I've been running a UAE LLC for trading US stocks for about 2 years now. Here's my practical experience: 1) Yes, Interactive Brokers accepts UAE LLCs with the right documentation. They required our company formation documents, trade license, passport copies of all shareholders, and bank reference letters. 2) Substance requirements are real. We maintain a small office in Dubai (about $1200/month), have a corporate bank account with ENBD, and I spend about 90 days per year there managing operations. 3) For moving money, we use a combination of salary and dividends. The company pays me a reasonable "director's salary" for my management activities, which I report in my home country. The rest stays in the company for reinvestment. 4) The annual compliance costs include company renewal fees (~$7000), accounting services (~$2500), and maintaining the office. Factor these into your calculations. It's definitely not a zero-effort solution, but the tax savings have been substantial enough to justify the setup costs and ongoing maintenance.

Has anyone actually looked into how Argentina specifically treats foreign LLCs? I know some countries have rules where if you're the controlling member of a foreign entity, they look through the entity and tax you directly regardless of whether you take distributions.

This happened to me last year and the year before. In 2022, my federal came 9 days before state. In 2023, it was 16 days. This year my federal arrived February 18th and state didn't show up until March 12th. It's becoming the new normal with state systems being slower than federal. As long as your state shows "Processing" and not "Review" or "Verification Required," you should be fine.

I'm experiencing something similar this year! Filed on February 3rd and got my federal refund last week, but my state is still showing "Processing" after 34 days. In previous years, my state (Virginia) was always 5-7 days faster than federal. I called the Virginia Department of Taxation yesterday and they said they're running about 2-3 weeks behind their normal processing schedule due to system upgrades they implemented in January. The representative assured me that as long as it shows "Processing" rather than "Under Review," it's just in the queue and should be released soon. Maybe your state is dealing with similar backend changes this tax season?

Dont waste your money on those fancy services! The IRS has free fillable forms on their website that you can download. Just google "irs fillable w2" and "irs fillable 1099". Print them out, fill them in, and mail them. Saves you $50+ for something that takes 30 minutes.

I've been in this exact situation before and completely understand the panic! Since you're dealing with last-minute filing, I'd strongly recommend going with an established IRS-authorized e-file provider rather than trying to handle paper forms at this point. For your size business (4 W-2s + 1 1099), I've had good results with both TaxAct Business and FreeTaxUSA Business. They're legitimate, reasonably priced (usually under $100 for your volume), and handle both federal and state filing in most cases. The key is making sure whatever service you choose can do electronic filing directly to the IRS - this is much faster than mail and gives you confirmation of receipt. One thing to keep in mind: if you haven't already provided copies to your employees and contractor, that January 31st deadline has already passed, so you'll want to get those physical copies to them ASAP regardless of which electronic filing service you use. Most services will let you print employee copies immediately after you complete the forms. Don't beat yourself up too much - we've all been there with timing issues. The important thing is getting it done correctly now. Good luck!

Protip: Document EVERYTHING. Every call, rep name, what they told you. Makes it easier when escalating.

Ugh, this is so frustrating! I went through something similar last year - my amended return got "lost" in their system twice. The 3176C letter thing is real but the timeline they're giving you sounds way too long. I'd definitely escalate to a supervisor and ask for a case manager to be assigned. Also, keep calling every week - squeaky wheel gets the grease with the IRS. Don't let them push you around for another 8+ weeks when they already messed up! You've been more than patient.

Protip: call the IRS early morning right when they open. Got through in 5 mins and they confirmed my return was just processing normally even tho transcripts werent up yet

Same situation here! Filed Jan 15th and still showing N/A on transcripts. Called the practitioner hotline yesterday and they said everything looks normal, just heavy volume this year. They mentioned something about system upgrades causing delays too. Hang in there!