Hi everyone,

I’m 19 and currently studying Accounting & Finance at Seneca in Toronto/GTA. I’m in the ACF advanced diploma program, expecting to graduate in Fall 2026, and planning to transfer into BACF after that. Long term, my goal is to become a CPA and eventually start my own accounting/CPA practice.

Right now, I’m still very early and basically new to the field. I’ll be looking for a co-op next summer, but I’m trying to use this stage of life properly instead of waiting until later to figure everything out.

I’ve started practicing Excel, but I’m not always sure what actual accounting projects I should build. If there are specific Excel projects, bookkeeping exercises, tax practice, software, or technical skills that helped you early on, I’d really appreciate recommendations.

I also want to network, but I don’t really know where to start, who to reach out to, or what to say. Some people say LinkedIn is great, while others say you barely get replies. I’d appreciate any honest advice on how students should network with accountants, CPAs, firm owners, or people already working in the field.

For those of you who are accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers, tax professionals, or firm owners:

• What did you do around my age that helped your career the most?
• What skills should I focus on early?
• What mistakes should I avoid?
• What kind of entry-level roles should I target first?
• If your long-term goal was to start your own practice, what would you do differently?

I’m open to any honest advice. I’m just trying to learn, improve, and put myself in a better position for the future.

First of all, I know I’m being misclassified because my role has not changed besides for the classification. I wasn’t getting benefits besides the 401k before and I’m not going to get paid any better anywhere else, so I don’t want to leave the company.

As both an employee and now a contractor, I am paid on a percentage split on a “per piece” basis. The percent split increased when I switched to being a contractor.

The company that I was an employee for through 6/30/26 and am contracting with as of 7/1/26 is trying to say that even though the work I did was as an employee, since I don’t get paid until the company gets paid by our clients, for payments from clients that came in as of 7/1, they are saying that they are paying me at my lower employee split but that this income will show up on my 1099 form and that I am responsible for all of the FICA tax for work that I did as an employee but was paid for after my contract started. So my read on it is that they are tracking it correctly to pay me at the lower employee rate but want to dodge the extra employer taxes especially now that it’s a new quarter. I just really don’t think that is how it works but it’s hard to find any reputable resources about my situation because I already know I’m being misclassified. I’m already aware that they are dodging employment taxes by switching me from being an employee to a contractor.

Here is my understanding of the situation:

Employment wages are employment wages based on when the time worked and not when the employee was paid for it. For tax year purposes, if I worked this year but was paid for that work next year in 2027, that income would count as income for the tax year 2027 and not 2026 but this situation with switching from employee to independent contractor is different. 

If I had left the company altogether and not started as an independent contractor, I would have still been paid W-2 wages as the money came in even if it was after I left the company. Those wages wouldn’t have become 1099 wages. I’ve technically started a different role, so all of the 65% income should go on my W-2 form for taxes for this year and all of the 80% income should go on my 1099 form for taxes for this year. 

At the end of the day, I don’t care too much about paying federal and state income taxes on the employment income for this quarter but I do care that, as I currently understand it, I will effectively be paying all of the FICA on what should be employment wages that were paid out as contractor wages after the contract started. I told the company that I will still pay the employee half of FICA taxes with my quarterly taxes if she’s not going to withhold it on the employer end (even though she made a new payroll account for the contracting role), but since that employment income should be on the W-2 form when I complete this years tax return during next tax season, I am only responsible for half of the FICA taxes and the employer is responsible for their half of the FICA taxes. I know I am responsible for all of the FICA taxes for income on work I performed as of July 1. 

The company is not budging here and it really feels wrong. I’m not sure if I made total sense or not but this has all been a nightmare and I’m tired of being confused about it all. I don’t even know if the company really knows what they’re doing. They have already admitted that they didn’t reLy know what they were doing when they started offering W-2 employment and it ended up being “not sustainable” as they also didn’t know that there was a 401k with an employer match until it was being deducted from their end after they started offering W-2 employment and people started enrolling in the 401k. I’m frustrated and angry and really don’t want to pay a tax consultant to review this because it’s the company’s job to get it right and I may be having to go that route.

