Has anyone used TurboTax for this situation? I've been using it for years but now I'm wondering if it's been calculating my federal disability retirement correctly. Does it know to use Box 2a instead of Box 1?

This is exactly the kind of issue that highlights why federal employee retirement taxation can be so tricky. As others have mentioned, you're absolutely correct that Box 2a should be used for your taxable income calculation, not Box 1. For federal law enforcement officers with disability retirements, the tax-exempt portion typically comes from one of two sources: either contributions you made with after-tax dollars during your service, or the portion of your retirement that qualifies as disability compensation under federal tax code. Since you mentioned this has been happening for years, I'd strongly recommend pulling together your last 3-4 years of tax returns and 1099-R forms to compare what was reported versus what should have been reported. The potential refunds could be substantial. One thing to be aware of - when you file amended returns for this type of correction, make sure to clearly document that you're correcting the use of Box 1 versus Box 2a amounts. The IRS sees a lot of federal employee retirement tax corrections, so they're familiar with this issue, but clear documentation helps ensure smooth processing. Also, if you have access to your OPM retirement account online, they often have explanatory documents that break down exactly why there's a difference between your gross and taxable amounts, which can be helpful supporting documentation.

I'm glad I found this discussion! I'm 19 and had a very similar experience with Cash App earlier this year. Put in about $40 total across some basic stocks and crypto, made around $3 in gains, then got that intimidating tax notification email that made it sound like I absolutely had to file something. After reading through all the helpful responses here, I feel so much better about my situation. The explanation about the difference between income being technically "taxable" versus actually requiring a tax return really clicked for me. With such small gains and being claimed as a dependent by my parents, I'm nowhere near that $1,250 unearned income threshold. What I found most helpful was understanding why these apps send those scary-sounding emails to everyone - they're just protecting themselves legally since they can't give personalized tax advice. It's like they have to assume the worst-case scenario for everyone, even those of us with tiny amounts. For anyone else in a similar boat with small Cash App investments, this thread has been incredibly reassuring. It's nice to know we're not alone in being confused by those generic warning emails!

This thread has been incredibly helpful for so many young investors! As someone who works in tax preparation, I just wanted to add a few clarifying points that might help others in similar situations. First, you're absolutely right that Cash App and other investment platforms are required to send those warning emails to all users regardless of amounts - it's a legal compliance requirement, not a personalized assessment of your tax situation. For college students who are claimed as dependents, the key thresholds for 2025 are: - Unearned income (like investment gains): $1,250 - Earned income (like job wages): $12,950 - Total income exceeding the standard deduction Since your $1.73 in gains falls well below these thresholds, you have no filing requirement. However, it's still good practice to keep records of your investments for future reference, especially as your investment activity grows. One thing I'd add is that even though you don't need to file now, understanding these basics early will serve you well as your investing journey continues. The confusion you experienced is completely normal - most people don't learn about investment taxes until they actually need to!

Does anyone use QuickBooks for payroll? I'm trying to run the 941 vs W-2 reconciliation report but can't figure out how to get it to show me the comparison by wage type.

Great question! I've been doing payroll for small businesses for over 8 years and this is one of the most common reconciliation issues I see. The key is understanding that Form 941 reports wages subject to Medicare tax, which should match Box 5 on the W-2. Here's why the other boxes won't match: - Box 1: Excludes pre-tax deductions (401k, health insurance, etc.) so it's typically lower than your 941 totals - Box 3: Has a Social Security wage cap ($160,200 for 2023, $168,600 for 2024) so high earners won't match - Box 5: No wage ceiling and includes all compensation subject to Medicare tax - this is your match! One thing to watch out for: if you have any employees who received taxable fringe benefits (like personal use of company vehicle, group term life insurance over $50k), make sure those are properly included in both your 941s AND Box 5 of their W-2s. That's where I often find discrepancies. If you're still having trouble reconciling, double-check that you're comparing the exact same time periods and that any third-party sick pay is being handled consistently across both forms.

I've been following this thread closely since we're dealing with the same issue for our partnership return. Based on all the responses here, it seems like 511210 (Software Publishers) is the consensus choice for indie game studios that self-publish their games. What's really helpful is seeing that multiple people have successfully used this code for years without issues. The distinction between 511210 and 541511 seems to come down to whether you're primarily publishing your own games (511210) or doing contract development work for others (541511). Since you mentioned you self-publish through online platforms, 511210 definitely seems like the right fit. The fact that multiple IRS agents have confirmed this through the Claimyr service adds even more confidence to this choice. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this thread is going to save a lot of indie developers from the same headache!

As someone new to this community and the indie game development world, I can't thank everyone enough for this incredibly detailed discussion! I'm in the early stages of setting up my own game development partnership with a friend, and we've been dreading the tax classification part of the business setup. Reading through all these real experiences with different business activity codes has been a huge relief. It's so reassuring to know that 511210 (Software Publishers) is working well for multiple indie studios here, especially those who self-publish their games like we plan to do. The distinction between 511210 for self-publishing vs 541511 for contract development work is super helpful to understand upfront. We're planning to focus on our own original titles initially, so 511210 sounds like the right path for us. I'm definitely going to save this thread as a reference when we get to filing our first partnership return. It's amazing how much clearer this topic becomes when you hear from people who've actually been through the process rather than just trying to interpret the IRS documentation on your own!

In case it helps anyone, I found this explanation on Wheaton Precious Metals' investor FAQ page that specifically addresses taxation. It confirms they're a corporation and dividends/capital gains are taxed accordingly. They even mention that their non-direct exposure to physical metals is one reason some investors prefer them over physical gold or ETFs.

Just wanted to add that the distinction between these investment types becomes really important when you're doing tax-loss harvesting. Since royalty stocks like WPM are taxed as regular stocks, you can harvest losses against other stock gains at the more favorable capital gains rates. But if you're holding physical gold or gold ETFs that are taxed as collectibles, those losses can only offset collectible gains first before being applied to regular capital gains. This is something I learned the hard way when I was trying to optimize my tax situation last year. I had losses on some gold ETFs that I couldn't use as efficiently as I thought because of the collectible classification. The streaming stocks give you much more flexibility for tax planning strategies.