This is a really complex situation that I think requires careful documentation. I went through something similar when I converted my primary residence to a rental mid-year, and the key is keeping detailed records of exactly when the conversion happened. For your 22-day period in January when Property A was still your primary residence, you'll need to calculate the exact mortgage interest for those days and include it with Property B's interest to see if you exceed the $750k limit. The IRS looks at the actual interest paid during qualified residence periods, not just the loan balances. One thing that helped me was creating a detailed timeline showing: (1) dates Property A was my primary residence, (2) move-out date, (3) date Property A became available for rent, and (4) Property B purchase/move-in date. This documentation was crucial for properly allocating the mortgage interest between Schedule A (personal residence) and Schedule E (rental property). Also make sure you're calculating based on the actual interest paid during each period, not just prorating the annual amount. If you made extra principal payments or had different payment timing, it can affect the daily interest calculation. Keep all your mortgage statements and closing documents - you'll need them to support your calculations if the IRS ever asks questions.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a very similar situation and appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and resources. One additional consideration I discovered while researching this topic: if you're planning to claim any home office deductions for your rental property business (like if you manage the property from a home office), you need to be careful about how that interacts with the mortgage interest allocation. The home office deduction for rental property management would be claimed on Schedule E alongside your other rental expenses, but it's calculated separately from the rental property itself. Just wanted to mention this since managing rental properties often involves significant administrative work that might qualify for the home office deduction. Also, for anyone still working through the calculations, I found IRS Publication 527 (Residential Rental Property) really helpful for understanding the day-by-day allocation rules. It has some examples that are similar to what many of us are dealing with here. Thanks again to everyone who shared their experiences with the various tools and services - it's given me some good options to explore for getting definitive answers on my specific situation!

Your boss means well but is definitely misinformed about how W-4s work! There's absolutely nothing suspicious about having different withholding statuses on your W-4s versus your actual tax return filing status. The IRS expects this - it's completely normal and legal. Since you got married in March, you'll be eligible to file as "Married filing jointly" for the entire 2025 tax year (even though you were only married for part of the year). The key thing to focus on now is making sure you'll have enough tax withheld for the rest of the year to avoid owing money next April. With one spouse using "Single" withholding and the other using "Married," you're actually in a pretty common setup. I'd suggest running the numbers through the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator sometime this summer to see if you need to make any adjustments to avoid surprises at tax time. Congratulations on your marriage!

I just wanted to add my perspective as someone who's been through this exact situation! My wife and I have been married for 5 years, and we've always had different W-4 statuses - she keeps "Single" on hers for higher withholding, and I use "Married" on mine. We file "Married filing jointly" every single year without any issues. The key thing to remember is that the W-4 is just a tool to help estimate how much tax should be withheld from your paychecks. It's not a legal declaration of your filing status. When you file your actual tax return, THAT'S when you officially declare your filing status to the IRS. What matters most is that you have enough tax withheld throughout the year to cover your liability when you file jointly. Since married couples often benefit from filing jointly (like you mentioned), focus on making sure your combined withholding from both paychecks will be adequate. The IRS doesn't care if your W-4 says "Single" as long as you pay the right amount of tax by the end of the year! Your spouse can relax - there's no audit risk from this situation. It's actually a very common and smart tax planning strategy.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! As someone who works with multiple veteran organizations, I want to emphasize the importance of keeping detailed volunteer hour logs for each gaming activity. The IRS requires documentation showing that at least 85% of the work is performed by volunteers to qualify for the exception. One practical tip: create separate volunteer sign-in sheets for each activity (bingo, pull tabs, raffles) and track both setup/breakdown time and actual operation time. Many organizations only track the time during the actual games, but setup and cleanup count toward your volunteer percentage too. Also, be careful about "volunteers" who receive regular compensation in other forms - like free meals, merchandise, or reduced membership dues. The IRS may not consider these true volunteers for the 85% calculation. Document everything clearly because if you ever face an examination, the burden of proof is on your organization to demonstrate compliance.

