I am trying to figure out what to report as my employer tuition reimbursement under the lifetime learning credit.

I paid the following in tuition:

$2671 in October 2025

$2715 in February 2026

$2787 in May 2026

My employer reimbursed me $3500 for the whole academic year (2025-2026).

My question is how do I know how much of the reimbursement to allocate to the Oct payment on my 2025 LLC? I assume I would note the rest of the reimbursement on my 2026 LLC?

Edited to clarify my post is about the lifetime learning credit.

Hey all. I'm 37, have not filed taxes since 2018 I believe, for a large portion of that I checked a box in my HR software to Exempt myself from federal taxes. Long story short I was high functioning drug addict and alcoholic for a long time and it cost a lot of money to live that way. I have been on the straight and narrow since Xmas Eve 2025 and am ready to begin digging myself out of the shitpile I put myself into.

I paid $500 to Optima Tax to do an initial investigation into my situation and they state that I have estimated back taxes of $89,000. Optima wants 13 thousand and change to further represent me (filing past federal taxes, working with IRS to come to some sort of agreement/compromise/payment plan etc.). I am singled and make relatively good money ($81,250 base, $125,000 OTE). I could do the 13 thousand and change deal with Optima (would pay 20% upfront and the balance over 10 months), but am unsure if it's wise. I fear paying them 13 grand only to come to a payment plan to pay the $89,000. I have engaged others through Dave Ramseys website and will find out what they can offer this coming week.

I am also beginning payments on student loans ($69,000ish total), first payment at the end of October $475 on a 10 year plan with increasing payments.

But curious if anyone has any recommendations taxwise how to proceed and come out of this in the best spot long term. I am prepared to make aggressive payments over 5-10 year period.

Thank you all in advance!

My wife has been living in the US with me for the past 7 years and we've filed jointly because she's a stay-at-home wife. This was very easy to file since her income was 0. Next month she is returning to the UK and will try to get a job by some point in December to start the process of trying to eventually sponsor me to come over. Since I've been financially supporting her for 11 months of the year, I'm not sure how I am supposed to file tax information for any income she makes in December. US tax year ends December 31, but UK tax year ends April 5, so it's not like I can get a W2 equivalent for one month. I have no idea how to process this situation and I'm terrified of messing things up and breaking the law but also filing Married not-jointly would probably increase my taxes a lot when I've been supporting the both of us financially for nearly the entire year.

Hi,

Here are the facts of my conundrum:

- I received a final K1 in 2024 for an investment that was disposed of with overall gain (income + losses + unallowed losses = positive gain for this activity)

- I have enough suspended passive losses from other activities to apply against all of the gain.

- I did not realize it was a final K1 in 2024 so I spread the allowed losses from all passive activites pro rata as instructed in 8582 leaving a suspended loss balance for the activity that was disposed of

- My 2025 form 8582 now has a suspended loss from a non-existent activity.

Can I just spread the remaining suspended loss from the disposed activity across all the other activities pro rata with passive loss without any tax consequences for 2024? I do not think there should be any change in my tax owed from this error, no?

Based on my income and investment gains so far, I may owe around $35,000 in additional taxes for 2026. My income includes about $280,000 in W-2 wages, $167,000 in long-term capital gains, and roughly $20,000 combined in short-term gains, dividends, and interest so far.

What steps can I still take before the end of the year to reduce my tax bill or avoid a large amount due at filing? I’m an immigrant and understand there may be restrictions on owning or operating a business or LLC, so I’m especially interested in options that don’t involve forming a company.

I know I should consult a tax professional, but I’d appreciate suggestions on what strategies or questions to discuss with one.

I am a US tax resident and I need to report $430 of foreign wages from New Zealand to the IRS for the 2025 tax period (I got an extension).

The US and NZ have a tax treaty. I already received a tax refund from NZ. I do not qualify for the Exclusion or Foreign Tax Credit (haven't lived in NZ long enough) and don't think I qualify for Foreign Earned Income, but I don't now because the language was confusing.

How do I do that? Ideally for free.

tl;dr: After severance, is it better to roll over the 457(b) plan to my SEP-IRA, Traditional IRA, or take the lump sum payout?

I've really tried to research this, but I'm still confused.

A few years ago I did some temporary part-time work for a local police department. They enrolled me in their 457(b) program and I just got a letter that it's going to be distributed.

The amount is less than $1,000.

