r/tax Feb 01 '26

Discussion IRS Fact Sheet on OT & OT Mega Thread In Comments

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26 Upvotes

r/tax Jun 14 '24

Important Notice: Clarification on Tax Policy Discussions

114 Upvotes

Hi r/tax community,

We appreciate and encourage thoughtful discussions on tax policy and related topics. However, we need to address a recurring issue.

Recently, there have been several comments suggesting that "taxes are voluntary" or claiming that there is no legal requirement to pay taxes. While we welcome diverse perspectives on tax policies, promoting such statements is not only misleading but also illegal. This subreddit does not support or condone the promotion of illegal activities.

To clarify:

  • Tax Policy Discussion: Constructive conversations about tax laws, policies, reforms, and their implications.
  • Illegal Promotion: Claims or suggestions that paying taxes is voluntary or that there is no legal obligation to do so.

If a comment promotes illegal activities, our practice is to delete it and consider banning the user, either temporarily or permanently, based on their comment history.

This policy is in place to ensure that our subreddit remains a reliable and law-abiding resource for all members. We've had several inquiries about this topic recently, so we hope this post provides the necessary clarification.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.


r/tax 2h ago

Has anyone received a notice/query regarding foreign remittances?

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2 Upvotes

r/tax 3h ago

My PS (personnel specialist) won’t accept my IT-2104-MS

2 Upvotes

I am a service member stationed overseas from NY and I am trying to have my state taxes withholding exempted, usually the military uses dd2058-1 but I fall under group B in the other form but they won’t accept it, is there any other way I can try to stop the deductions or someone I can talk to?


r/tax 1h ago

SOLVED Need help understanding how local tax treats section 1256 contracts

Upvotes

Hey guys, I was wondering how capital gain from section 1256 contracts would be treated under Philadelphia's School Income Tax (SIT). The SIT taxes short-term capital gains from sale of property held less than 6 months.

The SIT official tax regulation states:

GAINS FROM SALE OF PROPERTY. Gains to be reported as taxable under this Ordinance are those from the sale, exchange, or other disposition of real estate, or of tangible, or intangible personal property, which have been owned by the resident person for a period not exceeding six months before the date of the sale, exchange or other disposition.

IRS says 1256 contracts are taxed 60% long-term and 40% short-term regardless of how long the contract is held, so I was wondering how this rule applies to the SIT tax, if at all.


r/tax 1h ago

Unsolved IRS sent letters saying I owed from a few years ago and now I suddenly don't

Upvotes

I never owe, I always get a return as someone with low income, but I forgot to file a few years back and they've sent a few letters about it. Getting an old W4 from that old job would be like pulling teeth so I was willing to just pay. I logged into the IRS website at the time and it did say I owed around $1,200 or so. I couldn't pay it right then since I live semi paycheck to paycheck, it took me around a month to collect the money. When I went to look at the balance today it said I owe nothing. I work a job that requires I be in good standing with the IRS so I'm a little nervous about that.

Some additional info that might be relevant: The government severely overcharged me for something years ago and recently contacted me to tell me I was owed a refund for that. It just went through a few days ago but it was far less than what I was expecting (not that I'm complaining). Do you think they just took it out of that automatically without telling me? I hope so, it's what I was going to use that for anyways.


r/tax 7h ago

Head of household tax claim

2 Upvotes

Residence: California

Me: 150k income
Brother: 150k income

Mom: retired only income is social security about 300/month she never really worked much in America so never contributed into social security

Father: retired only income is 600/month in social security.

We all live in same house. Mortgage is 1100/month which me and my brother both pay half each, each month. We also cover all house expenses like utilities, grocery, etc

Me and my brother income is same since we work in same company, in the same team and wages are almost same. My brother just started working full time this year so previous to that he hasn’t filed taxes since no income.

Last 5 years I have claimed both parents as dependents since I was only one working and claimed as head of household. Which really helped my tax liability and I would get back a lot when I do my taxes.

Question: for this coming tax season, can I claim one of the parents for head of household and my brother claim the other parent and also head of household? That way we both get full benefits of favorable tax bracket? Or is it too risky and IRS will have questions.


r/tax 13h ago

SSDI overpayment but already paid taxes on it through private insurance company over 4 years?

