The capital loss carryover worksheet really is one of the most confusing parts of tax prep! I went through this same struggle last year. Here's what finally helped me understand line 1 (second part): Think of it this way - the IRS lets you deduct up to $3,000 of capital losses against your regular income each year. So line 1 second part is asking: "How much of your loss can you actually use THIS year?" If your total net loss from Schedule D line 16 is $5,000, you can only use $3,000 of it this year. So you'd put $3,000 in line 1 second part. The remaining $2,000 gets carried forward to next year. If your total loss was only $1,500, then you'd put $1,500 in line 1 second part because that's less than the $3,000 limit. The key is understanding that this worksheet is separating your "usable now" losses from your "save for later" losses. Once that clicked for me, the rest of the worksheet made much more sense!

I've been dealing with capital loss carryovers for the past few years and wanted to share a tip that really helped me understand this confusing worksheet. The key insight is that line 1 has TWO different purposes: - First part: Shows your TOTAL net capital loss from Schedule D line 16 - Second part: Shows how much you can ACTUALLY DEDUCT this year (capped at $3,000) Think of it like a bucket with a small drain. You pour all your losses into the bucket (first part of line 1), but you can only drain out $3,000 per year through the small hole (second part of line 1). Whatever doesn't fit through the drain stays in the bucket for next year. So if you lost $8,000 total: - Line 1 first part: $8,000 (your total loss) - Line 1 second part: $3,000 (what you can use this year) - Carryover to next year: $5,000 The worksheet then helps you track that $5,000 carryover so you can use it in future years. Once I visualized it this way, the whole form became much clearer!

Does anyone know if the same rules apply for backdoor Roth contributions? I've filled out Form 8606 for nondeductible traditional IRA contributions in TaxSlayer, but I already converted them to Roth a few weeks later. Do I need to wait until next year to report the conversion or do I report both the contribution and conversion on this year's taxes?

Just wanted to add that when you do your Roth conversion later this year, make sure you understand the pro-rata rule if you have any other traditional IRA balances with pre-tax money. The IRS looks at ALL your traditional IRAs combined when calculating how much of your conversion is taxable. For example, if you have $7,000 in nondeductible contributions but also have $14,000 in a rollover IRA from an old 401k, only 1/3 of your conversion would be tax-free ($7,000 out of $21,000 total). This trips up a lot of people doing backdoor Roths. You might want to consider rolling any pre-tax IRA money back into a current 401k before converting to keep things clean.

Does anyone know if the Solo 401k contribution limits would apply in the OP's situation even if they could somehow qualify? I've been trying to understand if the $66,000 limit (for 2023) applies differently when you have an S-Corp vs just being self-employed.

Your situation is exactly why I always recommend getting a second opinion on complex retirement plan setups. The controlled group rules are incredibly strict, and I've seen too many business owners get burned by setting up non-compliant plans. From what you've described, your CPA's advice about a Self-Directed 401K at just the S-Corp level is almost certainly incorrect. The IRS doesn't care about the technical legal separation between your LLC and S-Corp - they look at the economic reality of common ownership and control. Since you own both entities and there's a clear business relationship (guaranteed payments flowing between them), they're going to be treated as a single employer for retirement plan purposes. This means any qualified retirement plan would need to include all eligible employees across both the LLC and S-Corp. You can't cherry-pick which employees to include just because they're paid by different entities. I'd strongly recommend getting this sorted out before moving forward. The penalties for maintaining a non-compliant qualified retirement plan can be severe, including plan disqualification and immediate taxation of all contributions. Better to get it right from the start than try to fix it later.

Whatever you do, DONT CALL THE IRS!!! Total waste of time, they just read the same info you can see on your transcript

I feel your pain! IRS transcripts are like deciphering hieroglyphics. The key things to look for: your 150 code shows your tax return was filed, 846 means refund approved, and 570/971 codes usually mean there's a hold or review. Also check your "as of date" at the top - that's when they expect to resolve any issues. What specific codes are you seeing that are confusing you?

I'm going through almost the identical situation right now with a tech startup acquisition from last year. The anxiety is real when you're sitting on a significant payout without the proper documentation! One approach that's worked for me is escalating through multiple channels simultaneously. I sent emails to the CFO, called the accounting department, AND reached out to the company's external CPA firm (if you can find out who they use). Sometimes the external accountants are actually the ones preparing the K-1s and can give you a more realistic timeline. Also, if you're comfortable with it, consider mentioning in your communications that you're prepared to file Form 4868 for an extension but would prefer to file on time with accurate information. This shows you understand the process and aren't just panicking, which sometimes gets better responses from busy accounting departments. The $175k amount definitely warrants being proactive about this - you don't want to guess wrong on something that substantial. Document everything and keep pushing while preparing for the extension as your backup plan.

I'm dealing with a similar K-1 delay situation right now, and reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful! I wanted to add one more strategy that worked for me recently - if your old firm was using any partnership management software like QuickBooks or similar platforms, sometimes the K-1s get generated automatically but just sit in a queue waiting for manual review and distribution. When I called my former partnership's accounting department, I specifically asked if the K-1s had been generated but not yet distributed. Turns out they had been sitting in their system for weeks - the accountant just needed to hit "send" but was waiting for some final review that kept getting delayed. Once I asked that specific question, they were able to email me the draft version the same day while they finished their final review process. Also, for anyone considering the AI tax tools mentioned above - I'd recommend double-checking any estimates with a CPA if your payout is substantial like Emma's $175k. The stakes are pretty high with that amount, and while AI can be helpful for initial estimates, having a professional review before filing could save you from costly mistakes or audit issues down the road. The extension route really seems like the safest bet here, especially this close to the deadline. Better to file correctly in October than guess wrong in April!