Omg I didn't even think about the EIN! I need to go back and check that. Is that something I can see in my TurboTax filing or do I need to check the actual 1099 form?

You should check both your original 1099-DIV form and your filed return to compare them. In TurboTax, you can view your completed return as a PDF and search for the 1099-DIV section. The EIN should be listed there. If you find that the EIN is also incorrect, that would strengthen the case for filing an amended return. The EIN is a more critical identifier in the IRS matching system than the payer name.

Was it a CP2000 notice or something else? I'm in a similar boat and trying to figure out what to expect.

But what if my Box 14 has something listed as "401K" with an amount? Isn't that my retirement contribution that affects my taxes? Or is that supposed to be somewhere else on the W-2?

If your Box 14 shows "401K" with an amount, that's generally just informational. Your 401K contributions should already be reflected in the lower taxable wages shown in Box 1 of your W-2 (compared to the higher "Medicare wages" in Box 5). Most pre-tax retirement contributions reduce your Box 1 wages automatically. Your employer is just being helpful by showing you the breakdown in Box 14. You don't typically need to do anything additional with this information when filing your taxes since the tax benefit has already been applied by reducing your taxable income.

That's definitely unusual. Box 14 and Box 19 should typically show different things entirely. I'd call your payroll department ASAP because one of those is likely incorrect. My guess is someone made a data entry error and copied the same number to both fields.

Can you explain why we add the value of disposed assets rather than subtracting it? That seems counterintuitive to me.

We add the value of disposed assets because we're trying to calculate the total new investments made (capex). Think of it this way: If you started with $10.5M in assets, ended with $14.3M, but sold $5M worth of old equipment during the year, then you must have purchased $8.8M of new equipment ($10.5M + $8.8M - $5M = $14.3M). The $3.8M increase in gross assets ($14.3M - $10.5M) only tells part of the story. It's the net change after both additions and disposals. To find true capex, you need to account for both sides of the transaction. If we only looked at the net change in gross assets ($3.8M), we'd be significantly undercounting the actual capital expenditures made during the year.

TurboTax Business doesn't calculate capex directly - it just helps you fill out Schedule L based on your inputs. You'd still need to understand the capex calculation yourself for tax planning. I'd recommend QuickBooks for ongoing tracking of fixed assets and capex. It has reports that show asset acquisitions and dispositions separately, which makes the capex calculation much easier at tax time.

Thanks for the tip about QuickBooks. I already use QB for bookkeeping but I guess I need to look more closely at the fixed asset reports. Is there a specific report that shows capex clearly? I never noticed one that explicitly says "capital expenditures" when I look through the reports section.

That's a really good point! But where do you find the official exchange rates to use? Is there an IRS approved source?

The IRS doesn't specify one official source for currency exchange rates, but they generally accept rates from major financial institutions or government sources. I typically use the Treasury Department's rates at https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/ or sometimes the Federal Reserve rates. You can also use rates from major financial publications like Bloomberg or the Wall Street Journal. Just be consistent in which source you use for all your calculations and keep documentation of where you got the rates in case of questions later.

I had an IRS inquiry about manually entered stock sales a couple years ago. They just asked me to provide the purchase and sale confirmations to verify the cost basis and proceeds I'd reported. Wasn't a big deal since I had kept good records. They accepted everything without adjustments once I provided the documentation.

I didn't even think about state tax implications! Which state are you in that taxes Roth contribution withdrawals differently?

I'm in Massachusetts. They generally follow federal rules for retirement accounts, but they have some weird exceptions. For example, they don't recognize Roth 401(k)s the same way the feds do. California and New Jersey have some unique rules too. It's worth checking your specific state's tax department website or talking to someone who understands your state's rules. Each state can be different when it comes to retirement account taxation.

Yes! I called Vanguard when this happened to me. They were super helpful and issued a corrected 1099-R with the proper code for a return of contributions. Saved me tons of hassle.