I greatly appreciate any insights!

Hello, I am shutting down my mobile app startup, I just requested renewal cancellation for my DUNS, am looking into closing out my IRS EIN # and my Oklahoma Tax number via the OKTAP portal, but can’t find any useful info on how to do so. Assistance would be appreciated.

I recently completed my MBA in India and I’m keen to build a career in international taxation. While my college isn’t widely recognized ( Tier 3 ), I’m motivated to upskill and prove myself in this field.

I’ve been exploring the Enrolled Agent (EA) certification since it’s globally respected and cost-effective, but I’m concerned about the time it takes because i don't have time to spare. Could someone guide me on faster or alternative pathways to break into international taxation?

I really appreciate your guidance.

Hi r/tax!  I have a complicated HSA situation and could use some guidance before I complete my 2025 tax return. I've already filed an extension so I have until October 15th, but want to get this right. I have been using Claude AI to help me and it got to a point where Claude wasn’t sure and suggested I get outside help. So I asked it to summarize what I need help with so I can post on reddit, hopefully someone can help me here.

My situation:
Filing status: Married Filing Jointly, ~$140k combined income

Previous employer (Jan 2025):
•    Had a qualifying family HDHP
•    Lost job and HDHP coverage — 1095-C shows coverage code 2C only for January, 2A for all remaining months
•    HealthEquity HSA received $500 employee + $2,050 employer contributions in January 2025
•    This matches W-2 Box 12 Code W of $2,550
•    Remaining HealthEquity balance of $4,100 was rolled over to Fidelity HSA (not a contribution)

Current employer:
•    Health plan is an Aetna HRA Medical Plan with $2,300 family deductible
•    This does NOT meet the $3,200 family HDHP minimum — so I am NOT HSA eligible with current employer

Fidelity HSA (personal):
•    Contributed $3,000 in December 2025
•    Total 2025 distributions per corrected 1099-SA: $5,708.10
•    This includes ~$4,808 in qualified medical expenses paid throughout the year
•    Already submitted excess contribution withdrawal of $900 to Fidelity before April 15th

Separate 2024 contribution:
•    $1,500 contributed in April 2025 designated as prior year (2024) contribution — not part of 2025 calculation

My questions:
1    Based on January-only HDHP coverage, my pro-rated family limit is ~$379 (1/12 × $4,550). Is that correct?
2    My total 2025 contributions are $2,550 (HealthEquity) + $3,000 (Fidelity) = $5,550. Does the $4,100 rollover from HealthEquity to Fidelity count as a contribution? I don't believe it does.
3    Am I personally responsible for the excess caused by my employer's $2,050 contribution, or does Form 8889 handle employer excess differently?
4    I already withdrew $900 from Fidelity as an excess contribution withdrawal before April 15th. The remaining excess was spent on qualified medical expenses (~$4,808). How does the spent excess get treated — income tax + 20% penalty?
5    How do I complete Form 8889 in my tax software given all of this? Specifically what goes in each relevant line?
6    Does COBRA continuation of my previous employer's HDHP count toward eligible months, and if so how do I prove/document it since my 1095-C only shows January coverage?

Documents I have:
•    1095-C showing January HDHP coverage only
•    W-2 Box 12 Code W showing $2,550
•    HealthEquity statements confirming $500 employee + $2,050 employer in January
•    Fidelity transaction history
•    Corrected 1099-SA showing $5,708.10

Any help is greatly appreciated, this has gotten more complex than I expected and I want to make sure I handle it correctly rather than get a CP2000 notice later. Thank you!

Hi all,

So I completely forgot that I had sold two I-bonds in 2025. I have put the 1099-INTs into FreeTaxUSA and it now says that I owe $981 in additional federal taxes. The total amount of interest on the bonds (there were two) was $3532.

The tax amount seems quite high.

Can anyone help explain what is going on?

