How do you handle the exchange rate when calculating the foreign interest income? Do you use the rate on the day each interest payment was made, or can you use the annual average? I have monthly interest payments from my account in Australia and using different rates for each payment seems like a lot of work.

One thing to keep in mind is that if your foreign bank account is earning interest, you might also want to check if there are any withholding tax treaties between the US and the country where your bank is located. Some countries have agreements that reduce the withholding tax rate on interest paid to US residents. For example, if your account is in the UK, Canada, or Germany, there might be reduced withholding rates under the tax treaty. This could affect how much foreign tax you actually should have had withheld, and you might be able to claim a refund from the foreign country for any excess withholding. Also, double-check that the foreign taxes you're claiming on Form 1116 are actually creditable under US tax law. Generally, income taxes are creditable, but some fees or penalties might not qualify for the foreign tax credit.

One thing to consider - check if the platforms you work with issue 1099 forms or any other tax documents to you at year-end. If they do, you should verify whether these were issued to you personally or to your company during the last two years. This might affect how you need to address the situation.

Don't panic too much about this - it's a more common mistake than you'd think! I made the exact same error when I transitioned my consulting business from sole proprietorship to an LLC a few years back. The key thing is that you've corrected it now and you've been properly reporting the income. Since you mentioned you've been paying UK corporation tax on all the earnings, that shows good faith compliance with your tax obligations. One thing I'd suggest is documenting everything - keep copies of both the old W8BEN and new W8BEN-E forms, along with the dates you submitted the updates to each platform. If any questions ever come up, having a clear timeline showing when you discovered the issue and immediately corrected it will work in your favor. Also, since the UK has a tax treaty with the US, the withholding rates are likely the same regardless of which form was used, so there probably wasn't any actual tax impact - just a documentation mismatch that you've now resolved.

Has anyone successfully dealt with excess contributions through TurboTax? I'm confused about how to report this correctly in the software.

I went through something very similar last year and can relate to the stress you're feeling! The good news is this is definitely fixable, but you'll need to be persistent with Fidelity to get it handled correctly. First, call Fidelity back and ask to speak with someone in their IRA department specifically - don't just talk to general customer service. Tell them you need to "recharacterize" your withdrawal as a "return of excess contribution" for 2024. They should be able to do this since you're still in the same tax year. Make sure they understand you're correcting an excess contribution, not just making a regular withdrawal. Once they process this correctly, you'll get a 1099-R form that properly shows the distribution as a return of excess contribution. Any earnings that were generated on that excess contribution will be taxable income for 2024 and potentially subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty if you're under 59½. Since you've already filed, you'll likely need to file an amended return (Form 1040-X) once you get the corrected documentation from Fidelity. The timing actually works in your favor since you caught this so quickly - there probably weren't significant earnings on the excess contribution during that short time period. Don't panic about the penalties - if Fidelity processes this as a proper excess contribution removal, you should be able to avoid the 6% excise tax. Just make sure you get the right paperwork from them showing it was handled correctly.

I went through this exact scenario two weeks ago! My transcript showed 846 with DD date of 2/28, but WMR kept saying paper check was coming. I was so confused I even drove to my local IRS office to ask in person. The agent there confirmed what everyone's saying - the transcript is the authoritative source. She explained that during busy periods, WMR can show outdated information because it's essentially a "customer service" tool that doesn't always reflect real-time processing status. Sure enough, my refund hit my bank account exactly on 2/28 as the transcript indicated. The WMR tool didn't update to show "refund sent" until 3 days AFTER I already had the money! Trust your 846 code and save yourself the worry.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My transcript shows 846 with a DD date of 3/12, but WMR has been stuck on "paper check will be mailed" for the past week. Reading through all these responses is really reassuring - it sounds like the transcript is definitely the more reliable source. I was starting to worry that maybe there was an issue with my bank account info, but it's good to know this is a common system glitch during tax season. I'll trust the 846 code and stop obsessively checking WMR every few hours. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so helpful for first-time filers like me who don't know what's normal!

Worth noting that if you do qualify for TTS, you'll need to make quarterly estimated tax payments on your trading income. This includes both income tax and self-employment tax. I got hit with an underpayment penalty my first year because I didn't realize this.

Great discussion here! I'm in a similar situation as a crypto day trader and wanted to share what I've learned from my CPA about TTS qualification. The key factors they emphasized were: 1. **Frequency and regularity** - You need to trade on a substantial, regular, and continuous basis. Your 20-50 trades per week sounds like it could qualify, especially if you're doing this consistently throughout the year. 2. **Time commitment** - The "substantial" requirement typically means spending several hours daily on trading activities, including research and analysis (not just executing trades). 3. **Intent to profit from short-term price movements** - This is crucial for crypto traders since you need to show you're trading to capture market swings, not holding for long-term appreciation. One thing I learned is that you should start keeping detailed records NOW if you plan to claim TTS for 2025. Document your daily trading time, maintain separate accounts for trading vs. investment activities, and keep receipts for all business expenses. The IRS scrutinizes TTS claims heavily, especially for newer asset classes like crypto. Also consider consulting with a tax professional who has experience with crypto TTS claims before making the election. The self-employment tax implications can be significant, so you want to make sure the Schedule C deductions outweigh that additional tax burden in your specific situation.