Has anyone actually formed their LLC structure this way, with one disregarded LLC owning another? I'm curious how you handled the paperwork. When filing articles of organization for the second LLC, do you list the first LLC as the member, or do you still list yourself?

This is a great discussion! I've been considering a similar structure for my photography business and a separate e-commerce venture. One thing I wanted to add that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure you keep meticulous separate records for each LLC even though they're both disregarded entities. The IRS may disregard them for tax purposes, but if you ever face an audit or legal challenge, you'll want crystal clear documentation showing that these are truly separate business activities. Keep separate bank accounts, separate bookkeeping, separate contracts - treat them as completely independent businesses operationally even if they're connected ownership-wise. Also, consider whether you might want to elect S-Corp status for either LLC down the road as your businesses grow. Having the separate entity structure already in place gives you more flexibility for tax planning in the future without having to restructure everything.

Has anyone used any particular tax software that handles aircraft leasebacks well? I tried TurboTax last year and it was clueless about how to handle my Cirrus SR22 leaseback situation. I ended up with a mess of misclassified items.

I've been through this exact situation with my Cherokee Six on leaseback! A few additional points that might help with your tight deadline: For your Schedule C, make sure you're tracking your business miles separately from personal flying hours. The IRS distinguishes between transportation to/from the aircraft for business purposes versus recreational flying. Keep a detailed logbook. Since you mentioned you're doing maintenance work through the club at $0 labor rate, document this arrangement very carefully. Consider having the club issue you a 1099 for the fair market value of your services, then you can deduct that same amount as a business expense for maintenance. This creates a clear paper trail that the IRS can follow. One thing that saved me during an audit - keep detailed records of every communication with the flying club about scheduling, maintenance, and financial arrangements. Email chains, work orders, flight schedules, all of it. The IRS wants to see that this is a genuine business relationship, not just cost-sharing among pilot friends. Also, don't panic about filing something "reasonably accurate" now and amending later. As long as you're making a good faith effort with the information you have, you won't face penalties. The amended return route is actually pretty common for complex aviation businesses.

Wow, this thread has been incredibly educational! I'm a newcomer to the community and was completely overwhelmed trying to figure out energy tax credits for my planned home improvements. Reading through everyone's experiences and advice has saved me from making some expensive mistakes. The key takeaway I'm getting is that most "solar skylights" on the market are really just energy-efficient skylights with solar-powered operation, which puts them under Section 25C with the $3,200 annual limit - not the unlimited Section 25D credit for actual solar electric systems. What really opened my eyes was learning about the sublimits within that $3,200 cap. I had no idea there was a separate $600 limit specifically for skylights and windows. This completely changes how I need to plan my improvements across tax years. For anyone else just starting this research, the advice about calling manufacturers directly for technical specifications seems invaluable. Having official documentation about whether your specific products generate electricity for home use (Section 25D) or just power device operation (Section 25C) appears to be crucial for proper tax filing and potential audit protection. I'm definitely going to use some of the resources mentioned here to analyze my planned purchases before moving forward. Thank you all for sharing your real-world experiences - it's so much more helpful than trying to decode IRS publications alone!

Thanks everyone for this incredibly thorough discussion! As someone new to both the community and energy tax credits, this thread has been a goldmine of practical information. I'm planning to install solar skylights next year and was initially excited thinking they'd qualify for the unlimited solar credit. Now I understand that most "solar skylights" are actually just energy-efficient skylights with solar-powered operation mechanisms, putting them under the Section 25C credit with all those sublimits. The manufacturer contact advice is brilliant - I never would have thought to call them directly for tax credit documentation. And learning about the $600 skylight sublimit within the $3,200 overall cap completely changes my planning approach. I was budgeting as if I had the full $3,200 available for skylights plus other improvements. One question for the group: for those who've already claimed these credits, did you run into any issues with tax software correctly categorizing solar-powered skylights? I'm wondering if most software defaults to putting anything "solar" in the unlimited credit category, which could lead to problems down the road. I'm definitely going to take my time researching specific products and getting proper documentation before making any purchases. This discussion has shown how important it is to understand exactly which credit category your improvements fall under before you buy, not after!

I'm dealing with a very similar situation right now! Got my CP14 notice last week even though I've been faithfully making my monthly payments since February. It's such a relief to see I'm not the only one this has happened to. What really helped me was logging into my IRS online account like Jamal mentioned - it clearly showed my installment agreement was still active and all my payments were recorded. That gave me some peace of mind while I worked up the courage to call them. I finally got through yesterday using the early morning strategy (called at 7:15 AM EST) and the agent was actually really understanding. She confirmed that these notices are generated automatically and don't account for active payment plans. She put a note on my account to prevent any collection actions and said I should stop receiving the notices within 4-6 weeks. One thing she told me that I hadn't seen mentioned here - if you get any additional notices while this is being sorted out, there's a specific line on the CP14 that says something like "If you have an installment agreement, disregard this notice." It's in small print near the bottom, but it's there for exactly these situations. Keep making your payments and don't stress too much about it. The system is just slow to catch up!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm actually going through this exact situation right now - got a CP14 notice yesterday despite having an active payment plan since March. Reading everyone's experiences has really calmed my nerves. I wanted to add one thing that might help others: when I set up my installment agreement, I took screenshots of every confirmation page and saved the PDF of the agreement itself. I also set up email notifications for each payment through my bank so I have a paper trail showing exactly when each payment was processed. The timing issue makes so much sense now that everyone's explained it. I was worried I'd done something wrong, but it sounds like this is just how their systems work (or don't work together). I'm going to try calling early tomorrow morning with all my documentation ready. For anyone else dealing with this - definitely keep making your payments like everyone said. I almost considered stopping them thinking my plan was canceled, which would have been a huge mistake. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially about the specific wording to use when calling!

I've been following this thread and wanted to add something that might help with the transcript confusion - the IRS actually has a pretty detailed publication (Pub 5307) that explains how to read wage and income transcripts. It maps out exactly what each code means and which boxes on your W-2 they correspond to. What really helped me when I was in a similar situation was printing out both the transcript and this publication, then going line by line to make sure I understood what each entry meant before entering anything on my tax forms. The transcript codes can be really confusing (like "WH-FIT" for federal income tax withheld), but once you have the decoder it becomes much clearer. You can download Pub 5307 directly from the IRS website. It's only about 6 pages long but it saved me from making some costly mistakes when I was trying to file with just my transcript. Just thought this might be useful for anyone else dealing with transcript interpretation issues!

As someone who's dealt with this exact situation multiple times, I want to emphasize that you're definitely on the right track with the wage and income transcript - it's completely acceptable for federal filing and contains all the key information the IRS needs. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that if you're really pressed for time and can't get your state withholding information sorted out, you might want to consider filing your federal return first using the transcript data, then handling your state return separately once you track down that information. Many states have later deadlines than the federal April 15th deadline anyway. Also, for future reference, I'd highly recommend setting up an online account with your state's tax agency if they offer one. Many states now provide digital access to your withholding information similar to how the IRS provides transcripts. It's one of those things that seems obvious in hindsight but can really save you in situations like this. The main thing is don't panic - you have several good options here and the IRS understands that sometimes documents get lost. The transcript route is legitimate and widely used by tax professionals when clients are missing their W-2s.