One more thing to consider: if your wife becomes a resident alien through the substantial presence test in the future (basically by living in the US long enough), you won't need to make the special election anymore, but you'll still file jointly. And heads up that you'll need to continue making the election every year until she either becomes a resident alien or gets a green card!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation but with a twist - my husband is from Canada and we got married in December. I'm curious about one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet: does the timing of when you got married during the tax year affect anything? Also, for anyone who went through this process, how long did it typically take to get the ITIN approved? I'm worried about filing delays since we're cutting it close to the deadline. And a quick question about that FBAR reporting - if my husband has a joint account with his parents back in Canada that he's technically on but doesn't really use, does that count toward the $10k threshold? The account has way more than $10k but it's not really "his" money.

Just to clarify something important - when you select "non-covered" in TurboTax for your crypto, make sure you're still entering accurate cost basis info on your 8949. Non-covered doesn't mean the IRS doesn't care about the details - it just means the exchange isn't reporting the cost basis directly to them. You're still 100% responsible for accurate reporting. I'd recommend double-checking the calculations from bitcoin.tax, especially if you've done any tax loss harvesting or have transactions across multiple exchanges.

Does anyone know how staking rewards should be reported? Are those also non-covered? I've been getting various amounts of crypto from staking throughout the year and I'm confused about how to report both the income portion and the capital gains when I eventually sold some.

This happened to me two years ago! Don't panic - there's a simple explanation. When I called FreeTax customer service, they explained that they use Republic Bank for all their refund transfers. The routing number ending in 7418 is from Republic Bank - they're the financial institution that processes all of FreeTax's refund transfers. The process takes about 1-2 weeks total from when the IRS approves your refund until the money shows up in your actual bank account. It's annoying that they don't explain this clearly during the filing process!

I just went through this exact same situation with FreeTax a few weeks ago! Like everyone else has mentioned, that different bank account number is completely normal when you choose to pay filing fees from your refund. What I found helpful was checking both the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool AND logging into my FreeTax account online to track the status. The FreeTax portal actually shows when they receive the refund from the IRS and when they forward it to your personal account after deducting their fees. In my case, once the IRS sent my refund (which showed as "sent" on their website), it took exactly 4 business days for the money to appear in my actual bank account. The routing number you mentioned ending in 7418 does sound like Republic Bank, which is the third-party processor FreeTax uses. One tip: make sure you have the correct bank account info saved in your FreeTax profile, since that's where they'll send the remainder after taking their fee. You can double-check this in your account settings. The whole process was nerve-wracking at first, but it worked exactly as described!

Don't panic yet! I've handled several S-Corps owned by trusts. Here's my checklist: 1. Get a complete copy of the trust document 2. Verify if it's a grantor trust (most living trusts are) 3. If grantor trust, confirm the grantor is a US citizen/resident 4. Check if ownership actually transferred (many clients say they did things their attorney hasn't actually completed yet) 5. If it's not a qualifying trust, file Form 2553 with a QSST or ESBT election 6. Document everything in case you need to request inadvertent termination relief Most living trusts are qualifying shareholders as grantor trusts. The biggest issue is often just documentation and making sure the proper tax ID is used on K-1s.

Just wanted to add one more thing that helped me in a similar situation - make sure to document the exact date of the stock transfer to the trust. This becomes critical if you end up needing to file for inadvertent termination relief or if the IRS questions the timing of any elections. Also, even if it turns out to be a qualifying grantor trust (which sounds likely based on your description), you'll want to make sure the K-1s for 2024 are issued correctly. If the transfer happened in August, you might need to issue separate K-1s - one to the individual for January-August and one to the trust for August-December, depending on how the stock certificates were handled. One last tip: if this client has other business entities or is considering the family management company you mentioned, this trust structure could actually work in your favor for future estate planning. Worth discussing with their attorney once you get the current situation sorted out!

Look at Box 16 on your K-1 too! That's where a lot of these items affecting basis are itemized. Your K-1 should have codes and amounts for each item that increases or decreases your basis. For example, Code A is for tax-exempt interest, Code B is for other tax-exempt income, Code C is for nondeductible expenses. If you add up all the positive items and subtract all the negative items from your ordinary business income, you should get the amount on that last line of Schedule K.

Glad to see you figured it out! Box 16 of the K-1 is definitely the key to understanding that final Schedule K line. For anyone else reading this thread who might have similar issues, here's a quick summary of what typically causes differences between ordinary business income and that last line: 1. Non-deductible expenses (Code C) - like the non-deductible portion of meals, penalties, life insurance premiums 2. Health insurance premiums for >2% shareholders 3. Separately stated items like charitable contributions 4. Tax-exempt income (rare for most small businesses but can happen) 5. Depreciation adjustments and Section 179 expenses The IRS instructions for Schedule K can be confusing, but remember that not every dollar of income or expense affects shareholder basis the same way. When in doubt, always cross-reference with your K-1 Box 16 - it breaks everything down by code so you can see exactly what's included in that summary line. Good luck with the rest of your return, Paolo!