Have you tried calling? LOL jk we all know thats impossible 💀

I had the same issue last week! What finally worked for me was using an incognito/private browsing window and making sure to disable any ad blockers or browser extensions. Also try logging out completely and logging back in with a fresh session. The IRS system seems really sensitive to cached data right now. Hope this helps!

Could someone tell me what schedule C is exactly? I'm totally new to this. Also using turbo tax and it's asking me so many questions I don't understand.

Hey Isabella! I was in the exact same boat last year with my Uber Eats and DoorDash income. The good news is you don't need to stress about separating tips from base pay - they're all treated as self-employment income on your taxes. Here's what I learned: Your entire 1099-K amount ($24,680) goes on Schedule C as gross receipts. The IRS doesn't care how much was tips versus base pay because you're an independent contractor, not an employee. What REALLY matters is tracking your business expenses to offset that income. I saved over $3,000 in taxes by properly deducting: - Mileage (this is huge - 67 cents per business mile for 2024) - Phone bill percentage used for work - Hot bags, car phone mounts, etc. - Car maintenance and repairs - Even a portion of car insurance For mileage, if you didn't track everything, try using your delivery history to estimate. Count your total deliveries and multiply by average miles per delivery (usually 3-5 miles depending on your area). TurboTax will walk you through Schedule C step by step when you select "self-employment income." Don't overthink the tip separation - focus on maximizing your legitimate business deductions instead!

I'm dealing with a similar situation and want to share what I've learned. The 6-year lookback your cousin mentioned is actually related to the IRS's statute of limitations - they generally can't go back more than 6 years to require unfiled returns, but this only applies in specific circumstances and doesn't mean older years are automatically forgiven. For the Fresh Start program, there isn't really a hard limit on how many years of unfiled taxes they'll work with. What matters more is your current financial situation and ability to pay. The key is getting all required returns filed first - they won't negotiate payment plans or offers in compromise until you're "compliant" (meaning all required returns are filed). One thing that really helped me understand my options was getting a transcript of my tax account from the IRS. It shows exactly what years they think you owe for and what penalties have been assessed. You can request this online if you can verify your identity, or by mail if you can't. The most important thing is not to wait any longer. The IRS is actually pretty reasonable to work with once you start the process, but ignoring it just makes everything worse. Your husband needs to file those returns ASAP, even if he can't pay what he owes right away.

I've been following this thread closely as someone who went through a very similar situation last year. What helped me the most was creating a timeline of exactly which years needed to be addressed and gathering all the documents first before doing anything else. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that if your husband was doing contract work, he might actually be entitled to refunds for some of those years if taxes were withheld from his payments or if he's eligible for certain credits. I know it sounds counterintuitive when you're panicking about owing money, but my husband ended up getting refunds for 2 of the 4 years he hadn't filed, which significantly reduced the overall amount owed. Also, regarding your joint accounts - I'd suggest opening a separate account in just your name and moving some funds there temporarily while this gets sorted out. It won't protect assets that are already jointly owned, but it can give you peace of mind knowing you have access to some money that's clearly yours if anything gets frozen during the resolution process. The key thing I learned is that the IRS is surprisingly reasonable once you start communicating with them. They genuinely want to collect what's owed rather than destroy people financially, so payment plans are almost always available. Your husband just needs to stop avoiding this - every day of delay makes it worse and more expensive.

I'm still a bit confused about how the timing works. If I'm planning to roll over a 401k from an old employer in 2025, should I do it in January to avoid messing up my Saver's Credit for 2025? Or does it matter when in the year I do it?

This is such a frustrating situation! I went through something very similar last year and it's one of those tax rules that seems to punish you for doing the "right thing" by keeping your retirement money in qualified accounts. One thing I learned that might help for future planning - if you're eligible for the Saver's Credit in a given year, try to maximize your contributions BEFORE doing any rollovers or distributions, even if they're non-taxable. The order of operations can really matter here. Also, keep detailed records of your rollover timing and amounts. While it won't help you claim the credit this year, having good documentation will be helpful if you ever need to explain the transactions to the IRS. Some tax preparers aren't as familiar with how Form 8880 treats rollovers, so having your own clear records can prevent confusion down the road. It's worth noting that even though you can't claim the Saver's Credit this year, you did the right thing by rolling your 401k to an IRA to avoid early withdrawal penalties and keep your retirement savings growing tax-deferred. Sometimes the long-term benefit outweighs the short-term tax credit loss.

I'm dealing with the exact same situation right now! Just got quoted $100 at my local Jackson Hewitt for what should be a simple amendment to add a 1099 I missed. It's frustrating because like you, I've never been charged extra for amendments in previous years. From reading all these responses, it sounds like we just got lucky before with preparers who waived the fee or locations with different policies. I'm seriously considering trying to do it myself this time - the AI tools people are mentioning sound promising, and if I can save $100 and actually learn something in the process, that seems worth the effort. Has anyone here successfully done their own amendment after always using a tax prep service before?

I'm seeing a lot of people mention AI tax tools in this thread, and as someone who's been burned by sketchy tax software before, I wanted to share my experience. I was really hesitant about trying taxr.ai when it was first mentioned here, but after Jackson Hewitt quoted me $150 for what seemed like a simple amendment (correcting my filing status), I figured I'd give it a shot. Honestly, it was a game-changer. The tool didn't just tell me what forms to fill out - it actually explained WHY I needed to make each change and what the implications were. I learned more about my taxes in 2 hours than I had in years of just handing everything over to tax preparers. The best part? It caught an error I would have definitely made if I'd tried to do the amendment myself without guidance. I was going to report my original refund amount wrong, which apparently could have delayed processing even more. Saved me $150 and actually gave me confidence to handle my own taxes going forward. For anyone still on the fence about DIY vs paying the tax prep fees - if you have a relatively straightforward amendment, it's definitely worth trying these AI tools first. You can always fall back on paying a preparer if you get stuck, but you might surprise yourself with what you can accomplish!