I haven’t done a Frugal Friday post in a while, and it’s a Tuesday, but here we go anyway. Welcome to Taxes Tuesday! I’m kidding, that’s not going to be a thing, but I am going to talk about filing your 2020 taxes today.
Chelsea, you’re a theme park blog, why are you talking about taxes? Actually, I’m a life in Orlando blog. Since most of Orlando was furloughed or laid off this year, that makes this a relevant topic. Rather than just walking one of my friends through this, I decided to put this together so I could help more people.
Filing your taxes isn’t hard, but it can also be kind of scary if you’ve never done it before. Even if you have done it before, 2020 has added some extra complications. I’ve reviewed both TurboTax and TaxAct before, and all tax programs should do a pretty good job of walking you through what you need to know. However, you are going to need some extra forms you might not have needed before and that’s what I’m here to talk about.
Standard disclaimer: I am not a tax expert or tax professional. I’m just someone who likes to help.
If you were furloughed or laid off this year, you will need to get a 1099-G in order to file. To request one in Florida, you will need to log into the oh so wonderful Connect system we all spent so much time fighting with this year. The website is only open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and you have to request your form before January 31st. Physical copies will also be sent through the mail at the end of the month, so if you’re reading this after January 31st and did not request yours, don’t panic. Just don’t file your taxes until you have it.
It came to my attention in December that you could withdraw your 401K under the CARES Act without paying any withdrawal fees, you just had to pay the taxes on the money. I wound up doing that to cover Fiona’s vet bills and some other expenses that came up. (Yay taking an $18,000 pay cut!) Even though I paid the taxes when I made the withdrawal, I still have to account for them when I file my taxes. My 401K is through Fidelity and they will be providing the 1099-R form I need by the end of the month. I’m not sure if it’s being emailed or mailed, so for the moment, I’m just checking my account once a week to look for it. I also get to fill out IRS Form 8915-E, which hasn’t been posted to the IRS’s website yet, so that’s another thing I have to wait for. Tax season officially starts on February 12th this year because the IRS is still dealing with backlogs from last year.
If you lost your health insurance due to being laid off and switched to a Marketplace (that’s the fancy name for Obamacare) plan, you will also need to get Form 1095-A.
H&R Block has a full list of all the tax forms you could possibly need, but these are the main three items that are going to affect the taxes of hospitality workers for 2020. I hope this was helpful!
You’re probably going to be seeing a lot more varied content like this on Twenty Something in Orlando in the future. Between trying to stay safe and being in the middle of a career change, I don’t always have the time or money to go on adventures right now as much as I would like. There are still plenty of Adventure Reports to come, but I’m also going to be branching out.
