Just want to emphasize what others have mentioned about the safe harbor provision - this could save you from making any estimated payment at all! Since you already increased your W-2 withholding after that $8,000 surprise, calculate whether your total withholding for 2025 will equal at least 100% of your 2024 tax liability. If so, you're protected from penalties even if you don't make estimated payments on the capital gains. To figure this out: take your 2024 total tax (line 24 on Form 1040) and divide by your remaining paychecks this year. If increasing your withholding by that amount per paycheck gets you to 100% of last year's tax, you can skip the estimated payment entirely. This is often easier than juggling quarterly deadlines, especially for one-time gains like yours. If you do decide to make the estimated payment anyway for peace of mind, Form 1040ES has a worksheet that walks through the exact calculation. And yes, you can absolutely make just one payment without committing to the other quarters - the IRS doesn't require you to establish a pattern.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a tax professional and wanted to add one important clarification that might help others reading this. The safe harbor provision that several people mentioned (paying 100% of prior year's tax liability) is absolutely correct and often the easiest solution for one-time capital gains situations. However, I want to emphasize the timing aspect that Darcy touched on - if you sold stocks in March 2025, that's actually Q1 of 2025, and the estimated payment deadline was April 15th, 2025. Since we're now past that deadline, if you haven't made the Q1 payment and don't qualify for safe harbor protection, you might face a small underpayment penalty for that quarter specifically. The good news is that increasing your withholding going forward can still help minimize any penalties, and for a $2,700 gain, we're talking about a relatively small penalty anyway (usually under $50). The IRS calculates underpayment penalties quarter by quarter, so even if there's a small penalty for Q1, you can avoid issues for the rest of the year. For future reference, keeping track of quarterly deadlines is crucial: Q1 (Jan-Mar) due April 15th, Q2 (Apr-May) due June 15th, Q3 (Jun-Aug) due September 15th, and Q4 (Sep-Dec) due January 15th of the following year.

Thanks for all the helpful responses everyone! Just to confirm my understanding based on what I'm reading here - since I paid $14,500 in qualified expenses and my AGI is $64,000, I would qualify for the full $2,500 AOTC. With my tax liability of $800 before credits, I would: 1. Use $800 of the credit to zero out my tax liability 2. Get $1,000 back as the refundable portion 3. Unfortunately lose the remaining $700 since it's non-refundable and I have no more tax to offset So in total I'd get $1,800 in benefit ($800 tax reduction + $1,000 refund) from the $2,500 credit. Does that sound right? Also really appreciate the clarification about the 40% rule - that explains why it's exactly $1,000 maximum refundable. TurboTax definitely didn't explain it that clearly!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I was in almost the exact same situation last year - got overwhelmed trying to figure out the AOTC refundable portion and ended up paying a tax preparer $300 just to avoid the confusion. One thing that might help future readers: the IRS Publication 970 has a worksheet that walks through the AOTC calculation step by step, including how to figure out your refundable vs non-refundable portions. It's buried in there but once you find it, it's actually pretty straightforward. Also want to echo what others said about keeping good records of your qualified expenses. The IRS can ask for documentation up to 3 years later, so save those tuition receipts and textbook purchases! I learned this the hard way when they questioned my 2021 AOTC claim and I had to scramble to find my son's book receipts from freshman year. Great explanations from everyone - this community is so much more helpful than the IRS website sometimes!

Just to clarify the timeline confusion mentioned above - if you started your sophomore year "last fall" (which would be fall 2024), you would only need to file Form 8843 for the 2024 tax year, which isn't due until June 15, 2025. So you're actually not late at all! However, if you meant fall 2023, then yes, you would have needed to file for 2023 by June 15, 2024, and you'd still need to file for 2024 by June 2025. Either way, don't stress too much. As others have mentioned, late filing of Form 8843 with no income rarely results in penalties. The IRS is generally understanding of international students who weren't aware of the requirement, especially for informational forms like this one.

I went through this exact same situation two years ago as an F-1 student from Germany! Filed my Form 8843 about 6 weeks late and was absolutely terrified about potential consequences. Here's what actually happened: absolutely nothing. No penalties, no letters from the IRS, no impact on my visa status or OPT application. The form is purely informational when you have no income, and the IRS seems to understand that international students often aren't aware of this requirement initially. Just make sure to file it ASAP and keep a copy for your records. I'd also recommend reaching out to your international student services office - they usually have great resources about tax requirements and can help ensure you don't miss anything else. Most universities also offer free tax prep assistance specifically for international students during tax season. You're going to be fine! This is way more common than you think.