Great discussion everyone! As a newcomer here, I'm dealing with similar issues at our local DAV chapter. We've been running monthly meat raffles and quarterly Vegas nights, and I'm trying to figure out if we need to file Form 990-T for any of this. Reading through all your comments, it sounds like I need to get serious about documentation. We've been pretty informal - just having the same volunteers show up without really tracking hours or separating activities. The fragmentation rule that CyberNinja mentioned is news to me - I thought we could just lump everything together as "fundraising activities." One question: if we have a mix of paid bartender service during our Vegas nights (for liability reasons), but everything else is volunteers, does that automatically disqualify us from the volunteer labor exception for that entire event? Or can we separate out just the gaming portions that are run by volunteers? Also wondering if anyone has experience with whether the "members and guests only" restriction actually provides any protection, or if it's really just about the volunteer threshold as several of you have indicated.

I've been through this exact process recently as a Canadian creator, and wanted to add a few things that might help speed things up: First, if you're applying for your ITIN, make sure you clearly state on your W-7 application that it's for "third-party information reporting" related to social media monetization. This helps the IRS understand exactly why you need the ITIN and can prevent delays from them requesting additional explanations. Second, keep detailed records of all your communications with TikTok about this requirement. I had to provide proof to the IRS that I actually needed the ITIN for a legitimate business purpose, and having those emails from TikTok was crucial. Finally, once you get your ITIN, don't forget that you'll likely need to renew it if you don't file a US tax return for 3 consecutive years. Since you'll probably be filing annually once you start earning, this shouldn't be an issue, but it's good to know upfront. The whole process took about 2 months for me, but TikTok was very understanding about the wait time. Good luck with your creator journey!

Just wanted to share my recent experience as someone who successfully went through this process! I'm a UK-based creator who got into TikTok's creator program last year. The key things that made my ITIN application smooth: 1. **Use the right exception category** - For TikTok payments, you'll likely qualify under Exception 1(d) for third-party withholding. This means you don't need to submit a tax return with your W-7 form, just proof that you need the ITIN for the platform. 2. **Find a local CAA (Certifying Acceptance Agent)** - This was a game-changer! I found one in London who could verify my documents locally, so I didn't have to mail my original passport to the US. Cost about £150 but saved weeks of anxiety. 3. **Communicate with TikTok early** - As soon as you submit your ITIN application, let TikTok know. They're used to this process and will typically give you 60-90 days to provide the number. Send them your CAA receipt as proof you've applied. 4. **Prepare for ongoing obligations** - Once you start earning, you'll need to file Form 1040NR annually and submit a W-8BEN to TikTok (not W-9!) to claim treaty benefits. My timeline was: Applied in February, received ITIN in early April (about 8 weeks). The wait was nerve-wracking but totally worth it - my TikTok earnings have been a significant boost to my business! Happy to answer any specific questions about the UK process!

I just went through this exact situation last month! My W2 showed a PEO from Delaware but I work remotely in Colorado. I was panicking about having to file in multiple states, but it turned out to be much simpler than I thought. The key thing that helped me was understanding that the PEO arrangement is just for administrative purposes. Your state tax obligations are based on where you physically perform your work, not where the PEO is located. Since your W2 shows Indiana in Box 15 and Indiana state withholding in Box 17, you should only need to file Indiana state taxes. I'd recommend double-checking that all your state information is correct on the W2 - sometimes PEOs do make mistakes with the state reporting. But if everything looks right with Indiana listed as your state, you should be good to go with just filing there.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now! My W2 shows Justworks (a PEO) as my employer instead of my actual company, and they're based in New York while I work remotely from Florida. I was really stressed about this until I read through all these comments. It sounds like as long as my W2 shows the correct state information in boxes 15-17 (which it does - Florida is listed), I should only need to file in Florida. But I'm still a bit worried about potential complications. Has anyone here ever been audited or had issues with the IRS because of a PEO situation? I just want to make sure there aren't any hidden gotchas I should be aware of when filing. The taxr.ai tool that Carmen mentioned sounds interesting too - might be worth trying just to get some peace of mind about my specific situation.