Just wanted to add that with $45k income you should definitely file your own taxes regardless of the FAFSA situation. Your parents can't claim you as a dependent with that income level unless they're still providing over half your total support (including housing, food, education, medical, etc.).

As someone who works in financial aid at a university, I want to emphasize a few key points that might help clarify things: 1. **Tax filing vs FAFSA dependency are completely separate** - this can't be stressed enough. You can (and probably should) file your own tax return with $45k income, but you'll still be considered a dependent student for FAFSA purposes until you're 24. 2. **The support test is tricky** - it's not just about income, but total support including tuition, room/board, food, medical expenses, etc. If your parents are paying for college expenses, they might still be providing over 50% of your total support even with your $45k income. 3. **Don't forget about estimated taxes** - with that jump in income, make sure you're not going to owe penalties for underpayment. If most of your $39k internship income wasn't subject to withholding, you might need to make quarterly payments. I'd recommend meeting with both a tax professional AND your college's financial aid office. They can walk through the numbers with you and help you understand the implications for both your tax situation and your aid eligibility. Every situation is unique, especially when you're transitioning from low income to higher income mid-college.

I'd recommend filing a report with your state's Department of Labor too. If they're reporting wages they didn't pay you, that's a serious issue. The DOL might light a fire under the company to fix this faster than you can on your own.

This is definitely a frustrating situation, but you have several good options to resolve it. Based on what you've described, it sounds like a clear payroll error since you have documentation that you stopped working in November. Here's what I'd recommend doing immediately: 1. **Document everything** - Keep all your communication attempts with the company, your final paystub from November, and any employment termination paperwork you have. 2. **Don't wait indefinitely** - You can file your taxes on time using Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W-2) if the company won't respond. Since you know you didn't work during that period, you can accurately report zero income for those dates. 3. **Try the certified letter approach** mentioned earlier, but also consider escalating to their corporate office if it's a larger company. 4. **Contact the IRS directly** - Call their business and specialty tax line at 800-829-4933 to report the incorrect W-2. They can guide you through the process and may contact the employer on your behalf. The key thing is not to let this delay your tax filing. You have legitimate recourse options, and the IRS deals with these situations regularly. If you end up needing to file an amended return later, that's totally manageable - it's better than missing the deadline while waiting for an unresponsive employer.

Just wanted to chime in with a personal experience that might help! My spouse and I had a very similar situation last year - combined income around $130k, one child, and I was working across state lines (NJ/NY). We spent way too much time agonizing over MFJ vs MFS and finally just ran the numbers both ways using tax software. The difference was stark - MFJ saved us about $2,800, primarily because of the Child Tax Credit and the better tax brackets. With MFS, we would have lost a significant portion of the Child Tax Credit due to the income phase-out thresholds being much lower. The multi-state aspect was honestly less complicated than I expected. The software handled the resident/non-resident returns automatically, and the tax credit between states worked exactly as described by others here. My advice: don't overthink it. Given your income levels and having a qualifying child, MFJ is almost certainly your best bet. The only time I've seen MFS make sense for married couples is when there are major deductions that can't be shared (like huge medical expenses) or serious concerns about the other spouse's tax compliance.

Based on all the great advice here, I wanted to share a quick calculation method that might help visualize the MFJ vs MFS decision for your situation: **Quick MFJ estimate:** - Combined taxable income: ~$126,000 - Standard deduction: $30,700 (including blindness addition) - Taxable after standard deduction: ~$95,300 - Approximate federal tax: ~$10,800 - Child Tax Credit: -$2,000 - **Estimated federal tax: ~$8,800** **Quick MFS estimate (if you each filed separately):** - Your tax on $55,000: ~$6,200 - Husband's tax on $71,000: ~$8,100 - Combined: ~$14,300 - Reduced/eliminated Child Tax Credit due to income limits - **Estimated federal tax: ~$12,300-$14,300** That's potentially $3,500-$5,500 more in taxes with MFS! Plus you'd lose the simplicity of one return and face restrictions on various deductions and credits. The multi-state aspect (CT/RI) adds complexity to your state returns but won't change this fundamental federal math. Given your income levels and family situation, MFJ is almost certainly your best choice unless there are major factors (like significant medical expenses or student loan considerations) that you haven't mentioned.

One thing I wish I'd done from the beginning: develop clear client acceptance criteria. When you're starting out, it's tempting to take anyone who's willing to pay you, but some clients will drain your time and energy in ways that aren't worth the fee. I now have a checklist of red flags that help me decide whether to take on a new client: - Do they have multiple years unfiled? - Are they bringing you their taxes on April 14th expecting same-day service? - Do they argue about your fees before you've even started? - Are they unwilling to provide complete information? - Do they tell you what their refund "should be"? Being selective about clients from the start will save you major headaches down the road.

This is a really comprehensive checklist! As someone who made the transition from working at a firm to solo practice about 3 years ago, I'd add a couple more items: - Client onboarding process/intake forms (beyond just engagement letters) - having a standardized process helps you look professional from day one - Backup plan for technology failures - what happens if Drake goes down during busy season or your internet cuts out? - Malpractice/liability insurance separate from E&O (depending on your state requirements) - Document retention policy - how long you'll keep client files and in what format Also, since you mentioned potentially buying your current employer's book of business eventually, start thinking about how you'll handle that transition with clients. Having your systems and processes dialed in early will make that much smoother when the time comes. One last tip: consider starting with a smaller subset of services initially rather than trying to do everything from day one. I focused just on individual returns and simple business returns my first year, then expanded into more complex work as I got comfortable with my workflow. Good luck with the venture!

I went through this exact situation last year and it was incredibly frustrating! My employer took almost 8 weeks to finally send out the W2C forms. Here's what I learned from that experience: First, definitely wait for the corrected form before filing. I know it's tempting to file early, especially if you're expecting a refund, but trust me - dealing with an amended return later is much more of a headache than just waiting. The W2C will clearly show what was wrong on your original W2 and what the correct information should be. When you do get it, you'll enter information from both forms when filing - most tax software handles this pretty smoothly. One thing that helped me was being the "squeaky wheel" with HR. I started emailing them weekly for updates after the third week of waiting. Turns out they had been getting the runaround from their payroll company too, but my persistent check-ins helped keep the issue visible and prioritized. If your company continues to drag their feet past mid-March, that's when I'd consider reaching out to the IRS about your options. But hopefully they'll get their act together before then!

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation right now! My employer sent out a similar "oops we messed up everyone's W2s" email about a month ago, and we're still waiting. It's so frustrating when you just want to get your taxes filed and move on. From what I've researched, it sounds like waiting for the W2C is definitely the right call, even though it's painful. I've been checking with our HR department every Friday for updates, and they keep saying "any day now" but nothing materializes. One thing I found helpful was asking HR for a written timeline or at least acknowledgment of when they discovered the error and what steps they're taking to fix it. Having that documentation might be useful if this drags on much longer and we need to explore other options like Form 4852. Has your company given you any indication of what specific information was incorrect on the original W2s? I'm curious if it's something major like federal withholding amounts or just smaller details like state information.