Tax questions, answered plainly
Short articles on the forms you receive, the credits you may qualify for, and what to do when the IRS writes. Each one is labeled with the tax year it describes and the date we last reviewed it.
Basics
How a return fits together: who files, which status, what a deduction or credit actually does.
Which filing status you should use
The five filing statuses, the head of household test people get wrong, what married filing separately costs you, and when a widowed spouse files jointly.
Do you have to file a return this year?
The income thresholds that force a return, the rules for self-employment and for dependents, and why filing anyway is often worth it when you do not have to.
Deductions and credits are not the same thing
A deduction lowers the income you are taxed on; a credit lowers the tax itself. What that difference is worth, and which credits can pay out as a refund.
Standard deduction or itemize: how to tell
What the standard deduction is worth for 2025, what itemizing on Schedule A actually counts, and the simple test that decides which one belongs on your return.
Who counts as your dependent
The qualifying child and qualifying relative tests in plain language, who wins when two people claim the same child, and what a dependent is worth to you.
Where your refund comes from, and when it arrives
A refund is your own overpayment coming back, not a bonus. How withholding and credits produce it, when to expect it, and what tends to hold one up.
Forms explained
One article per form you are likely to receive or file, box by box.
What your W-2 is telling you
Every box on the W-2 explained in plain language, which boxes change your refund, what to do if one looks wrong, and what to do if the form never arrives.
How to fill out a W-4 so April is not a surprise
The W-4 sets withholding, not tax. What Steps 2, 3 and 4 actually do, why a second job breaks the math, and when to hand your employer a new one.
You got a 1099-NEC. Now what?
A 1099-NEC means you were paid as a contractor. Where that income goes, which costs come off it, the self-employment tax it triggers, and what to pay in.
What a 1099-K does and does not mean
A 1099-K reports gross payments through an app or marketplace. What triggers one for 2025, why the number is too high, and where each kind of payment goes.
Interest and dividends: 1099-INT and 1099-DIV
Which boxes are ordinary income, which get capital-gains rates, when Schedule B is required, and the extra tax that starts at higher income levels.
Retirement distributions on a 1099-R
Gross versus taxable, what the box 7 code is telling the IRS, the extra tax on an early withdrawal, rollovers, and when Social Security becomes taxable.
Unemployment and state refunds on a 1099-G
Box 1 unemployment is taxable and usually has no withholding. Box 2 state refunds often are not taxable. And what to do about a form for benefits you never got.
Your 1098 and the mortgage interest deduction
What each box on the mortgage interest statement means, the debt limit that caps the deduction, and why the form only helps if you itemize at all.
The 1098-T tuition statement, box by box
What each box on the tuition statement reports, why box 1 is not the number a credit is figured on, and what Form 8863 still needs from the school.
Marketplace insurance: the 1095-A and Form 8962
If anyone on your return had Marketplace coverage, Form 8962 is not optional. What the three columns mean, how reconciling works, and what repayment costs.
Schedule C, line by line, for a first-time filer
Who has to file a Schedule C, what belongs in income, the expense lines that matter most, and where the net profit goes once the form is finished.
Fixing a filed return with Form 1040-X
When an amended return is the right answer, when to leave it alone, how long you have to file one, and what to expect once it is in the IRS queue.
Credits & deductions
The credits and deductions that move refunds the most, and who qualifies.
The Earned Income Tax Credit: who qualifies and how much
A refundable credit for people who work, sized by how many children live with you, with strict Social Security number rules and a refund hold every year.
Child Tax Credit for 2025, explained
What the credit is worth per child, who counts, how much of it can come back as a refund, and the Social Security number rule that is new this year.
AOTC or Lifetime Learning: which education credit
Two credits, one student, one choice a year. How the American opportunity and lifetime learning credits differ, what counts, and whose return they belong on.
Child and dependent care credit: daycare, camps and after-school
What care counts, how much of it the credit reaches, why both spouses need earned income, and what your provider has to give you before the return is filed.
The qualified business income deduction, explained
A deduction for business owners that costs nothing to claim and is easy to misread. What income qualifies, which form you use, and what it does not reduce.
Home office and mileage: what you can actually deduct
The two deductions self-employed people ask about most, the tests they have to pass, the two ways to figure each one, and who cannot claim them at all.
What the 2025 tax law changed on your return this year
New deductions for tips, overtime, car loan interest and seniors, a larger standard deduction and child credit, a higher SALT cap, and what to keep records of.
IRS letters & problems
What a notice means, what to do first, and what happens if you cannot pay.
You got a letter from the IRS. Read this first
A notice number, a response date, and a careful comparison to your return. What to do first when an IRS letter arrives, and how to spot a fake.
CP2000: the IRS says your income does not match
A CP2000 is a computer match against the W-2s and 1099s the IRS holds, not an audit and not a bill. What causes one, and how to answer it in time.
What an IRS audit actually looks like
Most audits are a letter asking for documents for two or three lines of one return. The three kinds, what to send, your rights, and how they end.
If you cannot pay what you owe by April
File on time anyway, pay what you can, then pick a plan. Short-term and long-term IRS payment options, offers in compromise, and what an extension does not do.
Refund delayed? The usual reasons, and the IP PIN
Credit holds, identity verification letters, a return already filed under your number, and offsets. Why refunds stall, and how an IP PIN prevents one problem.
Planning for 2026
Decisions to make during the year so next April is planned rather than absorbed.
Quarterly estimated taxes for 2026: dates and how much
Who has to send estimated payments during 2026, the four due dates, the safe harbors that keep a penalty away, and a simple way to set the money aside.
A mid-year withholding checkup
How to check what your paychecks are withholding for 2026, what the estimator needs from you, and how a new W-4 fixes a refund or a balance that is too big.
Should your business be an S corporation?
What the S corporation election saves, what it costs to run, how a reasonable salary limits the benefit, and when staying a sole proprietor is better.
1099-K in 2026: what payment apps will report
The reporting threshold payment apps and marketplaces use for 2026, why a form can arrive below it, and what to keep so the income is reported right.