From your description, sounds like you might have a reasonable salary already. But another advantage of S Corp status you should be taking advantage of - the pass-through income isn't subject to self-employment tax (15.3% between Social Security and Medicare). That's a huge savings compared to running the same business as a sole proprietorship where ALL your profit would face SE tax. That's why the salary vs. distribution balance matters so much. You need to pay FICA taxes on your salary, but not on distributions. Just don't go too low on salary or you'll raise red flags.

One thing that might help clarify this for you - think of your S Corp as essentially "transparent" for tax purposes. The IRS basically pretends it doesn't exist when calculating your personal taxes. Your $140k salary gets reported on your W-2 and taxed as regular wages. The remaining $335k gets reported on Schedule K-1 and flows to your personal return as pass-through income. Then your TOTAL income ($475k plus any other personal income) determines which tax brackets apply to different portions. So yes, most of your income will likely fall into higher brackets, but remember that tax brackets are marginal - you don't pay 37% on all $475k, just on the portion that exceeds the 37% bracket threshold. Also definitely look into that QBI deduction mentioned earlier - as a design business, you should qualify for up to 20% deduction on the pass-through portion, which can significantly reduce your effective tax rate on that $335k. Just make sure your total taxable income doesn't push you into the phase-out ranges where the deduction gets limited.

psst... call your local tax advocate. they can tell you exactly wuts happening

Been dealing with this exact same issue! My transcript shows 846 code but WMR is still stuck on "processing" - it's so frustrating when you need that money ASAP. From what I've learned lurking here, if your transcript doesn't show "DPC" next to the 846 code, you're probably getting a paper check. Also check if there's any freeze codes (like 971 or 570) that might indicate why they switched from DD to check. The IRS systems are definitely not synced up properly between transcript and WMR updates 🙄

I've been through this exact scenario twice now, and everyone here is giving you solid advice. The one-day interest penalty really is minimal - probably less than what you'd spend on lunch. One additional tip that helped me: if you use a tax preparation service next year, mention this late payment upfront when you meet with them. Most preparers have seen this situation countless times and can quickly calculate the interest owed. They'll also make sure it's properly reported on your return so you don't get any surprise notices from the IRS later. The psychological stress of thinking you messed up is honestly worse than the actual financial impact. You caught the mistake, you understand what happened, and now you know to double-check those settlement dates in the future. That's really all there is to it!

I just want to echo what everyone else has said - you're definitely overthinking this! I made the exact same mistake with my Q4 payment last year (scheduled it for 1/16 instead of 1/15) and spent weeks stressing about it. The actual penalty ended up being $2.18 on a $3,200 payment. When I filed my taxes, I just entered the correct payment date in my tax software and it automatically calculated the interest. No forms to fill out, no special procedures - the software handled everything. The IRS gets thousands of these one-day-late payments every quarter. Their systems are completely set up to handle it automatically. You'll get a tiny interest charge when you file, you'll pay it along with any other taxes owed (or it'll reduce your refund slightly), and that's it. Save yourself the stress and just make a note to be more careful with dates next time. The financial impact is essentially nothing compared to the mental energy you're spending worrying about it!

Do high income celebrities ever leave California to move to states with no income tax? If I was paying millions in state taxes alone, I'd seriously consider moving to Texas or Florida.

This is a fascinating discussion! As someone who works in tax preparation, I can confirm that celebrities like Tom Hanks face incredibly complex tax situations. One aspect that hasn't been mentioned yet is the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which often kicks in for high earners and can actually increase their effective tax rate even further. Also, don't forget about self-employment taxes! If Tom Hanks is operating through a loan-out corporation as mentioned earlier, he might avoid some SE taxes, but if he's treated as self-employed, that's an additional 15.3% on the first $160,200 of income (for 2023). The timing of income recognition is huge too - many actors negotiate to defer portions of their compensation to future years when they might be in lower tax brackets or have moved to more tax-friendly states. It's really a chess game between their financial advisors and the tax code!

I'm new to this community and dealing with my first paper check refund situation, so this thread has been incredibly enlightening! My transcript shows a date of 3/22, and based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like I should expect the actual mailing to happen around 3/25-3/26, with delivery sometime in early April. I had no idea there was such a distinction between "issued" and "mailed" - the IRS really doesn't make this clear at all! I'm definitely taking notes from all the helpful advice here, especially about potentially having the post office hold it for pickup and absolutely setting up direct deposit for next year. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it's so reassuring to know this confusion is normal and that there are actual patterns to the timing!

As a newcomer to this community, I just want to say thank you all for this incredibly detailed discussion! I'm in the exact same situation with my first paper check refund - my transcript shows 3/17 and I had no clue what that date actually meant. Reading through everyone's experiences has been so helpful in understanding that it's the "issued" date, not the mailing date. Based on all the timelines shared here, it sounds like I should expect my check to be mailed around 3/20-3/21 and arrive sometime between 3/27-4/2. The tip about having the post office hold IRS mail for pickup is genius - I'm definitely calling them tomorrow to set that up. It's honestly frustrating that the IRS doesn't explain this distinction anywhere, but I'm so grateful for communities like this where people share their real experiences. Lesson learned for next year: direct deposit all the way! Thanks again everyone for taking the time to share your knowledge with us newcomers.