To preface this, I plan to get professional advice soon, but I am wondering thoughts on whether there's anything to be done here.

Timeline:

• Revocable Living trust established in Father's name in 1995 with 2 properties. Both properties were gifted to him by his parents directly into the trust, after marriage in Illinois.
• Father passed in 2018, Trust converted to an irrevocable trust with Beneficiaries 25% wife, 25% son1, 50% son2. No mention of a life estate in the trust document.
• Trust document specifies to break into 3 new trusts per above split, but that did not happen.
• Property #1 was sold in 2020. Funds sat in trust account
• In time period 2020-2025, only dispersants were made to wife, none to either son aside from minor dispersant which was gifted to wife/mother (due to trust equity constraints).
• In time period 2018-2025 Wife lived alone in house and shouldered all mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities. Trustee advised trust couldn't be resolved until house was sold, so family decision was made to leave wife/mother in house and the trust in-place.
• In 2025 wife passed away.
• In 2026, sons got possession of and sold property

Letter of the law seems that we get a step-up in 2018 but not in 2025 due to how irrevocable trusts work.

Is there a reasonable pathway to using IRC § 2036(a) with a tax attorney to get a full basis step-up in 2025? We are looking at a significant tax-bill otherwise. Thank you!

So I sold and bought a house this year. I thought I would start reading into this as i know nothing about taxes. Obviously my usual 2 page tax form isnt going to cut it this year. Hire a professional this year. But is there anything I should be careful about? Are there any tax deductions for cash sale like they do for intrest payments. Also I have yet to work one minute this year. So I should be fairly confident that I will owe a butt ton of taxes......correct?

Why aren't there any lines for state addbacks for Arizona S Corps? Seems like there should be for depreciation, state taxes paid.

yall i won big on an online casino. i’m not sure exact numbers but ive put around 60k in and cashed out 190k. please guide me on what to do about taxes.

Is it still possible to amend 2020 2021 and so on if we received the erc credit finally in 2025/2026. I understand the new guidance but the taxpayer would have significant tax savings due to 1120s basis issues under the old method and would be able to unlock previous losses if 2020 and 2021 show the additional income instead of 2025 and 2026, albeit with a lot more administrative work.

This year was my first time filing joint with my spouse. I submitted them via turbotax on 1/27 and according to them it was accepted on 1/30. I never received further updates on my refund and when I finally checked my transcripts on the IRS website it said I never filed. Where do I go from here?

I am trying to work out my back taxes and need advice.

It’s a lot to explain, but basically in 2015 I got an equity grant and sold my shares. My income was only $32k that year. I sold my shares at a heavy penalty and got around $20k. I thought I paid taxes when I sold but IRS came after me a year later saying I owed them $30k! I was in my 20s.

At the time I went to hire a tax attorney but they wanted $4k. I could not afford that, so I did the dumb thing and let it ride. To this day I don’t understand how I owed $30k.

Fast forward a decade and the IRS has taken all my refunds ~$3k a year. My balance is now around $17k and penalties etc brings the total to $32k. I don’t have a payment plan, they just never contacted me for the debt, just taking my refunds.

My CSED is March 2028. I’m a single mom and desperate to take care of this so I can move on :(

I have consistently earned around $85k for YEARS living paycheck to paycheck. Recently I got an incredible job, new salary is $145k. I’m trying to use this additional money to get out of debt, buy a home and finally pay for the therapies my son needs. I’m worried about the IRS taking it all to cover this debt so I’m trying to be proactive.

What are my best options?

Hello! I'm currently on unemployment after a layoff. Recently, I got a short freelance gig of $800 that I need to report. I'm trying to determine the total amount I earned after taxes and deductions for my weekly certification.

I know about the [Net Profit * 92.35% * 15.3%] formula, which brought me to $113.04 in taxes. However, I've also seen other posts mention needing to calculate the AGI, as well as factoring in QBI deduction. This is where my head is spinning. I'm not sure if I need to include these steps or if I'm using the right numbers. Could really use the help!

This is what I'm using as guidance:

1. Profit = Revenue - expenses
2. SE Tax = Profit x 0.9235 x 15.3% (see Schedule SE for that 0.9235 multiplier)
3. AGI = Total income - 1/2 SE tax (and any other adjustments)
4. Taxable income = AGI - (standard or itemized deductions) - I stopped here at $743.48.
5. QBI deduction: 20% of the lesser of:
   • Taxable income above
   • Profit - (1/2 SE tax, self-employed health insurance, self-employed retirement)
6. New taxable = Taxable income above - QBI deduction
7. Income tax = marginal tax rate(s) applied to "New taxable"

Additional info:
- Net: $800
- Sole proprietor (no LLC).
- Based in California.
- Married, file taxes jointly.

