This is such a valuable discussion! I'm in a similar situation - currently on an H1B and planning to return to my home country (Japan) in the next few years. I've been contributing to my Roth IRA and was worried about losing all the tax benefits. One thing I wanted to add that might be helpful - I recently learned that Japan has specific rules about how they treat foreign retirement accounts under their "foreign tax credit" system. Even though the US-Japan tax treaty generally protects retirement distributions, Japan requires you to report the account annually once you become a Japanese tax resident, and there can be some complex calculations if you ever need to take early distributions. Also, for those dealing with brokerage compliance issues like @Justin Trejo mentioned - I've found that Fidelity has been much more responsive to questions about non-resident procedures than some other brokerages. They actually have a dedicated team for expat customers and were able to walk me through exactly what documentation I'll need when the time comes. The one thing that's still keeping me up at night is the currency risk aspect that @Hugo Kass mentioned. If the dollar weakens significantly against the yen by the time I start taking distributions, I could end up with much less purchasing power in Japan than I originally planned for retirement. Has anyone found good strategies for hedging this kind of long-term currency exposure while keeping the Roth's tax advantages?

This thread has been absolutely incredible - so much practical information that I couldn't find anywhere else! I'm currently on an L1 visa planning to return to India in about 2 years, and I've been contributing to my Roth IRA for the past 3 years. One aspect I wanted to bring up that hasn't been fully explored is the interaction between Roth IRAs and India's Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS). Under LRS, Indian residents can remit up to $250,000 per year abroad for various purposes including investments. But when you're receiving distributions FROM abroad (like Roth IRA distributions), there are different reporting requirements under the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines. I've been researching whether Roth IRA distributions would be considered "investment income" or "pension income" under Indian tax law, as this affects both the tax treatment and the TCS (Tax Collected at Source) implications when the money enters India. The US-India tax treaty has provisions for pension income, but I'm not entirely sure if Roth IRAs qualify under the treaty's definition of "pension." Also, @Marcus Williams, regarding your currency hedging question - I've been considering keeping some distributions in USD in a US bank account (even as a non-resident) to avoid forced conversion during unfavorable exchange rate periods. Some banks like Chase and Citi allow non-resident accounts, though with higher minimum balances and fees. Has anyone dealt with the Indian tax system specifically for US retirement account distributions? The interaction between DTAA provisions and domestic Indian tax law seems particularly complex for retirement accounts.

I can relate to your stress about that confusing message! I received the exact same notification from Input Correction ERS/Rejects about 6 weeks ago and had the same panic thinking they denied my refund. But "return closed" actually means they completed whatever review or correction was needed on your return - it's good news, not bad! The ERS department handles returns flagged for manual review, so this message indicates they resolved the issue and your return is moving forward in the system. The late night timing (8:59 PM) is completely normal - their automated system processes these updates 24/7 whenever they finish reviewing cases. I ended up getting my refund deposited 9 days after receiving that message. Since they specifically said not to respond, just don't reply and keep checking Where's My Refund every few days. Your refund should show up within the next week or two! 🙏💰

Hey Chloe! I totally get why you're freaking out - that message is super confusing and scary when you first get it. But honestly, you can breathe easy now! I got that exact same "return closed" message from Input Correction ERS/Rejects about a month ago and was having a full panic attack thinking they denied my refund. Turns out it's actually GOOD news! When they say "closed the return" they mean they finished fixing whatever issue was holding up your return - not that you're denied. The ERS team (Error Resolution System) handles returns that need manual review or corrections. So this message basically means "we found the problem, we fixed it, and now your return can move forward for processing." The 8:59 PM timing is totally normal too - their system sends these automated updates whenever they complete their review, even super late at night. Mine came at like 11:30 PM and I thought that was sus too lol. I ended up getting my refund deposited exactly 13 days after getting that message. Don't reply since they said not to - just keep checking Where's My Refund every couple days and your bank account. Your money is definitely coming! The waiting sucks but you're actually in the home stretch now 💰🙏

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with the exact same situation and was getting so confused by all the different advice online. Just to make sure I understand correctly - for a single-member LLC that hasn't elected corporate taxation, I can either: 1. Use my SSN on the W-9 and check the "Individual/sole proprietor or single-member LLC" box, OR 2. Use my EIN on the W-9, check the "Individual/sole proprietor or single-member LLC" box, put my personal name on the "Name" line, and put my LLC name on the "Business name/disregarded entity name" line Is that right? I'm leaning toward option 2 for privacy reasons, but I want to make sure I don't create the same mismatch issues that Connor mentioned. Also, when I send corrected W-9s to clients who already have the wrong version, should I include a brief explanation about the change or just send the new form without explanation?