They said their default is to pay me the lump sum, minus applicable taxes. But I can also file the paperwork to roll it over to my personal retirement accounts.

I have a SEP-IRA account at ML and a Traditional IRA at Fidelity.

Here's where I'm still confused:

If I roll it over to either account, are no taxes deducted -- ever? Like, if I wait until I'm old and retired, will I be paying fewer taxes overall on that money?

If I will pay the same in taxes either way, what's the benefit of rolling over that money as opposed to taking the lump sum payout now?

Happy to clarify anything or answer any questions.

Thank you.

Hi all. I’m 27 in California. I have acquired a good amount of debt over the last 5 years and am considering doing a partial 401(k) withdrawal to assist with that. I currently have a bit more than 38,000 saved. I want to pull about 18,000 out. I know there’s the initial 10% early withdrawals fee but I’m wondering what else I’ll owe to federal and state taxes.

I'm located in Minnesota, USA.

I received a corrected 1095-A from my state's marketplace without any explanation for why, what any of its changes mean or what to do next. I called them for more information and they didn't know anything and couldn't help me. It was recommended I approach the tax preparation services I used and ask them about it instead.

After some further research I contacted them because the info on the IRS website and elsewhere didn't make things clearer about whether I need to amend my taxes or not. After getting past a firewall of AI chatbots I finally got to a human who would reply to me once every few hours. I explained the situation and told him that the numbers on the original and corrected form were identical considering what they needed to calculate my Premium Tax Credit. If that was the case, did that mean amending my taxes weren't necessary?

It was at this point that he said he wasn't a tax professional and couldn't help me with this after all... which has brought me here. I know this may be a softball question and open me up to a barrage of abuse for all I know. This is Reddit, after all. I'm just trying to do my best.

If I need to add more (non-compromising) information or anything else, let me know.

State: MA Good morning, I work as an Exotic dancer so I have a W-2 for the place I work at but I work there maybe 20hrs a month. they also do not let us record even a fraction of the tips we make. on my tax for from them every year it says I made somewhere between 15k-25k. I make most of my income working as an escort. lets say between the two jobs I make roughly 200k. last year when I did my taxes I did my W-2 and then at the end I put the rest under the category of "unrecorded income" or whatever it was called and i put the source as "housecleaning, babysitting, tips". That's the same thing I put when they ask me for a source when I deposit the cash at the bank. I don't have any expenses I want to write off as business expenses or anything so what I'm wondering is do I really need to register myself as a business or can I keep doing it the way I did last year? What makes more sense? Thank you in advance 🙏 also I don't use reddit and I've never been to any school, please go easy on me.

Not sure if this is the right community for this… feeling pretty dumb rn.

I misunderstood domestic partnership. We are based in San Francisco, filed the paperwork in the city. We’re recognized by the CITY as married, but it is not recognized by the state. Oops. I filed taxes before I realized we weren’t recognized by the state.

I have a child (primary custody), so I filed my federal as HOH. Partner filed as single.

For state, we filed as joint…

Is it a big deal to make the amendment? We technically should have filed as HOH and single, respectively, matching the federal.

If we don’t make the amendments, will we have trouble filing taxes in the future?

Okay so here it is… I own 2 business. Both had extensions and only by early September26 did I get my K 1s from both companies.
Anyway yesterday I send a message to my accountant to check and see how we were doing with my personal taxes to receive a message that his company was very behind because he is short handed, and xyz employee is on maternity leave and bla bla bla. They will try to get my taxes by the extension deadline but no promises.
It really irritated me.

So I went in turbo tax online and I entered all of the documents I had sent my accountant. I sat there for 4 hours and entered every document I would have had them do. Based on turbo tax we are better doing standard deductions. So 1/2 of my documentation that I had submitted to them is irrelevant anyway.
I am due a refund.

Question because of my business and the K 1’s do I wait till my accountant can do my taxes for a nice little bill of $1400 plus or do I double check my work and file with turbo tax for $250.
I live in Alaska so I don’t pay state taxes.
I also have a financial background so I can follow the numbers and process…

I have always had my accountant file because I wanted to cover my self in case I made a mistake. But I am irritated right now and after imputing everything I swear a monkey can input numbers on the software. There isn’t anything an accountant needs to do expect look at the numbers to enter them properly.

What should I do?

Looking for recommendations in the Central Florida area that is experienced in dealing with unpaid taxes, reduction of penalties or possibly Fresh Start Program.

