Can you still make that election now? Or was that something that had to be done on the 2020 return?

Unfortunately, the election to report the full amount in the first year had to be made on your original 2020 tax return. Since you already reported only 1/3 of the distribution as taxable in 2020, you're now locked into the three-year reporting method. The only way to change this would be to file an amended 2020 return (Form 1040-X), but that has risks and costs that likely outweigh any potential benefits at this point. You'd pay interest and possibly penalties on any additional tax from reporting the full amount in 2020, plus you'd draw additional scrutiny to your return.

You can repay a CARES Act distribution within 3 years of the date you received it to avoid taxes on the repaid amount. So if you took it out in July 2020, you have until July 2023 to put it back. You'll need to file amended returns to get back any taxes you already paid on the portions reported in 2020 and 2021.

That's a good point about the tax rates! All my trades this year have been held less than a year, so I know I'm stuck with the higher short-term rates this time. Do you have any suggestions for tax planning with my current situation? Is there anything I should be doing before year-end to optimize my tax situation?

For your current situation, you might want to review your portfolio for any losing positions that you're not confident about anymore. Selling those before December 31st would allow you to harvest those losses to offset some of your gains. Just be careful of the wash sale rule - don't buy back the same or substantially identical securities within 30 days. Also, make sure you're setting aside enough for estimated tax payments. With $66,800 in gains, you could be looking at a significant tax bill, and if you haven't been making quarterly estimated payments, you might face underpayment penalties. Some people are surprised when they realize capital gains don't have automatic withholding like paychecks do.

This is mostly right but some brokers' 1099-Bs can still be confusing. My Etrade one last year showed the wash sales but didn't explain how they affected my final numbers. Had to spend hours figuring out what was happening.

The calculation works the same way for SEP IRAs. Your basis is still the total of your non-deductible contributions. The difference is that most SEP IRA contributions are made by employers and are always pre-tax, so they don't create basis. If you made additional non-deductible contributions to your SEP IRA (uncommon but possible), only those would count toward your basis. Most people with only employer-funded SEP IRAs have a basis of $0, meaning the full conversion is taxable.

Thanks for clearing that up! My SEP was entirely funded through my self-employment business, and I always took the deduction for those contributions. Sounds like my basis really is $0 then, which explains why TurboTax is calculating tax on the full conversion amount.

Oh no, this sounds complicated! I do have another traditional IRA that I didn't convert. Does this mean I need to include that one in my calculations too? My tax software didn't ask about my other accounts at all!

Yes, you absolutely need to include your other Traditional IRA in the calculation! This is a common mistake that many tax software programs don't properly warn you about. When you complete Form 8606, you'll need to report the December 31st fair market value of ALL your IRA accounts (traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE) on line 6, not just the one you converted. This changes the pro-rata calculation of how much of your conversion is taxable. Definitely go back and check this in your tax software - there should be a place to enter the total value of all your IRAs, even the ones you didn't touch for the conversion.

Yikes, I'm so sorry you went through that! Thanks for the warning - this is exactly the kind of situation I'm trying to avoid. I'm definitely going to verify active licensure before moving forward. Did you end up finding a legitimate CPA after that experience?

Yes, we eventually found a great CPA through my coworker who's been using him for years. The difference was night and day - our new CPA provided all his credentials upfront without being asked and even showed us his professional liability insurance certificate. One tip: when we interviewed him, he asked US detailed questions about our situation rather than making generic promises about maximizing refunds. That level of detailed interest was a good sign he actually knew what he was doing. He also explained exactly why the previous deductions were improper and helped us file amendments. Good luck with your search!

This is a really good point. Government websites are notoriously outdated sometimes. I'd definitely ask them about it - their response will tell you a lot about how they handle client concerns.

I thought about that but was trying to save money since my income is already pretty tight. Do you think it's worth the cost even if my situation isn't super complicated? Did they find any deductions you missed or was it just for the reassurance?

Yes, I think it's worth the cost even for a relatively straightforward situation, especially in your first year or two of self-employment. The CPA actually found several deductions I had missed - part of my phone bill, a portion of my internet, some office supplies I'd forgotten about. These additional deductions saved me around $400 in taxes, so the service more than paid for itself. The peace of mind was the biggest value though. Having a professional review everything and say "this looks correct" eliminated so much anxiety. They also gave me a simple system for tracking everything this year, which has made the whole process much easier. If money is tight, you might look into VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) which offers free tax help for people who make under $60,000.

This is a good point. The IRS isn't suspicious of people who happen to be in the EIC range - they're looking for people who make up fake income or dependents. Lots of legitimate self-employed people naturally fall into this income range.