Thanks for sharing your experience! Did FreeTaxUSA make it easy to figure out how to divide the income between states? I'm worried I'll mess that up since some of my unemployment was while I was preparing to move but technically still in Michigan.

It really does make it pretty straightforward! When you enter your W-2 information, it asks which state the income was earned in, and when you enter your 1099-G for unemployment, it asks similar questions. For the unemployment specifically, you'll need to allocate it based on where you were living when you received it. So if you received unemployment payments while still physically living in Michigan (even if you were planning to move), those payments would be considered Michigan income. FreeTaxUSA asks for your residency dates for each state and then guides you through allocating everything correctly. Just make sure you know which unemployment payments came when, so you can properly assign them to the right state.

I disagree - paying for a CPA seems excessive for this situation. I had a similar multi-state situation and FreeTaxUSA worked fine. Just take your time and read each question carefully. Maybe have a friend who's good with taxes review it before submitting if you're worried.

Thanks, this is really interesting! I hadn't heard of the Series LLC before. Is this available in most states? And would each owner still get a K-1 showing their specific income after their individual expenses?

Series LLCs are currently available in about 20 states including Delaware, Texas, Illinois, and Nevada (among others), but the laws vary significantly by state. Even if your state doesn't allow them, you can form one in a state like Delaware and register it as a foreign entity in your home state, though this adds some complexity. Each owner would still receive a K-1 reflecting their share of income based on the operating agreement terms. The operating agreement would specify how individual expenses are accounted for before calculating each person's distributive share. This approach gives you the liability benefits of separate entities with the administrative simplicity of a single filing.

I wouldn't recommend a general partnership for this scenario. Without the LLC structure, all partners have unlimited personal liability for business debts and legal issues. That's a huge risk with 10 different people involved who all have separate business activities! An LLC provides crucial liability protection that a plain partnership doesn't.

This is super helpful, thank you! The CRS report looks amazing. Does the Tax Foundation have a specific page for all their energy tax analyses or do I need to search through their site?

The Tax Foundation doesn't have a dedicated page just for energy tax credits, but if you go to taxfoundation.org and search for "energy tax credits," you'll find about 15-20 analyses they've published. Their most comprehensive one is titled "Cost Recovery for Energy Investments" which breaks down all the current business energy credits. I'd also recommend checking their analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act's energy provisions since that legislation substantially changed many business energy credits in 2022. Their analyses typically include tables comparing before and after values, which is gold for debate prep.

This is actually brilliant for debate prep! Having the dollar amounts associated with each credit gives great impact framing for arguments. Does this show which ones are specifically business credits versus individual?

Oh that's good to know! My wife did change her name after we got married. Does the name on the tax return need to match her W-2 or her updated Social Security card? Her W-2 still has her maiden name.

The name needs to match what's on her Social Security card. The IRS systems check against the Social Security database, not her W-2. So if she's already updated her name with Social Security, use her new name on the tax return even if her W-2 still shows her maiden name. If she hasn't updated her Social Security card yet, you should either do that before filing or use her maiden name on the tax return this year. You don't need to delay filing if her SS card still has her maiden name - just file with whatever name is currently on her Social Security card and make the update for next year.

What software did you use to figure that out? We're trying to decide between TurboTax and H&R Block and wondering which is better for figuring out deductions for newly married homeowners.

Thanks for bringing this up. The IRA was actually inherited in 2018, so I believe I'm still under the old rules where I can take RMDs based on my life expectancy. But you're right - the rules did change with the SECURE Act and that's made everything even more confusing for people inheriting IRAs more recently.

Good to know you're under the pre-SECURE Act rules. That definitely simplifies things a bit. Just remember that with those rules, you need to continue taking RMDs annually based on the divisor from the first year minus 1 for each subsequent year. A lot of people miss their RMDs because they think it's a one-time thing, but it's an ongoing obligation. Setting a calendar reminder for next year might help avoid this situation in the future.

I've had good experiences with H&R Block's software for RMD issues. It specifically asks about inherited IRAs and walks you through the RMD calculations. TaxAct is also decent for this specific situation and a bit cheaper.