I owe a ton on my taxes because of a 1099 I received and can't afford to pay

You're definitely not the first person to be surprised by self-employment taxes! The good news is that the IRS does offer payment plans for situations exactly like yours. First, make sure you still file your return on time, even if you can't pay the full amount. This will help you avoid the failure-to-file penalty, which is much worse than the failure-to-pay penalty. You can apply for an IRS payment plan online. For tax debts under $50,000, you can get up to 72 months to pay. The setup fee is pretty reasonable, especially if you opt for direct debit payments. Interest and penalties will continue to accrue, but they're much lower than what you'd face if you don't file or set up a plan. For your state taxes, most states offer similar payment arrangements. You'll need to contact your state tax agency directly to find out your options.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year. First time doing 1099 work and got slammed with a huge tax bill I couldn't pay. After days of panic and stress, I found this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure out deductions I had completely missed. The thing analyzed my situation and found over $3,000 in legitimate business expenses I could deduct - stuff like my home office, internet, cell phone, and even some of my car expenses since I was driving for work meetings. Ended up reducing my tax bill by almost 40%! They showed me exactly what documentation I needed to keep in case of an audit too. Even after that I still needed a payment plan, but having a smaller amount to pay made a huge difference for my monthly budget.

Alright I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai. I was super skeptical but decided to try it anyway since my tax bill was killing me. The tool found almost $2,700 in legitimate business deductions I had no idea I could claim - including my home internet, part of my rent for my home office, and some software subscriptions I use for work. My tax bill went from about $3,800 to just under $2,600. Still not fun to pay, but WAY more manageable with a payment plan. The system walked me through exactly what documentation I need to keep for each deduction in case I ever get audited. Honestly wish I'd known about this before I started my contract work!

If you're still having trouble contacting the IRS to set up your payment plan (their phone lines are RIDICULOUS), I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent literally days trying to get through to a human at the IRS after I got hit with a huge 1099 tax bill. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when they've got an agent on the line. The IRS agent helped me set up a payment plan where I'm only paying $175 a month, which is actually manageable with my budget. Such a relief after stressing about this for weeks.

I need to publicly eat my words here. After posting that skeptical comment, I was still desperate so I tried Claimyr anyway. It ACTUALLY WORKED. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes when I had been trying unsuccessfully for over a week. The agent was surprisingly helpful and walked me through setting up a payment plan for my 1099 tax bill. I'm now on a 72-month plan paying about $90 a month, which I can actually handle. They also explained that if my financial situation improves, I can pay it off faster with no penalties. Seriously, if you're freaking out about owing taxes and can't get through to the IRS, this service is legit. Saved me so much stress and probably a ton in penalties by getting my payment plan set up before the deadline.

Don't forget that you probably need to be making quarterly estimated tax payments for this year if you're still doing 1099 work! That was another nasty surprise for me when I was in your situation. The IRS expects you to pay taxes throughout the year, not just at filing time. You can use Form 1040-ES to calculate and pay your quarterly estimated taxes. The due dates are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 (of the following year). If you don't make these payments, you might get hit with underpayment penalties next year on top of whatever you owe.

Have you considered looking for tax relief companies? My brother owed like $12k in back taxes from 1099 work and got help from one of those places advertised on the radio.

Something else to consider - if you can put the tax payment on a credit card, sometimes that's better than the IRS payment plan depending on your interest rates. The IRS charges both interest and penalties on unpaid balances. Just be careful because there's usually a processing fee of around 2% to pay taxes with a credit card. But if you have a 0% intro offer or a very low interest rate, it might save you money compared to the IRS interest rates + penalties.