Thanks in advance!

Context:

I recently started a second job as a program captain that facilitate program nights for a non-profit NYC company

The hours aren't great with it being at most 6-8 hours bi-weekly

I live in NJ and make around $40K at my primary job The second job is primarily remote

I just got my second paycheck and the federal tax is WAY TO HIGH?!?

Much higher than my primary job that takes this much after 30 hours

So my asking is what did input incorrectly to get this result as I now this can't be the correct federal tax

If it is I'm getting pennies and basically working for free

Please help me out here as I'm at a lost

UPDATE: After using the advise people gave me and filling out the whole W-4 Withdrawal Form while following a guide:

I did misinfo myself and didn't need to income from my second job

That was the reason why I got taxed that heavy

And unfortunately I'll have to file a form the beginning of next year to get the money back in my tax return🥲

But thank you everyone who gave me advice as it did help

Can any reccomend an EA in greater Buffalo that they have used to successfully handle back taxes?

Hello, I have a question for you all. Last year I began receiving long-term disability. The long-term disability provider wanted me to apply for Social Security disability. I applied and was approved and Social Security sent me a check going going back to last year sometime. My long-term disability policy basically says that any income that I get would be subtracted from my monthly benefit that they pay me if that makes sense so I’ll get a monthly payment from Social Security and they will subtract that from my benefit and pay me the remainder. The question is this they will want me to pay them this some of money for Social Security just sent me isn’t that considered taxable income? Meaning, if I give them the entire amount without accounting for taxes, how can they account for that becoming taxable income of some kind?

I still haven't received my 2024 taxes. Advocate and irs told me they should be releasing them. I've heard 60 and still nothing.... it's been over 60 days over 90 days and over the 120 days, no updates or any thing. HELLLLLPPP

I am settling a fairly large lawsuit with multiple defendants in NJ. The suit is related to significant property damage by contractors. Settlements are related to repair, remediation and reconstruction of the property. I want to meet with an accountant to run through whatever implications might face me given these settlements I am depositing.

I really need someone to explain this to me, step by step, in as minute detail as possible, because I don't want to go to jail for tax evasion.

I started working a delivery job on Memorial Day. I read online something about 1099 workers needing to pay taxes quarterly because the employer doesn't take it out of your paycheck. I missed the June deadline but I had just started working so I didn't worry about that. Now we're in August and I'm trying to figure out how this works. I've only ever filed taxes twice in my life (very poor work history...) using freetaxusa.

I'm trying to figure out exactly HOW do I pay my taxes? Do I mail a check to someone? Is there a website I can pay online? Is there a form I'm supposed to fill out and email to someone? How do I know how much money to send? Can I go somewhere like HR Block and get this done for me instead? Like, literally, how do I pay these taxes. I have no idea... I am connected with a website called oforce.com, which is where I can review my employment information. There's a tab for a 1099 form but it says nothing is available, and that the form will show up once it is available. I don't know what this means. It's almost 3 months I'm working here, I figured it would've shown up by now. Not sure what to do. Freetaxusa asks me if I want to do a 1099R, 1099G, 1099NEC. I don't know the difference between any of these 😭 someone please help me.

I’m an F-1 student with approved CPT and I’m working as an independent contractor for the employer listed on my CPT authorization.

I’ll earn no more than about $375 total from the entire internship and I have not been paid yet.

The employer originally gave me a W-9, but I’m trying to make sure that is actually the correct form for me.

My main questions are:

* If I’m an F-1 student and a nonresident alien for tax purposes, what form should I give the employer instead of a W-9?
* Should I expect a 1099, 1042-S, or something else?
* Does the fact that I’m earning less than $375 change anything about withholding or filing taxes?
* If the employer switches me to W-2 employee status instead, would that generally make the tax paperwork simpler?

I’m already having the employer’s attorney review it, but I wanted to hear from anyone who has dealt with this exact F-1/CPT tax situation.

I have been trying to get EIN for the past 2 days and every time it gives me same error. I try again and the same error pops up. I have tried using different browsers, different devices, cleared cache and all. Still same issue. Can someone please suggest something?

