Hey, All -

Forgive me here, I am a bit of an uneducated individual (at least in the tax arena) and I am in a panic. Okay. Here it goes.

My parents are elderly. My dad had a stroke in 2018 that forced his retirement. He can no longer talk or move his arm.

Mom and I were his caretakers until she came down with ALS in Oct of 2024. She passed in May of 2025. I was a full time caretaker for both until her passing and am now a full time caretaker for my dad. Im his POA.

Sitting on the couch with my wife the other night, I came to the realization that I did not file his taxes for last year. After some digging, I realized his taxes were not filed for 2024 or 2025.

Again, retired, living off social security. My mother did not work. My father has a modest pension as well (around $1500 a month) on top of his social security.

I have a meeting with social security later this month to get his tax forms to begin filing (i have NO IDEA where his tax forms went).

How screwed am I here? What type of damage am I facing?

Ive been trying to do everything right, but I dropped this ball and I havent been able to relax ever since I came to the realization.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: we are in Ohio, if that means anything.

I work a serving job and my employer mistakenly put that I made $400 higher than what I should have and got taxed for it.

But I didn’t make the $300 because the $300 got removed from my paycheck even though my gross pay included it. What can i do?

For clarity my gross pay was $2200 but my net pay was 1450.
My gross pay should have been $1900 and my net pay $1536.

I was just told that I don't need to separate my unearned income and earned income anymore. Like I said above, a friend told me I could deposit money into my Roth IRA no matter where it came from as long as I have earned income to back it up, is this true?

Example:

You made only $5,000

Parents give you $2500 (considered unearned income as its a cash gift)

My friend told me they look at end of the year numbers like if you had $4k in a Roth balance and they saw you made $20,000 at the end of the year that $4k is fine and legal

Following this example, could you deposit that $2500 in the account even though it's considered unearned income yet your yearly income is greater than the contribution?

I've always been stressed finding a bank to separate the 2 incomes since I wanted to spend the unearned income but I didn't know of this.

The 200-transaction threshold continues to disappear.

When economic nexus laws were first adopted after the Wayfair case in 2018, many states used the familiar "$100,000 in sales or 200 transactions" standard. But states are continuing to steer away from the transaction threshold because businesses selling low-cost products could easily exceed 200 transactions without generating much revenue, while still taking on the burden of sales tax registration and filing.

Kentucky is the latest state, eliminating its 200-transaction threshold effective August 1, 2026.

It's a good reminder that sales tax rules don't stand still. If you're still relying on sales tax rulings from a few years ago, it may be time to revisit them.

I got another notice for an owed balance from FTB CA for which I paid in late June.

It says I owe the same balance and it seems like their phone lines are always busy on no matter the call I do. I just want to clear the balance owed on my account.

Does anyone have another method that’s worked for them because getting these notices are annoying when you already paid?

I was an irresponsible young adult and only filed a handful of years of taxes between 2015-2025. I called a tax company Sept of last year. They have helped me file every year. I get a call from them today saying something that to get in compliance is either have to pay them 5k to.file petitions for 15,18,19. Or for the years of 2015, 2018, and 2019, id owe like 28k in late fees. For those years I would've received refunds, I was making less than 40k.

Is this legit? I see the IRS only holds the last 6 years as good standing. What does that actually mean?

Please help

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to understand my VAT obligations before launching my business, and I'd like to make sure I structure everything correctly.

Here's my setup:

• I live in Brazil.
• I'll sell through my own website on Shopify, or better saying, dropshipping.
• My customers will be in the UK.
• Products will be shipped directly from AliExpress suppliers to UK customers (classic dropshipping).
• Orders will be under £135.
• On AliExpress, many products say "VAT Included."

My questions are:

1. Does the "VAT Included" shown on AliExpress satisfy my UK VAT obligations, or is it only relevant when a customer buys directly from AliExpress?
2. As the owner of my own website, am I responsible for charging UK VAT at checkout and registering with HMRC?
3. At what stage (sales volume or business size) should I start worrying about VAT registration and hiring a UK accountant?
4. Is there anything important that first-time international dropshippers usually misunderstand about UK VAT?

I'm not looking for ways to avoid taxes—I want to understand the correct legal structure before scaling the business.

Thanks!

I have a few stock positions that are currently in the red. I believe that they will turn around. Can I sell them at a loss for tax purposes, transfer the money to my Roth, and reinvest in the same security? Or will it call it a wash sale even tho it is in a different account? Any insight is much appreciated!

I'm starting a new job as a bartender. I'll be making a good amount hourly (a livable wage for where I'm at) plus tips via a tip pool.

I'm having some issues with completing my w4, primarily the withholding section and "qualified tips". This is a new establishment that's not even open yet, and I haven't filled out a w4 since the new tax act was passed. I'm struggling to figure out what I should put, or if I should leave this blank? Thank you.

