I had this exact same issue last month! The Michigan Treasury system has a weird quirk where even after you file electronically, there's usually a 3-5 business day lag before their portal updates to show you have access to your tax year information. Since you filed last Thursday and it's been about a week, you should be getting access soon. The "Yes" selection for filing status doesn't override their internal processing status - it's more like a verification question that doesn't actually grant immediate access. Try checking again tomorrow morning, and if you're still locked out by Wednesday, definitely call their support line. The estimated payments section should unlock automatically once your return fully processes in their system.

I work with tax processing systems and can confirm this is normal behavior for Michigan's eServices portal. The "You do not have access to view 2024 Tax Year information" message is their standard response during the processing window, regardless of what you select for filing status. Since you e-filed through TurboTax last Thursday, you're right in that 5-7 business day processing window where Michigan validates and integrates your return into their system. The estimated payments section will automatically become accessible once your return clears their processing queue - usually by end of this week for e-filed returns. If you're still blocked by Friday, then I'd recommend calling their support line at that point.

This is a great strategy! I'm in a similar situation with W2 income and side business income. One thing to keep in mind is that your Solo 401k contribution limit will be based on your net self-employment income (after expenses and self-employment tax), not the gross $27k. The calculation gets a bit tricky - you'll need to factor in half of your self-employment tax as a deduction. So if your net profit is $27k, your actual contribution limit will be somewhat less. The employee contribution portion is limited to 100% of compensation, and the employer portion is around 20% of net self-employment income after adjustments. Also, make sure to set up the Solo 401k before the end of the tax year if you want to make contributions for that year. The account needs to be established by December 31st, though you have until the tax filing deadline (plus extensions) to actually make the contributions. Rolling over your old 401ks into the Solo 401k is definitely a smart move for keeping your Backdoor Roth strategy clean. Just make sure whatever provider you choose has good investment options and reasonable fees since you'll potentially be consolidating a lot of money there.

This is exactly the kind of strategic retirement planning that can really pay off in the long run! Your approach of using the Solo 401k to keep your Traditional IRA balance at zero for clean Backdoor Roth conversions is spot on. One additional consideration I'd mention is loan provisions. Unlike Traditional IRAs, Solo 401ks allow you to take loans against your balance (up to 50% or $50,000, whichever is less). This can provide additional flexibility if you ever need access to funds before retirement age, though obviously it should be used carefully. Also, since you're consolidating multiple old 401ks, this might be a good time to review and optimize your overall asset allocation. Having everything in one place makes it much easier to rebalance and avoid overlap in your investment strategy. The fact that your current employer doesn't offer a 401k actually simplifies things significantly - you won't have to worry about coordinating contribution limits across multiple plans or dealing with the complexity of multiple plan administrators.

I was in a similar situation with my S corp and almost got nailed in an audit. Even though the instructions for 1125-E say to file it if gross receipts are over $500K, the bigger issue is definitely the lack of reasonable compensation. My accountant now has me document WHY I'm paying myself the amount I do each year with comparable salary data for my industry. This has been super helpful in justifying my compensation decisions.

Based on this discussion, I'm really concerned about my situation too. I've been running my S corp for 3 years with similar revenue levels but zero officer compensation. Reading about the Watson case and the potential for retroactive reclassification has me pretty worried. I think I need to take action immediately - both filing Form 1125-E correctly (showing $0 compensation) and establishing reasonable compensation going forward. The documentation approach that Andre mentioned sounds like exactly what I need to implement. Has anyone here actually gone through the process of fixing this retroactively? I'm wondering if I should reach out to a tax professional who specializes in S corp compliance or if there are specific steps I should take first. The potential penalties and back taxes are keeping me up at night!

Has anyone actually calculated how much money you're losing by letting the IRS hold your refund? I'll do some quick math... For a $20k refund applied to next year's taxes, at current high-yield savings rates of around 4.5%, you'd be missing out on about $900 in interest over the year. If you invested it and got a 7% return, that's $1,400 lost. That's not even considering the opportunity cost if you needed that money for something important like paying down high-interest debt or making a down payment on something. I made a similar mistake with a smaller amount last year and just let it ride because the hassle of amending didn't seem worth it, but for $20k? I'd definitely go through the trouble to get that money back in my hands.

I went through this exact same situation last year with a $12k refund that I accidentally applied to 2025 taxes. Here's what I learned from the experience: The IRS absolutely does NOT pay interest on refunds you voluntarily apply to future tax years. They only pay interest on delayed refunds that they're required to issue to you directly. I ended up filing Form 1040-X to get my money back, and it took exactly 14 weeks to process. The key things that helped speed it up: 1. I included a cover letter explaining it was an accidental election 2. I highlighted the specific line changes on the 1040-X 3. I sent it certified mail so I had proof of delivery One thing to consider though - if you're going to owe estimated taxes for 2024 anyway, you might want to calculate whether the hassle is worth it. For me, I knew I'd have a much smaller tax liability in 2024, so getting the money back to invest made sense. The amended return process is definitely a pain, but for $20k, I'd absolutely go through with it. That's a significant amount of money that could be working for you instead of sitting with the IRS earning nothing.

Does anyone know how the new $600 reporting threshold for 1099-K affects online gambling? I heard payment processors now have to report transactions totaling over $600 to the IRS - does this mean my deposits and withdrawals from sportsbooks will trigger tax forms?

The bonus money situation is tricky, but here's what I learned from my tax preparer last year: You're right that there's a distinction between your actual money and bonus funds, but the IRS doesn't really care about that distinction when it comes to reporting. What matters is when the bonus becomes "yours" - which happens when you complete the wagering requirements and can withdraw it. At that point, any remaining bonus amount becomes taxable income. If you lose it all during the wagering process, then there's no income to report from that bonus. For losses, you can deduct gambling losses up to your total gambling winnings for the year, but only if you itemize. The IRS doesn't distinguish between losses from your money vs bonus money - they look at the total amount you had at risk. My advice: Keep detailed records of every deposit, bonus received, wagering requirement completion, and final withdrawal amounts. Screenshot everything because sportsbooks sometimes have limited history available. Also remember that even small winnings without tax forms still need to be reported as income.