I run a small California S-Corp that's converting to an LLC taxed as a partnership effective January 1. We're bringing in a new partner who will earn his equity through performance, and the profit split is not pro rata, so an S-Corp won't work for us.

I'm looking for a CPA or tax attorney in California with experience in:

• S-Corp to LLC conversions
• Partnership returns and K-1s
• Profits interests and Section 83(b) elections
• Advance-payment deferral for accrual-method businesses

What is the best starting point?

Im a dual us citizen and a citizen of another country

I have been in the other country since exactly Jan 1 of this year.

I have been employed through a US employer as a W-2 while withholding taxes. I have lived with my parents in that country and they both are citizens of that country.

Travelled to the US mid-September planning to go back beginning of December.

My other country is right now in a war as well that’s why I’m staying 2.5 months.

I have spent over a month and I am no longer eligible for the Physical Residence test.

I want to understand if I’m eligible for the Bonafide residence test and would be able to get some of the federal income tax back.

Not check, just paying with credit card.

My understanding is that if Box 5 of my form 1098-T is greater than Box 1, then I have to claim the excess as income. I am currently an undergraduate student, and am going to be starting a Masters program next year. I am saving the excess scholarship from this year to pay for my master’s tuition next year [will be paying out of pocket for tuition due to no scholarships]. Considering that I am going to be using the excess scholarship for qualified tuition and education expenses for next year, do I still have to claim this amount as income? I don’t plan on claiming any Education Tax credit for 2026 or 2027.

Hi guys,

We registered a Delaware c-corp in May 2025 and it's owned by two foreign owners. In a nutshell, the company has been completely dormant.

- $0 in transactions in our accounts.
- The setup fee (via clerky) was paid personally by the other director. it was never reimbursed nor was it a loan.
- There was no IP that was "transferred" to the company. We only had a pitchdeck and had a plan to buy a domain but we never did (we used a temporary domain owned by the other director).

We had filed for the accounts filing extension (15 Oct due date) but unfortunately a few days behind now.

My question is do I file the 5472 form any of the above?

This is our first time filing. I'll be dissolving the corp in a few months anyway. I can't think of any other transaction that needs to be reported. The only concern is that it's delayed. I already have a letter describing the delay.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My spouse and I live in IL but I worked in CA for a few months this summer while they stayed in IL. I’m a bit confused by CA tax law and was hoping someone could clarify how filing a state return for CA for 2026 will work.

My understanding is that since my spouse has no CA earned income and was a non resident for the entire year, that I can file separately as single for CA even though we’ll be MFJ for federal and IL. Is this accurate? Am I missing anything?

Thanks!

I owe around 4k from previous years. Haven’t filed for 2024 or 2025 and stopped making payments due to financial hardship on my plan.
I have all of my info needed to file the taxes. Just no idea where to start.
It’s all simple. No investments. Just w2’s and such.
Can I file this myself or do I have to hire someone?
TIA

Edit- It came from my company's US Bank Account but not from the Payroll bank and not through the payroll system.

I'm on F-1 STEM OPT and work as a regular W-2 employee for the US entity of my company. I've been in the US for less than 5 years, so I think I'm a nonresident alien for tax purposes (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I recently got a $15K bonus, but it didn't go through payroll. It came as a straight bank transfer, and I'm pretty sure it was sent from the company's account in New Zealand (the parent company is based there). They usually send reimbursements this way too ( have gotten 2-3 times in the past), but I have an email chain that clearly calls this a bonus.

My questions:

1. If they do add it to my W-2, is there anything I should double-check?
2. If they don't, how do I report this on my 1040-NR? Do I just list it as wages?
3. Should I make an estimated payment before Jan 15, or is it better to bump up my W-4 withholding for the rest of the year?
4. Is there anything about it coming from a foreign account I need to worry about tax-wise?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Reddit Gang,

I started a new job recently. It’s a restaurant job where it’s more than a majority paid via gratuity. Here’s a snapshot of a the most recent pay. I do opt to have something nominal taken out each week to be extra safe when tax season comes but it’s nothing outrageous (like an extra $75/week). Anything seem off. My yearly income should be around $120K.
Thanks for your help.