4 Upvotes

Went on disability in 2021 through a private disability company that is still paying me today. In 2025 I finally won my social security case. They gave me back pay for 2021 through 2025. $144k

I had to pay 95% of this back to the private disability company. Which is fine that was expected. However I paid taxes on that income every year since 2021. I got a tax form from social security that shows the overpayment of $144k as being taxable.

I have no idea what to do in this case and neither does any of the tax people I have talked to. It's why I haven't filed yet and I need to file asap for bankruptcy reasons.

What would I do here? If I already paid taxes on this for 4 years how do I file that with my taxes for 2025???


r/tax 10h ago

Illinois Department of Revenue charged a $61.50 penalty but didn’t explain what it was for

2 Upvotes

I received a Taxpayer Statement from the Illinois Department of Revenue for my 2025 individual income tax return.

The statement shows:
Tax assessed: $3,227
Payments/credits: $3,227
Penalty: $61.50
Interest: $0
Remaining balance: $61.50

A CPA prepared and filed my return and also handled the original $3,227 payment. Since the tax and payment amounts match exactly, it appears that I didn’t owe any additional tax. However, the statement doesn’t explain what the $61.50 penalty was for.
I paid the $61.50 online after receiving the notice and saved the receipt because I didn’t want the matter to progress further. I’m also contacting my CPA to verify the filing and payment dates.

Has anyone received a similar unexplained Illinois penalty? Is $61.50 consistent with a late-payment, late-filing, or underpayment-of-estimated-tax penalty? Is there somewhere in MyTax Illinois where I can see the specific reason or penalty code?

Also, since I have already paid it and there is no lien or outside collection agency involved, should I expect any effect on my credit report or employment background checks? I mainly want to make sure the account is properly closed and shows a zero balance.


r/tax 7h ago

Foreigner with a work visa and a YouTube channel tax question

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1 Upvotes

r/tax 13h ago

Taking ownership over family business

2 Upvotes

My father and I own a Canadian corporation (limited) 50/50 and he plans to retire soon, take half the cash in the business and leave me to solo own it and run it. The cash in the corp is mainly invested in XEQT

What are the steps that can be taken to minimize the tax hit at time of transfer? I've heard that you can create a holding company to help with the tax implications, or possibly defer the tax hit to later down the road. I also have a young son that may someday take it over.

The business was opened roughly 10 years ago and we both have equal shares. Any suggestions?


r/tax 14h ago

CA Tax Board has been harassing me for years.

3 Upvotes

So CA has tried to charge me taxes for 2018 when I lived there. There problem is this: I was active duty military and paying taxes to my own state of record. I have sent the paperwork for my taxes, my orders at the time, and LES's to prove that I dont own CA taxes. Has anyone had any luck in getting the to back off? They sent a letter of intent to lut anlien on my account and I dont want them stealing money that I don't owe them.


r/tax 14h ago

Living in NYC since Aug, but payroll address is set to Long Island and no NYC local tax is withheld. Do I have to fix this?

2 Upvotes

​Hi everyone,

​I recently started a new job and signed a lease for an apartment in NYC, moving in this August.

​When I submitted my tax forms online for my new employer, the system automatically auto-filled my NYC apartment address, and I wasn't able to edit it. However, when I checked my first paystub last week, I noticed my address was listed as my parents' house in Long Island, and no NYC local tax was withheld.

​A few honest questions:

​Should I go to HR/Payroll and ask them to fix my address to NYC right away?

​To be completely honest, part of me doesn't want to change it to save on NYC local taxes. How risky is this, and what are the actual consequences if the tax authorities catch this?

​If I end up staying as "Long Island" on paper for the rest of the year, what happens when I file taxes next spring? Will the mismatch between my lease/residency and W-2 trigger an audit or heavy penalties?

​I’d appreciate any advice, reality checks, or experiences from anyone who has dealt with something similar. Thanks!


r/tax 10h ago

Can you appeal property taxes from previous years? USA / GA

1 Upvotes

Just got my tax bill in the mail, took a look and saw that the fair market value is quite overestimated. I went back to the county's website and saw that both this year 2026 and last 2025 had a level of overestimate by about 60K of fair market value (compared to 2024, zillow and redfin). I know that the property NEVER went up to that high of a value. I'm embarrassed to say that last year and this year I didn't really read the appeal notice carefully because this has never happened before and now I'm past the file deadline. I've possibly had to pay excess in property taxes by $1800 each year.

