Don't overlook the importance of a bank that understands the seasonality of tax preparation businesses. I'd recommend Chase Business Complete Banking - they have reasonable fees that can be waived multiple ways and understand the feast/famine cycle of seasonal businesses. Their online portal is decent and they offer a business credit card that can help with early-season expenses before client payments start rolling in. The main advantage is they have branches everywhere if you need to make cash deposits or get a cashier's check quickly.

Anyone tried Bank of America for their tax prep business? Their monthly fee is killing me but I'm worried switching banks will be a huge hassle in the middle of getting my business off the ground.

One book that hasn't been mentioned yet is "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" by Gary Keller. It's not strictly a tax book, but it has excellent chapters on how real estate can be used as a tax-advantaged investment vehicle. The sections on depreciation, 1031 exchanges, and pass-through deductions were eye-opening for me. I also found "Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide" by Stephen Fishman extremely helpful for understanding specific tax advantages of real estate. Even if you're not planning to be a landlord, understanding these concepts helps you see how the wealthy use real estate to build wealth while minimizing taxes.

Don't forget about free resources! IRS Publication 17 (Your Federal Income Tax) is comprehensive and updated yearly. For investing, the Bogleheads wiki has excellent articles on tax-efficient fund placement. The book "The White Coat Investor" by James Dahle is aimed at doctors but has universally applicable tax strategies for high earners.

My dad always uses TaxAct and says there's a specific section for US Treasury interest that will automatically make it state tax exempt. I think most software has this but you gotta make sure you enter it in the right spot and don't just lump it in with regular interest.

Just want to share that I made a mistake with this exact thing last year - entered my I-Bond interest in Box 1 of my state return and ended up paying state tax on it when I shouldn't have!!! Found out later that Treasury interest is state tax exempt. Called my state tax dept and had to file an amended return to get that money back. Don't make my mistake!!

A word of caution from someone who's been through this - make sure you confirm whether your state tax return has different requirements for reporting these excess contribution earnings! I'm in California, and while I reported the earnings correctly on my federal return as "Other Income" on Schedule 1, I discovered that California wanted it reported differently on my state return. I ended up having to file an amendment because of this. Some states follow the federal treatment, but others have their own rules about how retirement account corrections should be handled. Worth checking your state's department of revenue website or calling them directly to confirm.

One more thing to consider - if you had a loss instead of a gain on your excess contribution (which can happen in down markets), the reporting is slightly different. If your excess contribution actually lost value between when you contributed and when you withdrew it, you unfortunately cannot claim that loss on your tax return when making a same-year correction. You would simply withdraw the reduced amount and report nothing on your tax return. However, if you're correcting a prior year excess contribution and experience a loss, there are specific rules about how you can claim that loss (typically as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to the 2% AGI floor - though this is currently suspended through 2025). Just mentioning this for completeness since the market has been volatile!

Pro tip from someone who handles RSUs regularly: Always keep documentation from each vesting event, especially the fair market value on vesting date. This is your cost basis, and you need it to avoid exactly this situation. I create a spreadsheet each year with columns for: - Vesting date - Number of shares - FMV at vesting - Total value (reported as income on W-2) - Sale date - Sale price - Gain/loss since vesting (this is what goes on Schedule D) This makes tax time so much easier and helps prevent these IRS notices.

Something else to consider - check if your employer offered a "sell-to-cover" option where they automatically sold some shares to cover the tax withholding at vesting. If so, your W-2 already includes the income from the RSUs, and you only need to report any additional gain or loss that occurred between vesting and when you sold the remaining shares. When I had my IRS notice for unreported stock sales, I found out my company had only withheld at 22% for federal taxes, but I was in the 32% bracket, which created additional confusion.