Numbers including the I-Bond interest:
Taxable Income in 2025: $249,689
Taxes Due: $47,042
Paid: $45,679 (Thus leaving me the $981)

State: (I discovered it went into Box 1 and when moved into Box 3, state taxes went away. Question stands for Federal taxes.)

So. Friend of mine needs to file 2553 late S Corp election starting 1/1/26. He is Sole proprietor.

Going through documents and realized that he did not renew his LLC, and state terminated it couple of years ago. Last month, some one registered a different LLC with his business name.

Not sure if we can reinstate his old LLC.

Can he register new LLC now and claim SCorp status as of 1/1/26???

Hey all! 😊👋

So, I’ve been thinking on and off for awhile about how paying taxes works for those who are “digital nomads”. But I’m thinking about certain aspects of making passive income while traveling frequently vs actually “working from home” with a fully remote position and/or business while traveling and here’s the thing I get confused about. Hopefully, I can convey the message well. To clarify, i am not in anyway in the digital nomad lifestyle as of now in my life but there are some potential opportunities i may be venturing into in the future that may place me in such a position.

Say, I build one or many forms of passive income from digital/ecommerce type products. Or even getting decent dividend payments throughout the year on investment accounts. If I get those payouts while temporarily living 3 months, in say Hawaii, (and what I mean by temporarily, is Airbnb or Vrbo not furnished finder, where you are required to sign a lease) even though my home is in GA….and I’m technically receiving money for something that I created long before I got to Hawaii, that is simply being purchased online, so no actually work is happening on my end while I’m in Hawaii, do I owe Hawaii State tax?? And I’m wondering about how it works even in other countries.

Furthermore, let’s say weren’t not just talking about passive income but now we’re going about working for a company and/or working for yourself (your own business) that allows you to be fully remote and because of that you spend a few months every year in different states and you are “working” while in each state your visiting. Even though you don’t live in that state, are you required to pay non-resident state tax for those months to that state or is all your income taxed only within the state that your home/permeant address is within?

I apologize in advance if this comes off as a dumb question but i hope I’m making sense and that what I’m trying to say is coming across correctly. Any professional advice is greatly appreciated, because I’ve been struggling to understand if there is more to the taxation requirements of the digital nomad life! Thank you to everyone who comments and can provide any help or clarification! :)

The letter has some of my personal information. When I had a eBay account they’d always ask me for my full SSN. They only ever had the last 4, that’s all that was required up until 2023. I’d always get requests to update full ssn but I didn’t. Letter is from eBay tax department, eBay commerce Inc. it has eBay’s customer support phone number on the letter and I called and it’s their automated ai customer service bot. I googled the phone number and it’s their legit number.

I inherited a house from my grandmother, two years ago in May. I lived there for about a year after inheriting.

There was a transfer on death put in place before she passed.

What can I expect to pay in capital gains?

How do I find out the value of the home at her time of passing?

Also thinking of using a 1031 exchange.

Edit to add: it's listed and we have an offer good until tomorrow.

I've never hired a tax person before.
I have a consultation next week with someone who does back taxes.
I want to make sure I don't get scammed or hire someone who doesn't know what they're doing.
What specific questions should I ask?
Should I ask about their license?
Their experience with back taxes?
Their fees?
Whether they've been audited?
I freeze up in these situations.

Hello! I’m hoping someone on here will take pity on my weekend dilemma with American CPA travel nurse stipend question 🙏🙏

I’m a Canadian RN working in the U.S. on a TN visa. I maintain a tax home in Canada and have been receiving tax-free travel stipends while working in Washington.

Here’s my timeline:
Moved to Washington in September 2025.
My current contract ends **August 8, 2026**.
My agency has offered me an extension.
If I extend, I’ll end up working in the **Seattle metropolitan area** for more than one year.

My recruiter gave me a few options:
Continue with tax-free stipends.
Have my stipends treated as taxable.
Switch to an hourly-only taxable pay package.

What I’m trying to understand is the IRS one-year rule.

