I think everyone is overlooking an important aspect of multi-state partnership reporting - the withholding requirements. Many states require partnerships to withhold taxes for nonresident partners, regardless of whether you ultimately need to file a return there. Check your K-1s carefully - they should indicate if any state taxes were withheld on your behalf. If taxes were withheld, you'll likely need to file a nonresident return in that state, even if you otherwise wouldn't have a filing requirement, just to get a refund of over-withheld amounts. This happened to me with a partnership that withheld Oregon state taxes at their highest marginal rate, but after applying deductions and credits, my actual Oregon liability was much lower. I had to file an Oregon nonresident return to get back about $2,300 in over-withheld taxes.

This is a really comprehensive discussion! I wanted to add one more consideration that might apply to your situation - apportionment factors for multi-state partnerships. Since your Colorado partnership is investing in real estate across multiple states, you'll want to understand how each state apportions partnership income. Some states use a single sales factor, others use three-factor formulas (property, payroll, sales), and this can affect how much of the partnership's income is actually subject to tax in each state. For real estate partnerships specifically, most states will source the income to where the property is physically located. But if the Colorado partnership is also engaged in management activities (property management, development decisions, etc.), some of that income might be sourced to Colorado based on where those business activities occur. I'd recommend asking your partnership for a breakdown of how they've allocated income by state on their partnership returns. This information should help you understand not just which states might require filings, but also how much income is actually attributable to each state. Sometimes the state-by-state breakdown is much different than what you might assume just from looking at where the underlying properties are located.

Not directly related to your immediate question but since you're just starting a new job after a gap: remember that your 2024 withholding might seem wrong all year because the system assumes you've been making that $22/hour since January. If you've been unemployed most of the year, you might end up having too MUCH withheld relative to what you'll actually owe. Just something to keep in mind when you're looking at your paychecks after fixing the current $0 withholding issue.

This is a really common issue with the redesigned W4! The good news is that it's likely fixable. Since you only filled out steps 1 and 5, the payroll system is making assumptions about your tax situation that might not be accurate for your specific pay schedule and start date. Here's what I'd recommend: Wait for your next full two-week paycheck to see if withholding appears once the system has better data about your actual earning pattern. If there's still no FITW on that check, you'll need to submit a new W4 with an additional withholding amount in Step 4(c). A quick calculation: At $22/hour for 40 hours/week, you're looking at about $45,760 annually. Even with the standard deduction, you'd owe roughly $3,900-4,200 in federal taxes for the year. If you end up needing to add extra withholding, putting around $80-85 per paycheck in Step 4(c) should get you close to the right amount. Don't panic though - catching this early means you have plenty of time to correct it before tax season!

Anyone else notice that the business code doesn't really matter that much? I've used different codes for my consulting business over the years (sometimes management consulting, sometimes business consulting) and it's never made any difference to my taxes or triggered any questions from the IRS. I think we're all overthinking this lol.

For pottery specifically, you'll want to look at code 327110 (Pottery and Ceramics Manufacturing) if you're primarily making the pottery yourself, or 453998 (All Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers) if you're mainly selling pottery made by others. Since you mentioned designing and selling custom pottery, 327110 is probably your best bet. The IRS Publication 535 also has a helpful table that cross-references business activities with the correct codes. You can download it from irs.gov and it's much easier to navigate than digging through the Schedule C instructions. Don't stress too much about getting it perfect - as long as it reasonably describes your business activity, you'll be fine!

Has anyone considered that it might just be easier to get a prenup? I'm not a lawyer but wouldn't that be a simpler way to establish which assets are pre-marital vs. marital property, including the entire HSA account?

I'm a tax attorney who's dealt with this exact scenario multiple times. The consensus here is correct - you absolutely cannot open a new HSA without current HDHP coverage, even for transfers from existing HSAs. However, I want to address the underlying asset protection concern. While detailed record-keeping is helpful, it's not bulletproof in divorce proceedings. Courts can still rule that investment growth during marriage constitutes marital property regardless of your documentation. The prenup suggestion is spot-on and would be much more legally robust. You could specify that your entire HSA (including future appreciation) remains separate property. Alternatively, the prenup could establish that only the pre-marital balance stays separate, with post-marriage growth being marital property - which achieves exactly what you were trying to do with separate accounts. Given that you're getting married in a few months, consulting with a family law attorney about including HSA provisions in a prenup would be far more effective than trying to navigate HSA eligibility rules. The legal protection would be stronger and you wouldn't have to wait for open enrollment periods or manage multiple accounts.

Have your family look into potential medical expense deductions too! If your grandmother moved to assisted living or a nursing home for medical reasons, some of those costs might offset capital gains. The rules are complicated, but worth investigating.

Another strategy worth considering is charitable giving if your family is so inclined. If the trust donates the property (or a portion of the proceeds) to a qualified charity, they can potentially avoid capital gains tax on the donated amount AND get a charitable deduction for the fair market value. There are also charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) that could allow the family to receive income from the property sale over time while reducing the immediate tax burden. With a CRT, the trust sells the property tax-free, invests the proceeds, and pays out a percentage annually to your family members for a set period or their lifetimes. Whatever remains goes to the charity. Given the large gain from a $28k basis to today's values, even donating 10-20% could result in significant tax savings while still preserving most of the sale proceeds for your family. Definitely something to discuss with a tax advisor who understands charitable planning strategies.