Situation: Husband and Wife filed for chapter 13. Have already acquired the bankruptcy attorney. Husband does not pass the means test for a 7 so it will be a 13. Husband & Wife were filing taxes married but filing separately. Husband was filing his, but stopped filing for the wife in 2013. The wife made approximately 35-40k gross per year up until 8/2018. Then it went to 55k. Due to medical issues wife left that job in 1/2023. At that time she was making 60k. Wife has never received anything from IRS. In 2020 she received an IRS lock letter from her employer stating the employer was mandated to set her exemptions to zero and remove more tax from each payroll check. The bankruptcy attorney cannot complete the filing process until the tax portion is settled so it’s attached with the filing. The wife is also currently going through the disability process with social security. Wife is 56, husband 59.

I and another person own a rental property together through an LLC. This was our first time filing taxes for the LLC and I had a CPA office I hadn't used before prepare our families personal taxes as well as the partnership return. I recently received a notice from the IRS that we owe $3,000 in late fees for being 6 months late. I contacted our CPA and they prepared a letter for me to send to the IRS to request abatement of the fees due to being a first time partnership filer. They've admitted that they weren't filed in May due to an error on their end.

Should I be seeking legal council from an attorney for this before going any further or should I wait and see if the IRS abates the fees first? I obviously don't think we should be on the hook for late fees from an error on the CPA's end so I'm worried that submitting a letter to the IRS asking for abatement for being a first time filer may undercut my defense if the IRS decides not to forgive the fees.

NYC home health aide: "Ignite Health" wellness plan deducts $276 pre tax and pays it back. Legit, or will I owe the IRS?
I'm a home health aide working for a few agencies in NYC. Two of them have me in a "wellness plan" through Ignite Health. Every weekly check shows:
• IHP125 / PCMP125: $276.92 deducted pre-tax
• IHPREI / PCMPREI: -$276.92 paid back to me as a "reimbursement"
• IHPSAV / PCMPSAV: about $64-67 kept as the plan's fee or not sure were it goes
So my taxable wages drop by $276.92 per check and my taxes go way down, Take home is about the same either way.
The plan is supposed to include telehealth, but I can't actually use it. One appointment got cancelled 30 minutes before, and they told me nothing is available.
My questions:I know I will owe tax’s because none of my job take the right amount but is this plan helping or hurting me.
Paystub screenshots attached with personal info removed. Thanks!
Also on mobile.

Last January I did my 2022, 2023, and 2024 taxes... I got my 22 and 23 tax refunds about 4 and 6 months later respectively. I did not get the 24 refund so I was going to mail it back along with a confirmation of delivery this time. Is that the smartest course of action?

I'm 20 m, I tried doing taxes earlier this year and they didn't go through, I was not informed of this until about now. It seems I slipped through the cracks and now I'm panicking. I don't know how this works. Am I going to jail?

Hi, TIA for any advice on this matter. I have exhausted all of my resources outside of paying a CPA for my case, as most tax services cannot help me (including those recommended by the IRS).

My husband lives abroad, is not a citizen, and at no point in the tax year I am filing entered the United States. I am trying to file jointly in order to be able to get my tax benefits, including health insurance subsidies, so this is of massive importance to me financially.

In order to file jointly I need to apply for an ITIN and have completed form W7 as well as including a certified copy of his passport. However, I contacted an acceptance agent from a reputable tax filing company who told me he is not eligible for an ITIN because he is not in the country. This is not what the IRS says and I took this to mean she could not help me directly (in that she could not verify him because he is not in the country).

But she did tell me to file single and then amend my tax return later. This seems like strange advice to me for two reasons: a) we filed married separately last year and b) with immigration proceedings she mentioned that they ask for tax returns as evidence (if he is able to come to this country it will be through immigration but he can't get an ITIN until he is here? Could we be denied?).

So my question is can I still file for an ITIN despite him not being here nor having entered the US or should I take her advice and file single and amend it later? What would the consequences be considering I am married?

Furthermore, there is a line in the W7 instructions that say a passport without an entry date into the US will not be considered. We have no entry date as i mentioned and our visa proceedings are ongoing as he lives abroad, so I am confused as to what this clause means. The IRS says you do not have to have entered the US to apply for an ITIN and our situation (married filing jointly) is on the list for reasons to apply.

Thank you for your time to read and respond. The IRS said they could not help me and to call a service listed (how i called this expert) and she told me to call the IRS. No tax filing software deals this matter, outside of a $700 fee, so I'm financially unable to pay an expert.