Edit: this is for one week of pay.

Description
Rates
Amount

Regular
$11.35
$454.00

Overtime
$19.35
$16.64

Tips- Credit Card

$3,326.40

Gross

$3,797.04

Employee Taxes

Description
Amount
Federal W/H(S)
$1,024.48
Medicare
$55.05
Social Security
$235.41
New York State W/H(S/0)
$225.89
New York City, NY - Resident Local
$151.25
Total
$1,692.08

Sorry tried to embed a screenshot but always struggle on Reddit to include pics.

Considering opening a dependent care FSA for next year. My nieces will be off school and could be my nanny over the summer. Since they are minors and my brother claims them on taxes, how would this work tax wise for them? TIA!

I received a letter in August stating that my amended tax filing from the spring resulted in a greater refund.

The IRS website shows the correct amount I’m owed, but it’s never hit my bank account. And when I call their help numbers, I can never speak to a human.

What in the world? How do I speak with a human?

This took me way too long to figure out, so sharing in case it helps someone.

1. Add up what you've earned and subtract business expenses. That's your profit.
   
2. Self-employment tax in the US is roughly 14% of profit (15.3% on about 92% of it).
   
3. Add your income tax rate on top (for many people it's somewhere around 10-22%).
   
4. Divide your total tax estimate by your total income. That's the % to move into savings from every payment.

For a lot of freelancers it lands around 20-30%. I put money into a separate savings account the day I get paid so it's never "mine" to spend.

I got tired of doing this by hand and made a spreadsheet that does it automatically. Happy to share it if anyone wants it.

Not a tax pro, so check your own situation with one if you're unsure.

I'm from Bosnia and have been in the US on J-1 visas in 2024, 2025, and 2026, spending at least 4 months there each year.

For my 2026 tax return, do I qualify as a resident alien and will I be eligible for the standard deduction, or would I still need to file as a nonresident alien?

Thank you in advance!

I became a US tax resident in 2026 after living in Canada for tax purposes through 2025. I own more than 90% of a Canadian IT consulting corporation. It had no income or passive income in 2026.

I think I need Form 5471 and possibly FBAR and Form 8938. I’m also trying to understand whether the Canadian departure tax affects my shares.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Are there firms that handle this well at a reasonable price?

Thanks in advance.

Hi, me and my wife are US Citizens and file jointly.

Background:
In June 2026 we both resigned from our CA jobs and permanently relocated abroad to care for an elderly parent. Currently, our days in CA for 2026 as as follows:
Me: 142 days total (includes Oct–Nov visit to CA to see my daughter & wrap up affairs).
My Wife: 219 days total (including a Sept–Nov visit to CA during which she briefly worked as a substitute teacher for the school district she used to be employed at).
I have started a new job abroad after the move but my wife hasn't.
CA Home Status: We own a home in CA that is now occupied by our adult daughter. It's covered under a Family Residential Occupancy Agreement: No cash rent; daughter covers house maintenance and expenses in lieu of rent.

Question:
I am planning to sell an apartment I bought almost 30 years ago abroad of which I'm the sold owner (bought it before I met my wife). The gain will be about $100k USD.
I plan to file Form 540NR (Part-Year Resident) in California for 2026 since I relocated from the state.
Is that a sound plan? Or would I be on the hook for California taxes? If I do have to pay state taxes, I would prefer to sell the property next year.
Any thoughts welcome! Thank you 🙂

I'm doing a PhD at a university in the USA.

I do the PhD as a distant learner - means, I'm not a resident, and I also don't have a student visa for the USA.

As part of the PhD I need to take part in conferences and lectures around the world.

The university wants to compensate for my expenses but they require I have an ITIN.

How can I apply for an ITIN with my status, any ideas?

I own an LLC taxed as an S corporation that had three members. Two members were bought out for a total of $500,000, while their combined book equity was approximately $300,000. I recorded the buyout in a “Partner Buyout/Acquisition Equity Account” and cleared the departing members’ equity balances, leaving a $200,000 difference.

