Don't forget that if you absolutely cannot get your W-2, you can still file your taxes using Form 4852 (Substitute for W-2). You'll need to estimate your wages and withholding as accurately as possible. Your last paystub of the year is super helpful for this if you have it. The IRS might follow up to verify the information, but at least you can get your filing done and avoid more late penalties. Just be honest about why you're using the substitute form.

I went through something very similar a few years back when I needed old W-2s from a restaurant job. Here's what worked for me: First, definitely try the IRS wage transcript route that Omar mentioned - it's free and often the fastest option. You can get it instantly online if you can verify your identity through their system. But also don't give up on contacting the employer directly. Even if that specific Chick-fil-A location closed, the franchise owner likely had to transfer employee records to their accountant or another location. Try calling other Chick-fil-A locations in the area and ask if they can help you get in touch with the franchise owner or their HR department. One thing that helped me was explaining that I needed it for back taxes - most employers are pretty understanding about that situation and will make an effort to help since they know how important those documents are. If all else fails, the Form 4852 substitute that Nia mentioned is a valid option, but definitely exhaust the other routes first since having the actual W-2 data from the IRS transcript will be much more accurate than trying to estimate from memory. Good luck getting caught up on those taxes! Don't stress too much - the IRS is generally pretty reasonable when you're making a good faith effort to get compliant.

Just wanted to share my recent experience since I went through this exact process last week! Called the IRS main number (1-800-829-1040) and when prompted, selected option 1 for refund inquiries, then option 3 for direct deposit issues. Got connected to someone who knew exactly what I needed when I mentioned "indemnity letter for closed bank account." The rep was actually super helpful and walked me through everything. They took down my bank info, asked about the account closure reason, and confirmed my mailing address. Got my confirmation number on the spot and they said to expect the letter in 10-15 business days. Total call time was about 35 minutes including hold. Way less intimidating than I expected! Pro tip: have your last tax return handy because they might ask you to verify some details from it.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice! I'm feeling much more prepared now. I especially appreciate the specific menu options (1 then 3) and the tip about asking for the "Refund Inquiry" unit. Going to gather all my documents, pull up my tax return, and make the call first thing Monday morning. I'll definitely update this thread with how it goes in case others need to go through this process. Fingers crossed it goes as smoothly as some of your experiences! 🤞

Based on what you've described about your uncle's trust, it sounds like it could be either a simple trust or complex trust depending on the specific terms. If the trust is required to distribute all income annually to your aunt and doesn't make charitable distributions or accumulate income, it would typically be classified as a "simple trust" and file Form 1041 by April 15th. However, if the trust has discretion over distributions, can accumulate income, or makes distributions from principal, it would be a "complex trust" - but still with the same April 15th deadline for calendar year trusts. The key factor for your situation is that this type of testamentary trust (created upon death) almost always uses a calendar year for tax purposes, so you'd be looking at the April 15th filing deadline. Your aunt would receive a Schedule K-1 showing her share of the trust income to report on her personal tax return. I'd strongly recommend having the trustee consult with a tax professional familiar with trust taxation, especially in the first year after your uncle's passing, as there can be additional complexities with the initial tax filings.

As someone who recently went through this with my father's estate, I want to emphasize something that saved us a lot of headaches - make sure you understand the difference between the trust's tax filing requirements and any estate tax filing requirements. When my dad passed, we had both an estate (Form 706 due 9 months after death) AND the ongoing trust (Form 1041 due April 15th) to deal with. The estate attorney initially told us we only needed to worry about one, but it turned out we needed both because the estate was over the federal exemption threshold. Also, if this is a new trust being funded with appreciated assets, there might be stepped-up basis considerations that affect how the trust reports gains/losses. This is especially important if your mother is transferring real estate or investments that have grown significantly in value over the years. The intersection of estate planning and tax planning gets really complex really fast, so definitely get professional help for at least the first year to make sure everything is set up correctly from the start.

Make a payment through DirectPay NOW!!! I had this exact thing happen to me in 2021 and thought I'd just wait for the rejection notice. Big mistake. The incorrect bank account happened to be a valid account (just not mine) and the payment "went through" but then was returned a week later. By then I was past the deadline and got hit with penalties.

This is such a stressful situation but you're definitely not alone! I had something similar happen with a wrong routing number last year. Here's what I learned: 1. **Act fast** - Don't wait for rejection notices. The payment will almost certainly fail, but you don't want to risk missing the deadline. 2. **Make a backup payment immediately** - Use IRS Direct Pay (irs.gov/payments) with your correct bank info. It's free and processes quickly. This ensures you're covered by the deadline. 3. **Keep records** - Save confirmation numbers from both the original (incorrect) payment attempt and your new payment. This will help if there are any questions later. 4. **Check your account transcript** - You can access this through the IRS website or some of the third-party services others mentioned. This will show you the status of all payments. The good news is that wrong account number payments almost always get rejected automatically by the banking system, so you likely won't be charged twice. But making a correct payment now gives you peace of mind and protects you from penalties. The IRS is usually understanding about honest mistakes like this if you're proactive about fixing them.

I think everyone's overcomplicating this. The purpose of tracking non-deductible expenses is pretty straightforward - it's to properly track each partner's tax basis. The IRS wants to make sure partners don't claim more losses than they have basis for. The mortgage principal thing makes sense when you think about it: principal payments aren't expenses at all. They're converting one asset (cash) to reduce a liability (loan balance). That's why they don't flow through to capital accounts the same way as true expenses. The 50% non-deductible meals absolutely should be included though. Those are true expenses that just happen to be limited for tax purposes.

I've been dealing with similar issues in my partnership and wanted to share what I learned from our CPA. The key insight that helped me was understanding that non-deductible expenses serve two purposes: they reduce each partner's outside basis AND they reduce their capital accounts for book purposes. This is why mortgage principal payments don't belong in this category - they don't reduce anyone's economic investment in the partnership since the partnership is getting value (reducing debt) in exchange for the cash payment. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that you also need to be careful about timing. Non-deductible expenses should be allocated in the same tax year they're incurred, even if the partnership is on a different accounting method for other purposes. Also, make sure your operating agreement is clear about how these allocations work. We had to amend ours because it wasn't specific enough about whether non-deductible expenses follow the same allocation as regular expenses or if they have their own rules.