I hadn't thought about the backdoor Roth approach. Would that still work if my tax liability is already zero? And would I still need to worry about the documentation of foreign expenses if I go that route?

The backdoor Roth works regardless of your tax liability because you're making non-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA first, which doesn't require you to have tax liability. You'd report these non-deductible contributions on Form 8606. No need to worry about foreign expense documentation for this approach. You can take the full standard deduction, apply your FTCs to reduce your tax to zero (carrying forward any excess), and still do the backdoor Roth. The only documentation you need is for the FTCs themselves (foreign tax statements or equivalent), not itemized expenses.

FTCs can only be carried forward, not backward. You can carry them forward for up to 10 years, but you can't apply them to prior year returns unfortunately.

Is there any repository or website where you can look up these specific state rules? Trying to figure out what counts as "payment" in Colorado.

You can usually find these rules in your state's tax code or administrative code, which should be available online through your state's legislative website or department of revenue site. Search for terms like "date of payment" or "timely payment" along with "tax." For Colorado specifically, I believe they follow what's known as the "timely mailed, timely filed" rule, which means the postmark date is considered the payment date if sent by U.S. mail. They also have specific provisions for electronic payments. You can find these details in the Colorado Revised Statutes and the Department of Revenue's tax regulations. Their taxpayer service division can also provide this information if you call them directly.

Electronic payments aren't always an option for everyone though. My small business has to make special estimated payments for a particular industry tax that our state still requires to be submitted by mail with a special voucher form. It's ridiculous but that's how they want it.

That's a fair point. I didn't consider that some specialized tax types might still require physical payments. In those cases, I'd probably still try to use my bank's bill pay service rather than writing personal checks, since the bank creates an electronic record of when the payment was sent out, which gives you an additional layer of documentation. It's frustrating that some tax departments haven't fully modernized their systems yet, especially for business-specific taxes. Hopefully more states move toward comprehensive electronic payment options soon, as it's clearly better for both the taxpayers and the tax departments in terms of record-keeping. Profile: 1

Would you say the same is true for small side businesses? I drive for Uber on weekends but not sure if that makes things complicated enough for professional help.

Side gigs like Uber definitely add some complexity, but they're still manageable with good tax software. You'll need to track business expenses (mileage, portion of phone bill, etc.) and file Schedule C, but most tax programs walk you through this process with specific questions for rideshare drivers. If your side business grows substantially or you have multiple income streams, that might be when professional help becomes more valuable. The key is honestly assessing the complexity of your situation. One straightforward side gig is typically still in DIY territory, especially with the specialized guidance modern tax software provides.

This is the way. I've been using FreeTaxUSA for years and it's so simple. Federal filing is free and state is only like $15. Way better than TurboTax that tries to upsell you every 5 seconds.

1 Ahh that might be it! I think I might have selected Head of Household by accident. And I actually did take a couple classes at community college last fall that cost about $2,000 total. Would that qualify for that education credit you mentioned? I didn't even know that was a thing.

3 The American Opportunity Credit would absolutely apply to your community college expenses. It gives you a credit of 100% of the first $2,000 in qualified education expenses, which would give you a $2,000 credit right there. That along with the filing status confusion could explain a big chunk of that $5,000 estimate. Make sure you have Form 1098-T from your college which shows your tuition payments. When you file your actual return, use that form to claim the education credit correctly. This is definitely something worth looking into!

19 I've used both. For multiple W-2s they're pretty similar, but I found TurboTax's interface a bit more intuitive. Both will double-check that you've entered everything correctly. TurboTax has this W-2 import feature that can sometimes pull your info directly which saves time and reduces errors. H&R Block is usually a bit cheaper though. If price is important, go with H&R Block. If ease of use matters more, TurboTax might be better. Both will get you an accurate refund if you enter your info correctly.

Thanks for bringing that up! I actually have some dividend income from a few stocks. Should I be double-checking specific forms or sections after FreeTaxUSA imports them?

You should definitely review the Schedule B if you have dividend and interest income. FreeTaxUSA sometimes misses smaller financial institutions or categorizes things incorrectly during imports. I particularly recommend double-checking that all your 1099-DIV and 1099-INT forms are fully accounted for. Sometimes qualified dividends might not get properly categorized, which can affect your tax rate. Also, if you have foreign dividends, make sure the foreign tax paid is correctly entered so you can claim the foreign tax credit.

FreeTaxUSA's crypto section is decent but limited. I ended up using CoinTracker first to generate all my crypto transactions and then entered the totals into FreeTaxUSA. Worked much better that way.