anybody else notice the tap website is down like every other day? 🤔

I'm in the same situation! Filed my Mississippi return about a month ago and still waiting. Thanks for asking this question - the www.dor.ms.gov/tap link that Daryl shared is exactly what I needed. Just checked and my refund is finally showing as "in process" so hopefully it'll come through soon. Mississippi definitely takes way longer than federal but at least now we can track it!

Has anyone considered how ASC 606 specifically applies to this situation? I think step 5 of the revenue recognition model is most relevant here - "Recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

This is a great discussion and I'm learning a lot from everyone's experiences. I run a small electronics repair shop and have been struggling with this exact issue for months. What I've found helpful is creating a clear internal process to document when repairs are actually "complete." We take photos of the finished work and have the technician sign off digitally with a timestamp. This creates a clear audit trail for when the performance obligation was satisfied. One thing I'm curious about - for those of you who recognize revenue at repair completion, how do you handle warranty obligations? Do you set up a separate liability account for potential warranty work, or do you handle it differently? I want to make sure I'm accounting for all aspects of the transaction properly. Also, has anyone dealt with customers who dispute the completion date? We had one situation where a customer claimed we hadn't actually finished the repair when we said we did, which made me question our documentation process.

Has anyone mentioned the timing issue here? June 15 is coming up fast and normal ITIN processing takes 6-8 WEEKS minimum. I learned this lesson the hard way with prize money from a Seoul competition. Here's what you should do immediately: 1. Contact ETH Denver and explain the situation - ask for an extension 2. Request they give you written confirmation they'll accept "Applied For" in the TIN field temporarily 3. Submit your W-7 ASAP using the tax treaty exception 4. If they won't extend past June 15, be prepared that they might withhold the 30% - but you can still claim a refund by filing a 1040NR next year That's the nuclear option if everything else fails. Also, double check the actual Poland-US tax treaty text. Some treaties specifically exempt certain types of awards and scholarships completely!

This is a really complex situation that many international hackathon winners face! I went through something similar with a prize from a blockchain conference in Miami. One thing that helped me was understanding that the W-8BEN and W-7 timing issue isn't as circular as it seems. The IRS actually has an internal procedure for this - you can submit your W-7 with a copy of your DRAFT W-8BEN (showing "Applied For" in the TIN field), along with documentation from ETH Denver showing they require the ITIN for treaty benefits processing. Also, check if ETH Denver has dealt with international winners before. Many larger organizations have standard procedures for this exact situation and may even have relationships with Certified Acceptance Agents who can expedite the process. For the documentation requirement, your official award notification email should be sufficient, but if you have any certificate or formal documentation of your win, include that too. The IRS wants to see proof that you're legitimately entitled to claim treaty benefits on this specific income. Given the June 15 deadline, I'd recommend calling ETH Denver immediately to discuss options. Many withholding agents are more flexible than they initially appear, especially when you can demonstrate you're actively working to comply with the requirements.

Has anyone used TurboTax Self-Employed for estimated taxes? Their website says it can help calculate quarterly payments but I'm not sure if it's worth paying for the full year just to figure out my AGI for estimated taxes.

Great thread! As someone who made the same transition from W-2 to freelance last year, I can share what worked for me. The key thing I learned is that AGI calculation for estimated taxes is actually pretty straightforward once you break it down: Your AGI = Total Income - Business Expenses - Self-Employment Tax Deduction - Other Above-the-Line Deductions For variable income, I use what I call the "true-up method" each quarter: 1. Calculate my actual year-to-date AGI based on real numbers 2. Project what my full-year AGI will be based on current trends 3. Calculate the tax on that projection 4. Subtract what I've already paid in estimates 5. Pay 25% of the remaining balance (since there are 4 quarters) This keeps me from overpaying early in the year when income is low or underpaying when I have a good month. The IRS doesn't care if your payments are uneven as long as you hit the safe harbor amounts by year-end. Also, don't forget that as a freelancer, you can deduct things like your home office, business phone, professional development, and even some meals if they're business-related. These all reduce your AGI and lower your estimated tax burden.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation where we have a client who changed their plan year mid-stream, resulting in both a short plan year (5 months) and a full plan year that need to be reported on the same Form 720. One thing I wanted to add that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure you're also keeping detailed records of which calculation method you used for each period and why. We had an audit a few years back where the IRS wanted to see our justification for choosing the snapshot method versus actual count method, especially for the shorter period. Also, if you're using different methods for each period (which is allowed), document that clearly. For example, we used actual count for our short plan year because we had complete monthly data, but snapshot for the full year due to some data gaps. The IRS was fine with this approach as long as we could show our reasoning. The documentation suggestion from ApolloJackson about attaching an explanation sheet is spot on - it saved us a lot of back-and-forth when questions came up later.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar scenario where our client has both a 6-month short plan year and a full 12-month plan year that need to be reported together. One additional consideration I wanted to mention - if you're working with a self-funded client like the original poster, make sure they understand the payment timing. Even though you're filing both periods on the same Form 720, the payment is still due by July 31st for both periods. I've seen clients get confused thinking they have separate due dates for each plan year period. Also, for anyone using the snapshot method for their calculations, remember that you need to pick consistent dates within each plan year period. So if you're taking snapshots on the 15th of each month for your full plan year, stick with the 15th for all months in that period, and then you can choose different snapshot dates for the short plan year if that works better with your data. The advice about detailed documentation is spot on - I always create a simple spreadsheet showing the calculation for each period separately, then attach it to the Form 720. It makes everything much clearer if questions arise later.