Has anyone here dealt with amending a return specifically to add Form 8938? I'm in a similar situation but already filed my return without it.

I want to add some reassurance from my own experience with late FATCA filing. I was in almost exactly your situation two years ago - first time filing jointly after my husband's status change, suddenly over the $100k threshold, and completely unaware of Form 8938 requirements until months after filing. Like you, I had always been diligent about FBAR when required and reported all foreign income properly. When I discovered the Form 8938 requirement, I was panicked about potential penalties, especially since I was about 3 months past the deadline. I filed the form immediately with a straightforward reasonable cause letter explaining that this was my first year above the threshold due to joint filing, that all income had been reported, and that I was taking prompt corrective action upon discovering the requirement. The IRS accepted my explanation without any penalties or further questions. The key points that seemed to work in my favor: 1) All income was already properly reported, 2) I had a history of compliance with other international filing requirements, 3) I acted quickly once I became aware of the issue, and 4) The circumstances genuinely represented a first-time situation I couldn't have reasonably anticipated. Don't stress too much - file as soon as you can with a clear explanation and you should be fine!

Has anyone here actually calculated the exact savings? I'm curious because my accountant says the benefits of s-corp health insurance are "substantial" but won't give me actual numbers.

Great question! I went through this exact same decision last year when I converted my LLC to S-Corp status. After researching and consulting with my tax professional, I ended up having my S-Corp pay 100% of my health insurance premiums. The math is pretty straightforward - at your $780/month premium ($9,360 annually), having the S-Corp pay saves you about $1,430 per year in FICA taxes (15.3% of $9,360). There's really no downside to going with 100% since you get the full deduction either way, but maximize your payroll tax savings. Just make sure you document everything properly. I have my S-Corp pay the insurance company directly each month, and my payroll service adds the premium amount to my W-2 wages (Box 1) but excludes it from Social Security and Medicare wages. Then I deduct the full amount on Line 17 of my personal return. One tip - if you're doing your own payroll, double-check that you're coding the health insurance correctly. It should be included in federal wages but excluded from FICA wages. I use QuickBooks Payroll and there's a specific payroll item for "Health Insurance (S-Corp >2% Owner)" that handles this automatically. With your $75k salary on $125k revenue, you're in a great position - very reasonable compensation ratio that won't raise any IRS eyebrows!

Question - have you checked the SBTPG site using both mobile and desktop? Their site is janky AF and sometimes shows different info depending on how you access it. On my phone it showed no trace number but on desktop it was there! worth a try

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed in early March, got accepted, transcript shows 846 code with April 1st issue date, but SBTPG has been showing a blank trace number field for over two weeks. It's so stressful when you're counting on that money. I've been checking their site multiple times a day hoping something will show up. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like this is unfortunately pretty common with SBTPG this year. I'm going to try calling the IRS tomorrow morning and see if they can give me any insight into what's actually happening on their end. Really hoping we both get some answers soon - the waiting is killing me!

Just wanted to add another important point about Form 706NA payments - make sure you're using the correct tax year when making your electronic payment. The tax year for estate tax purposes is the year the decedent died, not the current year when you're filing. I made this mistake initially and selected 2025 as the tax year when my decedent passed away in 2024. The IRS applied my payment to the wrong year and it created a huge mess that took months to sort out. When you're on the payment screen, double-check that you're selecting the year of death as your tax period. Also, if you're close to the 9-month deadline (or 15-month if you filed for extension), I'd recommend making the payment a few days early to account for any processing delays. The IRS considers the payment timely as long as it's initiated by 11:59 PM ET on the due date, but why risk it?

I went through this exact process about 6 months ago and can confirm that the Direct Pay method works well for Form 706NA. One thing that really helped me was calling the IRS taxpayer assistance line beforehand to confirm I was selecting the right options - they verified that using "Form 706" in the system covers both regular 706 and 706NA filings. A few additional tips from my experience: - Make sure you have the estate's EIN ready before starting the payment process - The system will ask for the "primary taxpayer" - use the decedent's name exactly as it appears on the 706NA form - If you're making the payment close to the due date, consider doing it in the morning rather than late at night to avoid any potential system maintenance windows The confirmation email came through within about 10 minutes, and I was able to track the payment status through my bank. The whole process took less than 15 minutes once I had all the information ready. Don't stress too much about it - the IRS payment system is actually pretty straightforward once you know which buttons to click!

Has anyone dealt with reporting a deceased person's mortgage interest deduction on a partial year return? My brother passed away last spring and I'm trying to figure out if I need to prorate the mortgage interest or just take the full amount shown on his 1098.

I'm sorry for your loss and understand how confusing this must be while handling your father's estate. As others have mentioned, the OMP discrepancy is likely just a system reporting error since you have documentation showing the mortgage was paid off and were able to sell the house without issues. For the final tax return, you'll want to report the mortgage interest that was actually paid during the time your father was alive (January through November). The key document here is that "paid in full" letter you mentioned - keep that with the tax records as supporting documentation. The IRS understands that 1098 forms sometimes contain errors, especially in situations involving payoffs or deceased taxpayers. If you're concerned about potential questions from the IRS, you might consider attaching a brief explanation to the return noting that the mortgage was paid off in August (with the paid-in-full letter as proof) and that the OMP figure on the 1098 is incorrect. This kind of proactive documentation can save headaches later if there are any audit questions.