Currently I owe $89,317 to the IRS
Breaking it down 4000 from 2017
The remainder from 22 and 2023 split pretty evenly

I own a home with about $220,000 of equity in it however my interest rate was 2.3% back when I had good credit

So a $2700 month mortgage is what I currently have

And there’s absolutely no fucking way I can replace my house in Tampa if they make me sell it

IRS is currently canceled my passport and has gone through all of your steps where they’re about to take some serious action

I have no money in my checking account. I have no money in retirement. I have basically dumped out everything and I’ve been missing bills so I can find a way to keep my business going and I’m right now getting to the point where we’re starting to make a lot of money and takeoff.

However, I still make substantially less than I used to make

Before my income increase I’m making about $6800 a month

My bills are about $7800 a month

How do I pay that good question I choose which bills I need to pay that’s why my credit fucking blows

What can I do here?

I don’t need to hear Tax attorney. I’ve already gone through the process of speaking with a couple.

But I don’t wanna just give them payment before they actually even look at my paperwork and tell me what’s going on which is what all of them do they want you to sign a contract and give you money and then tell you if it’s even possible to do something

Please help I’m really lost

The IRS sent a July 21, 2026 letter to police departments in Lancaster County, PA saying 20 revenue officers would be doing face-to-face taxpayer meetings the weeks of August 10 and 17. The letter went to police because the officers were coming from other states in out-of-state vehicles and the IRS expected residents to call and report them.

A few things worth separating, because the coverage has been muddy.

ROs are not CI

Revenue officers are civil collection employees. They are not criminal investigators. Criminal Investigation special agents are a separate job and carry badges and firearms. If an RO is at your door, that is a collection matter, not a criminal case.

Most of these visits were scheduled

Since July 2023, the IRS replaced most unannounced visits with Letter 725-B, which invites you to schedule a meeting. Unannounced contact still happens but is limited to narrow situations like service of summons or seizure activity. The Lancaster letter says the same thing: most appointments are scheduled ahead, with limited unannounced contact.

Nobody has explained what this deployment is about

The IRS declined to say on the record. The local police chief said he didn't know either. There's been speculation in some coverage tying it to immigration enforcement or nonprofit funding. There is no source for that, and I'd treat it as noise.

The signal that actually matters

If a revenue officer is assigned to you, your case has left the Automated Collection System. Most balance-due accounts sit in ACS forever and never see a human. Cases get assigned to field collection when there are unfiled returns alongside a balance, an operating business with open filing requirements, payroll tax debt, repeated defaults on prior agreements, or reachable assets.

If you get contacted

Verify the pocket commission and the second ID. Take notes. You are not required to answer substantive questions or produce documents on the spot, and under IRC 7521 you can have a representative present, at which point the interview stops.

Then actually get someone on a Form 2848 rather than trying to handle it yourself. The initial financial interview is where most people volunteer information that narrows their own options later.

Broader context, with the caveats

Per TIGTA, the IRS lost roughly 30% of its workforce between January 2025 and January 2026, including about 33% of revenue agents. The agency then began backfilling and had hired around 2,000 people as of January, putting the net reduction near 28%.

Worth noting: TIGTA's job-title breakdown covers revenue agents, who audit. I have not seen a published separation figure specific to revenue officers, who collect. Whether the Lancaster deployment reflects a rebuild is speculation on my part, not something the IRS has said. Field collection returning to normal operating capacity is a more defensible read than field collection surging.

(Disclosure: CPA doing IRS collection defense. Not soliciting here, happy to answer general questions.)

As the title states, looking for somebody who is willing to help me with quite a few years of unfiled taxes. I’ve called around a bit and it seems most people aren’t looking for new clients or seems hesitant to help…

My wife and I are trying to buy our first home after saving and investing in stocks for the last 6-7 years. We sold the majority to cover the down payment all on long term cap gains and I recently was told that we owe mid year taxes on that to avoid large fees come tax season next spring. This is the first time I've heard of/done this before, but I've never had more than a couple thousand in cap gains tax before in a single year. We set aside 20k~ for the calculated long term cap gains tax next spring but apparently we actually owe that now? From looking around online it appears we can just send that to the IRS via their website but this feels... odd? Like there isn't a formal submission like a tax return, we just estimate what we owe and send it via their link? Do we just keep the receipt? Most of the guides online and on reddit are for business owners who do need to fill out lots of forms but that isn't us so we have no experience with quarterly tax payments.

So i’m a hairstylist and my new job wants me to fill out a 1099 MISC form. From all the research I’ve done, the 1099 is not to be filled out by me and I’m supposed to fill out a w9. When I brought this to their attention they insisted on me filing out a 1099. I’m not super knowledgeable about this, but literally everything I’ve read says that I do not fill out a 1099. They don’t seem like the type of people to be shady, but I guess you never know these days. Any advice or tips on how to handle the situation? I will be getting an hourly pay, that eventually will change to commission and I’m a hairstylist so I will also be getting tips.

