Doing our 2026 budget and realized a couple things actually changed on the credit side that I hadn't seen mentioned much anywhere, so figured I'd lay it out here.

Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per kid now, up from $2,000, and honestly the bigger deal is it's permanent this time instead of set to expire like the old version was. Up to $1,700 of it is refundable too, though you need at least $2,500 of earned income to actually get that refundable part. One thing that'll trip people up, starting this tax year you or your spouse (at least one of you, not both) plus the kid all need a valid SSN to claim it, that's a real change from before and it specifically messes with mixed-status households.

The dependent care credit got a pretty big overhaul that I feel like flew under the radar completely. The percentage jumped from a max of 35% up to 50%, but it actually phases down in two separate steps depending on your AGI, not just one drop like I first thought when I read about it. Full 50% if you're under $15,000, stepping down to 35% by around $43,000, then it actually holds flat at 35% all the way to $75,000 single or $150,000 joint, then it steps down again to a 20% floor by $103,000 single or $206,000 joint. Expenses are capped at $3,000 for one kid or $6,000 for two or more, so at the high end that's up to $1,500 or $3,000 back depending how many dependents you're claiming care for.

The one most people haven't clocked yet, quite honestly, is the FSA limit. If your job offers a dependent care FSA, the contribution limit goes from $5,000 to $7,500 starting January 1 2026. First permanent bump to that limit since 1986 actually, aside from a temporary pandemic-era change. Worth updating your election if you haven't already, since open enrollment locks it in and people miss it every year.

Anyone else been trying to budget around this and getting a bit lost in the phase-out math? The credit vs FSA stacking rules get kind of weird depending on your income band.

Sources: IRS.gov (Child Tax Credit and Child and Dependent Care Credit pages), National Law Review's coverage of the 2026 FSA limit increase, and Mercer's summary of the OBBBA dependent care changes.

I'm 15 years old and live in California with my family. I'm trying to figure out the safest/legal way to handle my income because I'm worried about accidentally affecting my family's benefits.

For the past several months, I've been working remotely managing YouTube channels. I work for someone who runs automated YouTube channels. My work involves coming up with video ideas/titles, analyzing channel performance, and helping manage the channels. We communicate through Discord, and I never signed a formal contract or filled out tax paperwork. I just get paid for the work I do.

Right now, I make around 2,000/month, and I’m hoping to grow this in the future.

The reason I’m asking is because I need a proper way to receive payments. In the past, I used other people's accounts because I couldn't open my own, but I ended up getting scammed. One person disappeared, and another person's account got hacked. I’m done using other people’s accounts because I don’t want to risk losing my money again.

I looked into using my adult sister’s Wise account, but I found out that could create tax/account issues because the income is technically mine, not hers. It seems like the correct option is probably opening a bank account with a parent/guardian involved.

However, I'm worried about how this could affect my family's situation.

My dad currently makes around $3,000/month. My sister recently started working part-time at Walmart to save for college. She gets paid $17/hour, but her schedule is inconsistent, some weeks she works almost every day and can get around 50 hours, while other weeks she may not get scheduled at all. Other than my dad, sister, and me, my household includes my mom.

My family is considered low-income, and I’m worried that my income could affect our eligibility for programs like Medi-Cal or other assistance programs.

My questions are:

• Would my income as a 15-year-old count toward my parents’ household income for benefits?
• Could making $1,000–2,000/month affect my family’s Medi-Cal or other low-income benefits?
• What is the correct way for a minor in California to receive income from online work?
• Do I need to file taxes if I’m making this much money?
• Should I open a bank account with a parent/guardian, and would that create any issues?
• For a family of 5 on MAGI Medi-Cal in California, with parents claiming a 15-year-old dependent who earns about $24,000/year from self-employment, does the child's income count toward the household MAGI?

I’m not trying to hide income or avoid taxes, I just want to make sure I handle this correctly without accidentally hurting my family financially.

Any advice from people familiar with California taxes, Medi-Cal, or minors earning income would be appreciated.

I own a signed race car photo (fair market value ~$2,000) that I'd like to hang in my office. I'm considering having my business buy it from me at that price to use as office decor.

A few things I'm trying to figure out:

• Is this considered a related-party transaction that the IRS scrutinizes, since I'd be on both sides of the sale?
• Since art typically isn't depreciable, does the $2,000 just sit on the books as a non-deductible capital asset, or is there a way to expense it (e.g., de minimis safe harbor for items under $2,500)?
• Would I owe personal capital gains tax on the "sale," and how would basis work if I received it as a gift from a relative.
• Is there a real business-purpose argument here since it'll be in an office lobby I use for work, or is that not enough to avoid it getting recharacterized?

