An EPIC FUCKING ANGRY RANT

I'm an artist, I think everyone here gets that. I'm NOT a businessman, but you know... I'm also not stupid. But damn, the business side of this comic (that the IRS forced me into) is turning into the biggest clusterfuck ever.

In years prior, doing my taxes at the end of the year meant I would get a little money back. But in 2021 I crossed some threshold because Patreon spit out some paperwork that I needed to file with my taxes. After I inputted the data (into TurboTax) it said I OWED the US government almost $13k. What the fuck. Are you serious?

So I found a CPA (certified public account) in my area and asked what I should do, they told me to create an LLC because my "side hobby" had turned into a legit business and by filing an "S-Corp Election" I would be able to save some of the money the US government was demanding as my "30% self-employment tax". Not that year, I was screwed for that year, but NEXT year. All I needed to do was make some business-moves.

I created an LLC, and paid the CPA to file the S-corp election. 4 months later (it takes 60 days to get an answer) I had STILL received no answer from the IRS and the CPA kept telling me it was fine because of covid, and slow response time, and the IRS was busy, etc...

2 months later I called my CPA and found out they no longer worked there and they refused to give me her contact info. Then they told me I wasn't in the system. What the fuck. Are you serious? My CPA just vanished into the ether?

I called the IRS just so I could find out what was going on and they quite literally SCREAMED at me and it was probably the worst experience I have EVER had on a phone call with anyone. They refused to give me any information.

I had the fax cover letter that proved the original CPA had sent the S-corp election so I showed up at that same CPA office and the guy (who owned the agency) sat me down and said he was sorry everything got screwed up and he could help. This was around March 20th so I told him how important it was that I sort it out by tax day (this year it was April 18).

Then that guy didn't answer my calls or emails FOR WEEKS, not ONE.

April 18th came around and I started calling his office on repeat until he picked up. He acted like nothing had happened and told me I needed to file an extension and "just send the IRS four grand to let them know you're thinking about it". Since this guy obviously has communication-issues I asked what the next step would be and he told me "in a couple weeks, you'll come in and we'll sit down and sort all this".

Three weeks later. NOTHING. Pissed off to no end, I called his office to fire him and found out he had left that morning for a multi-week holiday in Italy.

Fuming with rage, I called the IRS again and I was told that nobody at the IRS HAD EVER EVEN RECEIVED the initial "S-Corp election" and that my LLC was a "C-corp" (even though I had never filed any paperwork related to become a C-corp). What the fuck. Are you serious?

I have the original papers in my hand that the first CPA claimed she faxed. At this point here are the only possibilities:

1) The original CPA filed the wrong paperwork, realized it later, and then made fake paperwork to give me so I thought she did it right (then she quit her job/was fired)

or

2) The original CPA didn't know how to use a fax machine so nothing was ever sent at all

or

3) The original CPA actually did everything correct and someone at the IRS entered the information wrong and misclassified my company

At this point NOBODY involved in helping me in a way. The original CPA is gone and the IRS refuses to answer or show me any documents that would clear this up.

I called ANOTHER CPA (at an entirely new firm), sent him everything I have, and he said the CPA/IRS has screwed up my LLC to the point where the best option is to dissolve it and start over.

Not only did I waste an entire YEAR of my life trying to do everything right, using all of the correct channels, and trying to be a business person, but since the IRS/CPA screwed my entire plan for 2022 taxes, I now owe the government over $25k for that year.

Here's why this is BEYOND FUCKED. Because every single penny I have ever received on Patreon is meant to be used for the final production of the comic. It isn't "profit", it's money I haven't touched so I can deliver the best final products to you, the people who financially supported me. And the IRS keeps coming in and taking that money. Why?

Is it because I am "self-employed"? You know what's weird about the idea that I am a "self-employed artists". I've had a FULL TIME FUCKING JOB for the last 4 years. A 40+ hour a week regular-ass job. This comic is something I've been doing on the side of that. Why is there no classification for that? Why shouldn't there be different categories for a person who is self-employed full time versus a person who works a full time job AND has a successful hustle on the side of that. But fuck it, now I'm really ranting. I'll stop.

This shit is beyond frustrating. I've gotten sick as fuck twice this month and have spent all of my healthy time chasing around CPA's, on hold with the IRS, and trying to research ways to get myself out of this fucking mess that I didn't create but was CREATED FOR ME by lazy people and stupid red-tape that make no sense.

You know what I wanted to be doing: creating Chapter-fucking-95.

Sorry everyone, there is no "ha, gotcha, this is another secret contest" or anything like that, this is just the angry rant of a person so sick of what corrupt human beings have turned this world into. It's exhausting. It's exhausting enough just to be a sane human trying to live and eat day to day, why add so much more bullshit to purposely make people go off the fucking deep-end to get basic shit accomplished. Feel free to use this thread as a bitching-post for any of the dumb fuckery you have to deal with just to get basic shit done in this world ran by greedy psychopaths. Anything! Sometimes the best thing you can do is get it off your chest.

Anyways, PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME MORE MONEY for this rant. I am not saying all of this as some sideways way of sticking my palm out. I just needed somewhere to complain and for everyone to understand why things are going to be a bit delayed this month. I just want to make my art and deliver something nice to the people who supported it. Why should that be so hard?

Thanks for reading.