Thanks for the suggestion! I didn't even think about their guarantee. Do you know if their guarantee covers situations like this? And would you recommend going back now or waiting to see if the refund comes through first?

H&R Block's accuracy guarantee typically covers penalties and interest that result from preparer errors. In your case, since you caught the error before the return was finalized, it's a bit different, but they should still help you navigate the refund process. I'd recommend going back now rather than waiting. Explain what happened and ask them to contact the IRS on your behalf to confirm the overpayment will be refunded. They have a professional responsibility to help resolve this since it was their preparer's error. If the manager isn't helpful, you can escalate to their corporate customer service.

This is good advice! Also, check your mail regularly. Sometimes the IRS will send a paper check instead of direct deposit for refunds resulting from corrections or amendments, even if you originally paid electronically. I learned this the hard way when my refund check sat in a pile of mail for weeks.

Thank you for pointing this out! I did take my employer's insurance and have been covered all year through them. I definitely checked the box on my return saying I had coverage for all 12 months. So it sounds like I'm ok from what everyone is saying?

Yes, you're fine then! If you had employer coverage all year and indicated that on your return, the 1095-C is just documentation for your records. You don't need to amend your return or do anything else. The IRS already gets this information reported to them directly from your employer. Just keep the form with your tax records in case there are ever any questions, but you're all set!

100% agree. My 1095-B comes late EVERY year. I think employers have until March to send them out, but W-2s have to be out by January 31. The deadlines don't make any sense when tax filing starts in late January!

Thanks for confirming I'm not the only one! It's so frustrating. You'd think after all these years they'd figure out how to align these deadlines better. I always end up having to decide whether to file early and get my refund sooner, or wait for all my forms and risk delaying my refund.

Do you need to use the same exact exchange rate for all the accounts on one day, or can you use the rates from when you actually had the maximum balance in each account (which might be different days)?

For FBAR (FinCEN Form 114), you should use the Treasury Financial Management Service rate on the last day of the calendar year if you're reporting the value on that day. However, if you're reporting the maximum value during the year (which you should be), you're supposed to use the rate on the day when the maximum value occurred. For Form 8938, you use the exchange rate on the last day of your tax year, regardless of when the maximum balance occurred. This creates inconsistencies between the two forms, which is why they often have different reported values for the same accounts.

If you qualify for the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, there's a miscellaneous offshore penalty of 5% of the highest aggregate balance of your foreign financial assets during the 6-year lookback period. However, for non-willful violations outside the streamlined program, penalties can range from $10,000 per violation per year. The key is demonstrating that your failure to file was truly non-willful. If you go through the streamlined program and properly certify that your failure was non-willful, you can avoid the harsher penalties.

With the M-1 adjustment, should you include the full amount of the credit or only the portion received as an advance payment? One of my clients received part as an advance and claimed the rest on their quarterly 941s.

You should only include the amount that creates a book-tax difference on your M-1. If your books show the full wage expense but your tax return reflects the reduced wage expense (after applying the credit), then your M-1 adjustment would be for the full amount of the credit that affected wages in that tax year. If part was received as an advance and part was claimed on 941s, but the total impact on wage expense is the same, then the full amount would go on the M-1. The key is reconciling what's on your books versus what's on your tax return, regardless of how or when the credit was received.

That's a great question. In that case, you would treat the advance payment as a liability on the books until it's properly claimed on the tax return. When you file the 2022 return with Form 5884-A, you'd then reduce the 2022 wage expense and clear the liability.

That's really interesting - I had no idea some people had both qualifications. Would that be overkill for my situation though? I'm trying to be cost-conscious here.

For your situation with unreported business income and inheritance questions, a dual-qualified professional would likely be overkill. They typically charge $400-600 per hour because they bring both legal and accounting expertise to the table. I'd recommend starting with a regular CPA who has small business experience. They'll be more affordable (likely $200-300/hour) and can handle everything you've described. If they discover something that requires legal expertise, then they can refer you to a tax attorney for just that portion of the work. This approach gives you the right level of expertise while keeping costs manageable.

I second this! My EA charges about 30% less than CPAs in my area but knows the tax code inside and out. They focus exclusively on taxes while many CPAs do broader accounting work.