Thanks for this perspective! I hadn't considered the stimulus payment angle. That's definitely something to look into. And yeah, I'm really worried about the dependent situation. I honestly don't know if my parents actually claimed me that year or if I just assumed they did. Is there a way to check if someone claimed me as a dependent?

You can find out if you were claimed as a dependent by looking at your tax transcript for 2021, which you can request from the IRS website. It won't tell you who claimed you, but it will indicate if you were claimed by someone else. For checking about stimulus payments, look for line items on your account transcript regarding "Economic Impact Payment" or "Recovery Rebate Credit." If there's confusion about how these were handled, it could definitely affect your tax situation. The tax professionals at places like H&R Block deal with these types of issues all the time and often provide free initial consultations, so it's worth a visit to understand your options before you spend money on more expensive help.

This is a really good point. I had my identity stolen a few years back and the first sign was a tax bill for income I never earned. The IRS has a specific department for identity theft cases and they're actually pretty helpful. If this is what happened, you'll need to file Form 14039 (Identity Theft Affidavit) with the IRS.

Thanks for this suggestion! I hadn't thought about doing a partial cash out. Do you know if there's a minimum percentage I need to roll over? Also, are there different tax forms I need to fill out for a partial vs. full distribution?

There's no minimum percentage requirement for rollovers - you can roll over any portion of your 401k and take distribution of the rest. The paperwork is essentially the same either way. For the tax forms, your plan administrator will issue a 1099-R that shows the total distribution, with boxes indicating how much was rolled over (non-taxable) versus how much was distributed to you (taxable). You'll report this on your tax return for the year. The partial approach is often the best of both worlds - you get some immediate cash while preserving the tax-advantaged status of the majority of your retirement savings.

This is absolutely brilliant advice. My brother did this with the California state system and said it was the best financial move he ever made. The pension increase was worth way more than what he transferred in.

Thanks for mentioning this! Did you find the annual filing requirements to be complicated or expensive to comply with? I'm trying to figure out if the maintenance overhead makes this approach worthwhile compared to other options.

The annual requirements aren't super complicated, but they do add costs and administrative overhead. Form 5472 isn't something you'd want to DIY - I pay about $600 annually to my accountant to handle it plus the pro-forma 1120. There's also state maintenance fees (annual reports, registered agent fees) which run about $200-300/year for Wyoming. Overall, it costs me roughly $900-1000 annually to maintain everything properly. For me, the banking flexibility is worth it, but if you're just looking for a place to park money, there might be simpler solutions like multi-currency accounts with international banks.

Singapore is good but expensive to maintain compared to US LLCs. I pay about $2000/year for my Singapore company between the local director requirement and corporate secretary fees. Estonia e-residency + company is cheaper but some banks don't like it.

That's a great suggestion about the photos! Do you think it's also helpful to have something in writing from my boyfriend acknowledging that the room is exclusively for business use? And should I be taking new photos periodically to show consistent business use?

Having some documentation from your boyfriend acknowledging the exclusive business use isn't necessary but could be helpful supporting evidence. A simple email or signed statement could work. Yes, I recommend taking new photos quarterly to show consistent business use over time. Date-stamped photos showing the same dedicated setup throughout the year creates a strong paper trail. I also keep a simple log of business activities conducted in the space - this has been incredibly valuable documentation during a previous review of my returns.

For utilities like internet, you actually have options. You can either use the same square footage percentage (the 13% in OP's case) OR you can track actual business usage if you have a reasonable method of calculating it. If you can document that 80% of your internet usage is truly for business (like through time logs of business calls/uploads vs personal use), you can potentially deduct that larger percentage. Just be prepared to substantiate the higher percentage if asked. I use a simple spreadsheet tracking business vs personal internet hours and it's worked fine for my deductions.

Does this apply to credit card payments too? I usually pay my taxes with a credit card to get the points.