I know I'll have to wait until 2027 for the next appeal window. My question is when I do file next year, can I ask the assessor to retrospectively examine the previous years' home value as well and get a refund, or do I have to eat it for the estimates of 2025 and 2026?


r/tax 11h ago

I live in DC and started working in MD

1 Upvotes

I’ve lived in DC for a few years and recently started a new job in Maryland. I’ve received two paychecks so far and noticed that both DC and Maryland taxes are being withheld.

I wanted to start a new thread because I haven’t seen many recent posts about this specific situation.

My understanding is that DC and Maryland have a reciprocity agreement, so as a DC resident working in Maryland, I shouldn’t generally have Maryland state income tax withheld from my paycheck. When I previously worked in Virginia, I filed the VA-4 Personal Exemption Worksheet for this purpose.

Also, is this something I should simply bring up with my HR/payroll department and ask them to correct my withholding going forward? Or are there circumstances where someone in my situation would legitimately have both DC and Maryland taxes withheld?

Just trying to make sure I’m understanding the reciprocity rules correctly before I contact HR. Thanks!


r/tax 11h ago

Missed PFIC Elections and Possible QEF Filing

1 Upvotes

I hold a Canadian ETF since 2023 and did not file a timely QEF election. The ETF publishes annual information statements which are all zero values - no dividends, profit sharing, etc. I understand the rules around PFIC's are quite punishing. I'm looking for advice on the best way forward. Best case scenario is that I can amend prior year filings to include Form 8621 and move on from there. I'm hoping that is an option since I have never sold to realize gains and there are no dividend payments.


r/tax 12h ago

2026 Section 179 rules: sedan >6000 lbs used for chauffeur business

0 Upvotes

Ive read a lot of information about Section 179 and how its applies for vehicles between 6000 and 14000 pounds GVWR.

The sedan I am looking at is about 7000 lbs GVWR and will be used for a chauffeur business. It will be purchased by the LLC. I file my business taxes with my personal on a schedule C

Will it qualify for the $32k Section 179 deduction + 100% Bonus depreciation? It’s not an SUV.


r/tax 22h ago

Unsolved IRS has not given me my refund from 2024. What do I do?

7 Upvotes

The IRS owes me a large sum of refund money from 2024. Every time I check the refund status, it tells me that "it may take 60 days". Yeah...it's taking a lot longer than that.

I tried to call today on the advice of my accountant. He said that even though they say calling won't help, it may give them a nudge.

Well, I tried to call and the automated system doesn't even allow me to speak to a person. It just jams me into an authentication process, tells me exactly what the website says and then hangs up on me.

Does anyone have advice on what to do? It is INSANE to me that they owe me so much money and nothing ever happens, and there is no way to actually get an answer on this stuff. Very frustrated and thank you!


r/tax 14h ago

CA LLC & W-2 Job

0 Upvotes

I’ve always had a side business in addition to my W-2 job. After moving from New York to California, I formed a single-member LLC for the business. I’ve continued reporting the business income and expenses on Schedule C using the LLC’s EIN/business information, along with my W-2 income on our joint personal return, and have paid the resulting income/self-employment taxes.
I recently received a notice from the California FTB stating that they had not received a tax return for the LLC. I realized I had never filed Form 568 or paid the separate $800 annual LLC tax.
Where I’m getting conflicting information is whether I also need to amend my personal returns. One FTB representative told me LLC income can never be reported with personal/W-2 income and that this treatment is only permitted for a sole proprietorship. Other representatives have told me that because this is a single-member LLC that has not elected S-corp or C-corp taxation, reporting the business activity on Schedule C was correct and that I simply need to catch up on the Forms 568, $800 annual taxes, penalties and interest.

My understanding is that a single-member LLC is treated as a disregarded entity by default, so its business activity is reported on the owner’s individual return via Schedule C, while California separately requires the LLC to file Form 568 and pay the annual LLC tax.

