Oh great, because the current system works SO well 🙄 Thanks for the info though!

It's hit or miss. I got through once after trying for hours, but then got disconnected halfway through my convo. 🤦‍♂️

LOL sign me up! I'll bring the coffee and donuts to the first meeting 🍩☕

Can we make t-shirts? "I survived IRS identity verification and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" 👕

That's a great point I hadn't considered! She does have a general liability policy for the photography business, so I'll definitely have her check if they offer any vehicle coverage options. Do you remember if adding the vehicle coverage significantly increased your business policy cost?

In my case, adding the vehicle supplemental coverage to my business policy increased it by about $600 annually, but I was able to reduce my separate commercial auto policy by nearly $900 because some coverages were now handled through the business policy. So I ended up saving around $300 per year overall. The other advantage was having more comprehensive coverage since the business policy covered some things the auto policy didn't, like equipment in the vehicle. For a photography business, that might be especially valuable considering the expensive gear she's transporting.

I used CoverWallet last year and found it pretty helpful. Got quotes from like 5 different companies for my business vehicle. Ended up saving around $780/year compared to what my regular insurance company quoted me for converting to commercial coverage.

Thanks for the suggestion! Does TaxAct handle the resident vs. non-resident alien distinction well? And did you find it easy to understand whether your spouse's foreign income needed to be reported? I'm worried about missing something important and getting flagged for audit.

TaxAct does handle the resident vs. non-resident alien distinction pretty well. It asks a series of questions to determine which status applies to your spouse and then guides you through the appropriate forms based on your answers. The software has improved significantly in this area over the last few years. Regarding foreign income reporting, it was straightforward once I understood the basic principles. The software prompts you about foreign earned income and walks you through Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) or Form 1116 (Foreign Tax Credit) depending on your situation. I found their explanations clear enough that I could make informed decisions without needing an expensive CPA.

Did you try to get the FBAR penalty abated? I've heard they can be reasonable if it's your first offense and you can show it wasn't willful neglect.

That's a great point - I need to go back and re-read my lease. I think there was something in there about improvements becoming property of the building owner. Does that change how I can deduct things? Would it be better if items remain my property?

If improvements become the landlord's property after the lease ends, they're generally still treated as leasehold improvements that you can depreciate over the 15-year period (or potentially expense using Section 179 if you qualify). It's usually more advantageous for items to remain your property because you might have more flexibility in how you depreciate them, and potentially recover some value if you can take them with you later. However, for fixed elements like walls or built-in fixtures, the tax treatment is generally the same regardless of who will ultimately own them when the lease ends. The key is that you paid for them for use in your business.

The de minimis safe harbor is amazing for small purchases, but be careful - it only applies to individual items under the threshold (usually $2,500 per item). The IRS can reject your safe harbor election if they determine you're artificially breaking up larger expenses into smaller invoices to qualify.