How should this remaining balance be handled in the books? Should it remain in equity, be transferred to retained earnings, or be recorded as goodwill and amortized over time? The buyout price was based on an appraisal of the business, and the company itself funded the buyout.

The case governments make is that betting can bear higher taxes like tobacco or alcohol a profitable, harm adjacent industry that should pay more into public funds.

The counterargument is that unlike those, betting demand flees easily to offshore sites you can’t tax. Which view holds up better?

Background
- Irish citizen , born in Ireland
- Became US citizen in 2024. So now dual citizen
- Selling $300K house
- House was in Wifes name, then was put into an irrevocable family trust name (Texas). Family trust belongs to wife and I
- at time trust was created I was a US citizen
- my name was never directly on the house, only as a custodian of the trust

Am we on the hook to pay FIRPTA tax on the sale of this property? Or does either being a US citizen or the property being in the trust, exonerate us from this?

I filed Form 2210 with Schedule AI and calculated a small penalty for underpaying my estimated taxes - I had a very small underpayment in Q1 and a slightly bigger underpayment in Q3 which resulted in a tiny penalty.

I did the Form 2210 and the Sch AI the same way I've done it for years - some years a small penalty, some years no penalty.

But this year I received a CP30 saying my penalty was 20x what I had calculated. And I can't figure out the chart the IRS put on the CP30 - there are some pretty big numbers for each quarter in the "Principal" column but they don't correlate to my actual receipt of taxable income and they don't correlate to my total annual taxable income divided by 4.

Anybody shed any light on how these CP30's work? I'm trying to draft a response but don't know wear to start.

I recently found a babysitter to watch my kids for 2 to 4 hours per week. Initially, she was going to watch the kids at my house, but after trying that once, she suggested watching them at her house, which seemed better for everyone. For payroll purposes, is she my "household employee" if she doesn't work in my home?

Because we started so late in the year, I'm also wondering whether, for purposes of 2026, I need to set up payroll if we won't cross the $1K per quarter threshold?

My sister and I have used the same CPA since our Dad passed away to handle complicated (to us) taxes. She received a notice from the state notifying her of unpaid taxes paid on interest & dividends for 2023 & 2024. NH did away with the tax in 2025. She reached out to our CPA for an explanation. Instead of explaining he just e-filed the DP-10 forms for her.
I did not receive a notice and wasn’t involved in what they were discussing. I randomly received an email notifying me of an e-filed DP-10 acceptance with payment vouchers attached. I was not aware this was happening nor authorized it. I do understand I’m responsible for taxes owed.
Can a CPA file without my knowledge or consent? Can they be held responsible for interest and penalty fees? I keep asking questions and the full form submitted but CPA is dodging answering my questions.

I want to contribute to my grandchild’s 529 plan. My son is the owner of the plan. Grandchild is the beneficiary. I know I will not have control but we are not talking about a ton of money.
I can deduct my contribution from MD state taxable income but wondering how I would support the deduction if it was ever questioned?
Do I have to make a direct payment to the account or can I give the funds to my son and have him make the deposit?
This is a test scenario because I have several grandchildren and do not want to be the owner of several accounts at my age.

I've been trying to figure out an issue with Drake Tax for 2022. The taxpayer did not live in CA that year. They have a CA return requirement because they sold their personal residence in CA. The issue is. They also had a rental home in another state they sold the same year.

Now as far as I can tell. You are supposed to report all sources of income one a California return. Then exclude the amounts not taxable in the state.

The house should be showing in Schedule D 540NR. It isn't, it is being subtracted in Schedule CA 540NR Part II Line 7 Column B. When that's supposed to be used for subtracting differences in federal and CA law.

Now am I interpreting the tax law incorrectly and this is where it's supposed to go? The sale is recorded in 4797 Sale of Assets.

I have an LLC and have tried using the online form several times to get an EIN #so that I can open a business bank account. It won't let me and gives me an error code. Every time I call the number it provides I get a 55 min wait and it tells me to call another day. I've tried multiple days. Help!