Can someone explain WHY banks give 1042-S for promotions? I got $200 from Bank of America for opening an account and now im dealing with this form too. I'm Canadian also. Isn't a promotion more like a gift than interest??

I'm in a very similar situation as a Canadian who received a US bank promotion bonus! After reading through all these responses, I wanted to share what I learned from my own research and talking to a cross-border tax specialist. For non-resident aliens like us, the key points are: - The 1042-S is just an information return - you don't file it yourself - Income code 29 with zeros in boxes 7 and 10 typically means no US filing requirement - However, you MUST report this income on your Canadian tax return as foreign income One thing I didn't see mentioned is that some provinces have different rules for reporting foreign income, so it's worth checking your specific provincial requirements too. Also, keep the 1042-S form for your records - CRA might ask for it if they have questions about the foreign income you reported. The US-Canada tax treaty generally protects Canadian residents from double taxation on this type of income, which is why you likely see zero withholding. But Canada still wants to tax you on it since you're a Canadian resident.

Has anyone here actually used priortax.com specifically? I'm in a similar situation with unfiled 2016 taxes and wondering if it's worth trying.

Just want to add a reality check here - while you're right to file that 2015 return, don't panic too much about the IRS "coming looking for you." If you were due a refund that year, there are literally no penalties for filing late (you just lose the refund after 3 years, which has already happened). If you owed money, yes there will be penalties and interest, but the IRS is usually pretty reasonable about setting up payment plans. The failure-to-file penalty stops accumulating once you actually file, so getting that return in is definitely the right move. For what it's worth, I've used both professional tax preparers and DIY methods for old returns. If your 2015 situation was relatively simple (just W-2s, maybe some basic deductions), the manual route with IRS forms might be cheaper than you think. But if you had complicated stuff going on during that divorce year, spending the money on professional help could save you headaches and potentially money in the long run.

its probably just maintenance lol everyone needs to chill fr fr

I had this exact same issue last month! Turns out my account was flagged for additional review due to some W-2 discrepancies. The "Currently Unavailable" message can be frustrating but it's often temporary. Try calling the Taxpayer Advocate Service at 1-877-777-4778 - they were super helpful when the regular IRS line gave me the runaround. Also, if you filed electronically, check your email for any notices from the IRS that might explain what's going on. Hope this helps!

This is such a stressful situation! I'm dealing with something similar right now - got my 846 code yesterday but WMR is showing that dreaded "may be reduced" message. From what I've been reading here and my own research, it sounds like there's definitely a lag between when they make the offset decision and when it shows up on the Treasury Offset Program hotline. What's really frustrating is that the IRS systems seem to know about offsets before the offset hotline does, which is why we get that scary warning message without any details. I've been checking the offset line daily and it's still showing the same old information from months ago. I think I'm going to take the advice here and budget for a reduced refund just to be safe. Better to be pleasantly surprised than scrambling to cover bills if they do take money out. Has anyone found a reliable way to predict how much might get taken, or is it just a waiting game until the refund actually hits?

Ugh, I feel your pain on this! I went through the exact same thing last year - had my 846 code and was doing a happy dance until I saw that "may be reduced" message on WMR. The waiting and not knowing was honestly worse than just getting a smaller refund would have been. In my case, it turned out to be an old state tax debt that I completely forgot about from when I moved states a few years back. The crazy part was that the offset hotline didn't update until literally 2 days AFTER my (reduced) refund hit my account! So I spent weeks checking that stupid hotline for nothing. My advice? Call your state tax agency directly if you've lived in multiple states - that seems to be a common culprit that people forget about. Also, if you have any federal student loans, even if you think they're current, double-check because the payment pause ending caught a lot of people off guard. The good news is that once you get through this uncertainty, you'll know exactly what debts you have floating around out there. Silver lining and all that! Hang in there - the waiting is the hardest part. 🤞

Community wisdom on WMR updates: • Most updates happen overnight (3-4 AM Eastern) • Saturday mornings often show the most changes • Checking multiple times per day won't help • Transcripts update before WMR about 80% of the time • Status bars disappearing can actually be a good sign • Tax Topic 152 usually means normal processing Hope this helps! Anyone have other tips?

As someone who's been through this frustrating waiting game multiple times, I feel your pain about needing that refund for bills. One thing that helped me manage the anxiety was setting up direct deposit if you haven't already - it can shave off a few days compared to paper checks. Also, while everyone's mentioning the overnight updates (which is true), I've noticed that if there's going to be a status change, it usually happens between Wednesday night and Saturday morning. The worst part is that "accepted" status can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks depending on your return complexity. Hang in there - two weeks is still within normal processing times, especially during peak season.