Don't make the same mistake I did! If you DO end up needing to file the 1041, make sure you use the estate's EIN on the form, NOT your mom's social security number. I mixed them up and it caused a huge headache with notices from the IRS about mismatched taxpayer IDs. Also, the filing deadline for 1041 is different than regular tax returns - it's the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of the estate's tax year.

You're absolutely right about the tax year choice! When you establish an estate, you can choose any 12-month period ending on the last day of any month as the estate's tax year. So if your mom passed away in February, you could choose a tax year ending February 28th, March 31st, December 31st, etc. This can be helpful for tax planning purposes. The key is that you make this election on the first Form 1041 you file. If you don't file a 1041 at all (because you're under the $600 threshold), then it doesn't matter. But if you do need to file, choosing the right tax year ending date can sometimes help with timing of income and deductions. For @Fiona Sand's situation with just the small bank account, she probably won't need to worry about this since it's unlikely to generate $600 in interest. But it's good information to know just in case!

Anyone know if these carryover losses expire? I've been carrying some forward for a few years now and wondering if there's a time limit before I lose them.

I went through this exact same situation last year with my crypto losses from 2022. The confusion is totally understandable because it does feel like you're claiming the same deduction twice. Here's what I learned after consulting with a tax professional: You should enter the same capital loss carryover amounts on both your federal and state returns. This isn't double-dipping because you're filing two separate tax returns to two different taxing authorities (federal government and state government). California (which I saw you mentioned in the comments) does conform to federal capital loss treatment, so your carryover amounts should be the same on both returns. The key thing to remember is that your federal return calculates your federal tax liability, and your state return calculates your state tax liability - they're independent calculations that both happen to use the same underlying capital loss carryover. TurboTax should handle this correctly once you input the information. The software knows the state-specific rules and will apply them appropriately. Better to use the legitimate deduction you're entitled to than leave money on the table!

Has anyone had issues with exchanges that don't record the time zone in their transaction exports? Most of my CSV exports just show dates without time zones and I'm not sure if they're using UTC or what.

This is such a helpful thread! I've been dealing with the same confusion about time zones for my crypto taxes. One thing I wanted to add - if you're keeping manual records, make sure to note not just the timestamp but also your physical location for any trades made while traveling. I learned this the hard way when I had to reconstruct my 2023 taxes after getting audited. The IRS agent specifically asked about a few trades I made during a business trip to Chicago right around New Year's. Thankfully I had kept travel receipts that proved where I was, but it would have been much easier if I had just noted my location in my trading spreadsheet from the beginning. Also, for anyone using DeFi protocols or DEXs, the same rules apply - it's based on your physical location when you initiate the transaction, not where the blockchain nodes are located. Just wanted to clarify that since I see a lot of confusion about this in other crypto tax forums.

I'm experiencing the exact same frustrating situation! Filed our first joint return on February 12th after getting married in November, and just received my second 60-day letter yesterday. Like everyone else here, I can access all our transcripts and everything appears completely normal - all W-2s, 1099s, and withholdings are showing up correctly. What's particularly annoying is that the second letter uses almost identical language to the first one about "waiting for tax information to be available in our system." If the information is already available (which it clearly is since we can all see it), why does it take them 4+ months to verify what should be a straightforward process? I'm starting to think there's a specific verification queue for newly married couples filing jointly, and they're just massively backlogged. The timing patterns everyone is describing are too consistent to be random - first letter around 3 weeks, second letter around 8-9 weeks later. Has anyone tried contacting their Congressional representative's office? I've heard they sometimes have dedicated liaisons who can expedite IRS issues, especially when taxpayers are experiencing unreasonable delays without clear explanations.

I'm in exactly the same boat as many of you here! Filed jointly for the first time after getting married in October, submitted our return on February 5th, and just got my second 60-day letter this week. The timing is almost spooky how similar it is to everyone else's experiences. What really caught my attention reading through all these comments is how we're ALL newly married couples filing jointly for the first time, and we're ALL getting the same vague "waiting for tax information" language despite being able to see everything perfectly fine on our transcripts. This can't be a coincidence. I think there's definitely a systematic issue with how the IRS processes first-time joint returns from previously separate filers. It's like their verification system flags the change in filing status and then gets stuck in some kind of bureaucratic loop. The Congressional representative suggestion from @Cedric Chung is really smart - I'm going to try that next week. At this point, we've all been patient enough with their internal processes. When multiple taxpayers are experiencing identical delays with identical explanations (or lack thereof), it starts to look like a systematic failure that needs external pressure to resolve. Has anyone tried reaching out to local tax preparation services to see if they're hearing similar complaints from other clients? It might help us understand just how widespread this issue really is.

Has anyone used multiple crypto tax software programs to compare results? I tried three different ones and got wildly different numbers for the same transactions. Kinda concerning.

I went through a similar nightmare situation with years of unfiled crypto taxes. One thing I learned the hard way is to tackle this systematically rather than trying to fix everything at once. Start with your most recent tax year first (2023) since that's what you need to file soon. Get that sorted with proper crypto tax software, then work backwards. This approach helps you understand the process before diving into the messier historical data. For the older years, focus on the big transactions first - don't stress about every $5 trade from 2017. The IRS cares more about substantial unreported income than minor discrepancies. If you're missing some transaction data from defunct exchanges, document what you tried to recover and use reasonable estimates based on what you can reconstruct. Also consider consulting with a tax professional who specializes in crypto - the cost might be worth it given the complexity of your situation and the potential penalties involved. They can help you determine which years actually need amended returns and guide you through any voluntary disclosure programs if applicable. The most important thing is that you're taking action now rather than continuing to ignore it. The IRS generally works with taxpayers who are making good faith efforts to get compliant.