One thing I'd add to all the great advice here - make sure you're tracking your "basis" in the S Corp properly. When you leave profits in the business like that $135k, it increases your basis in the company. This becomes important later if you ever take out more than the accumulated earnings or if you sell the business. Your basis starts with what you initially invested in the company, then increases with your share of profits (even if left in the business) and decreases with distributions you actually take. Keeping good records of this will save you headaches down the road, especially if you ever need to take large distributions or loans from the company. Most people don't think about basis tracking until they need it, but it's much easier to maintain these records as you go rather than trying to reconstruct them years later.

One more consideration that might be relevant - if you're planning to keep that $135k in the business for a while, make sure you're at least earning some interest on it. Since you'll be paying taxes on those profits this year regardless, you might as well put that money to work in a high-yield business savings account or short-term CDs. Also, don't forget that keeping cash reserves in the business can actually be smart for cash flow management and unexpected expenses. Just make sure your "reasonable salary" is truly reasonable for your industry and role - the IRS scrutinizes S Corps where owners take very low salaries but leave large amounts as retained earnings, since it can look like you're trying to avoid payroll taxes. The good news is that S Corp taxation is generally more straightforward than people think once you understand the pass-through concept. You're essentially paying individual tax rates on business profits, but you get to avoid the double taxation that C Corps face.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Been checking my IRS account every few days and seeing that same "Information Return Documents Unavailable" message. It's honestly such a relief to read everyone's responses here - I was starting to think my employer messed something up. The part about the system updating weekly is what caught my attention too. I've been treating it like it should update daily, but knowing it's only weekly makes way more sense. Guess I need to chill out and stop obsessively checking lol. My employer also confirmed they submitted everything on time, so I'm feeling much better about just waiting it out. Definitely going to take the advice about using the physical W2 they already sent me instead of waiting for the IRS system to catch up. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - makes this whole process way less stressful when you know other people are dealing with the same thing!

Been dealing with this same anxiety! I've been checking my account obsessively for weeks now and getting that same "Information Return Documents Unavailable" message. It's honestly driving me nuts lol. What's helping me cope is remembering that this is literally happening to millions of people right now - we're all in the same boat waiting for the IRS to process everything. The January 31st deadline for employers just passed, so now it's just a matter of waiting for their system to catch up. I finally decided to stop torturing myself with daily checks and just use the W2 my employer already sent me directly. The IRS online account is nice for verification, but it's not required to file your taxes. As long as you have your physical or electronic copies from your employer, you're good to go! Definitely taking the advice from others here about checking back around mid-February instead of constantly refreshing the page. My mental health will thank me for it 😅

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm actually a tax professional and wanted to add one more perspective that might be useful for Sean and others in similar situations. With your combined income of ~$186k and October marriage date, you're in a pretty good spot. The single withholding you both had for most of 2025 likely means you won't need as aggressive additional withholding as some couples do. One thing I always tell clients in your situation: after you both update to option 2(b), wait about 2-3 paychecks to see how the new withholding feels, then run the IRS Withholding Estimator. This gives you real data to work with rather than estimates. Also, consider this a learning year. Your 2025 tax return will give you the perfect baseline for setting up your 2026 withholding perfectly. Keep good records of what you did this year (copies of both W4s, when you submitted them, etc.) - it'll make next year's planning much smoother. The fact that you're thinking about this proactively puts you way ahead of most newlyweds. You've got this!

This thread has been incredibly educational! As someone who just went through the exact same situation (married in September, similar income levels), I can confirm that going with option 2(b) was definitely the right choice for us. One small thing I'd add that helped me feel more confident about the process: I actually called my payroll department before submitting my updated W4 to ask them to walk me through exactly what would change on my paystub. They showed me the difference between what was being withheld at the "married" rate versus what would be withheld with the 2(b) option checked. Seeing the actual dollar difference per paycheck really helped me understand why this change was necessary. The increase in withholding was significant but not shocking - about $180 more per paycheck for me. When I explained to the payroll person that my spouse and I have very similar incomes, she said "oh yeah, you definitely need to do this or you'll owe at tax time." Sean, you're smart to tackle this now rather than discovering the issue next April! The peace of mind is worth the extra effort upfront.

The $600 threshold is definitely the key here, and it sounds like you're on the right track with your understanding. Since you mentioned your uncle didn't have investments or rental properties, the main things to look out for would be interest earned on his bank accounts after his death, any final paychecks that came in after he passed, or dividends from any stocks he might have owned. One thing that catches a lot of people off guard is that even small amounts of interest can add up over time if the estate stays open for several months. If you're settling things quickly and the only income is minimal bank interest, you'll likely stay well under the $600 threshold. The EIN letter language is indeed standard - they send the same wording to everyone regardless of the actual filing requirements. It's meant to cover all situations, but the $600 gross income rule still applies to determine if you actually need to file Form 1041 for your specific situation.

I went through this exact same situation when my aunt passed away last year. The EIN letter really does make it sound mandatory, but you're absolutely correct about the $600 threshold still applying. In my case, the estate only generated about $85 in bank interest over the 8 months it took to settle everything, so no Form 1041 was needed. The key thing I learned is that "gross income" specifically refers to money the estate EARNED after death - not the value of assets that already existed. So in your uncle's case, his checking account balance, retirement funds, and truck value don't count toward the $600. Only new income like interest earned on those accounts after his passing would matter. If he didn't have investments generating dividends or rental properties, you'll probably stay well under the threshold. Keep track of any interest earned on the estate bank account though - that's usually the main source of income for simple estates like this. As long as it stays under $600 for the tax year, you can ignore that "must file" language in the EIN letter.

I used FreeTaxUSA last year and ran into a really annoying issue with their state tax calculations that almost cost me money. I live in a state with no income tax, but I had some income from work I did in California. FreeTaxUSA kept trying to file a resident return for California instead of a non-resident return, even though I clearly indicated I was just working there temporarily. The software's interview questions about multi-state situations were confusing and didn't seem to account for my specific scenario. I caught the error during my review, but it took multiple attempts to get the forms right. Had to manually override several fields that the software kept "correcting" back to the wrong values. If I hadn't been careful, I would have overpaid California taxes by about $800. Their help documentation for multi-state filing was pretty sparse too. Eventually got it sorted out, but it made me realize that FreeTaxUSA really assumes you have a straightforward tax situation. Anything even slightly complex and you're mostly on your own to figure it out.

I've been using FreeTaxUSA for about 3 years and had a particularly annoying experience with their cryptocurrency tax reporting last year. The software technically supports crypto transactions, but the process is incredibly manual and error-prone. I had transactions from multiple exchanges (Coinbase, Kraken, and some DeFi stuff), and FreeTaxUSA basically just gives you empty fields to fill out without much guidance on how to calculate cost basis correctly, especially for things like staking rewards or DeFi yield farming. The worst part was when I tried to report some NFT sales - the software had no clear category for them, and their support basically said to "treat them like other capital assets" without explaining which forms to use or how to calculate the basis when I received them as airdrops. I ended up spending probably 15+ hours trying to get everything right, cross-referencing with IRS publications and crypto tax guides. Compare that to friends who used more expensive software with built-in crypto integrations - they were done in a couple hours. So if you have any significant crypto activity, just know you'll be doing most of the heavy lifting yourself. FreeTaxUSA will accept the numbers you give it, but don't expect much help figuring out what those numbers should be.