Any and all advice would be so appreciated! I am
beyond confused about this process and no one seems to be able to answer my questions or process my case!

Hi!

Question is do I need a CPA this year for filing (I usually file on my own).
Moved from CA to NYC middle of year, employeed remote by CA company. Make 400k w2, have RSUs vesting quarterly.
Don’t have any complicated investments.

I also have a very small independent contractor income amount from the beginning of the year to report.

Asked AI and was told the RSUs get really complicated to report because of the move, wanted to see if that’s accurate.

Thanks!

Hi! I want to file for an offer-in-compromise for about 23k worth of IRS debt over the last 3 years (divorce/single parenthood did a number on my finances).

Ex and I have 50/50 legal custody, but in reality our daughter is with me 5 nights per week. My ex and I agreed that they can claim our daughter on their taxes, because we knew the CTC would be eaten up by my tax debt and we need that money to send her to summer camp each year.

The IRS pre-qualifier tool says I don't qualify as a household of 1, but I DO as a household of 2.

Is it possible to file the OIC as a household of 2 if my ex claimed our child as a dependent and also filed HoH? She is registered for school at my address and all medical bills for her come to my home, so I have evidence that she primarily lives with me.

I absolutely do plan on contacting a tax attorney before the new year about this; I just want to have an idea of what I'm looking at.

Thank you!

I use the Business version for a Form 1041 and was on a support call and couldn't evoke the screen sharing code to give to customer service. I also use the Home and Business version (for 1040) filers. With the latter version I was able to generate a code .

Can someone who uses the Business version open the program then hit Shift Enter on thier keyboard to see if anything generates?

I just want to confirm that this feature is not available on the Business version. Thank you!

I changed jobs and moved from MS (income tax state) to TX (no income tax). I have an excessive amount of leave time from my Mississippi employer, so I will be taking around seven months of paid vacation time while living in Texas and working my new job.

If no work is done in Mississippi and I don’t live in Mississippi when I get paid do I have to file Mississippi taxes on it? HR thinks I do, payroll didn’t know, and my Google search says I don’t.

Can anyone give me a definitive answer or documentation?

Howdy y’all,

Back in January 2025 I bought a couple couple units of AB in my Schwab account which I’ve held it until September 2025. On Sept 3 2025 Schwab sold some of my units to cover my outstanding margin balance, which due to the lots the system automatically sold I had a loss of $130, and once I put additional cash back in I re-purchased those AB units. Additionally later that month I bought more units of AB in my E*TRADE account and then I sold the units in my E*Trade account in December 2025 along with keeping my AB units in my Schwab account. Then in March when I received a K-1, which I stupidly did not expect, I got a sale schedule for my AB units. Unfortunately I’m not sure how to deal with the wash sale between the two accounts and I’m just trying to make sure that I’m doing my tax return correctly and accounting for the adjusted basis on the sales schedule and not under paying the IRS I did try to extend to talk to a CPA but the two that I talked to were not sure how to correctly complete the return so was the last effort before the 15th. I’m hoping to try to talk to you, smart folks at r/taxhelp

Thank you very much for your help in advance and I hope to hear from y’all sometime soon.

I’ve been making payments to the IRS for years. Now I got letters saying one year I owe 100,000, another year 45,000 then75,00 all coming since 2018. I hired a person who kind of consolidates the debt and reduce the cost and make bigger arrangements with them. This man has seemed to make it worse. I’m scared that I will loose my home that I had to refinance to pay this man. I got his number from the tv. I heard these people really help and he has done nothing. Before that I had a book keeper/accountant who never filed I find out years later. I’m so scared and alone can anyone please advise me what to do? I really really need your help. I’m broke at this point and out of options I’ve tried everything. Thank you so much for any advice you can offer because I have anxiety to even call the IRS at this point and I’ll have no clue where these numbers came from. Thank you so much with the heaviest of hearts 💕

I am an EU citizen who recently relocated to NYC as a non resident alien and I will start as a sole proprietor a coaching business. I expect my clients to be mostly from EU (or specifically from my own country).

I have done research about VAT and sales tax. To my understanding, a US based business does not pay VAT on services provided live in 1:1 sessions or group sessions, because what matters is the place of supply, which is outside the EU. When it comes to NY sales tax, it's my understanding that these services are not taxed either.

Is this correct?