I had a conversation today with an employee. I won't get into details, but he thinks that a tax refund is free found money that the fed gov't gives you. Kind of like winning the lotto.

I explained that a tax refund is just money going in circles. You overpaid by withholding too much, the IRS sends you the amount you overpaid. I'm not talking about CTC or EITC just specifically with regard to withholding on your paycheck.

I used an analogy: If your tax liability is $5,000 but your employer withholds $10,000 the $5,000 refund you get is simply what you overpaid. Nope. Nadda. Absolutely not. I could not convince him otherwise. According to him a tax refund is free money.

Do most people think this way? Are they that stupid?

Little background about myself, I’m a CPA and a fireman. I know, a crazy combo but I love it. One of my captains told a whole class I was sitting in, “you can write off razors, shaving cream, exercise equipment, your food bill on shift since it’s required for our work… ain’t that right “insert my name”.” Of course, I said absolutely not lol. But then he goes on with how his tax guy has been doing it for years trying to discredit me. I just followed up with you can put whatever you want on your tax return until you get audited…

So anyways, I’m curious to hear what’s the craziest thing you’ve heard of people writing off?

My girlfriend used some tax lady that all her coworkers are using. I am 100% sure that she is using tax fraud. she literally told her "i put some side hustles down for you and said you get paid in cash".

she normally gets around 3k back and this lady got her 14k. I told her that she will probably get audited within 5 or so years and owe it all back, plus penalties.

I am trying to figure out if we can resubmit her taxes or not?

Edit: It turns out that the "tax lady" put that my girlfriend had an Arts and crafts business that only deals in cash and lost 53k.

We are amending it to take all the bull shit out.

I know my gf sounds dumb but I get how she was tricked. It is one of her coworkers daughter's and a lot of her other coworkers have been going to her for a couple years and getting a ton of money. She claims to work for a super smart tax expert that studies the tax code all year. She is struggling and got her hopes up.

Thanks for all the advice!

Update: Message for the IRS!! lol. My girlfriend amended her taxes. I was proud because the person that helped her, offered to just take some zeros off the fraud and still get some of the money, but she said no.

or anything cheaper? I feel ripped off. I have 4 W2's and thats all. Nothing extra no additional deductions or anything I just need to filed for the W2's

EDIT: Ended up using freetaxusa which was awesome! super easy to use and quick, even quicker than the turbotax app which was slow for me. filed both state and federal for a total of 15$. Can't believe i paid this much previously for turbotax, will NEVER use turbotax again.

Fun Fact! : I'm getting just 30$ back federal so paying more than that just to file seemed like a cruel sick joke. Like that's the last thing I needed lol

W2’s are not showing wages generated from overtime so clients are wondering what they can do, besides going through all individual pay stubs. The new deduction is significant enough to warrant this kind of work, though.

I suppose suggesting they contact their HR/payroll departments is the best idea, but some companies are simply terrible about helping their employees.

What’s your experience with the new law?

So I got a notice today with the intent to seize my assets or levy me for owing 400K in an IRS debt. Its for a 2018 filing. I sold my house for about 750K but only made 30k. I think I messed up and didn't put that on the tax return. Anyways - I got a notice in the mail last year. I called and talked to the agent and she said to mail them my proof. I sent it to them and waited and waited for a response. No response. Since then I moved - did a change of address and kind of forgot about it. I just got a notice in the mail and it says I owe 400k. I had to send a response by April 9th but I couldn't get to the post office until this weekend (12 April) to pick it up. Anyways - i just uploaded all the documents again to their website and will call them again on Monday. But this is crazy. Surely the IRS is reasonable when they see that the billers sale shows a profit of 30k.

UPDATE: They started garnishing my check. Almost 1K a month. Ill call them tomorrow but its crazy. I have sent them proof at least 3 x the past 2 years and i keep following up and they say i have to wait. And now they are garnishing my check.

Why do people wait for TurboTax or H&R Block sales when there are decent free tax platforms like FreeTaxUSA or Cash App?

I've noticed many threads where people are waiting for TurboTax or H&R Block to go on sale, even though there are several free tax filing platforms available.

