Pro tip: If you have access to your state tax account, sometimes you can still see your federal refund status there depending on your state!

Same thing happened to me last week! I was so confused because I never received any letter either. Ended up having to call the IRS verification line that @NebulaNinja mentioned and they were able to send me a new verification letter. The wait time was brutal (like 45 minutes on hold) but at least I got it sorted. They said the letters sometimes get lost in the mail or take longer during peak tax season. Definitely frustrating when you just want to check your refund status!

I might be in the minority here but I actually just pay my overseas contractors through Paypal or Wise and I've never collected W-8BEN forms. Been doing this for like 3 years with no issues. I just categorize it as "contract labor" on my Schedule C. My accountant said its fine as long as I'm keeping detailed records of who I paid and what for. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but no problems so far!

I'm dealing with a very similar situation! I have contractors in Vietnam and Thailand for my e-commerce product photography business. After reading through all these responses, I'm realizing I need to get those W-8BEN forms ASAP. One thing I wanted to add - make sure you're clear about what services your contractors are actually providing. The IRS distinguishes between services performed outside the US versus services that benefit a US business. Since your contractors are doing the actual editing work overseas, you should be good, but it's worth documenting that the work is being performed entirely outside the US. Also, I've found it helpful to include a clause in my contractor agreements that specifically states they're responsible for their own tax obligations in their home country and that they're not US tax residents. Not required, but it adds another layer of documentation if questions ever come up. Thanks for posting this question - it's made me realize I need to get more organized with my international contractor documentation too!

The IRS is so behind this year its not even funny. My friend filed in February and just got hers last week smh

Same exact thing happened to me! That status change from "still being processed" to "being processed" is definitely progress. I was stressing about it too but got my refund about 10 days after seeing that change. The waiting is brutal but you're definitely moving through the system now. Try not to check every single day (easier said than done I know lol) - maybe check every few days instead to save your sanity!

Has anyone tried calling USO directly? I had a similar issue with Enterprise Products Partners last year, and when I called their investor relations department, they were able to email me a preliminary tax worksheet that had most of the numbers I needed.

I went through this exact situation last year with my USO shares! After hours of research and calling around, here's what I learned: USO typically releases their tax package (preliminary K-1 info) on their investor relations website around late March/early April, but the official K-1 doesn't come until September or October. I ended up using their preliminary numbers to file on time, and when the actual K-1 arrived, the differences were minimal - mostly just rounding differences and some minor adjustments. The key is to check their website frequently in the coming weeks. One thing that really helped me was keeping detailed records of all my USO distributions throughout 2024, because those numbers usually match pretty closely with what ends up on the K-1. If you have your brokerage statements, you can use those distribution amounts as a starting point for estimates. The $10k penalty your wife mentioned is likely related to foreign partnership reporting (Form 8865), but USO is a US partnership, so that shouldn't apply here. The penalties for incorrect partnership reporting are usually much smaller and based on actual tax underpayment. My recommendation: Check USO's investor relations page daily, use any preliminary info they provide to file by the deadline, and amend if needed when the final K-1 arrives. It's way less stressful than dealing with extensions every year!

No one's mentioned the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement! 24 states participate in this program to simplify sales tax compliance for remote sellers. It standardizes definitions, provides centralized registration, and offers amnesty options. If you register through the SSUTA, you can collect for all member states through one simplified system. Still need to deal with non-member states separately though.

This is such a timely discussion! I've been dealing with similar issues with my print-on-demand business. One thing that helped me was understanding that you need to look at your sales volume in each state first before panicking about conflicting rules. Most states have economic nexus thresholds around $100,000 in sales OR 200 transactions per year. If you're not hitting these numbers in a particular state, you likely don't have nexus there and don't need to collect their sales tax at all - regardless of whether they're origin or destination based. For Texas sellers specifically, you only need to apply Texas origin-based rules to sales within Texas. For out-of-state sales, you follow the destination state's rules IF you have nexus there. If you don't have nexus in the destination state, you typically don't collect any sales tax on that transaction. I'd recommend doing a nexus analysis first to see which states you actually need to worry about. It's probably fewer than you think! Then you can focus your energy on getting compliant in just those states rather than trying to figure out rules for everywhere.