The rules actually work in your favor here! Since your German stepchildren are living with you (a US service member) in Germany, they can still qualify as US residents for tax purposes under what's called the "abode" test. Because your abode (tax home) remains in the US while you're on military orders, your dependents who live with you can still meet the residency test. You'll still need ITINs for them, but you should absolutely be able to claim them as dependents if you provide over half their support and they meet the other dependent tests. Your tax preparer might be confused because this is a special rule that applies to military families - civilian rules are different. Make sure your preparer is familiar with military tax situations, as there are several special provisions that apply only to service members.

thanks for the explanation! makes sense now why my preparer was confused - he mostly deals with local german clients and american civilians. gonna find someone with more military experience for next year. appreciate the help!

This is important to know - there's a difference between credits. For the Child Tax Credit, your child needs an SSN to qualify for the full amount. With just an ITIN, they only qualify for the non-refundable portion (up to $1,500) called the Credit for Other Dependents, not the full Child Tax Credit. This is one of those annoying distinctions the IRS makes.

14 I tried that route last year for my unfiled taxes. You can't just walk in - you have to make an appointment through their phone system first... which gets you right back to the impossible phone situation. And when I finally got an appointment 6 weeks out, they couldn't even help with multiple years of returns. They just gave me some forms and told me to mail everything in. Waste of time honestly.

10 Thanks for letting me know. That sounds super frustrating and not helpful at all. Guess I'll look into the other options mentioned here since showing up in person won't skip any steps in the process.

22 Be careful with this approach. If you owe money, you need to know how to properly calculate penalties and interest. I tried doing it myself and ended up with the IRS sending me letters saying I calculated everything wrong, which just created more headaches. Sometimes paying for proper help is worth it to avoid mistakes.

Thanks for the perspective! Did you find that your VITA experience helped you land your first tax job? I'm hoping it will give me a leg up when I start applying.

Absolutely it helped! I highlighted my VITA experience in all my job interviews. Employers loved that I already had practical experience preparing returns and working directly with clients. Many accounting students graduate only knowing theory, but VITA gives you hands-on experience. It also gives you great stories to tell in interviews. I talked about challenging cases I handled and how I researched solutions. This demonstrated problem-solving skills that firms are looking for. Several interviewers told me my VITA experience was what set me apart from other candidates.

This is so true! I've been doing taxes professionally for 8 years and I still look stuff up constantly. The tax code changes every year anyway, so memorization isn't as valuable as knowing how to research.

Thanks for bringing this up. I haven't received any notices about a tax sale yet, just the regular past due notices. I think I'm still in the penalty/interest phase rather than the actual lien sale process. I'm hoping to get the house sold before it gets to that point.

Then you're likely still in good shape. Most counties go through multiple steps before actually putting a property up for tax sale - first notices, then liens, then more notices, and finally the tax sale process. It usually takes 3+ years of non-payment in most places before they move to sell. Just make sure to disclose the situation to your real estate agent and potential buyers. The title company will find the tax liens during their search anyway, so it's better to be upfront. As others have mentioned, the unpaid taxes will just be deducted from your proceeds at closing.

Seconding this! My county had an "economic hardship" form that reduced my penalties by 75% when I provided proof of medical bills that had caused my financial problems. Definitely worth asking about.

Can it import the already completed Sch D and 8949 forms that OP mentioned, or would they have to re-enter all their crypto transactions manually?

Unfortunately it doesn't have a direct import feature for already completed forms. You would need to manually re-enter the information from your Schedule D and Form 8949. This is actually one downside compared to some other options mentioned. If you have a lot of crypto transactions, re-entering everything could be quite time-consuming.

Learned this the hard way too. Also date everything! I wrote notes on some of my forms but didn't put dates and couldn't remember which version was final when I got audited.