I think the IRS intentionally makes these forms confusing lol. Has anyone had their Form 8802 rejected? How long did it take to get a response? I'm supposed to start a position in Korea in 6 weeks and I'm worried about timing.

I went through this exact same nightmare with Form 8802 about 6 months ago! For line 4a when you check "Individual," you literally just need to write your full name exactly as it appears on your most recent tax return - nothing more, nothing less. Don't add your SSN, don't add extra info, just your name. Since you're working for a Singapore company, make sure you're also including copies of your most recently filed 1040 and any relevant schedules (like Schedule C if you have any self-employment income). The IRS uses this to verify your U.S. tax residency status for the foreign tax authority. One tip that saved me - call the IRS practitioner priority line if you get stuck. The regular customer service line is useless, but the practitioner line (even though you're not technically a practitioner) sometimes gets you through to someone who actually knows about international forms. Good luck with your deadline!

Has anyone actually asked your adoption agency or the state Medicaid office about this? When we adopted our son from foster care, we contacted our state Medicaid office directly and they had a whole packet about how adoption assistance and Medicaid work with private insurance. Each state can have slightly different rules.

Congratulations on your adoption! This is such a wonderful thing you're doing. I went through a similar situation with my nephew who we adopted from foster care last year. One thing I learned that might help you - make sure to keep detailed records of which medical expenses you pay with your HSA versus which ones are covered by Medicaid for your adopted children. I created a simple spreadsheet tracking this because come tax time, you'll want to be able to show that you only used HSA funds for eligible expenses. Also, don't forget that even though your adopted kids will have Medicaid, there might still be some medical expenses that aren't fully covered - things like certain therapies, dental work, or vision care that go beyond basic coverage. For those expenses, you'd need to pay out of pocket (not from your HSA) unless you add them to your HDHP coverage later. One last tip - if your adopted children have any ongoing medical needs from their time in foster care, document everything thoroughly. This will help with both the adoption tax credit and potentially qualifying for additional state benefits down the road.

In my experience selling a similar property, Form 4797 is your friend. You'll need to use this form to report the sale of business property, which includes the rental portion. For the primary residence part, you'll use Schedule D and Form 8949. The trick is making sure the allocation method is reasonable and consistent. My CPA recommended documenting EVERYTHING about how we determined the split. Also, don't forget to account for any improvements made specifically to one unit or the other! If your mom renovated just her apartment, that would adjust the basis differently than improvements to the rental unit.

You're dealing with a classic mixed-use property situation, and yes, you're absolutely right that you need to treat this as essentially two separate properties for tax purposes. Here's what you need to know: **Allocation Method**: Use a reasonable method to split the property - square footage is most common, but you could also use fair market value of each unit or number of rooms. Whatever method you choose, document it thoroughly and be consistent. **Primary Residence Portion**: Your mom can claim the Section 121 exclusion (up to $250,000) on the gain allocated to her primary residence portion, assuming she meets the ownership and use tests (lived there 2 of the last 5 years). **Rental Portion**: This is where it gets tricky. You'll need to: - Calculate the adjusted basis (original cost basis minus accumulated depreciation) - Report any gain on Form 4797 (Sale of Business Property) - Pay depreciation recapture tax at 25% on the depreciation previously claimed - Any remaining gain above the recapture amount gets taxed at capital gains rates **Key Point**: Even if your mom never actually claimed depreciation on her tax returns, the IRS assumes she should have, so you'll still need to recapture the "allowable" depreciation. I'd strongly recommend getting a tax professional involved given the complexity, especially since there are specific rules about mixed-use properties that can trip people up.

Quick tip: make sure you're correctly classifying people as contractors vs employees. This is my biggest nightmare as a business owner. If you're telling them WHEN, WHERE and HOW to do the work, the IRS might consider them employees, not contractors. The difference matters ALOT because for employees you need to withhold taxes, pay unemployment insurance, etc. For contractors you just send a 1099. Getting this wrong can result in huge penalties and back taxes!

Great advice from everyone here! I'm actually dealing with a similar situation right now where I have about 6 subcontractors for a large project. One thing I learned the hard way is to get those W-9 forms BEFORE you make any payments, not after. I made the mistake of paying two contractors first and then asking for their W-9s later - one of them completely ghosted me and the other took weeks to respond. Now I'm scrambling to get the paperwork sorted before year-end. Also, keep detailed records of exactly what services each contractor provided and when. The IRS can ask for this documentation if there are any questions about your 1099 filings. I use a simple project tracking spreadsheet that includes dates, amounts, and description of work performed for each contractor. Makes tax time so much easier!

Some additional info that might help you - the Annual Lease Value recalculation is also important if you're close to any income-based thresholds. When my ALV was finally recalculated after 5 years, it dropped my MAGI enough that I qualified for a partial Roth IRA contribution that I wasn't eligible for before. Make sure your employer understands they need to use a legitimate valuation method for determining the car's current FMV. Our company initially tried to use an arbitrary "50% of original value" which wasn't accurate for our specific vehicle. Kelley Blue Book or NADA guides are what the IRS expects them to use. Also, if they've been calculating it wrong for a while, you might want to consider if an amended return for last year makes sense depending on how much the value changed.

An important detail that nobody has mentioned yet - when your company recalculates the Annual Lease Value, make sure they use the REDUCED value for the ENTIRE calendar year, not just from the point they make the correction. My company initially only applied the new lower value from July onward (when I brought it to their attention) but the IRS rules clearly state the redetermination applies for the whole year. Had to have another conversation with payroll to get them to apply it retroactively to January. Also worth noting - if you're still with the same employer and using the same car in 4 more years, you'll get ANOTHER recalculation at the 8-year mark. The value keeps stepping down as the car ages.