Business is a S Corp. Not looking for a workaround, just want to understand what's actually allowed here before I talk to my CPA. Appreciate any insight from people who've dealt with similar related-party or business asset situations.

It’s been so long. I completely forgot that they still owe me. I can’t get anyone on the phone email I give up at this point.

I amended my tax return for the year 2024 around mid march. Its been around 4 months and the status is still showing received. Is anyone else on the same boat?

Wife and I have four LLC's that each own several rental properties. One of the LLC's also ran the payroll for all of the entities under its EIN (we have three employees). Last year, our attorney recommended that we form another LLC to basically act as the management entity that will also run the payroll, pay bills, etc. He also mentioned that we should be able to file just one partnership tax return for all of the properties. How does this work? We didn't file final returns for the prior year for the four LLC's. Can we just file one return for 2025 under the new LLC, and if so should we reference that this return includes the activity for the other four LLC's? One complication is that we filed payroll taxes under the one old LLC for the first quarter 2025 and under the new LLC for the rest of the year.

Also, for those who are in Ohio and are familiar with Ohio municipal taxes, we have credit carryovers on our municipal returns for each of the four LLC's that we carried forward to 2025. Assuming that we file everything under the new LLC starting in 2025, are we able to note that we are including the activity for the old LLC's on this return, and document the credit carryforward from each entity?

Has anyone gone through reasonable compensation being challenged by the IRS? Just wondering what it was like and what was used to support the compensation amount (on both sides). Also what were the results of it being challenged? I understand there are some that neglect paying themselfs a reasonable comp more curious about cases where people felt like they had ground on in the argument. But I'll take horror stories as well. Just interested about hearing about it in practice.

I have a question regarding the state tax withholding on my relocation payment.

My relocation benefit is part of my employer's relocation package and will be prepaid before I relocate (upfront lump-sum payment, not reimbursement for actual moving costs). I am scheduled to move in two months, and the relocation payment will be treated as taxable income.

Since I will receive the payment while I am still residing and working in my current state, I expected the state income tax withholding to be allocated to my current state. However, I was informed that the state income tax withholding will instead be allocated to the destination (gaining) state.

Is it correct that withholding to the gaining state is correct in this situation?

I received a tax notice saying:
“If you don't respond and/or pay $$$$ by July 24, 2026, you will receive a Notice of Assessment, including additional interest and penalties.”
This is my first time dealing with this situation. My husband tells we should wait for another letter before setting up a payment plan, but I’m worried that waiting past July 24 could cause more penalties and interest.
Has anyone dealt with this before? Should we contact the tax department now to set up a payment plan or wait for the next notice?
I want to make sure we don’t miss any deadline.

Worked a w-2 job earlier this year and ended up having too much $ withheld (I know that it should've been fixed but it's a long story about a not so great employer).

Now I'm contracting for a company. If I feel like enough extra was withheld from the w-2 comp for 2026 to cover the taxes I'll owe on the 1099 income, do I still need to pay estimated taxes on the 1099 income?

Is there a way to calculate exactly how much "extra" was actually withheld?

Bought a house where the original owner had no concept of defensible space. 150+ tall trees (mostly fir and alder) are within 50 ft of the house and could hit it if they came down. Several have already come down but no house damage (yet, knock on wood).

Would removing the potential hazardous trees to create a safety buffer and expand the size of usable yard be considered a capital land improvement?

I'm amending an 1120-S for a client after the previous accountant had made several mistakes including leaving off ~150k in expenses. I'm not 100% sure on how they categorized ever expense so for some of the lines it may just be moving the expense (for example, I may consider something office expense that they listed as advertising). Because of this, in what I currently have prepared just about every line is different, but overall it's ~150k lower in income. Do I have to make an explanation for every single line of the return?

I know on the IRS website they say "Attach to the amended Form 1120S/1120-F, the XML document, AmendedReturnChanges, that identifies the line number of each amended item, description, the amount on the previous return, the amount on the amended return, and an explanation of the reasons for each change." But I just wanted to check to see if anyone else has had experience with something like this before add ~30 explanations to the statements.

I’m thinking of opening a high yield savings account with a sibling. I understand that you get a 1099 from your bank if you have interest earned but what happens when two people are on the account? Do you split evenly when you file your income tax?

