Pro tip: set up your external account links before the refund hits so you can transfer immediately. Their daily transfer limit is like 10k btw

Just wanted to add - if you're comparing different refund advance options, also check out Jackson Hewitt and H&R Block. They sometimes have better approval rates depending on your tax situation. Credit Karma is solid but not always the best option for everyone. Also make sure you read the fine print on fees - some places charge for the advance even if it's "free

Has anyone had issues with FreeTaxUSA not calculating the correct deduction even after entering both 1098 forms? I did this last year and somehow my deduction was like $2000 less than it should have been. Wondering if there's a glitch or if I missed something.

I went through this exact same situation when I refinanced in August! The key thing that tripped me up initially was making sure I understood the timing correctly. When you have two 1098 forms from the same year due to refinancing, you want to make sure you're not double-counting any interest or missing any deductions. Here's what I learned: 1. The original lender's 1098 will show interest paid from January through the payoff date 2. The new lender's 1098 will show interest from the loan start date through December 3. Any prepaid interest or points from the refinance may be partially deductible in the current year Ryan's advice about using the "Add another mortgage interest statement" feature is spot on. But also double-check that the total interest amounts make sense when you add them up - it should roughly match what you'd expect to pay for the full year on your mortgage amount. One thing to watch out for: if you paid any loan origination fees or discount points on the refinance, those might be spread over the life of the loan for tax purposes rather than fully deductible in year one. FreeTaxUSA should handle this automatically, but it's worth verifying the calculation matches IRS rules.

Welcome to the US tax system! Your situation is actually pretty common for new green card holders. Just wanted to add a couple of practical tips from my own experience with international transfers: 1. When you do transfer the money, consider doing it in smaller chunks (like $7k-8k at a time) rather than all $21k at once. This won't change your tax obligations, but it can sometimes get you better exchange rates and lower transfer fees depending on your banks. 2. Make sure to get a detailed transfer receipt showing the exchange rate used and any fees charged. These can be useful for your records, especially if you need to document the transaction later. 3. If your German bank charges high fees for international transfers, definitely look into services like Wise or Remitly - they often save hundreds of dollars on large transfers like yours. The good news is that Germany has a tax treaty with the US, so if you did have any taxable income from interest on that account while you were a US resident, you could potentially claim foreign tax credits to avoid double taxation. But for the principal amount you earned while working there, you're all set - no US taxes owed on the transfer itself!

Just wanted to share my experience as someone who went through a very similar situation last year. I moved from Canada to the US with about $35k in savings and was equally confused about the tax implications. The key thing that helped me was understanding the difference between "pre-immigration assets" (money you earned before becoming a US tax resident) and income earned after you become subject to US taxation. Your $21k from working in Germany falls into that first category, so transferring it won't create a US tax liability. However, I'd strongly recommend keeping very detailed records of everything - not just for the FBAR filing, but also in case you ever need to prove the source of funds during future immigration processes or if the IRS has questions. I kept copies of my Canadian employment contracts, tax returns from Canada showing the income was properly reported there, and bank statements showing the money sitting in my account before I moved to the US. One practical tip: when I made my transfer, I used a combination of Wise for the bulk amount and kept about $5k in my Canadian account initially. This way I could test the process with a smaller amount first and also had some buffer time to make sure I understood all the US reporting requirements before moving everything over. The whole process ended up being much less scary than I initially thought, but having good documentation made me feel much more confident about everything!

I went through this exact situation last year and ended up speaking with a tax professional at H&R Block about it. Here's what they told me: You absolutely need to address the 1099-K on your return, but you don't need to itemize every single item if you have reasonable documentation showing most were personal items sold at a loss. What worked for me was creating a simple summary with broad categories: - Electronics: ~15 items, original cost ~$800, sold for ~$300 - Clothing/accessories: ~20 items, original cost ~$600, sold for ~$200 - Collectibles: ~10 items, original cost ~$400, sold for ~$150 Then I noted the few items where I actually made a profit and reported those gains separately. The key is showing the IRS that you're not trying to hide income - you're demonstrating that most of your sales were personal property sold at a loss (which isn't taxable income). H&R Block's software has a specific workflow for this under the "Other Income" section where you can reconcile your 1099-K. Don't stress too much about perfect documentation for every $15 t-shirt - reasonable estimates based on what you remember paying are usually sufficient for personal items.

Just went through this exact situation with my 2023 return! I had over 60 items sold on eBay and was completely overwhelmed at first. Here's what I learned: You definitely need to report the 1099-K amount on your return, but the good news is you don't need to itemize every single $20 item. I created a simple spreadsheet grouping similar items together - like "vintage electronics (8 items): original cost ~$400, sold for ~$180" and "clothing/accessories (25 items): original cost ~$650, sold for ~$320." The key insight my tax preparer shared was that the IRS mainly wants to see you're not hiding income. Since most of your items were sold at a loss (like mine), you're actually showing there's NO taxable income from those sales - just documenting it properly. For the few items where you made a profit, you'll report those gains as ordinary income. Keep it simple but reasonable - the IRS isn't expecting you to have receipts for every garage sale find from 5 years ago. I used TaxAct and they had a specific 1099-K reconciliation section that made this pretty painless once I had my summary ready. H&R Block should have something similar. The whole process took maybe an hour once I stopped overthinking it!

I just wanted to add another perspective since I've helped several international students through this exact situation. The most important thing to remember is that your tax filing status (resident vs nonresident alien) is determined by IRS rules, not by what forms your university issues you. Since you've been in the US since 2018 and meet the substantial presence test, you're absolutely correct to file as a resident alien using Form 1040. The 1042S is essentially just a reporting document showing income and withholding - think of it like a W-2 that was issued incorrectly. One tip that might help: when you enter the fellowship income in FreeTaxUSA, you can add a brief description like "Fellowship income reported on 1042S" so it's clear where the number came from. This can help if there are any questions later. Also, don't forget that you might be eligible for education credits (American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit) based on your qualified tuition payments, which could further increase your refund. Many students in your situation miss out on these credits because they get overwhelmed dealing with the 1042S issue. The bottom line is that you should get back most of that incorrectly withheld money - universities typically withhold at 30% for nonresidents when you should probably be paying closer to 12-22% as a resident, depending on your total income.

I went through this exact situation two years ago when my university incorrectly classified me as a nonresident and issued a 1042S for my research stipend. Here's what worked for me: First, you're absolutely right to file Form 1040 as a resident alien - your tax status is determined by IRS rules (substantial presence test), not what forms your university issues. In FreeTaxUSA, I reported the fellowship income from Box 2 of the 1042S as "Other Income" on Schedule 1, Line 8i. I wrote "Fellowship income per 1042S" in the description field. For the withholding from Box 7, I entered it under "Other Federal Income Tax Withheld" in the payments section. The key thing that helped me was being very clear in the software that I was filing as a resident - I made sure to answer "No" to all questions about being a nonresident alien, even though I had a 1042S form. I was able to e-file successfully and got my refund in about 3 weeks. The IRS didn't question the mixed forms at all. I ended up getting back about $1,800 of the $2,200 they had incorrectly withheld at the 30% nonresident rate. Also, don't forget to check if you're eligible for education credits based on your tuition payments - that was an additional $2,000 credit I almost missed! Keep your documentation from the university acknowledging their error, but honestly, the IRS sees this mistake from universities pretty regularly and handles it smoothly.