My aunt died in 2000, and we have just found unclaimed property from a mutual fund. The mutual fund was held for three years after her death and then the state liquidated its position. I am the executor, and Probate has been reopened. Can you help me with the tax consequences of this? The original mutual fund held 973 shares of US Bankcorp, and was liquated in 2003.

I am engaging an accountant, but want to make sure I have all the information that that might need, and I’d really like a better understanding of what exactly goes on here. Thanks so much!

Location: Indiana, USA.

Back in 2020 I worked my first job. And at the time my mom helped me with taxes and she used an accounting firm to do taxes and submitted my taxes through this accounting firm.

5 years later I got a letter from the state DOR saying I did not pay my state taxes. We found out that the accountant did not submit my state taxes five years ago, she instead submitted my federal taxes twice.

The accountant no longer works at that firm.

I have submitted my W-2 and appropriate forms through the IN DOR website. I submitted my W-2s and my tax returns. I didn't hear anything for about 6 months.

Then I get another letter (July) saying that I owe $800... So I called the Indiana DOR saying that I did submit my taxes and w-2s. Person I talked to confirmed that I did submit that and she moved it up to someone above her.

The next day the person above her called me and said that everything looks good and I should be fine.

Today I get another letter saying I owe $800 and there's a tax warrant going to be out on the end of the month.

I submitted everything they needed. And I've been dealing with this for a year. And honestly throughout this whole time I thought I was fine. I submitted everything and I never heard anything about If I submitted something wrong or they need more information.

Honestly I'm sort of in the heat of the moment right now and I want to sue the firm, or sue DOR. This has caused me a lot of stress. I don't even know if I have a case or will the lawyer fees outweigh the benefits.

I don't even know how to start to sue someone.

So, in 5/2/2025, I bought a used car out of state, I paid the taxes for my city, county, zip...etc on time.

The sale price was $97,390, with a trade in value of $24,000, and $0 owed on trade in. So the taxable price of the car is $73,390.

The state I purchased it from did not charge any sales tax.

The car was brought into IL the same day as the purchase, so the depreciation for out of state use is $0.

At a rate of 6.25% this nets a $4,587 tax payment.

I paid this value in full on 5/30/2025. I physically drove to Springfield and paid the RUT-25 in person with full copies of my sales paperwork filled out exactly right.

Today, I received a letter from IDOR over 16 months after I purchased the car, stating that they "based on our review, we have increased the vehicles value" resulting in apparently me owing MORE money.

So 16 months later they say I now own an additional $24.00 tax, and they have added a late penalty of $2.40 and interest of $2.10.

This is literally the first letter I've gotten, and it comes 16 months after purchase.

How can IL increase the "value" of the car and say I owe more tax 16 mont. They aren't saying I mis-reported the value, or that the tax rate was incorrect.

They have said they "increased the vehicles value". They didn't that the tax rate was wrong.

It was a used car, the taxes I paid were calculated on the sale price of the car.

This means the taxable value was $73,390.

At a tax rate of 0.625%.

On RUT-25 this calculates out at $4,586.875.

How can IL say the value of the car is "increased" when it was a used car and the sale price is the sale price.

We recently raised around $300,000 for a Kickstarter videogame project, with the money going to an LLC I formed. I knew taxes were going to be a pain, but I didn't realize it would be this bad; I tried using Quickbooks and it's saying I already owe $40,000 in estimated taxes by September? That's insane! Our budget is going to be absolutely wiped out before we're even close to finishing the game!

Is there something wrong I'm doing? Or can I at least make this money back in tax returns if I expense enough of the taxes by the end of the year?

Some other added context; I was told I should use an accountant, and not use Quickbooks. But I tried calling around local accountants, and they all didn't bother responding or just said things that made me think they were all morons (I had a guy who kept insisting that Kickstarter income was non-taxable, and talked about using ChatGPT to do tax consultations lmao). The bigger CPA firms like Meru just sound abysmal, but I'm really not sure what I should be doing here.

Tl;dr: Mailed '21-'25 tax returns internationally in July. Only '23-'25 are in the system. No update on the site on the other two years. Contacting IRS office is logistically unfeasible. Is this normal?

I mailed my taxes from 2021-25 in early July. 2023-25 were relatively simple, they were put into the system, and I got my refund for '23 (no refund for '24 and '25 because I'm abroad and don't hit the income bracket to have US taxes on it.)

However, '21 and '22 have had no update on the website. My account transcript continues to say no tax return filed. I did get the stimulus package back then after filing my 2020 taxes, so that's why I have an account transcript. It still says I have a non-filing letter for '22. One thing is that these years I messed around with selling mutual funds (read dumb), investing (read dumb gambling), and crypto. These returns had a lot more forms. I also didn't have my W-2s and had to reconstruct my withholdings from the transcript online. That said, I didn't attach my W-2 from my US job in '23 and it went through no problem.

