Yes! This happened to me too. They coded mine as a "7" (I'm over 59.5) even though it was definitely a rollover. My tax guy said the important thing is to mark it as a rollover when entering it into tax software. He said the IRS reconciles this with the 5498 form your receiving institution files showing the money went into another IRA.

Thanks for confirming! That makes me feel better. I didn't realize the receiving institution files a Form 5498 that the IRS can match to my rollover. That makes sense that there would be a paper trail on both ends. I've been keeping all my documentation just in case, but it's good to know there's an additional safeguard in the system.

Oof, that's a really good point. I had the same issue with a 401k rollover (not an IRA). Had to scramble to find extra cash to make up the withheld amount. Then had to wait for the tax refund the following year to get that withheld money back.

I'm having this exact issue! Filed as Married Filing Jointly last year but now I'm divorced and filing as Single. Getting rejected with IND-031-04. Did changing the filing status alone fix your problem or was there something specific your preparer had to do?

The filing status change itself wasn't actually the problem - it was how the AGI was being validated. When your filing status changes, you still need to use the exact AGI from your previous return, but the system sometimes gets confused about how to match your identity with the different status. My preparer had the IRS verify my identity using additional information beyond just the AGI - they confirmed my date of birth, address, and the last 8 digits of my previous year's return. After they manually verified me in their system, I was able to e-file without issues. The rep also mentioned that entering $0 as the prior year AGI sometimes works as a bypass when there are filing status changes, but that wasn't successful in my case.

This is actually really smart. I didn't even think to check my IRS online account. Where exactly in the account can you find your official AGI? I'm logging in now but there's so many different sections.

Look for the "Tax Records" section after you log in. Then select "Transcripts" and request a "Return Transcript" for 2021. The AGI will be clearly labeled on that transcript. If you don't see it right away, search for "Adjusted Gross Income" on the page or look for line 11 from Form 1040. Sometimes the IRS makes small adjustments to returns after processing them, which can create differences between what your tax software shows and what the IRS has on record. These adjustments might be for math corrections, misapplied payments, or other technical reasons. The transcript shows exactly what's in their system, which is what the validation is checking against.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Neither of us has any tax debts or child support, so it sounds like joint is probably the way to go for us. Did you use any particular tax software that was helpful for comparing the two options?

We used H&R Block's online software which made it pretty easy to compare. We entered all our info for a joint return first, noted the refund amount, then created a new return and selected married filing separately to see the difference. TaxAct also has a good comparison feature that's a bit more straightforward - it can show you both scenarios side by side after you enter all your information once.

That's actually a common misconception. The married filing separately brackets aren't the same as single brackets - they're exactly half of the married filing jointly brackets. So there's usually no tax bracket advantage to filing separately if both spouses have similar incomes. The only exception is if one spouse has significant itemized deductions that would be limited by the other spouse's income. But with the higher standard deduction now, that's rare for most people.

That's a really smart idea I hadn't thought of! I just checked our business account online and can see the check was deposited at First National Bank, but I'm not seeing any account details. Is there something specific I should ask our bank for to get more information?

You'd want to contact your bank and ask for the "deposit information" from the cleared check. Sometimes they can provide the routing and account number where it was deposited. Not all banks will share this, but many business accounts give you access to this information. Once you have that, you still won't have their TIN, but you'll have more documentation to show the IRS that this was indeed a real vendor who received payment. The bank info combined with their name, email and phone gives you a stronger paper trail.

This is good advice. Also mention that if they refuse to provide a W-9, you're required to do backup withholding at 24% of any FUTURE payments and report them to the IRS. Even though you can't do that for past payments, just knowing you're aware of the requirements might make them reconsider.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Did you respond to everything by mail or did you have the option to upload documents electronically? I'm curious about how the process actually works.

They initially contacted me by mail with a request for the documentation, but I was able to create an account on their examination portal and upload all my documents electronically. It was actually pretty straightforward - I scanned everything, created a single PDF, and uploaded it with a cover letter explaining each item. They did have questions about two of my documents which required a follow-up phone call, but overall the process was less painful than I expected. Just make sure you respond within their deadlines and keep copies of absolutely everything you send them. The digital option definitely sped things up compared to mailing everything.

I had the exact opposite experience. IRS increased my NIIT by $1200 and when I got audited, they found they had made the mistake. Took forever to get resolved tho. Like 8 months of back and forth.