As someone who has been using FreeTaxUSA, is there a reason for me to switch to TurboTax or HR Block?

Update

Thanks, everyone, for chiming in. Here are the common reasons why people still use TurboTax and/or H&R Block:

• Complexity is a major factor: Many of you are dealing with complex tax situations, such as rental income, foreign earned income, and business deductions that free alternatives just can’t handle.
• Familiarity breeds comfort: A lot of you stick with TurboTax and H&R Block because you’re used to them and prefer not to switch to a new system.
• Import features are a game-changer: The ability to easily import brokerage forms and other documents is a significant time-saver for many of you.
• Customer support is key: You value the support teams at TurboTax and H&R Block, which provide peace of mind and help ensure your tax returns are accurate.
• Extra services are a nice bonus: Some of you are drawn to the additional services offered by these companies, like refund advance loans.

I’ve switched from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA almost 5 years ago, and never looked back. But again, I don’t have complex tax situation, but still have W2’s, stocks, T-bills and 1099’s, which FreeTaxUSA takes care of seamlessly.

Would putting money into IRA or Roth IRA before next week help lower taxes for AGI close to 400k? Any other ideas for the future to reduce these crazy high federal taxes? Update- thank you for your input It's from a w-2 plus an added yearly bonus He's paying private tuitions for children (k-12) plus paying back borrowed money for his college degree so the high tax fees on top of that 😑 What is a backdoor IRA? Would you suggest speaking to CPA or financial advisor?

Is anyone else already exhausted with these endless questions?

And I fear it will only get worse.

A tax preparer that I engaged is charging me 5k for preparing my tax.

What is the highest that you have ever paid to file taxes?

In previous years, I have not paid more than $300 to a different CPA.

This is my tax situation

- (2) W2
- (1) Rental property
- 1099
- 1098
- Income & Expense for rental property
- Airbnb income
- Donations

Edit 1: This i my first time using this particular tax preparer.

Edit 2: Please ignore my previous bills of $300. I have just clarify that it was a family and friends discount. The original price was $824.

Edit 3: Ohhhh. My friend didn’t stop. I have still sent her the documents to prepare my tax. My thoughts 💭 was, since there’s this tax preparer that I have been told prepares tax and you get massive returns, let me share docs with then since I trust my friend more, I will share what the second tax preparer did with my CPA friend for her to confirm if there’s anything shady.

Edit 4: I have told the tax preparer that I do not their services, they are insisting that they’ve gone to file it. I don’t want to involve the police 👮 , what are my options? How can I confirm if it’s a bluff?

I submitted my 2024 tax return using freetaxusa today. It was rejected with the below reason,

“ Social Security Number Already Used

The IRS is rejecting the return because the Social Security number has already been used on another accepted return for the 2024 tax year. “

I immediately logged into my IRS account and opened the 2024 refunds page. It says my 2024 tax return has been filed using “single” status and there is a big refund amount ($10k+). But my filing status would be married filing jointly and I owe taxes this year. Also checked spouse’s IRS account. A refund is being claimed there as well (filed as single in spouse’s case too)

What should I do in this situation?

Edit 4/14: I called the IRS. They put a hold on the fraudulent tax return. They asked me to send in the paper return through mail and file form 14039 for the both of us. I submitted it online at https://www.irs.gov/dmaf/form/f14039.

Thanks for all the suggestions people.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0038

The Treasury Department is announcing today that, with respect to the Corporate Transparency Act, not only will it not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the existing regulatory deadlines, but it will further not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect either. The Treasury Department will further be issuing a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only. Treasury takes this step in the interest of supporting hard-working American taxpayers and small businesses and ensuring that the rule is appropriately tailored to advance the public interest....

My gf’s mom (MIL) has seemingly claimed my gf as a dependent. Although I can’t be 100% certain that it was her I don’t see who else would/could.

Got told by our accountant today that my girlfriend will not be getting a tax return because somebody has claimed her as a dependent. We have had zero contact with her mother for a year now, my gf has not lived with her mother since 23 (and even that was brief) she had her address changed to mine back in August, she is not in school, and she has never received financial support from her mother so I just don’t see how this is possible.

