Don't forget to check if there's a totalization agreement between UAE and US for social security! It might not apply in your case, but it's worth checking. I got caught having to pay self-employment tax in the US even though I was working from Singapore because there was no totalization agreement. The W-8BEN doesn't cover social security taxes. Also, keep super detailed records of where you physically worked each day. If you ever visit the US for business, those days could potentially be considered US-sourced income and subject to different rules.

Great point about social security taxes! You're absolutely right that the UAE doesn't have a totalization agreement with the US, so this is definitely something to watch out for. As an independent contractor, you might still be subject to US self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) even if your regular income isn't subject to withholding. The self-employment tax applies if you have net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more, and unfortunately, the foreign earned income exclusion doesn't apply to self-employment tax. However, since you're performing all services outside the US, you should generally not be subject to self-employment tax on that income. But here's the tricky part - if your US client treats you as a contractor and issues you a 1099, they might report payments to you to the IRS, which could trigger questions. Make sure your contract clearly establishes that you're providing services from outside the US and consider having the contract specify that you're operating under UAE jurisdiction. Document everything - flight records, lease agreements, utility bills - anything that proves your physical location during work periods. This becomes crucial if there's ever any dispute about where services were actually performed.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet - your mom should check if the 401k plan is governed by ERISA (most employer plans are). If so, there are specific notice requirements under ERISA Section 104(b)(4) that the plan administrator must follow before making distributions. Request a copy of the Summary Plan Description (SPD) and plan document from Merrill Lynch or her former employer. These documents will outline the exact procedures that should have been followed for address verification and involuntary distributions.

This is exactly the kind of situation where you need to be extremely persistent and methodical. I went through something similar with my father's 403b account that was liquidated by Vanguard without proper notice. Here's what I'd recommend doing immediately: 1. Send a certified letter to Merrill Lynch demanding ALL records related to the account closure - including internal notes, address verification attempts, dates of all communications, and proof of delivery for any mail they claim to have sent. 2. File complaints with multiple agencies simultaneously: FINRA, CFPB, your state's Attorney General consumer protection division, and the Department of Labor (since this appears to be an ERISA plan). 3. Contact your mom's former employer's HR department - they may have records of the proper procedures that should have been followed and can put pressure on Merrill Lynch as the plan sponsor. 4. Document the financial impact: calculate not just the taxes and penalties, but also the lost retirement savings and any other costs (accounting fees, time off work, etc.). The key is creating a paper trail that shows Merrill Lynch failed to follow proper procedures. In my dad's case, we discovered they had only attempted to contact him through regular mail to an old address, despite having his updated contact information on file. Once we proved this pattern of negligence, they reversed the entire distribution. Don't let them brush this off - retirement accounts have special protections precisely because of situations like this.

Has anyone had issues with Cashapp not providing complete cost basis information? My 1099-B from them last year had a bunch of transactions marked as "cost basis not reported to the IRS" which made my taxes super complicated.

This is really helpful info everyone! I'm definitely going to wait for those 1099-B forms from Cashapp before filing. One follow-up question - if I only made like $200 in gains total from both stocks and crypto, do I still need to report all of this? I know there are minimums for some tax forms, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything since this is all new to me. Better safe than sorry with the IRS!

Something nobody mentioned yet - what kind of 1099 work are you doing? If the supplies are directly related to your specific work, you're in better shape even with limited documentation. Like if you're a tutor and buy educational materials, that's clearly business-related. But if you're a delivery driver buying office supplies, that might get more scrutiny.

Since you're doing online tutoring, your office supplies are clearly legitimate business expenses! The fact that you can directly tie each type of supply to your tutoring activities (notebooks for student organization, printer supplies for worksheets, pens for visual aids) actually strengthens your position significantly. For the $375 in supplies you've already purchased, your spreadsheet tracking combined with bank/credit card statements should provide adequate documentation for most of those expenses. The IRS understands that small, frequent purchases don't always come with perfect receipt management. Going forward, I'd suggest implementing a simple system: take quick phone photos of receipts when you remember, and don't stress about the ones you miss. Your spreadsheet plus electronic payment records create a reasonable paper trail. The key is showing a clear business purpose for the expenses, which you definitely have as a tutor. One tip: consider setting up a dedicated business checking account or credit card for 2025 - it makes tracking so much cleaner and gives you automatic documentation for every purchase.

Has anyone else noticed that TaxSlayer sometimes flags this issue but then doesn't actually add the excess withholding to your refund? This happened to me last year and I had to manually override something to get my money back. Just make sure you verify the final refund amount includes your excess SS tax!

This is a really common issue and you're absolutely right to pursue getting that $58 back! I had the exact same thing happen when I switched jobs mid-year. What likely happened is your second employer started withholding Social Security from your first dollar of wages without knowing how much had already been withheld by your previous employer. Since each employer calculates independently, they don't communicate with each other about your year-to-date withholdings. The good news is you don't need to contact your old employer at all - this gets resolved automatically through your tax return. When you file with TaxSlayer, it should calculate the excess and include it in your refund. Just make sure to double-check that the excess amount actually shows up on Schedule 3, Line 11 of your Form 1040 before you submit, as some people have mentioned the software sometimes flags it but doesn't always include it in the final refund calculation. You'll get every penny of that $58 back, and it should be included in whatever refund you're already expecting!