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a CPA and I see this confusion with single-member LLCs constantly. One thing I'd add is that if you're planning to have employees in the future, you'll definitely need that EIN anyway for payroll purposes, so getting comfortable with using it correctly on W-9s now is good practice. Also, for those worried about the IRS mismatch issues - the key is consistency. If you use your EIN on W-9s, make sure you're reporting that business income on Schedule C of your personal return and that your business name matches what's on file with the IRS for that EIN. The IRS systems are getting better at matching disregarded entity income, but clean record-keeping on your end makes everything smoother. One more tip: keep copies of all the corrected W-9s you send out and maybe a simple spreadsheet tracking which clients got updated forms and when. This documentation can be really helpful if any questions come up later during tax season or if the IRS has any inquiries.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation but with mutual fund shares that I've been holding for about 8 years. Over that time, I've received several nondividend distributions that I honestly just ignored because I didn't understand what they were. Now that I'm planning to sell some of these shares, I'm realizing I need to go back and figure out all those distributions to calculate my adjusted cost basis correctly. Does anyone know if there's a statute of limitations on how far back I need to track these adjustments? And if I can't find records of some of the older distributions, is there a way to request that information from the fund company? I'm kicking myself for not keeping better records earlier, but better late than never I guess!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I just want to add one more tip that saved me a lot of headache - if you have multiple lots of the same stock purchased at different times, make sure you're applying the nondividend distributions correctly to each lot. The distributions typically reduce the basis of all shares you owned at the time of the distribution, not just specific lots. So if you bought 100 shares in January and another 100 shares in March, then received a nondividend distribution in June, that distribution would reduce the basis of all 200 shares proportionally. This becomes really important when you're selling only some of your shares and need to specify which lots you're selling (for tax loss harvesting or other strategies). I made the mistake of only reducing the basis on the shares I was selling, which would have been incorrect. Your broker's 1099-B won't show these per-lot adjustments, so you need to track it yourself. The IRS Publication 551 has some examples of this if you want to see the math worked out. It's a bit tedious but getting it right is worth it!

I went through this exact same situation last year with a client who converted from C-corp to S-corp. The key thing that helped me was creating a detailed basis reconciliation worksheet that tracked everything chronologically. Start with the shareholder's original investment in the C-corp stock, then add any additional capital contributions made during the C-corp years, subtract any distributions received as a C-corp shareholder, and make any other basis adjustments that occurred before the S election date. That becomes your "conversion date basis." Then from the conversion date forward, you track all the normal S-corp basis adjustments (income, losses, distributions, etc.) on top of that foundation. One thing that tripped me up initially was making sure I had the exact conversion date right, because you need to split the year if they converted mid-year. The IRS is very particular about getting the timing correct for basis calculations. Also, definitely keep detailed documentation of how you calculated the beginning basis - the IRS loves to audit basis calculations on converted entities, so having a clear paper trail is essential.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with my first C-corp to S-corp conversion and was completely overwhelmed by Form 7203. Reading through everyone's experiences and explanations has clarified so much. One thing I want to add that might help others - make sure you also check if there were any Section 1244 stock elections made during the C-corp years. This can affect how you treat certain losses, and I almost missed it on my client's conversion because it was buried in their old corporate records. Also, for anyone struggling with reconstructing basis when records are incomplete, don't forget to check state tax returns too. Sometimes they have additional detail that the federal returns don't show, especially regarding capital contributions or distributions that might not be obvious from just the federal filings. The advice about keeping detailed documentation cannot be overstated. I created a separate Excel workbook just for basis tracking with tabs for each year, and it's already saved me hours when the client had follow-up questions.