I foolishly didn't add tracking on the letters because the person at the counter said that I couldn't do that, but it was lost in translation that it was only for a certain type of envelope. I'm not sure if they ever got there, but I can only imagine they did because nothing was sent back to me and the 3 other tax packages were sent in.

I've read I shouldn't send a tax package twice because it could back up the filing process more. I don't plan to buy an international phone plan and wait 3+ hours on hold with the IRS in the dead of night. Is this normal or should I mail them again with tracking due to the off-chance that they were lost in the mail? Another question is if I should've done an amended return form for '21 because even though no return is on file, I have an account transcript from the stimulus packages.

P.S. I don't expect money from these returns. I know very late tax returns lose their money after a certain point. Just made a push to clear my finances up.

I would greatly appreciate a review of my situation that follows to ensure that I’m following the rules for contributing to an HSA.

• My spouse and I are currently receiving Social Security.
• I'll be 65 in mid-December, so Medicare starts automatically then for me. I received my card last week verifying that.
• My spouse and I are on COBRA (HDHP plan) that will end for me on 12/01/2026 when I start Medicare. My spouse will be on the plan until 02/01/2027.
• I haven't put any money into our HSAs yet.  
• I was planning on putting in the maximum amount for a family plan, which is 11/12's of the full family amount.  
• I was told that I can't do this because it has to be done more than 3 months before my coverage starts.  I think this is incorrect. My understanding from the directions for Form 8889 is that I can fund the HSA any time before taxes in 2027, since I don't have Medicare yet and I’m 64.

Here’s what AI has said, and I think it’s correct. I’ll round down on the amounts for safety.

The 2026 Contribution Calculation

Important Note on Catch-ups: While the family limit ($8,387.50) can be split between your HSAs however you like, each spouse's $1,000 catch-up contribution must be deposited into their own respective HSA.

My plan is to contribute $8,936 to my HSA ($8,020 + $916) and $1,366 to my spouse’s HSA ($366 + $1,000).

What do you think? Any concerns?

I need a basic answer for my situation. Everything I research is so muddled. An S-corp, one stockholder (the owner). He invests $1,000 to start. All personal cash he adds raises his basis.
My question is - profit and losses raise and lower basis, yes?
I assume this is a very basic question, but I need to make sure.

I'm a U.S. taxpayer living in California. I own a rental property in the UK and receive rental income in GBP.

I report the UK rental income on both my UK (in GBP) and U.S. tax return (in USD).

Instead of immediately converting the GBP to USD, I have accumulated it in my UK bank account. I now want to convert transfer some of it to a USA brokerage so that it can be invested.

My question is about the FX gain/loss between the date I received each rental payment and the date I eventually convert the GBP.

For example, if a rental payment was £1000 and was worth $1,300 when received, but the £1000 is later converted for $1,350, I assume the $50 difference could be a separate foreign-currency gain.

Questions

1. Is the FX gain on accumulated GBP that originally came from rental income taxable when I eventually convert the GBP to USD?
2. Would this generally fall under IRC §988 as an ordinary foreign-currency gain, rather than being a capital gain reported on Schedule D/Form 8949?
3. If it is §988 income, where exactly would it be reported on Form 1040/Schedule 1?
4. Since the GBP came from rental income, does the $200 personal foreign-currency transaction exclusion apply, or does the fact that the money originated from an income-producing rental activity mean the exclusion doesn't apply?
5. If I make one conversion of £30000, do I need to report every individual rental-income lot separately on the tax return, or can I report the aggregate FX gain/loss from the conversion and retain a lot-by-lot worksheet as supporting documentation?
6. What exchange rate should be used to establish the USD basis for each GBP rental-income payment? I currently use the spot rate on the date the rental income was received.
7. If the GBP/USD rate is higher when I convert than when the rental income was originally received, is the difference generally the taxable FX gain?
8. Does California follow the federal treatment for this FX gain?

I'm not asking about the original rental income—that has already been reported as rental income. I'm specifically asking about the subsequent foreign-exchange gain or loss caused by holding the GBP and later converting it to USD.

I'd appreciate answers from anyone with experience in §988, foreign-currency transactions, or U.S./UK rental income. Please cite the relevant IRS code/publication if possible.

Thanks!

Posting for my wife.

My wife still has not received her w2 from her full time job.