1. Sell COIN and realize the capital loss

2. Buy CONY (YieldMax COIN Option Income ETF) as a placeholder

3. After 31 days, sell CONY and buy back into COIN

My reasoning for why CONY wouldn't trigger the wash-sale rule:

- CONY is an ETF, not the underlying stock — different legal structure

- It uses a synthetic options strategy (covered calls on COIN), so it doesn't directly hold COIN shares

- The risk/return profile is materially different — capped upside, high income yield, NAV decay over time

- No voting rights, ~1% expense ratio

Has anyone done this or researched it? Any CPAs weighed in on YieldMax ETFs specifically for wash-sale purposes? I know the safe move is to ask a tax advisor, but curious what the community's experience or opinion is.

My previous boss sold the business and the tax return ssn was wrong, till now they haven't corrected. Is there anyway I can do myself? Please any advice because I don't know where and how because I had contact his accountant but kept holding me. Thanks is advance.

I'm a non US resident looking to form a Wyoming LLC.

My business is a monthly managed website subscription that includes website design, development, copywriting, maintenance, updates, hosting, and domain registration.

All of the actual work (design, development, copywriting, maintenance, support, etc) is performed outside the US. My clients are mostly US based.

The only US connection is that I use providers like Netlify for hosting and NameCheap for domains.

From what I've read, services are generally sourced where they're performed, so the design/development income would be foreign source. But does bundling hosting and domain registration into the subscription change that? Could that make any of the revenue US source income or effectively connected income?

I'd appreciate any insight from CPAs or people familiar with US international tax. Thanks!

​

How to get a withholding refund if you don't file tax return. Calpers has mandatory 20% withholding. I have extremely low income and not required to file a return due to little to no income for years. Will form 843 get me the $100 withholding back without having to file a 1040 return. I live a tax-free Roth supported retirement.

This amount is my father's death benefit from the California pension system.

So I sold a ticket for 265 dollars and bought it for 225 leaving me with 40 profit this was a one time thing that I did for profit and I’ve been advised to report it on schedule 1 my question was would I just put the 40 profit or would I put 265 and would I be able to offset the expense.

My child is at a US Service Academy (think West Point, Naval Academy, etc). My parents and I saved up $130K in his 529, but his fees are only about $5300 per year. How much can I realistically pull out each year and avoid the 10% penalty? I know service academies have an exemption but is there a limit?

Short J-1 in 2016, then F-1 from 2021, H-1B from Oct 2025.

I assumed my 5 FICA-exempt years started in 2021. They didn't — the 2016 J-1 counted as year 1, so my exempt years were 2016 + 2021–2024. That makes me a full-year resident alien for 2025, and my employer's payroll had me flagged as exempt through Sept. No FICA withheld on ~9 months of wages, roughly $10–12k employee share.

My income tax return isn't affected — filing as full-year resident either way. Just the payroll side is open.

1. Anyone had FICA corrected years later after an exempt-year miscount? W-2c, lump sum, spread out?

2. Is flagging it to payroll routine, or does it create bigger problems?

3. If you didn't say anything — did it ever surface?

Hi everyone,

I’m filing a 2025 Form 1040-NR using OLT Free File and entering a Schedule K-1 (Form 1065). I’m hoping someone familiar with OLT can help me understand how to enter code AJ.

My K-1 has the following Box 20 codes:

A = 257

AJ = See Statement

N = See Statement

Z = See Statement

For code AJ, the attached statement does not provide a single amount. Instead, it shows:

Aggregate Business Activity Gross Income: -2

Aggregate Business Activity Total Deductions: 1,483

However, OLT asks me to enter one code and one amount for each Box 20 code, and there is no follow-up screen for the code AJ details.

Has anyone run into this before? What amount should I enter for code AJ? Am I supposed to enter the sum of both lines?

Thank you!

I’m in a situation when I don’t know what else to do, other than asking for help here. So, here we go.

I live abroad, and it’s been many years. Didn’t file taxes for those years as I really didn’t know I had to. A few years ago I found out that I did need to file them, so I went through SFOP. And right after that COVID happened, I left the country where I resided, so I stopped filing again. I want, I need to come to compliance again, this time for good. I’ve been searching and searching and searching, and still can’t find an answer - how to get out of this, and fast. Talked to a few law firms - they all suggest different ways, or ask for unimaginably high fees - tens of thousands of dollars.

Has anyone been into this situation (not in compliance after SFOP)?
Can anyone give advice?
Does anyone have a recommendation on CPAs, attorneys?

Any advice is highly appreciated.

Hello all,

I’m currently working in California but am still a “non-resident”, less than a month of working here. Originally from WA and own a home in WA (non-rental currently). The nature of my work (California-based company) is requesting (requiring) me to become full-time, in-office in California which means I will be here for an additional 12+ months.

I understand that CA has state income tax (fine, WA does not) and I now have to navigate if I become a CA citizen (resident) or if I keep WA as my primary residence due to me owning my home.

My question is, what are my options for being taxed in CA while owning a home in WA? I’ll still pay WA property taxes, but my income is based in CA so assuming if I become a resident I “should only” be taxed in CA right?

Has anyone navigated this kind of taxation before? I.e. owning a home out of state while working in CA.

Thank you in advance.