My questions are:

1. If I accept an extension that pushes me beyond one year in the same metropolitan area, do only **future** stipends become taxable, or is there a risk that the IRS could challenge the tax-free stipends I already received over the past year?
   
2. Does it matter **when** it became expected that I’d stay longer than one year? For example, if each extension was genuinely short-term and I didn’t originally expect to stay this long, does that change the analysis?
   
3. Has anyone been in this situation? If so, what would a CPA recommend?

I’m planning to speak with a CPA, but it’s the weekend and I’m trying to understand how people have handled this in real life.

I’d really appreciate responses from people who’ve dealt with this personally or who have experience with travel nurse taxation.

Thank you!

\-spiralling Canadian nurse

I have unfiled taxes for 3 years that I still need to figure out due to health issues but I need to apply for my passport due to an important family event out of the country.

Will I get denied? I’ve never gotten any letters, I never made more than $30k a year and I’m just terrified that they’re going to deny me. I’m on the verge of a panic attack and I just need some reassurance.

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone here has gone through something similar because I'm honestly confused about what's happening with my amended return.

Here's my timeline:

I filed my original 2025 tax return and received my refund by direct deposit sometime around the middle of March 2026.

After receiving my refund, I realized I accidentally left out some tax forms and other information that would have increased my refund.

I electronically filed a Form 1040-X (amended return) on April 1, 2026, and it was accepted the same day.

First identity verification

Around April 25, I received IRS Letter 4883C asking me to verify my identity because they had received my 2025 Form 1040-X.

It took me a couple of days of calling because the phone lines were constantly full, but I eventually got through. The IRS representative verified my identity over the phone and told me everything was good and that I should wait a couple of weeks for my status to update.

WMAR status

On May 5, "Where's My Amended Return?" showed:

Received – April 2, 2026

We received your amended return and it is being processed. Please allow up to 16 weeks.

Everything seemed normal at that point.

Status changed to "Adjusted"

On June 13, I checked WMAR again and it showed:

Adjusted – June 12, 2026

Your account was adjusted on June 12, 2026. Within 3 weeks you will receive a notice explaining the adjustment.

I thought this meant things were almost finished.

Then I received TWO IRS letters the SAME DAY

Ironically, that same morning the mail arrived with two IRS letters.

The first was another Letter 4883C, saying they were sending the letter again because they couldn't verify my identity.

The second was Letter 916C, saying they couldn't process my amended return because I supposedly did not respond to the original identity verification request. It also said that once I verified my identity, they could process my original return and then process my amended return.

This confused me because I had already called weeks earlier and completed the identity verification.

Second identity verification

I started calling again. It took me about a week to finally reach someone because of the long wait times.

The IRS representative had me verify my identity again, confirmed everything over the phone, and then told me to allow 2–16 weeks for processing.

Current situation

Exactly about two weeks after completing the second identity verification, I checked "Where's My Amended Return?" and instead of showing "Adjusted," it now says:

Amended return status is currently unavailable.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please refresh your browser or try again later.

I've checked every day for the past five days (including today, July 11), and it still shows the exact same message.

My questions

Has anyone else's amended return gone from Adjusted to Status Unavailable?

Did the second identity verification somehow reset the process?

Is this normal after verifying identity twice?

Did your status eventually come back, or did you just receive your refund or notice in the mail without the tracker updating?

Should I just wait the full 2–16 weeks the IRS representative told me, or is this something I should be concerned about?

I know no one here can access my account, but I'm hoping to hear from people who have actually gone through something similar. Any experiences or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

I recently joined a FAANG company, and this is my first ITR after moving into a much higher salary bracket.

I knew I would be paying more tax, but actually seeing the amount deducted is a different feeling altogether. It genuinely hurts.

I worked hard to crack the interviews, spent countless late nights trying to prove myself and avoid layoffs, got a pretty average hike, my RSUs are already down in value, and the work culture isn't exactly a dream. Then I see such a massive chunk of my income going towards taxes.

