Don't forget to check if your state/county offers any small business exemptions. Here in Texas, we have a "Freeport Exemption" and a "De Minimis Exemption" that can reduce or eliminate business personal property tax in certain cases. I didn't know about either one until my third year in business and had been paying unnecessarily. Also, keep REALLY good records of when you buy equipment and how much you paid. I learned this the hard way when I had to estimate values and ended up overpaying. Create a simple spreadsheet now with all your business assets, purchase dates, and costs - you'll thank yourself every year at filing time!

The most important thing with business personal property tax is being consistent with your reporting. If you say you have a $1000 computer this year, don't forget about it next year! The assessors actually compare year-to-year filings and will flag inconsistencies. I made this mistake and ended up with an audit. Also, don't include consumables like office supplies that get used up within a year. Only report durable goods (furniture, computers, machinery, etc.) that have multi-year lifespans. And if you're working from home, only include the percentage of items used for business - though honestly, for a home office I'd just report 100% business use for dedicated equipment to keep it simple.

Has anyone successfully entered a foreign 1099-NEC in TurboTax? I'm having the same issue but with a client in Germany, and wondering if switching from CashApp to TurboTax would help or if I'd run into the same address validation problems.

Don't forget to check if Canada withheld any taxes from your wife's payment! If they did, you might be eligible for a foreign tax credit on Form 1116. This is especially important for larger amounts, but even for $2,700 it could make a difference. Also, since this is consulting work, make sure your wife keeps good records of any business expenses related to this income - home office, supplies, software subscriptions, etc. Those are all deductible on Schedule C against this income.

The IRS is absolutely SWAMPED this year. I've been working as a tax preparer for 15 years and this is one of the worst delay seasons I've seen. A few things to know: 1) Name changes are a major trigger for manual review, especially if the SSA records and previous tax filing names don't match perfectly. 2) Large refunds (you mentioned it's substantial) also tend to get additional scrutiny. 3) The "Where's My Refund" tool is notoriously unreliable for complicated situations. It often shows just "received" right up until the day they issue the refund. My professional advice: document every call you make (date, time, agent ID if possible, what they told you). Also, contact your congressional representative's office - they have dedicated staff who can initiate a congressional inquiry with the IRS, which often speeds things up.

Has anyone tried using the Taxpayer Advocate Service? My refund was delayed for similar reasons last year and I heard they can help with hardship situations.

For future reference, another option for S-Corp filing is to use Form 7004 to get an automatic 6-month extension for your 1120S. That would have pushed your deadline to September 15th instead of March 15th. A lot of S-Corp owners do this to give themselves more time to properly prepare their business returns, especially in the first few years when you're still figuring things out. Just remember you still need to pay any estimated taxes owed by the original deadline.

Friendly reminder that if you have an S-Corp LLC, you should be paying yourself a "reasonable salary" through payroll with appropriate withholdings. This is one of the most common mistakes new S-Corp owners make - taking distributions without paying yourself a proper salary first. The IRS looks closely at this.

If your partners are pushing for you to put YOUR name on the W-9, I'd be suspicious tbh. Why aren't they willing to put THEIR names on it? Maybe they have tax liens or back taxes they're trying to avoid? Or maybe they're trying to keep income off their tax returns for some reason? Even if you trust them, this arrangement makes YOU the responsible party for all the taxes. You'd have to track down your partners later to get them to pay their share of the taxes, which could get messy if the friendship/partnership goes south.

Just wanted to add that if this business arrangement continues, you guys should really consider formalizing your partnership with an actual partnership agreement and getting an EIN. I made the mistake of having an informal partnership years ago and it was a NIGHTMARE come tax time. For now, each partner should issue their own W-9 for their portion of the income. It's cleaner that way and ensures everyone is properly reporting their share.