Thanks for sharing your experience! Can you tell me roughly how many trades you do annually and what kinds of securities? I'm doing about 300-400 trades a year, mostly stocks and some options. Also, did your specialist help you with trader tax status qualification or are you filing as an investor?

I do about 500-600 trades annually, primarily options on indices and individual stocks, with some futures contracts mixed in. My volume increased significantly over the past two years. My specialist was crucial in helping me properly document and qualify for trader tax status. They guided me through maintaining a separate trading business entity, proper record-keeping for establishing trading as my primary business activity, and documentation of my trading hours and strategy. Without their help, I likely wouldn't have met the requirements convincingly enough for the IRS standard.

100% this. Got audited 2 years ago specifically about my trading activity and trader tax status qualification. My specialist handled EVERYTHING with the IRS without charging a penny more. My buddy who went with a cheap general CPA ended up paying the CPA another $3k just to handle the audit communication. Audit protection is essential for active traders.

What about if I'm using my maiden name for business but my married name is on my social security card? Will that cause problems?

That's exactly the kind of situation that causes tax matching problems. You should use your legal name (the one on your Social Security card) on the first line of the W-9 form. If you're using your maiden name as a business name, you would put that on the second line "Business name/disregarded entity name." Ideally, you should consider filing for a proper DBA ("doing business as") with your local government if you're consistently using your maiden name for business purposes. This creates a clear paper trail between your legal name and business name.

You typically only need to provide a W-9 once unless your information changes (like a new address, name change, or tax ID change). Some companies have policies requiring annual updates just to ensure they have current information, but it's not an IRS requirement. It's not unusual for a client to request an updated form each year - they're just being thorough with their record-keeping. If nothing has changed in your information, you can just complete a new form with the same details.

Would this actually work though? I always thought the IRS was basically untouchable even when they make mistakes. Like don't they usually have some fine print somewhere that says "our mistakes don't count but yours do"?

It's not a guaranteed win, but there have been successful cases. The key is proving you specifically relied on their published information and took action based on it - which is exactly what happened here with the certified mail on the exact published deadline date. The IRS does have a lot of protection against claims, but they're not completely immune when they publish incorrect information that causes harm. The strongest cases are when you can show you took specific action based on their guidance. Saving screenshots and documenting exactly how you relied on their information is crucial for building this type of case.

Good point! The IRS sometimes shifts deadlines and doesn't clearly communicate whether they're talking about the filing date or processing date. In tax law, there are actually different types of deadlines and "timely filing" rules depending on what section of the code applies.

That's really helpful! So technically even if my divorce wasn't finalized until July, if we were living separately since 2022 and I meet those other criteria, I could potentially file as Head of Household? How would I document this if I get audited?

Yes, exactly! If you were living separately since 2022, and you meet all the other criteria I listed, you could potentially qualify as Head of Household even before the divorce was finalized. For documentation, keep records showing separate residences (lease/mortgage documents, utility bills), proof you paid more than half of household expenses (receipts, bank statements), and documentation showing your children lived with you for more than half the year (school records, medical records, childcare receipts). Also maintain any legal separation paperwork or documentation showing when your spouse moved out.

This is a really good point. I live in Missouri and they required me to use the same filing status for state and federal after my divorce, but I have a friend in Kansas who was able to file differently. Definitely check your specific state rules.

Thanks for confirming this happens in other states too! It's so confusing because tax software doesn't always warn you about this state-specific stuff. I spent hours redoing my returns last year because of this exact issue.

Thanks for sharing your timeline! Was your refund status showing "approved" for a while before it hit your account, or did it change straight from "received" to "sent"?

It actually showed "approved" for about 3 days before changing to "sent." Once it switched to sent, the money was in my account the next morning. The Where's My Refund tool was pretty accurate in my case.

Does the time of day matter for when refunds hit accounts? Mine's supposedly coming tomorrow but I'm wondering if it'll be midnight or sometime during business hours.