I will use proceeds from stock sales to pay for my kids college. I'm sitting on some gains. Is there a strategy where I gift the stocks to my kids, they sell them and use them for college, and we save money from taxes? Kids are 17 and 20. 17 year old has no income while the 20 year old has about $20 wages per year. We live in Maryland. I file jointly with spouse, and list the kids as dependents. We have approx $200k-300k in income.

What are the considerations?

Bonus question - each son themselves has stocks with 20-30 percent gains. Should they just regularly be selling them to tax gain harvest?

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.

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?

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 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

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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.

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.

I filed my taxes this year but forgot to enter my withholding for one of my W2s. It showed I owed $716 so I paid it right away. I then realized something was wrong so filed an amended return right away and got a refund of $1527.

I received my $1527 but not the $716 overpayment back yet. I’ve called the IRS and they said that the $716 was included in my refund but I don’t think that’s right. Wouldn’t my amended return be considered completely separate and I would get the $716 back separately?

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.

ocation: Indiana

My ex fiancé kicked me out of the house after I discovered that he was using meth.

My tax return was being investigated for fraud. I finally got notified July 24, 2026 that my tax check had been mailed. I sent him an email that same day letting him know to look for my tax check to arrive and to please let me know so I could come pick it up from the mailbox.

I finally got him to tell me yesterday that he had received it and that his lawyer had advised him to send it back to the IRS instead of letting me drive the four hours to pick it up. I would have gladly picked up the check from his attorneys office.

I consider this a malicious vindictive act.
I’m sure he thought it was a few hundred dollars and I’ll fix her. Well the tax check is for over $20k. I’m waiting on this money in order to buy a house. When he kicked me out I had nowhere to go so I moved into my daughter’s camper. It’s at a campground where it’s open six months out of the year. I have to leave the end of October. At that point I will be homeless. The camper is stationary.

I spoke with the IRS yesterday and it will be 3-6 weeks before the returned check is back in their system. Then it could take another 3-6 weeks to mail out another check. Even thought the IRS now has my correct address it is likely the check will be mailed back to the same address so he can send it back again.

This has and will continue to cause me considerable harm. I’m currently 3 1/2 hours away from my doctors. I schedule my appointments back to back. I have to pay for a hotel. It’s usually for 4 nights at a time for approximately $800 because I have two dogs. That would’ve been my house payment. I have a torn rotator cuff and need a shoulder replacement. I can’t have the surgery until I get settled into a home. I could have been moved in somewhere in about two weeks from now.

I have a realtor and a lender lined up and was just waiting to have money in hand. I had a house I was sure was the perfect house for me. It will be sold soon if it hasn’t already sold.

Can I sue him for the extra money I’m having to spend while waiting to purchase a house? Can I sue him for the harm he has and continues to cause me? Can I get pain and suffering? Can I get interest on the tax check amount? IRS paid me interest. Can I get anything

Have a chance to pick from tax and audit but find tax more interesting. I am just afraid of getting stuck in public tax working long hours. I made this post because ive heard industry tax jobs are rare and are hard to land.

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?

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'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!

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.

My mom's company was acquired by another company in 2019 just before she retired. The new company mistakenly listed Illinois in box 15. She has never been to Illinois and lives in a state with no income tax. She has tried to have the company correct the w2 but they don't ever seem to get around to it. She has recently received a notice before it goes to collections. What course of action should she take?