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact same situation two years ago. The stress you're feeling is totally understandable - that 1099-S form can be really intimidating when you see the full sale price listed! The good news is that since you lived in the house as your primary residence for over 2 years (you mentioned 7 years), you almost certainly qualify for the capital gains exclusion. With your gain around $85K, you're well under the $250K limit for single filers. One thing that really helped me was organizing all my documents beforehand. Make sure you have: - Your original purchase contract/closing statement - Records of any major improvements (new roof, kitchen renovation, etc.) - Your recent sale closing statement - The 1099-S form When I used the VITA program, I created a simple one-page summary showing: "Purchase price: $X, Sale price: $Y, Major improvements: $Z, Estimated gain: $A (under exclusion limit)." The volunteer preparer really appreciated having everything laid out clearly. Don't worry about the mortgage payoff amount shown on the 1099-S - that's totally normal and expected. The tax preparer will use your closing statement to calculate your actual proceeds and basis correctly. You're going to be fine!

I completely understand your stress about the 1099-S - I had the exact same panic when I sold my condo last year! The form showing the full gross proceeds is standard and doesn't mean you'll be taxed on that entire amount. Since you've lived there as your primary residence for 7 years and your actual gain is around $85K, you're definitely eligible for the capital gains exclusion (up to $250K for single filers, $500K for married filing jointly). The key is making sure your tax preparer understands this. Here's what I'd recommend for your VITA appointment: 1. Bring your original purchase closing statement to establish your cost basis 2. Include documentation of any major home improvements you made (these increase your basis and reduce taxable gain) 3. Your recent sale closing statement showing the mortgage payoff 4. Write a brief note explaining: "Primary residence for 7+ years, eligible for capital gains exclusion, actual gain approximately $85K" The volunteer preparers are trained to handle home sales, but that summary note will help ensure nothing gets missed. You're well under the exclusion threshold, so you shouldn't owe any tax on the sale. The 1099-S is just the IRS's way of tracking the transaction - your actual tax liability will be calculated correctly on Forms 8949 and Schedule D. You're going to be fine! This is a very common situation and the tax code is designed to protect homeowners in exactly your circumstances.

I've been following this thread and wanted to share something that might help everyone dealing with this situation. I work as a tax preparer and see this split coverage scenario frequently, especially with blended families or when parents have employer coverage but put kids on Marketplace plans. The most common error I see is people trying to prorate their household income between the different policies - DON'T do this! Your household income and Federal Poverty Line percentage stays the same across all policies. You're only allocating the premium amounts, SLCSP, and advance premium tax credits in Part IV. Also, a critical point that hasn't been mentioned yet: if you received advance premium tax credits for both policies during the year, you absolutely must reconcile BOTH on Form 8962. I've seen taxpayers think they only need to report one policy and then get hit with Notice CP75C from the IRS demanding repayment of the unreported advance credits. One more tip - if your situation is really complex (multiple job changes, coverage gaps, etc.), consider filing for an automatic 6-month extension. Form 8962 mistakes can be expensive to fix, and it's better to get it right the first time than deal with amended returns and potential penalties later.

I've been through this exact situation and want to emphasize something that really helped me understand the process: think of Form 8962 as having two distinct phases. Phase 1 (Part IV) is where you handle the split coverage by allocating each policy's amounts separately. Phase 2 (Part III) is where you bring everything together for the final reconciliation using those allocated amounts. The key insight that clicked for me was realizing that even though you have multiple policies, you're still filing as ONE tax household with ONE income level. The allocation in Part IV is just accounting for the fact that your premium tax credits were split across different insurance policies during the year. A practical tip: when you're working through Part IV, lay out all your 1095-A forms side by side and work through them month by month. Don't try to do annual totals first - the monthly approach helps you catch coverage gaps or overlaps that could affect your calculations. Also, keep in mind that if either policy had coverage changes during the year (like adding/dropping dependents), you'll need to account for those changes in the specific months they occurred. This is where many people get tripped up, so take your time with the month-by-month details. The good news is that once you get Part IV completed correctly, Part III follows the same process as any other Form 8962 - just using your allocated amounts instead of the raw 1095-A figures.