I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now - got slapped with a $25K penalty for filing Form 5472 about 2 weeks late, and it was completely blank with no transactions to report. Reading through all these responses is giving me hope that I'm not completely screwed here. What strikes me is how many people have mentioned that the IRS does seem to recognize these blank form penalties as being disproportionate, even if they won't admit it officially. The fact that multiple people here have gotten significant reductions or full abatements suggests there's definitely room to fight this. I'm planning to take a multi-pronged approach based on what I've learned here: craft a detailed letter emphasizing this is my first time with Form 5472, highlight that the form was blank with zero reportable transactions, and then follow up with calls to make sure it doesn't get lost in the system. The penalty analysis tools mentioned here sound like they could really help me put together a stronger case than I would on my own. Has anyone had experience with how long the whole process typically takes from initial request to final decision? I'm trying to plan my cash flow around this nightmare.

I've been following this thread with great interest as I'm facing a similar situation with Form 5472 penalties. What really stands out to me from all these experiences is that the IRS seems to have more flexibility with these penalties than they initially let on, especially for blank forms. One thing I'm noticing is that successful cases seem to share a few key elements: emphasizing it's your first time dealing with Form 5472, highlighting that the form was blank with no reportable transactions, and demonstrating overall good compliance history. The proportionality argument also seems powerful - a $25K penalty for a procedural violation with no tax revenue impact is genuinely harsh. For those still fighting these penalties, it sounds like the combination of a well-crafted written request followed by persistent phone calls to ensure processing is the way to go. The success stories here are really encouraging - it shows these penalties aren't as set in stone as they initially appear. I'm curious if anyone has noticed whether certain IRS offices or regions are more receptive to these requests than others? Or if there are particular times of year when the IRS might be more willing to consider penalty relief?

25 Has anyone here dealt with filing a final 1120 when you still had ongoing litigation against the corporation? My situation is similar to the original poster, but we have a pending lawsuit that might not be resolved for another year or more.

Just went through this exact situation last year with my dissolved S-Corp. Definitely use your personal address on the final Form 1120 - the IRS needs to be able to reach you for any follow-up questions or notices, and using an inaccessible business address will only create headaches later. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure you also file Form 966 (Corporate Dissolution or Liquidation) within 30 days of adopting the plan of dissolution if you haven't already. Since you dissolved in December 2023, you may have missed this deadline, but it's still worth filing even if late to properly notify the IRS of the dissolution. Also, keep copies of your state dissolution paperwork with your tax records. The IRS sometimes requests this documentation to verify the dissolution date and process. Using your home address ensures you'll actually receive any such requests.

This exact same thing happened to me about three weeks ago! I got a deposit from "TPG products SBTPG LLC" and was completely baffled. Like you, the amount seemed familiar but I couldn't place where it would be coming from. I actually ignored it for a few days thinking it might have been a delayed payment from some freelance work I did months ago. It wasn't until I was organizing my finances and cross-referencing everything that I realized I was still waiting for my tax refund and the timing lined up perfectly. Sure enough, when I checked the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool and my TurboTax account, everything made sense. The amount difference from what TurboTax estimated is exactly what everyone else described - they take out all their fees before SBTPG sends you the remainder. In my case, I had paid for TurboTax Premier plus their "Audit Defense" add-on, plus the state filing fee, plus that $39.99 refund transfer fee. It all added up to about $140 in total fees, which explained why my deposit was so much less than expected. What really bothers me is that TurboTax makes it seem like such a convenient option to pay from your refund, but they don't clearly explain upfront that your refund will come from this random-sounding third party company. A little transparency would go a long way in preventing all this confusion!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I literally just went through this exact same panic two days ago when I saw "TPG products SBTPG LLC" show up in my account. The amount was suspiciously close to what I usually get from my Uber Eats deliveries, so I just assumed it was a payment from them under a new system or something. It wasn't until I got my regular Uber Eats payment the next day that I realized something was off. After seeing everyone's explanations here about SBTPG being TurboTax's bank partner, I checked my TurboTax account and found that refund breakdown section. Sure enough, all the fees were deducted from my original refund amount - TurboTax Deluxe fee, state filing, and that $39.99 refund transfer fee. The IRS "Where's My Refund" tool confirmed that they had sent out my full refund amount, so the difference went to all those TurboTax fees I had forgotten about when I chose to pay from my refund instead of upfront. It's honestly ridiculous that TurboTax doesn't make this clearer during the filing process. A simple notification like "Your refund will be deposited by our processing partner SBTPG LLC" would save so many people from this confusion. Next year I'm definitely paying the preparation fees upfront to get my refund directly from the IRS and avoid this whole mystery deposit situation!

Has anyone considered the "unmarried parents" rule here? If these are both biological parents with their own kids, and they're unmarried, there might be a way to structure this. If each parent could claim they provided more than half the support for their own child, and the home is the principal place of abode for those children, there might be a path forward. The real question is whether the IRS would consider them sharing living expenses as "keeping up a single home together" or "each contributing to their own child's support.

I've been through a very similar situation and want to share what I learned from my tax professional. Unfortunately, the IRS is pretty strict about the December 31st rule for Head of Household status. Even though you were legitimately separate households for most of 2024, your filing status is determined by your situation on the last day of the tax year. Since you're living together as a family unit and sharing expenses by December 31st, only one of you can claim Head of Household. The other would need to file as Single. The IRS views this as one household being maintained, regardless of how you split the expenses. However, there might be a silver lining - since you're paying 60% of the household expenses and presumably supporting your own children, you'd likely be the better candidate for Head of Household status. Your girlfriend would file as Single but could still claim her children as dependents. I know it feels unfair given that you maintained separate households for most of the year, but the tax code doesn't account for partial-year situations like this. The key is to make sure whoever claims HOH has proper documentation of paying more than half the household costs and that their qualifying dependents lived in the home for more than half the year.

This is why I stopped day trading and switched to ETFs with occasional rebalancing. The tax headaches weren't worth the small gains I was making. Now I sleep better and spend way less time on tax prep.

I'm dealing with a very similar situation and wanted to share what I learned after consulting with a tax professional. The key insight is that when your disallowed wash sales exceed your realized losses, you're essentially "prepaying" taxes on losses that will benefit you in future years. Here's what helped me understand it: Think of the excess disallowed wash sale amount as an "investment" in higher cost basis for your replacement shares. When you eventually sell those shares (hopefully for a gain), your tax liability will be lower because of that higher basis. For your specific situation with $17,850 disallowed vs $14,200 realized loss, you'll report both amounts exactly as shown on your 1099B using the aggregation method. The $3,650 difference ($17,850 - $14,200) represents basis adjustments that are sitting in your current positions, waiting to reduce future gains or increase future losses when you sell. One practical tip: if you're planning to continue active trading, consider opening a separate account specifically for longer-term holds to avoid inadvertently triggering wash sales on positions you want to keep. This has helped me avoid some of the cascading wash sale issues others have mentioned.