Former tax manager at a Big 4 firm here. Second opinions aren't just normal, they're smart business. What I would recommend is having a review done BEFORE your return is filed, not after. After filing, you'd need to do an amended return if issues are found, which creates more fees and potential red flags. The best approach is to tell your current firm that you're planning to have a second opinion review. Good firms won't be offended - they should be confident in their work. Request draft returns and workpapers about 3-4 weeks before filing deadline, and have another firm review them. Focus on finding a reviewer with specific S-Corp experience in your industry.

Has anyone switched firms after getting a second opinion? I'm worried about offending our current accountant who we have a good relationship with, but I suspect we might be overpaying.

11 Don't just look at the refund amount when deciding how to file! A bigger refund might just mean you overpaid taxes throughout the year. What you really want is the lowest total tax liability. My wife and I had a baby last year, and we compared all three options with similar incomes to yours. Filing jointly saved us about $3,200 in total tax compared to filing separately. The tax brackets are wider for joint filers, plus you get a larger standard deduction ($27,700 vs $13,850 each). If you're eligible for the Earned Income Credit with your income levels, you can only get that when filing jointly. Same goes for the full Child Tax Credit and Child and Dependent Care Credit.

19 Just want to add one thing nobody's mentioned - if either of you received advance Child Tax Credit payments last year, that will affect your refund. We had a similar situation with our first baby and were surprised when our refund was smaller than expected because of the advance payments. Also check if you qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit if the regular Child Tax Credit reduces your tax liability to zero. And don't forget to look into the Child and Dependent Care Credit if you paid for childcare!

I'm a delivery driver with a similar income level and I claim around 20,000 business miles annually. I've never had issues with the IRS questioning it. The mileage rate is set by the IRS precisely because they recognize vehicle expenses are legitimate. One tip - make sure your client separates the trips properly. The initial drive from home to the first airport can be business travel since it's to a temporary work location. Same with the drive home from the last airport. Just document each segment carefully and you'll be fine. Your client's situation actually sounds perfectly legitimate. They're literally driving to different job sites as required by their work.

Your client's situation is actually really similar to what I do as a traveling nurse! I drive to different hospitals all over my state. My CPA explained that the IRS doesn't look at the dollar amount of the deduction relative to income - they look at whether the miles are legitimate and documented. I claimed about $14k in mileage deductions last year on about $110k income. No issues at all because every mile was documented and legitimately for work.

One thing nobody's mentioned - if you file separately, BOTH spouses typically need to either both take the standard deduction or both itemize. You can't have one person itemizing and one taking standard. Also, you lose a bunch of credits and deductions when filing separately, including: - Student loan interest deduction - Earned Income Credit - Education credits like American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning - Child and Dependent Care Credit (in most cases) - Partial reduction in IRA contribution deductibility Run the numbers completely before deciding!

Has anyone actually tried MFS and then switched back to MFJ? We did MFS last year because of my wife's income-based student loan repayment plan (her payment dropped by $250/month) and it was financially better overall even though we lost some tax benefits. But the tax prep was so much more complicated! Had to split mortgage interest, property taxes, charitable giving, etc. Plus some states require you use the same filing status for state as federal, which creates even more complications.

I'm a bit late to this discussion but felt like I should share my experience. I've been dealing with stock investments for years and those AMT adjustments are confusing even for people who do understand stocks! The TY21 Sch D AMT ln 7 is referring to the Alternative Minimum Tax adjustment for capital gains/losses from a previous tax year that carries over. For most small investors, this is legitimately zero, so you might have accidentally put in the correct number anyway. The key thing to understand is that the IRS computer systems automatically match the 1099-B forms from your brokerage with what you report. If there's a significant discrepancy, you'll get a letter. But they're looking primarily at the current year transactions, not these carryover adjustments from previous years. In my experience, unless you're dealing with tens of thousands in stock transactions annually, these AMT adjustments rarely make a meaningful difference in your tax liability. The IRS focuses their enforcement resources on larger discrepancies.

Has anyone else noticed that tax software keeps getting more expensive but somehow WORSE at handling common situations? I paid TurboTax $120 this year (up from $89 last year) and they still couldn't properly import my stock information from the same broker I've used for 5 years!