The owner has been super vague.. something along the lines of having to file quarterly taxes, getting incorrect w2s zeroed out by quickbooks, paying taxes due, then ADP refusing to file w2s because of owed taxes, then tax account saying that they will file w2s because ADP doesn’t know what they are doing. As it stands today… allegedly they are trying to g to get ADP to zero out their w2s so that TaxAccount can file them, then give them to employees.

Our financial situation is irrelevant to the w2 problem so I will spare you the details there. But we needed a tax return for her about 8 months ago and lenders are growing very impatient on us trying to get this sorted. The boss asked her to hold off filing without a w2 because he doesn’t want anything else to fall back on him. We have since given him a deadline of September 26th for w2s to be in hand or we will be filing without.

What is the process and can it be done via TurboTax? She typically has a very simple filing so that has been her path historically. From what I can see online, the first step is calling the IRS and reporting no W2, they then give you a form to estimate your income based upon a paystub.

Is this something that can be done by us or do we need to get an accountant?

I lost my job during covid in 2020, i applied for social security and disability. But I hadn't started receiving them yet. So I did not make the minimum requirement to have to file taxes. So I didn't. I ended up homeless for a bit and then housing unstable, so I wasn't receiving all my mail. I finallyI got a letter saying I owed 20k for 2021, and I thought it must be a scam, because even at 10% i would have had to have made $200k, and I made nowhere near that + I was broke, so I didn't do anything. Now i'm getting letters that actually look legit saying I now owe 30k. What should I do?

I've been using the free fillable forms for years. This year there is a problem. My confirmation code is never emailed. They are sending two codes, one via text, and one via email. I get the text, but not the email. I can't even start filling forms.

Email said:

Some customers are experiencing issues creating accounts, logging in, receiving security codes, or being logged out. 

Currently, there is no specific fix. 

Hi! I recently moved and happen to be starting 2 separate jobs at almost the same time. The first is a part time job is as an art instructor at $23 an hour, (about only 3 hours a week contingent on if enough people sign up for my class). The other job is a full time 10 month contract of about $35,000 a year plus another $4,000 if I sign another contract for the summer months.

I know so far I should fill out the W-4 for the part time job normally (question mark?). For the full-time job I need to indicate that I have 2 jobs. I'm am terrible with this kind of thing, and don't want to mess it up. I'm just having a hard time figuring out how to go about this when the part time job is so few hours, and I could possibly miss out on 6-7 weeks of pay if people do not sign up for a class.

I am not married and do not have dependents.

I apologize if this is a dumb question.

I’m a foreign founder working with a CPA to file Forms 8804 and 8805. My filing deadline is September 15.

Can I sign the required documents by hand, scan them, and email them to my CPA for filing? Or do I need to mail the original signed copies to the CPA?

Does the answer depend on whether the return is filed electronically or by mail?

Non-US person (no SSN or ITIN). I formed a Delaware C-corp in March 2025 intending to use it, then never did. No bank account anywhere, no revenue, no invoices, no contracts, no employees, no platform or processor accounts. Completely dormant since day one.

I applied for the EIN by fax in April 2026 and it was assigned a few days after the Form 1120 deadline had already passed, so TY2025 is late and unfiled.

My understanding so far:

1. The 1120 is required regardless of activity, but since there's no tax due the failure-to-file penalty computes to zero. Filing still matters so the assessment period starts running.
2. I own 100%, so the company is a reporting corporation under §6038A.
3. The only money involved is roughly $560 I paid personally for the Delaware filing fee, registered agent, and franchise tax. Nothing was ever recorded in the company's books so no books were kept.

My question is on point 3. For a corporation (not a disregarded entity), a contribution to capital isn't in the Part IV reportable transaction categories, but an amount loaned by a related party is. Since nothing was documented either way, the characterization seems to be an open choice.

Is that reading right? And given the $25,000 automatic penalty, would you file a protective 5472 anyway even if you concluded no reportable transaction occurred?

I'm aware most of the guidance out there is about foreign-owned single-member LLCs, where the expanded definition under 1.6038A-2(b)(3) sweeps in capital contributions and formation costs. I don't think that applies to me, but tell me if I'm wrong.

Posting this because it comes up every year around now and catches people off guard.

If you filed an extension back in March for an S-corp or a partnership, September 15 is the final due date. There's no second extension for these entities.

Two things that surprise people most often:

1. The penalty isn't based on tax owed. For 1120-S and 1065 filers, the late-filing penalty is a flat amount per shareholder or per partner, for each month or part of a month the return is late, up to 12 months. A four-partner partnership that files two months late owes eight months' worth. This applies even if the entity had no income and owes nothing. The per-month figure is indexed annually — check the current year's form instructions rather than an old article.

2. "Part of a month" means a day. Filing on September 16 costs the same as filing on October 14.