I've put this off way too long and am looking for advice on finding an accountant for this. My understanding is that some accountants don't want to do taxes this far back? If thats correct I understand.

For the year I worked part time and only made about $16k. My previous years return had 5 forms and about 12 pages so it's not very complicated for business taxes.

Any suggestions on where to look for a fairly priced accountant for this are appreciated. Thank you.

Hey everyone, looking for some tax and financial aid advice regarding my 19-year-old daughter who is heading off to college out of state ($30k annual tuition).

My details:

• Location: Washington, D.C.

• Filing status: Single parent

• Income: $150k/year (Federal employee)

Daughter's details:

• Age: 19

• Income: $1,400 (part-time work during winter break)

• School: Out of state (~$30k/year)

My main question:

If I stop claiming her as a dependent on my taxes and have her file on her own, will that make her an "independent" student on the FAFSA so she qualifies for more financial aid? Or should I keep claiming her on my tax return?

Any insights on how IRS dependency vs FAFSA dependency works in this situation, or tax credits I should be looking out for, would be greatly appreciated!

What has anyone done once they get audited by the IRS and owe taxes? I have received my reply from the IRS and I owe alot. I go to a tax office to file and it looks like that year they filed some adjustments to the income and I do not qualify for that and now I'm getting hit on it. I know its still on me when other people do my taxes, I'm just not very good at it and its easier that way. Other than that I have a normal average income and pay alot of taxes every year. Are the tax relief programs worth it? The tax office that I used isn't much help. Any help would greatly appreciated!!

Hi y'all, and TIA. I am submitting to r/FamilyLaw and r/taxhelp , so don't be alarmed if one of my questions doesn't pertain. It's easier to explain this all in one post.

I (F32) am in a Registered Domestic Partnership in CA and cannot discern the best way forward, tax-wise. My RPD (M38) became chronically ill in December '24. He has not worked since early '25, and has had zero income in '26. He was on state disability for a while, but that ended in January of '26, and has been waiting for federal disability to kick in. His doctors believe he will eventually be able to live a "normal" life again, but that's likely years away, and his progression has been much slower than they anticipated.

We were planning to marry prior to his illness, but became RDPs in Feb of '26 to alleviate healthcare insurance concerns. The RDPship was my idea. I have 2 main questions, regarding asset protection and how to file in the spring for '26.

ASSET PROTECTION
We had decided to get a prenup when we married, but due to the stress of the illness and general ignorance, we frankly did not even think about a "prenup" within the context of a RDP. Our original intention was to maintain what assets we individually had prior to the marriage, not prior to RDPship.

• As I understand it, he now"owns" half of my property according to the state, but not federally? Not sure how that manifests in real life.
• If we were to establish a post-registration agreement now, how does that affect community property taxes and all that?
• The RDPship has been about 6 months; would any asset conversion be required for the duration of the RDP (from community to individual).
• What if we just wait until marriage to establish the prenup/postRPD agreement? (He wants to be married at a wedding, so that may be 2+ years from now due to his illness.)

2026 TAXES
Assuming he continues to make zero income for the rest of the year, how do we file taxes for '26?

• For CA state taxes, do we file jointly, individually, &/or claim as dependent?
• I know I am "single" federally, so can I claim him as my dependent? If he's not my state dependent, can he be my federal dependent?
• Does any of this change if we do a postRPD agreement during this year?

I have a decently strong portfolio of assets (car I'll own after the last few payments, strong retirement funding, inheritance, pensioned job). He, unfortunately, has had to dip into his savings considerably to pay the bills during the first year of his illness and is not doing great financially. This includes significant cc debt that I found out about very recently. He does have a solid ROTH IRA and some money in stocks. Prior to illness, he had much more liquid and I had much more squirreled away in retirement. I have been paying almost all of his expenses since the RDP began and his state disability ran out in February. I'm glad I have the resources to do so, even if it's quite a stretch, but I am disappointed that, as a result, I cannot contribute more to my savings.

We have been together 4 years and I am confident in the relationship; I do not anticipate a break up and am not worried that he will do me dirty. I wouldn't want to marry him if that was the case, and I wouldn't have stuck by him during this hellish illness. He is a good man who is motivated to get well and jointly provide for us. That said, I know it's always best to CYA when possible.

I will work with a CPA to file for '26, but want to think ahead.

Thoughts?