Currency risk and international taxes

I had mentioned needing IRS Form 8949 for a short-term capital gain on a real estate sale. It relates to a property in England but of course the IRS require conversion to dollars. Fortunately, the pound fell against the dollar so much over the relevant period that the 1.85% profit in GBP that I made on the asset turns into a 5.89% loss in USD.

Temporary blocker for tax filing

I did file my FBAR this morning but our regular taxes will have to wait. I decided that we probably do need to file Schedule C (which Form 2555 then renders irrelevant) but to prove exemption from Schedule SE we must get a written statement from the Pensions and Overseas Benefit Directorate at the UK's Department for Work and Pensions. In the meantime I shall continue working on Schedule B.

A twisty maze of forms and worksheets

The more I delve into the new 1040 instructions the more cans of worms I open. So far I think I've provisionally pulled out schedules 1, 3, 6, B, C, D but I am losing track of all the interactions so it is time to stop for now. This is so much worse than last year! I've now spent enough hours on it all today, maybe next weekend I'll manage another burst of hours to work through the child tax credit worksheet, the qualified dividends and capital gains worksheet, etc.