Lots of good advice here already, but I'll add one thing nobody's mentioned: If you decide to go the Schedule C route this year (which seems smart for a partial year), you should still open a separate business checking account immediately for your 1099 income. Keep all business income and expenses separate from your personal finances. This will make your tax prep WAY easier and give you a clean start if you decide to form an S-Corp next year. Plus, maintaining this "business separation" is good practice regardless of your legal structure. Also, start making quarterly estimated tax payments! As a 1099 contractor, you don't have withholding anymore. Set aside roughly 30-35% of your contractor income for taxes (federal, state, and self-employment) and make payments through the IRS Direct Pay system. First-year contractors often get hit with a shocking tax bill plus underpayment penalties if they don't do this.

I'm confused about something - does forming an S-Corp mean you automatically get taxed as an S-Corp? I thought you could have an LLC but elect S-Corp taxation? Is that the same thing or different?

Your best bet is to do a 1040X amendment ASAP. Don't wait for them to catch it - shows good faith effort to correct the mistake. Plus you'll avoid some of the penalties they might hit you with if they find it first.

I'd definitely file the 1040X amendment sooner rather than later. When I missed a W-2 a couple years ago, I waited for the IRS to catch it and ended up paying interest on the additional tax owed. If you amend now, you might avoid some of those extra fees. The process isn't too complicated - just need to fill out Form 1040X with the corrected information and mail it in. Keep copies of everything for your records!

Anyone know if the OP can just file without the spouse this year (as married filing separately) to meet the deadline, then amend later when the ITIN comes through? Would avoid any concerns about the deadline entirely.

Just to add some reassurance here - I went through this exact situation two years ago with my spouse's ITIN application. Filed about a week late due to similar circumstances with Acceptance Agent availability, and since we were expecting a refund, there were absolutely no penalties or issues. The key thing to remember is that the IRS isn't in a hurry when they owe YOU money - the penalties only kick in when you owe them. Your refund will be delayed by the ITIN processing time (took about 9 weeks in our case), but filing a day or even a week late won't add any additional delays or costs. Don't stress about it - get your W-7 completed properly rather than rushing it. A correctly submitted ITIN application is way more important than meeting the extension deadline by one day when you're getting a refund anyway.

This is such helpful information! I'm in a similar situation planning to move to Turkey later this year. Based on what everyone's shared, it sounds like buying the Apple Watch in the US before moving is definitely the way to go. I'm leaning toward the GPS-only aluminum model to minimize the tax impact. The 20-22% rate is much more reasonable than the 35%+ for cellular models. Plus with that temporary exemption program Sarah mentioned, I might be able to save even more if I time it right. Has anyone dealt with declaring multiple personal electronics when moving? I'll also be bringing my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. I want to make sure I don't accidentally trigger any red flags at customs by having "too much" tech, even though it's all legitimately for personal use.

Great thread everyone! As someone who works in international tax consulting, I can confirm most of the information here is accurate. One additional tip for anyone planning this move: keep detailed records of when you first started using each device. Turkey's customs officials have become more sophisticated in recent years and sometimes cross-reference social media posts or digital footprints to verify personal use claims. I've seen cases where people had issues because they posted photos of their "new" Apple Watch on social media just weeks before traveling, even though they claimed months of ownership. Also, regarding the material classifications that Natalie mentioned - this is still true in 2025. The customs codes differentiate between aluminum (lower luxury classification) and premium materials like titanium or ceramic (higher luxury tax bracket). The difference can be 5-10% in total tax burden. For those using tools like taxr.ai, make sure you're inputting the exact model specifications including case material, as this significantly affects the final calculation. The tool should ask for these details if it's comprehensive.

Does anyone know if there's a way to recreate the Schedule P Part 2 if you didn't properly track this in prior years? I've got functional currency amounts but never maintained the separate dollar basis tracking until now.

I've been dealing with Form 5471 for several years now and can confirm what others have said - you absolutely need to carry forward the dollar basis amounts from your 2022 Schedule P Part 2 ending balance to your 2023 beginning balance. Don't convert using 2023 rates. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that you should also make sure you're properly categorizing any new 2023 inclusions by the correct PTEP category (Section 951(a), Section 951A, etc.) when you add them to your basis amounts. Each category needs to be tracked separately because they have different distribution ordering rules. Also, if you had any actual distributions during 2023, make sure you're reducing your basis amounts in the proper LIFO order and calculating the Section 986(c) gain/loss on the difference between your dollar basis and the dollar value of the distribution. This is where a lot of people mess up the currency calculations.