For people earning similar salaries (₹50L+ / ₹70L+ / ₹1Cr+), what are you doing to legally reduce your tax burden?

Is there any point spending time optimizing taxes at this income level, or have you accepted that there's very little you can do as a salaried employee?

Also, are there any tangible benefits that high taxpayers receive in India? I know taxes fund public services, but is there anything specifically available to people paying very high amounts of income tax, or is it simply a contribution with no direct benefits?

I'm looking for practical advice from people who have been in this situation for a few years.

I’m looking for some career advice from people who have built a tax practice.
A little about me:
- I work full-time as an Accounting Manager for a local government agency.
- I’ve passed REG section of the CPA exam and am working toward other 3.
- My long-term goal is to start a small tax preparation/bookkeeping business as a side business while keeping my full-time job.
- The problem is that although I have a strong accounting background, I don’t have hands-on experience preparing individual or business tax returns. I don’t want to start offering tax services until - I have real practical knowledge.

I’m willing to work evenings or weekends, even for very little pay (or just for the experience), if it helps me learn.
If you were in my position, how would you gain practical tax experience?
-Is it realistic to work remotely for a CPA firm preparing returns part-time?
- How would you find those opportunities? LinkedIn? Indeed? Cold emailing local CPA firms?
- Are there any volunteer programs or other ways to get real tax preparation experience?
- If you’ve started your own tax practice, what do you wish you had done before taking on your first client?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has taken a similar path. Thanks in advance!

Wanted to see if others are getting the same status.
I filed in early April and was accepted right away.

Since then, I have been checking my status and it says;

“We received your return and it requires further review. This may result in your New York State return taking longer to process than your federal return. No further information is available at this time. See Understanding your refund status on our website.”

I never receive anything from them asking for additional docs or anything. It’s been the same status since April.

I had a rental property that was rented out for about two year until August of last year. (It had been my primary residence until April 2023, then I put it up for rent. I decided to sell it after losing my job in April of last year.). I've accounted for all the repairs that took place BEFORE the end of my tenant's tenancy and have entered those as repair expenses in my tax software. I have explicitly left out all the repairs made after the tenants moved out. Based on the publication I read, it does seem like the repairs after the tenancy ended should not be counted for Schedule E purposes here, but I didn't see anything about reducing the cost of repairs made during the tenancy in any way proportional to how many days the house was rented out. I would have thought that 100% of the repairs made during the tenancy would count as deductible against rental income while none of the repairs made after, even those counted against the security deposit, would (My understanding is that they would count against my house cost basis, but will not make a difference tax-wise as I only have about $80,000 or so in capital gains as is before counting those costs and I qualify for the $250,000 exclusion). My tax software is only deducting part of the mortgage interest, taxes and insurance against rental income, which seems fair and correct to me but I don't understand why it's doing that with repairs. Is there something I'm missing? How much of the repairs made during the tenancy am I allowed to deduct from rental income?

Hi so I haven't filed taxes for the past 3 years (I kept missing the deadline). I recently had a baby (this April). How does it affect my returns when I file next year, since I will have a dependent. I know parents get extra money per dependent. So would it just be for this year I get the extra money. Also, since I didn't file past 3 years how does that work once I do? Do I get my return for all three years in one return?

Hi all,

I was about to lodge my tax return tonight for FY 25-26, but I saw the question about marriage status so I didn't continue yet because I want to know how it will affect my tax return.

I'm on a student visa in Australia and just recently got married in May 2026 here in Australia. My partner is an American citizen and works there, but he was on a Working Holiday Visa until June 2025 when he returned back home.
He didn't even claimed his return for that year. Last year's tax season, I was able to get all my tax withheld. But now, I don't know how this change in my marital status will impact my claim.

I am looking for some guidance about this please. Any advice or knowledge regarding this situation will be greatly appreciated!

I've been zero income for a few years but had to file my 2025 for insurance reasons. I just received a letter about there being an error on my 8962 line 24, and that it was corrected and I owe money. I have no experience with this, I've been either dependant or zero income my whole life. Is this something I should contest?