r/taxhelp

Sitting here looking at a stack of unfiled paperwork from 2021 thru 2024 and im ready to throw up. Everytime i tell myself todays the day i freeze bcs i dont even know where to begin.
So i missed one year bcs of a job change and personal disaster then next year the panic set in and here i am four years late with a vague IRS letter in my hand. I dont even know where half my W2s are.
What do i do? contact the IRS first? Hire a CPA? get a tax resolution service? Im scared of waking up to a levy or wage garnishment one day.

Hi, I need a CPA to help me dissolve a partnership in a tax-efficient way. So, someone that has experience in this area rather than a standard tax prep person. Any help would be appreciated!

I received a notice for a sales tax audit even though I'm confident my books are fully compliant, and I'm trying to understand why that would happen. Are audits sometimes triggered randomly or by discrepancies that don't actually reflect wrongdoing, rather than a red flag in my records? I want to know if there's something I should be worried about or if this is just routine.

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?

Hello,

I recently received backpay for my VA retirement after a few years. I had two different lawyers through the long process and the VA sent more than was needed to my original lawyer.

VA backpay is non taxable to the veteran so this is where my issue is. The lawyer wants to send me back the overpayment amount but says his accountant insist on a 1099 to keep a trail of it. I understand him marking box 3 will cause issues when filing taxes as it will look like he paid me.

Using google it says while it will cause issues for taxes I would need to claim the amount then later clear it out and explain it was for a VA refund. It sounds like while it would be an issue I wouldn’t be on the hook for taxes if filed correctly. Can anyone confirm this?

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!

I had quite a bit of debt in so I had 2 jobs at a time a few times throughout the year…

Who knew it would leave me in even more debt because now I owe on taxes.

My job has to approve if I get a second job. But also that seems silly at this point.

I owe more than 10k in taxes. I’m afraid. Because what if I drain my savings for my taxes and lose my job? Then I’ll be homeless.

I am on my own. I don’t have help. And I’m finally making over 100k and all I keep doing is owing more taxes than I am able to save money.

Any advice? I’m in CA and tempted to pay off the 2k+ in totality because it’s easier, and I could. I’m wondering if I can ask for a discount if I pay it off right then

I have no credit cards. I don’t even have a car. Can’t afford one and rent. I have my student loans as my other debt.

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.

Recently hit a 380k jackpot on DraftKings. Roughly how much should I set aside for taxes? Is it worth getting a CPA for?

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.

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.

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…

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.)

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.

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.