This is such a common confusion point for new LLC owners! I went through the exact same thing when my business partner and I started our consulting LLC two years ago. The short answer is: with a standard two-member LLC (taxed as a partnership), you don't need formal payroll. You can take owner's draws as needed throughout the year. Just remember that you'll both be taxed on your 50% share of the business profits regardless of how much you actually take out. A few practical tips that would have saved me stress: - Set up a business bank account immediately and keep it completely separate from personal accounts - Track every draw you take (even a simple spreadsheet works) - Set aside about 25-30% of profits for taxes (self-employment tax is 15.3% plus regular income tax) - Consider getting an EIN from the IRS even if not required - it makes banking easier You'll each get a Schedule K-1 at tax time showing your share of profits/losses. The business itself doesn't pay income taxes, but you'll need to make quarterly estimated payments since no taxes are being withheld. Don't stress too much about getting everything perfect right away - you can always adjust as you learn! The important thing is to keep good records from day one.

Adding to the great advice already shared here - one thing that really helped us when we started our LLC was understanding the difference between "guaranteed payments" and regular draws. If you and your partner decide to take regular monthly amounts (like a salary), those are called guaranteed payments and get reported differently on your K-1s. But if you're just taking money out as needed based on cash flow, those are simple owner draws. Also, don't forget about the LLC's annual tax return (Form 1065)! Even though the LLC itself doesn't pay income tax, you still need to file this partnership return and issue K-1s to yourselves by March 15th (or get an extension). I learned this the hard way our first year when I thought we didn't need to file anything since "the LLC doesn't pay taxes." Pro tip: If your business has seasonal income fluctuations, consider making your quarterly estimated payments based on the "safe harbor" rule (pay 100% of last year's tax liability, or 110% if your AGI was over $150K). This helps avoid underpayment penalties even if your business income varies throughout the year.

I just went through this exact situation with my bakery business! The stress is real, but it's totally fixable. One thing I'd add to the great advice already given - when you contact your state's Department of Revenue about updating your Retail Merchant Certificate, ask them if they can expedite the process given your opening timeline. Many states have rush processing for situations like this, especially when you can show you have a legitimate business opening date. Also, create a master spreadsheet of everywhere you've used the old EIN (bank, vendors, state registrations, etc.) and systematically work through updating each one. I found it helpful to prioritize by importance - state tax registrations first, then bank accounts, then vendors. Some vendors are more flexible about EIN changes than others. Don't forget to update your business insurance policies too - they often reference your EIN and you want everything to match for coverage purposes. You've got this! Ten days is tight but definitely doable if you tackle it systematically.

I work as a tax consultant and see this EIN mix-up situation frequently with new business owners - you're definitely not alone! Here's something that might save you some time: before you start the update process with all your vendors and accounts, call the IRS Business & Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933 and ask them to link both EINs to your business in their system with a notation about the correction. This creates an official record that both EINs belong to you, which makes updating everything else much smoother. When you contact your bank, state agencies, or vendors, they can see in the IRS system that you legitimately own both numbers and are making a correction rather than potentially committing fraud. Also, for your 10-day timeline - most states allow you to operate temporarily under your existing RMC while the correction is being processed, as long as you've submitted the amendment request. Just make sure to keep copies of your submission for your records. The key is getting that paper trail established with the IRS first, then everything else becomes much more straightforward. You're being proactive about fixing this before it becomes a bigger issue, which is exactly the right approach!

Just want to add - since you're in Texas, at least you don't have to worry about state income tax on the distribution! I did something similar in California last year and got hit with both federal and state taxes plus penalties. It was brutal!

This is exactly why I always tell people to be super careful with 401k loans when changing jobs! The loan offset situation can create such a tax nightmare. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you haven't filed your return already, you might want to consider doing a partial rollover of the loan offset amount to an IRA before the tax deadline. Even though you can't roll over the cash portion you already received, you can still contribute the loan offset amount to an IRA (up to your contribution limits) and that portion won't be subject to the 10% penalty. You'd need to come up with the cash out of pocket to make the IRA contribution, but it could save you significantly on the penalty portion. Just make sure to mark it as a rollover contribution when you do it. A tax professional would be able to calculate if this makes financial sense based on your specific numbers.

I'm dealing with this exact same confusion right now! Just got my refund advance approved and Pathward is showing similar confusing dates. What's really frustrating is that their customer service line has like a 2+ hour wait time when you just want a simple clarification about timing. Reading through everyone's experiences here though, it sounds like the key thing is not to panic about the weird date messaging - it's just their system being unclear about processing vs deposit dates. I'm with a different bank than Chime, but it seems like the 24-48 hour window after their actual processing date is pretty standard regardless of which bank you use. Thanks to everyone who shared their real timelines - this is way more useful than anything on Pathward's website!

I'm currently waiting on my refund advance too and this thread has been incredibly helpful! The date confusion is real - when I first saw that Pathward said they "received" my advance on a date that hadn't happened yet, I thought there was some kind of system error. But after reading everyone's experiences, it's clear this is just how they communicate their internal processing schedule vs. when funds actually transfer. What strikes me most is how consistent the 24-48 hour timeline seems to be across different people and banks. Victoria's data from processing 200+ returns is especially reassuring - knowing that 85% of people see their funds within 48 hours gives me much more confidence than Pathward's vague messaging. I wish they would just be more transparent about what their dates actually mean instead of leaving everyone to decode their confusing notifications!

Welcome to the crypto tax awakening! 😅 I'm relatively new to this community but went through this exact same panic about 3 months ago when I discovered the crypto-to-crypto taxable event rule. I had been trading for almost a year thinking I was so clever avoiding "real" taxes by staying in crypto! The good news is you're discovering this with plenty of time before tax season, and from reading through all these responses, it's clear you're not alone in this confusion. The systematic approach everyone's describing really does work - I managed to get about 35 conversions sorted out over 2-3 weekends. One thing that really helped calm my nerves was realizing that the IRS guidance on crypto has been evolving alongside the technology. They understand that early adopters weren't necessarily trying to evade taxes - we just didn't have clear rules to follow initially. Start with downloading transaction histories from your major exchanges this weekend. You'll probably be surprised by how much detail they actually preserve. And don't stress about perfect precision - using daily average prices from sources like CoinGecko is generally acceptable for tax purposes. The silver lining that many people have mentioned about potential losses during volatile periods is real. I found that several of my "panic swaps" during market downturns actually resulted in capital losses that helped offset my gains from better-timed trades. You've got this! The panic fades once you start organizing the data systematically. 💪

I just joined this community and I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation! Been trading crypto for about 6 months and literally just learned about the crypto-to-crypto taxable events rule yesterday. I'm honestly still processing the shock of it all - I probably have around 30+ conversions to sort through and was keeping zero records because I thought I was being smart by "staying in crypto" to avoid taxes. 🤦‍♂️ Reading through this entire thread has been like therapy for my panic! It's such a relief to know this catches virtually everyone off guard and that there are actually systematic ways to tackle it. The exchange-by-exchange approach everyone's describing makes so much more sense than trying to reconstruct everything at once. I'm particularly encouraged by all the mentions of conversions during volatile periods potentially being losses rather than gains. Looking back at my trading patterns, I definitely did a lot of "panic swapping" during market downturns this year, so maybe this won't be the tax nightmare I initially imagined. Planning to start this weekend by downloading my Coinbase history since that's where I did most of my larger conversions. Based on everyone's advice here, it sounds like they have pretty solid export features that should give me most of what I need. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this thread has honestly transformed what felt like an impossible situation into something that seems manageable with some focused work. This community is amazing for helping newcomers navigate these confusing tax situations! 🙏