17 One thing nobody has mentioned yet - if you do decide to file jointly, you need to include a statement signed by both you and your spouse agreeing to be taxed on your worldwide income. This is in addition to getting the ITIN. My tax preparer missed this last year and it caused a huge headache with our return getting flagged for review.

7 Just to add a bit more info - I've been in this situation for 3 years with my Brazilian husband. If you choose Married Filing Separately, be aware that you'll lose some tax benefits like education credits, child tax credits, earned income credit, etc. You also can't contribute to a Roth IRA if your income is above $10,000. Filing jointly with the election usually results in lower taxes overall, but then you have the hassle of getting an ITIN and reporting foreign income. It's worth calculating both ways if you can.

Hey Andre! This is totally normal - you're not missing any money, don't worry! Federal and state refunds are processed completely separately. What you received ($3,315) was most likely your federal refund from the IRS, and your state refund should arrive in the next few weeks. The timing can vary a lot depending on your state. Some states process refunds pretty quickly after the federal one, while others can take 4-6 weeks longer, especially during busy tax season. Since you mentioned this is your first time filing, here's a quick tip: you can track both refunds separately. Use the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool for your federal refund status, and check your state's department of revenue website for the state refund tracker. Most states have their own version of this tool. Also, when your state refund does arrive, the deposit description will usually show it's from your state tax department rather than "IRS TREAS" like the federal one. Hope this helps ease your mind - you should get the rest of your refund soon!

Hey Andre! Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who works in tax prep - what you're experiencing is 100% normal and happens to thousands of first-time filers every year. The $3,315 you received is definitely your federal refund, and your state portion is still processing. One thing that might help you feel more confident: if you log back into TurboTax, you should be able to see a breakdown that shows your federal vs. state refund amounts separately. This will confirm which portion you've already received. Also, since you mentioned needing the money for upcoming bills, most states are actually pretty good about processing refunds within 2-4 weeks of when your federal refund hits. Texas (if that's where you are) is usually on the faster side. You can check the status at comptroller.texas.gov if you're in TX, or just search "[your state] refund status" for the official tracker. Don't stress - you'll get your full $7,125 total, just in two separate deposits! This split system actually helps prevent fraud and allows each government level to verify returns independently.

I'm having this EXACT issue but with Credit Karma Tax! The Premium Tax Credit calculation is off by over $2100 compared to what I should be getting. Has anyone successfully resolved this with other tax software providers or is this some industry-wide glitch this year?

I've been dealing with this exact Form 8962 issue and wanted to share what finally worked for me. After trying multiple approaches, I discovered that TurboTax has a specific bug this year where it's not properly handling the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) percentages for certain income ranges. Here's what I did to fix it: Go to Forms view in TurboTax, find Form 8962, and check line 5 (your household income as a percentage of the FPL). If this number seems off compared to what you'd expect based on your income and family size, that's likely where the error is occurring. The 2025 FPL amounts are different from what TurboTax seems to be using in some cases. For a household of 1, the FPL is $15,060. For 2 people it's $20,440, and it goes up $5,380 for each additional person. You can manually calculate your percentage and override TurboTax's calculation if needed. Also double-check that TurboTax is using the correct "applicable figure" percentage table on lines 6-8. The software seems to occasionally use the wrong percentage bracket, which throws off the entire credit calculation. Once I corrected these values manually, my credit amount increased by almost $1,800 to match what I should actually be receiving.

Code 150 is basically the IRS saying "we got your return and here's what we calculated you owe/are owed." It's like the foundation of your transcript - everything else builds off this. The date next to it shows when they processed your return, and the amount is your total tax liability before any credits or payments. Don't stress too much about all the codes at first - focus on 150 (return processed), 806/807 (withholding/payments), and 846 (refund issued) and you'll understand most of what's happening with your return!

Just want to add that Code 150 is also really useful for tracking amended returns! If you file a 1040X, you'll see a new 150 code once they process the amendment. The original 150 stays there too, so you can compare what changed. Also, pro tip - if you're married filing jointly, both spouses' SSNs will show the same 150 transaction, but the primary taxpayer's transcript will have all the detail. Took me forever to figure out why my spouse's transcript looked so different from mine!

5 Has anyone else had issues with FreeTaxUSA calculating taxes wrong on their backdoor Roth? I entered my non-deductible contribution in the IRA section and my conversion in the income section, but it's still showing that I owe taxes on the full conversion amount even though it should be tax-free (I have no other IRAs).

Great thread everyone! As someone who just completed their first backdoor Roth IRA conversion, I wanted to add a few things that might help others avoid the mistakes I made: 1. **Timing matters for record-keeping**: Keep detailed records of when you made your non-deductible contribution vs when you converted. Even though they might be in the same tax year, having precise dates helps if the IRS ever questions the transaction. 2. **Watch out for investment gains**: If your traditional IRA earned any money between the contribution and conversion, you'll owe taxes on those gains even if the principal contribution was non-deductible. I had about $50 in gains that I almost missed reporting. 3. **Double-check your broker's 1099-R**: My broker initially sent me a 1099-R with the wrong distribution code. I had to contact them to get it corrected before I could file, otherwise FreeTaxUSA would have calculated my taxes incorrectly. The key is making sure FreeTaxUSA understands that you made a non-deductible contribution by checking that box and properly completing Form 8606. Once you get the process down, it's actually pretty straightforward!