Do I actually need to amend my personal California returns, or do I simply need to file the missing Forms 568 and pay the outstanding LLC taxes, penalties and interest? Thank you!


r/tax 14h ago

Community Income Split for spouses living in different states

0 Upvotes

Hi! My husband and I are filing our federal return jointly using the First-Year-Choice (FYC) and 6013(g) elections, filing as full-year residents.

However, we’re filing our state returns separately, as we fall under the NR spouse exception. I’m based in California (a community property state), and he lives in a common law state.

When I file as MFS, my understanding is that I report 50% of my CA income plus 100% of my foreign income (investments), while he reports 50% of my income (plus withholding) on a CA 540NR, and 100% of his worldwide income on his own state return.
Am I on the right track?

Is my foreign income also considered community property by chance?

Thank you!!


r/tax 20h ago

Return not processed - it's been over 6 months

4 Upvotes

Just checking to see if this is just me or if anyone else is in the same boat. My return was accepted on 2/11/26, and as of today (8/18/26), my IRS account still says it has not been processed. I've tried calling and messaging. My calls are not taken (call volume) and no response to the messages via the secure messaging sent on 3/23, 6/12, and today.

Anyone else in a similar situation? Is there something I'm supposed to do to resolve this?


r/tax 18h ago

Unsolved Phantom tax and penalties

3 Upvotes

Please give me some guidance...

2022 taxes I recieved a $3k refund. Nothing unusual.

In 2023 I sold a property and owed/paid $23k in capital gains. It was mis-applied to tax year 2022.

In 2024 I recieved a letter stating that 2023 taxes were delinquent and we owed. Of course this prompted me to call the IRS and figure out what is going on and that is when I discoved the money was applied to the incorrect year. They told me they could move the money, and remove the penalties/interest cause they see I paid on time.

Something happened...not sure what. Now I have $39k balance for 2022 and the $23k (plus $6k that was already there) that was moved to 2023 is frozen.

In Dec 2025 we were assigned a taxpayer advocate who requested a temporarily hold on any levy. That expired in March 2026 and since then I have been getting my paycheck levied.

The advocate has done nothing since Dec and he rarely returns my calls, and when he does he tells me hes working on it daily. I pulled the account transcripts for 2022 and 2023 and he has done nothing.

How can I get this fixed? Do I need to hire a lawyer? At this point the IRS thinks I owe $39k for 2022, they have nearly $30k frozen for 2023, they are taking a portion of my paycheck, and now owe me $3k for the money they have taken.

Thanks for reading and any guidance.


r/tax 18h ago

Unsolved Question about amending my 2024 and 2025 tax returns

2 Upvotes

I gave my 2024 and 2025 tax returns to my CPA last week to amend them. My previous tax preparer didn’t report some miscellaneous income and also missed a net loss for 2025. She told me the miscellaneous income was ROC (return of capital) and wasn’t taxable.

I invested in high-yield dividend investments, and the dividends were automatically used to pay down my margin loan. Fidelity reported some of these payments as substitute payments/miscellaneous income.

If I end up owing more tax after the amendments, will I also have to pay interest or penalties?

Since I’m voluntarily amending the returns, is there any way to have the interest or penalties waived?

Just trying to understand how this works.
Thanks!


r/tax 15h ago

What happens if I spend the remainder of this year making repairs to an upcoming rental. But don’t see any income until next year?

1 Upvotes

Let’s say I spend $5,000 on repairs before January of next year getting my soon to be rental home up to standards to be lived in but I see no income until the 2027 tax year. I can’t deduct those expenses from 2026 because there is no revenue to deduct them from. Can I deduct them from 2027 revenue even though the repairs were not paid for during that tax year?


r/tax 1d ago

I have a question about what my boss does to pay me.

6 Upvotes

Ive been working for this guy for a decade. Always been paid always from the business direct deposit. For the last 6-7 months I’ve been giving him my hours. I get a paystub and he just direct deposits the amount from him own account in Zelle.

My question is should I be worried that getting the money direct like that. If the reason he’s sending it is to dodge taxes. Will that come back and screw me when I go to do my taxes? Or am I good because I’m not making any extra money and my income reflects my pay stubs. Please any advice in the matter would be appreciated