How do I calculate the number of days I worked for my tax return?

For first-time filers, this question comes up a lot! The "number of days worked" is typically needed for specific situations like working in multiple states or for partial-year employment calculations. If you worked a standard full-time job for the entire year, you'd typically use 260 days (52 weeks × 5 days). If you started mid-year, count the actual workdays from your start date through December 31st. Include paid holidays, sick days, and vacation days since you were still employed those days. For part-time work with varying schedules, you might need to look through your pay stubs or work calendar to count actual days. Don't stress about being absolutely perfect - a reasonable estimate is usually fine as long as you're not claiming something obviously incorrect.

After struggling with the exact same issue last year, I discovered this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much headache with these technical questions. I uploaded my W-2 and pay stubs, and it automatically calculated my work days based on my employment dates and pay periods. It also explains WHY these calculations matter for your specific tax situation, which helped me understand I was overthinking it!

I tried taxr.ai after posting my skeptical comment above and I gotta say I'm impressed! Not only did it figure out my work days (which was way more complicated for me as a contractor with irregular schedules), but it also identified a deduction I was missing related to some business travel. The explanations were super clear and helped me understand why the IRS even asks for this info in the first place. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused like I was!

If you need to contact the IRS directly about this question (which I did because my situation was complicated with overseas work), don't waste hours on hold. I used https://claimyr.com and got a callback from the IRS in just 20 minutes instead of waiting for 3+ hours! You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is ready. The IRS agent clarified exactly how I should count my days for my specific situation.

Ok I was wrong about Claimyr and I need to eat my words. After waiting on hold with the IRS for literally 2.5 hours yesterday and getting disconnected, I tried it today out of frustration. Got a call back in about 25 minutes and resolved my question in another 10. For anyone wondering, the IRS agent told me they prefer accuracy but reasonable estimates are acceptable for work days if you don't have perfect records. For my situation, I needed to separate days worked by state since I moved mid-year, which is why it mattered more than usual.

Pro tip: Check your last paystub of the year! Many employers include "year to date" info that shows total days or hours worked for the year. Mine had this buried in the details and saved me from having to manually calculate everything.

This whole "days worked" thing had me panicking last year too! I called my company's HR and they sent me a report with exact dates. Maybe try that if you're with a bigger company?

As someone who just went through this exact same stress last month, I totally feel you! The good news is that this is way less scary than it seems. Most tax software asks for work days to help calculate things like state tax allocation if you moved, or to determine if you qualify for certain credits. Here's what I learned: for a standard full-time job, you can usually just use 250-260 days (accounting for weekends off). Don't overthink the occasional weekend email - that's not really "working." Sick days and vacation days should be included if you were paid for them, since you were technically employed those days. The IRS isn't going to audit you over a reasonable estimate here. They're looking for people who claim wildly unrealistic numbers, not someone who counted 255 days instead of 258. Keep any records you used for your calculation (like start/end dates from your W-2) and you'll be totally fine!