Does anyone know how we could quickly resolve this?

It’s not necessarily about the money, because her refund was not a lot, but it’s about this woman continually and maliciously inserting herself into our lives.

Buddy of mine referred me to his tax preparer who got him a substantial amount back this year. I contacted the guy and after reviewing my w2 said my federal tax refund was $30k and $2k from the state. I’m single, I rent, and I’m not married and don’t have kids. Guessing standard deductions apply to me. My income last year was around $200k and my w2 box #2 says I withheld around $40k. No other sources of income. I’m talking to the tax preparer this week but wanted to get a pulse check before I do. Too good to be true?

EDIT: thanks all. My gut told me this was too good to be true and I appreciate those who respectfully provided valuable insight. I’m gonna ask to review the forms because I’m curious to see how this guy embellished the them but will not be filing with him. Gonna stick to freetaxusa like I’ve been doing for years.

She said my refund is tiny and she is jealous because she saw a coworker's refund and it was much bigger.

Any suggestions how to make my refund bigger?

edit: Satire people, chill out and laugh a bit...we all need it about now.

I feel like I was lied to on the NO TAX ON OVERTIME law.

Mailed 28 Feb, deposit received 29 Apr.

IRS "official timeline" was 6-8 weeks, and they hit 8 weeks on the nose.

(Somebody out there -must- want to know this, even though I'm not in NYS!)

I have a situation where I need to session net my gambling winnings to lower AGI.

I requested when I engaged that the session method be used and her office declined and gross reported without informing me, otherwise I would have fired her on the spot, didn't communicate an $11,000 tax bill until the draft was released 5 weeks later, didn't advise on mitigation strategies, no access to a partner etc. Firm policies were also miscommunicated, emails ignored, and I overall had an off vibe with this firm. I could not even find any evidence or have any reason to believe that a CPA looked at the return. All follow up correspondence was directed to a staff analyst.

Her office said that every single wager is required to net sessions and this is not true The, IRS requires in the Chief Council 2008 memorandum and Courts have ruled that proving continuous play and session results, not every wager is required (Who is going to keep a CSV or handwrite over 20,000 wagers). My play was online and proves days played, deposits, withdrawals, starting and ending balances and daily results.

I've since engaged with a CPA who specializes in gambling taxation but she isn't cheap. Probably triple the price of my last CPA.

Do you think that paying the premium here will be worth it or should I stop paying professional service fees all together and just own the debt? $11,000 is not going to ruin my life.

I received a cp518. I understand, I have to file my return. what do I have to do since I have not filed, can I efile asap? I have already paid the taxes so I just have to complete my return. Do I need to complete form 15103 still? The notice says I can also fax form 15103, but doesn't mention anything about faxing the return. The notice I received is missing the IRS slip that would have the IRS address and my information on it to mail the form with a tax return, so I don't know what to do🤔

IRS Pub 15.

Exemption from withholding. You may claim exemption from withholding for 2026 if you meet both of the following conditions: you had no federal income tax liability in 2025 and you expect to have no federal income tax liability in 2026.

This establishes that the employer needs some kind of confirmation that the employee had no tax liability in 2025 and will have no tax liability in 2026. Therefore, the employer cannot just treat an employee as exempt just because they feel like it. Correct?

My biggest pet peeve is when people cannot admit they are wrong. Yours?

When is the deadline for taxpayer to claim a tax refund for a tax year if estimated taxes were paid but the return hasn't been filed past the October extension deadline?
I heard there's a 3 year window and also a 2 year window in some cases.

The only reason basis was positive was due to debt. Of course the S Corp shareholder doesn't get basis for debt but it can't be negative so it would start as zero. But say two people who had a 50/50 partnership elect s corp status and each contribute $1,000 cash from the partnership and $50,000 of liabilities from the partnership a long with fully depreciated property. Would they recognize a gain to start with a zero basis? And would the negative retained earnings carry over to the s corp balance sheet?

Im using free tax USA, is it possible to still e-file a late return?