Just want to add - since you're in Texas, at least you don't have to worry about state income tax on the distribution! I did something similar in California last year and got hit with both federal and state taxes plus penalties. It was brutal!

This is exactly why I always tell people to be super careful with 401k loans when changing jobs! The loan offset situation can create such a tax nightmare. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you haven't filed your return already, you might want to consider doing a partial rollover of the loan offset amount to an IRA before the tax deadline. Even though you can't roll over the cash portion you already received, you can still contribute the loan offset amount to an IRA (up to your contribution limits) and that portion won't be subject to the 10% penalty. You'd need to come up with the cash out of pocket to make the IRA contribution, but it could save you significantly on the penalty portion. Just make sure to mark it as a rollover contribution when you do it. A tax professional would be able to calculate if this makes financial sense based on your specific numbers.

This is definitely a frustrating situation, but you're right to be suspicious - this sounds like a clear payroll error. Since you worked entirely in New York during 2024, all your wages and withholdings should be reported on a single W-2 showing New York as your work state. The split you're seeing (federal withholdings on the CA form, state withholdings on the NY form) suggests their payroll system might still have outdated location codes from your 2022 internship. This is more common than you'd think, especially with companies that have offices in multiple states. I'd recommend calling your HR/payroll department first thing Monday morning. Be specific about what you need: a corrected W-2c that consolidates all your 2024 wages and withholdings under New York, since that's where you physically performed all work during the tax year. Don't file your return until this is fixed - it'll save you major headaches with both state tax agencies later. If HR gives you pushback or delays, you can always contact the IRS directly, but most employers will fix this pretty quickly once they understand the issue. Keep documentation of all your communications in case you need to reference them later.

This is a classic payroll system error that I've seen happen frequently with companies that have multi-state operations. The fact that your federal withholdings are showing up on the California W-2 while state withholdings are on the New York form is a dead giveaway that their system still has some incorrect coding from your 2022 internship. Before contacting anyone, gather some documentation to make your case stronger: your offer letter showing your New York start date, any emails confirming your work location, and records showing you've been a New York resident throughout 2024. This will help HR understand the timeline and why the California allocation is wrong. When you call HR, ask them to pull up your "employee master record" and verify both your work location and tax withholding location are set to New York for the entire 2024 tax year. Many payroll systems have separate fields for these, and if they weren't both updated when you transitioned from intern to full-time employee, it creates exactly this kind of split W-2 situation. Don't file your taxes until this gets resolved with a corrected W-2c. Filing with the wrong state allocation will trigger notices from California's tax agency, and they're notoriously difficult to deal with once they think you owe them money. It's much easier to fix this on the front end than to sort it out after filing.

I just went through this exact situation a few weeks ago! I had about $280 from UberEats and was totally lost on how to report it without a 1099. What finally worked for me was creating a simple spreadsheet with all my delivery dates and earnings from the UberEats app payment history. I took screenshots of everything as backup documentation. Then in TaxAct, I went to the self-employment section and selected "Report income without tax documents." One thing that really helped was calling my local VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site - they have volunteers who specifically help with situations like this for free. They confirmed that for small gig work, your own records are totally acceptable to the IRS, and they walked me through exactly which fields to fill out in the tax software. The whole process was way less scary than I thought it would be. Just make sure to save your bank deposit records and app screenshots in case you ever need to provide documentation later!

I've been helping people with similar situations, and you're absolutely on the right track by wanting to report all your income! For your $350 in DoorDash/UberEats earnings, here's the simplest approach: In TaxAct, look for the "Self-Employment Income" or "Business Income" section and select the option that says something like "I didn't receive a 1099" or "Report income without tax documents." You'll report this on Schedule C as self-employment income. For the payer information TaxAct requests, just enter "DoorDash" and "UberEats" as separate income sources, and use your own Social Security Number as the tax ID (since you're operating as a sole proprietor, not as a separate business entity). The key is having your own documentation ready - gather screenshots from both apps showing your payment history, bank deposit records, and any email payment confirmations you received. The IRS fully accepts self-documented records when you don't have formal tax documents. Since you made $350, you'll owe a small amount of self-employment tax (roughly 14-15% of your net earnings), but it's usually pretty minimal on amounts this small. Don't forget to track any legitimate business expenses like mileage, phone usage, or delivery supplies that you can deduct to reduce your taxable income! The most important thing is that you're being honest and reporting everything - that's exactly what the IRS wants to see.

Why is everyone making this so complicated? Just check "Married Filing Jointly" on both W-4s and be done with it. If you're worried about underwithholding, just put an extra $100 per paycheck in the additional withholding line on the higher income spouse's W-4. That's what my wife and I do (I make $150k, she makes $65k) and we always get a small refund.

As someone who went through this exact situation last year, I'd recommend using the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator first before making any changes. My husband makes $140k and I make $82k, so very similar to your situation. What we learned is that the "married filing jointly" checkbox on both W-4s can actually cause overwithholding when both spouses work, because each employer's payroll system assumes it's withholding for your entire tax liability when it's really only responsible for a portion. The estimator told us to select "married filing jointly" on both forms but to add $75 per paycheck in additional withholding on my husband's W-4 (the higher earner) and $0 additional on mine. This ended up being perfect - we owed about $50 at tax time. The income gap itself isn't really the issue - it's more about making sure the total withholding from both jobs covers your combined tax liability correctly. Don't stress too much about it though - you can always adjust your W-4s mid-year if needed once you see how your first few paychecks look.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm going through almost the exact same situation in Nevada - separated for 3 years, ex won't respond to any requests for tax info, and I was completely stuck on Form 8958. Reading everyone's experiences has given me the confidence to move forward. I've been documenting my attempts to contact my ex (texts, emails, even tried reaching out through his sister), so I feel prepared to file with just my information and note that he refused to cooperate. One question for those who've been through this - did any of you have issues with state tax filing using the same approach? Nevada doesn't have state income tax, but I'm wondering if people in other states had to handle their state returns differently or if the same documentation approach worked there too. Also, for anyone still feeling anxious about this situation - seeing so many successful outcomes here really shows that the IRS understands these circumstances are beyond our control. The key seems to be making good faith efforts to get the information and documenting those attempts, which honestly most of us separated folks are already doing anyway. Thanks to everyone for sharing your real experiences instead of just theory - it's made all the difference in my confidence level!

This entire thread has been so helpful for those of us dealing with uncooperative ex-spouses in community property states! I wanted to add one more resource that might help anyone still feeling overwhelmed by this situation. If you're still anxious about filing Form 8958 with incomplete information, consider reaching out to the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS). They're an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers resolve problems. While you probably won't need them based on all the successful experiences shared here, it's good to know they exist if you run into any issues later. You can contact TAS if the normal IRS processes aren't working for you or if you're experiencing significant hardship due to tax issues. In cases where you've documented good faith efforts to comply (like everyone has described with the uncooperative spouse situation), they can provide additional guidance and support. The main takeaway from reading all these experiences is that the IRS is much more reasonable about these situations than most people expect. Document your attempts, file with your information, note the spouse's non-cooperation, and move forward with confidence. You're handling an impossible situation in the most responsible way possible!