I'm not married, so unfortunately that's not an option for me. But that's good advice for others in a similar situation who might be married!

That's unfortunate. Another option to consider for future years is timing your education expenses. If you expect more income next year, you might be able to bunch more expenses into that tax year instead. For instance, paying spring semester tuition in January vs December can shift which tax year it counts for.

Yes! I claimed LLC for coding bootcamp courses last year. The key requirement is that the educational institution needs to be eligible and provide you with a 1098-T. The courses don't need to be part of a degree program for LLC (that's only a requirement for the American Opportunity Credit).

If you put zeros in Parts 1 and 2, do you need to do any calculations or just literally put 0 in each box? And have you ever been audited or questioned about your Roth withdrawals?

You just put a zero in each box, no calculations needed for parts that don't apply to your situation. It's just to show you didn't accidentally skip that section. I've never been audited specifically about my Roth IRA withdrawals. I did get a general review letter once about three years ago, but it was about something completely different (they questioned some business deductions). My Roth withdrawal reporting with the zeros-not-blanks approach has never been flagged in the 12 years I've been doing it this way.

In my experience, let the software do its thing. TurboTax is programmed to complete forms correctly based on your inputs. If it's filling parts 1 and 2, it's probably putting zeros or calculating something based on your overall tax situation that might be relevant. Tax software is designed to handle these nuances.

3 Wait, is that really true even if you're claimed as a dependent? I thought dependents couldn't open retirement accounts.

9 Yes, it's absolutely true! Being claimed as a dependent doesn't affect your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA. The only requirements are that you have earned income and don't exceed the contribution limits (either your total earned income or $6,500 for 2023, whichever is lower). Many parents miss this opportunity for their working teens. It's a fantastic way to start building tax-free retirement savings early, and the compound interest over decades is incredible. I opened mine at Vanguard with help from my parents when I was still in high school.

11 Good point! Does anyone know if you need to file state taxes if you're under 18? I'm in California and making about $8,000 this year through my parent's Venmo.

Thanks for this info! My 1042-S doesn't seem to distinguish between amounts for tuition vs. living expenses - it just has a total in Box 2. How do I determine which portion is taxable vs. non-taxable? Do I need to get additional documentation from my university?

You'll need to look at your student account statement from your university to see the breakdown. The university doesn't typically distinguish this on the 1042-S itself. Compare your total qualified educational expenses (tuition, required fees, but NOT room and board) against the total fellowship amount. Any amount of your fellowship that went toward qualified expenses can be excluded from taxable income, while the remainder (often your stipend for living expenses) is taxable. Your university's financial aid office or international student office should be able to provide the necessary documentation showing this breakdown if you don't already have it.

I used TurboTax last year for my 1042-S and it was better than FreeTaxUSA but still not ideal. You have to enter it under "Less Common Income" then "Other Reportable Income" and then manually type in the details. They still don't have a dedicated form for it, but at least the interview process walks you through it a bit more clearly than FreeTaxUSA.

I tried Wealthsimple Tax last year for my non-resident return. It works okay for simple situations, but I found it struggled with properly applying tax treaty benefits. I ended up switching to a professional preparer because I wasn't confident it was handling everything correctly.

Actually, if you have Canadian self-employment income, the deadline is June 15, even for non-residents! But any balance owing is still due by April 30 to avoid interest charges.

You're absolutely right about the June 15 extension for self-employment income. Thanks for that correction! Always good to remember that even with the extended filing deadline, paying after April 30 will result in interest charges, even if you're not charged a late-filing penalty.