My DH will be the only beneficiary of income earned by an estate that earns about $5k a year in O&G royalties in state X. He resides in state Y which has no state income tax. State X has state income tax. The estate will issue a K-1 to my DH every year since the estate passes 100% of these earnings on to DH. I know we need to report and pay federal income tax on this K-1 but what about state X? Do we owe any tax to state X and if not, do we even need to file anything in state X?

I have a dual member llc(husband and wife) and want it converted to single member so it can be filed as a disregarded entity and save money on tax filing with our accountant. This is in Ohio. Whats the best way to do this? Can the effective date be immediately after we originally filed the llc? It was a mistake filing it with 2 members to start with(didn’t know what I was doing).

I just received my sowp and me and my wife got separated but not divorced yet should i inform ircc or inform only after the divorce

after 10 years renting and almost 10 owning, i'm beginning the process of selling up my rental flat in London. I have my estate agency in place and a conveyancing lawyer, but my UK accountant is not knowledgable on capital gains tax - can anyone help with someone reputable in London? Thank you!!

From 2022 tax year. Wondering why I owe??

*Computation of Proposed Amount*

CA Taxable Income as Reported or Revised $ 107,206.00

Interests 129.00

Securities 26,300.00 26,429.00

Revised Taxable Income 133,635.00

Filing Status - HeadOfHousehold

Tax - Table 7,333.00

Exemptions:

Personal 140.00

Dependent 433.00 573.00

Total Tax 6,760.00

Less Original or Revised Total Tax 4,302.00

Additional Tax 2,458.00

Interest from 11/16/2023 to 10/08/2025 376.43

**Total Additional Tax and Interest** **$** **2,834.43**

SOLVED

I’m starting a new full time job this week, but I plan to keep my current full time job for a few more months before leaving it. The old job is a sales role so I make my own schedule. I’m filling out my new employer’s Form W-4 and have a question about the multiple jobs section (Step 2).

The form says:

Complete this step if you (1) hold more than one job at a time, or (2) are married filing jointly and your spouse also works. The correct amount of withholding depends on income earned from all of these jobs.

Do only one of the following:

(a) Use the estimator at IRS W4App for most accurate withholding for this step (and Steps 3-4). If you or your spouse have self-employment income, use this option; or

(b) Use the Multiple Jobs Worksheet on page 3 and enter the result in Step 4(c) below; or

(c) If there are only two jobs total, you may check this box. Do the same on Form W-4 for the other job. This option is generally more accurate than Step 2(b) if pay at the lower paying job is more than half of the pay at the higher paying job. Otherwise, Step 2(b) is more accurate.

Complete Steps 3-4(b) on Form W-4 for only ONE of these jobs. Leave those steps blank for the other jobs. (Your withholding will be most accurate if you complete Steps 3-4(b) on the Form W-4 for the highest paying job.)

I do not want to tell my new employer that I am temporarily keeping my current job.

My understanding is that this section is primarily used to calculate accurate withholding. If each employer withholds taxes as if their job is my only job, there is a possibility that not enough federal income tax will be withheld.

If I leave the multiple jobs section blank, complete the rest of the W-4 truthfully, and make sure any additional tax owed is paid (either through later withholding adjustments or when filing my tax return), am I violating any legal requirement or making a false certification under the W-4 signature statement?

Or is the consequence simply that my withholding may be less accurate and I may owe additional tax when I file?

I’m looking for guidance on how to correctly complete this form and what information I am legally required to provide to my employer.

I’m considering taking a $10,000 distribution from a traditional IRA under the first-time homebuyer exception.

I understand that the distribution would still be subject to ordinary federal income tax, but the 10% early-withdrawal penalty may be waived if the funds are used for qualified home-purchase costs within 120 days.

My concern is tax withholding. If I elect 10% withholding, I would receive only $9,000 while $1,000 is sent to the IRS. Could the IRS consider only $9,000 as having been used for qualified home-purchase costs, potentially leaving the withheld $1,000 subject to the early-withdrawal penalty?

Would the cleaner approach be to:

• Elect 0% withholding on the IRA distribution;
• Use the full $10,000 for qualified home-purchase costs; and
• Make a separate estimated tax payment or increase payroll withholding to cover the ordinary income tax?

Has anyone dealt with this, or can a tax professional point to IRS guidance addressing whether taxes withheld directly from the distribution qualify for the first-time homebuyer exception?

How do you stay on top of tax law changes across jurisdictions?

Curious how others handle this. We work across several states and keeping track of every DOR bulletin, rate change, and filing update is getting unmanageable. Right now we rely on newsletters / CPE / word of mouth. Anyone found a system that actually works without paying $2k/year for Checkpoint?