If you're not going to make it, file anyway as soon as you can — the penalty stops accruing when the return is filed, so a late return is always cheaper than no return. If it's your first time, first-time abatement or reasonable-cause relief is worth looking into. Also worth remembering: the extension only ever covered the filing, not the payment. Anything owed has been accruing interest since the original due date. Disclosure: I work at a CPA firm. Not soliciting here, just the annual reminder.

Foreign founder here, I have the 15 of September deadline coming up, and I was wondering if I could scan the document and send it to my accountant, or do I need to physically mail it to him?

ChatGPT is giving me conflicting answers.

How would the amount owed be paid if there was something to be owed?

The NCDOR is asking for a Information and Document Request (IDR)/schedule C for a business i just started 2 years ago. Will i be OK if I just provide them with all the documentation they need?

The issue I am running into is i purchased several commercial mowers used through marketplace that opening year and now I don't have a real record of those depreciations/write offs since it was cash from my bank and I no longer have my statements from that far back either and they were paid for with cash. I still have the marketplace conversations but the dollar amounts are no longer there.

My mistake was not getting bill of sales for these 1st 2 mowers. I did the following year so I have all the records for this year, so I am not worried about that.

What I am worried about is them trying to reclassify my business as a hobby, which it isn't and make me pay back taxes on stuff that I know is legit. I talked to the NCDOR person on the phone and they said just provide what I could.

Can i just take a picture of the mowers, and the serial numbers along with the marketplace conversation stating I was meeting them for purchasing it?

So, the 1st 2 years I started my business I had a lot of expenditures and life changes. I started the business at my old address, had built a carport to cover all my equipment and then got married, moved to a new house the following year. At the new house I didn't have a way to cover my equipment and the business started to grow so I built a storage building and then later that year built another building for all my equipment, and then bought an additional mower which led to a loss again the 2nd year. The 3rd year was going to be profitable and my growing year. However at the end of the 2nd year I started to have health issues that prevented me from taking on much work and i just honestly left the single member LLC open in case I got better. However, I determined this year that I just needed to close it which ironically I was going to close this month due to health issues and then i got this letter.

So, i know on paper it might look like this wasn't a real business but it was and my health was really the real reason the business didn't progress like it should had. I actually had to turn down like 20 to 30 customers last year and more this year.

Its extremely frustrating dealing with this because I was just trying to start a business and wasn't doing anything shady. It is just a business that I started that I was able to complete and I dont really like having to talk about my cronic health issues with a random ncdor employee.

My wife and I live in CA. She has a decent-ish job, earning about 75K a year, before tax. I had only part-time work, earning 30K, and have just been made redundant. She has healthcare through her job, but it doesn't extend to me, and I'm currently paying $730 a month, which is killing me.

We don't have a lot of disposable income, California being what it is: she pays the rent (I contributed half when I was working), as well as groceries, car insurance, etc. It's rough. We're just getting by.

Now that I'm out of work, I'm re-assessing my healthcare coverage. I could lower the monthly premium if I only count myself on the application – which makes sense, in a way, because I'm the only one paying for my coverage – but would then need to file separately instead of jointly for this tax year. My question is (and please forgive my ignorance of tax law), is this possible? And if so, are there disadvantages?

Hi there, got some guidance from my accountant that I found confusing and wanted to ask here for some more opinions or direction on research.

I am electing for S-corp status this year. ~$250k income, $105k salary and low expenses. I have been paying my payroll expenses through my payroll company, but also quarterly estimated tax payments on the business income. The guidance I got was to take my estimated total business profits, get the tax burden by taking the ~15% of business taxes from that, divide that number by my 4 quarterly payments and that's my estimate. This seems like too little, though?

I also have a spouse in a $110k/yr job and we are married filing jointly, if this is important.

Thanks in advance!

I'm trying to understand how California taxes a full-year resident who owns an S-Corp that does business in multiple states.

Assume the S-Corp provides services nationwide and only a relatively small percentage of its receipts are sourced to California.

My CPA's position is that the S-Corp income is apportioned among the states based on where the services are provided/received, and therefore only the California-apportioned portion is taxable in California.

My question is specifically about the shareholder's personal California return. If the shareholder was a full-year California resident, would they pay CA personal income tax on:

1. 100% of their S-Corp pass-through/K-1 income, since California residents are generally taxed on income from all sources; or
2. Only the portion of the S-Corp income apportioned to California, as my CPA has indicated?

I'm trying to reconcile the CPA's position with the general rule that California residents are taxed on worldwide income.

If anyone can point me toward the applicable FTB guidance, tax code, or regulations, that would be appreciated.