete peace of mind about record retention policies.

Regarding importing FreeTaxUSA data into other tax software - I tried this last year when I was comparing different platforms. Most major tax software (H&R Block, TaxAct, etc.) can import basic information from your prior year PDF, but it's not as seamless as staying within the same ecosystem. They typically pull key fields like income, deductions, and personal info, but you might need to double-check some of the more complex items like depreciation schedules or carryover amounts. The import usually works best if you have a clean, complete PDF of your return. One tip: if you're planning to potentially switch again, make sure you keep detailed notes about any unusual items or tax situations in your return. The PDF shows the final numbers but doesn't always capture the reasoning behind certain elections or choices you made. Having those notes can save time if you need to explain something to a new tax preparer or software. Overall though, FreeTaxUSA has been solid enough that I haven't felt the need to switch. The combination of low cost, decent interface, and reliable record keeping has worked well for my situation. Just make sure you're downloading those PDFs each year regardless of which service you use!

Just to add from state law perspective - I'm a California attorney (not tax advice) - and while there's no minimum % required, California does scrutinize partnerships with extreme allocations for whether they truly operate as partnerships. If one partner has essentially all control and economics (like 99.5%), they might question whether a valid partnership exists at all.

One additional consideration I haven't seen mentioned is the "at-risk" rules under Section 465. With very small partnership interests like 0.5%, the limited partner's ability to deduct losses is limited to their actual economic risk in the partnership - essentially their cash contributions plus any personal guarantees on partnership debt. This becomes especially important in leveraged partnerships where the debt might be non-recourse to the limited partners. If your 0.5% partner only contributed $5,000 cash and has no personal liability for partnership debts, their loss deductions are capped at that $5,000 regardless of their allocated share of partnership losses. The IRS is particularly strict about this with small partnership interests since they're often used to shift losses to partners who can't actually use them. Make sure your partnership agreement clearly documents each partner's capital contributions and debt obligations to avoid issues later.

I'm in a very similar boat - just finished my RN program last month and my husband has been the primary earner while I was in school! We've been wrestling with the same W-4 questions as I start my first full-time nursing position next week. After reading through all these responses, I feel so much more confident about our plan to keep things simple and not check the multiple jobs box. Like you, we'd much rather overwithhold and get a nice refund than risk owing money. The "forced savings" aspect is actually a huge benefit for us since we're terrible at consistently putting money aside throughout the year. One thing my preceptor mentioned during clinicals is that many new nurses are surprised by how much gets taken out of those first few paychecks between taxes, benefits, and union dues if applicable. She suggested keeping the first three pay stubs to track the withholding patterns, which sounds like great advice based on what others have shared here too. It's so helpful to see that multiple tax professionals in this thread have confirmed this approach is totally legitimate and common. Takes a lot of the anxiety out of starting this new chapter! Good luck with your transition to full-time nursing - we've got this! 🩺

As someone who works in payroll processing, I can confirm everything the tax professionals have shared here is absolutely correct. You are NOT required to check the Multiple Jobs box on your W-4 forms - it's completely optional and designed for people who want more precise withholding throughout the year. Your plan to leave both W-4s unchanged (no box checked, no dependents claimed) is a very common and perfectly legitimate approach that many dual-income couples use. Each employer will calculate withholding as if that job is your only income source, which typically results in overwithholding when you file married filing jointly. This means you'll get that larger refund you're hoping for. One practical tip from the payroll side: when you submit your W-4 for the new nursing position, don't be surprised if HR asks if you're sure you don't want to claim any allowances or check any boxes. They're just trying to be helpful, but you can confidently tell them you prefer the maximum withholding approach for your household's financial planning. Also, keep in mind that you can always submit a new W-4 to your employer if you want to adjust your withholding mid-year based on how things are looking. There's no limit on how many times you can update it, as long as the information is accurate. Congratulations on nearly finishing nursing school! Your conservative approach to tax planning shows great financial responsibility as you enter this new career phase.

I've been in a very similar situation with a 470 code and outstanding EIC balance! The court ruling you have is absolutely incredible documentation - that's legal proof the IRS can't ignore that their original adjustment was wrong. From my experience and what I've seen others go through, they'll likely apply part of your refund to the outstanding balance, but with your hardship status and especially that court documentation, you should definitely see a significant portion back. My 470 took about 9 weeks to clear and I got roughly 65% of my refund even with an old debt. Keep copies of that court ruling everywhere and make sure the IRS has it in their system. Call every couple weeks for updates and don't be afraid to reference that court decision in every conversation. The waiting is absolutely brutal but you're in such a strong position with that legal backing. This is going to work out in your favor! 🤞

I'm dealing with a 470 code myself and have been following this thread closely - it's been so helpful to see everyone's experiences! Your situation with the court ruling sounds really strong. From what I've learned, the 470 code means they're doing additional review, which can be nerve-wracking but often works out okay in the end. The fact that you have legal documentation proving the custody/EIC situation should work heavily in your favor. Most people I've seen with similar cases get at least a partial refund even with outstanding balances, especially with hardship status. The waiting is absolutely brutal (I'm at week 5 myself) but reading all these success stories gives me hope that these codes do eventually clear. Keep that court paperwork handy and don't hesitate to call every few weeks for updates. Your case looks really promising! 🤞