Umm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm in the same situation and wondering how box 5 on the 1098-T (scholarships/grants) affects all this? I had a scholarship for part of my undergrad semester and it's showing in box 5. Do I need to subtract that from my qualified expenses before calculating AOTC?

Just wanted to add some clarity since I see some confusion in the comments. As a tax professional, I can confirm that you absolutely cannot claim both AOTC and LLC in the same tax year for the same student - this is a hard IRS rule. However, there's an important nuance about your situation: since your undergraduate expenses occurred in the first part of 2024 and your graduate expenses in the second part, you need to be strategic about which credit to use. If you've only used AOTC for 3 years so far, you have one year of eligibility left, but it can ONLY be applied to undergraduate expenses. Your graduate school expenses would not qualify for AOTC at all - they could only qualify for LLC. So your real choice is: use your final year of AOTC on just your $7,200 undergrad expenses, or use LLC on the combined $25,700 total expenses. Run the numbers both ways - AOTC might give you up to $2,500 (and up to $1,000 is refundable), while LLC gives you 20% of qualified expenses up to $2,000 total. Given your amounts, AOTC on just the undergrad expenses would likely be more beneficial than LLC on everything.

Question for anyone who has dealt with this - if I find I made a mistake on a previously filed return (for 2023) but haven't received any notices from the IRS yet, should I wait for them to contact me or just file an amendment now? I'm wondering if it's better to fix it proactively or wait.

I can definitely relate to your panic - I had a similar situation last year where I received my 1095-A after filing! The good news is this is absolutely fixable, and you're not alone in this predicament. First, don't stress too much about the timing. You have up to 3 years to file an amended return, so you're not under any immediate deadline pressure. The two different 1095-A forms you received likely indicate either a correction was made to your original form, or you had some kind of coverage change during 2024 (like switching plans mid-year, adding/removing family members, or moving to a different area). Here's what I'd recommend doing: 1. Look carefully at both forms - one might be marked as "corrected" or have different effective dates 2. Call your marketplace (the phone number should be on the forms) to clarify which form is the correct one to use 3. Once you know which form to use, file Form 1040-X to amend your return 4. Include Form 8962 (Premium Tax Credit) with your amendment The key thing is that the IRS already has this information from your insurance company, so it's much better to proactively fix this than wait for them to send you a notice asking about the discrepancy. You've got this!

Has anyone here successfully gotten their employer to start offering a SEP IRA after bringing up these requirements? I'm in a similar situation (5 years at a company where the owner definitely has a SEP) but I'm nervous about how to approach the conversation. Any advice on how to bring it up without seeming confrontational?

Something to keep in mind is that even if your employer sets up SEP IRAs for eligible employees, they're not required to contribute every year - they just have to contribute the same percentage when they do contribute. So if your boss contributes to their SEP IRA one year, they must contribute the same percentage to all eligible employees that same year. But if they skip a year, nobody gets contributions. Also, the contribution limits for SEP IRAs are quite generous - up to 25% of compensation or about $70,000 for 2025, whichever is less. This makes them attractive for small business owners, but it also means the potential cost of covering all eligible employees can add up quickly. One more thing - make sure you understand the vesting rules. With SEP IRAs, contributions are immediately 100% vested, meaning any money your employer contributes belongs to you right away, even if you leave the company the next day.

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I think I understand better now. The combination of starting a campus job plus how the scholarship was categorized seems to be the main issue. I'll go back and check my 1042-S forms from both years to see if there are any differences in how things were reported. I'm definitely going to try both the document analysis and getting someone from the IRS on the phone. My scholarship is really important for me to continue my studies, so I need to understand exactly how it's being taxed so I can budget properly. This has been really eye-opening about how complex international student taxation can be! I'll update once I figure everything out.

I'm glad you're getting some clarity on this! One thing I'd recommend is also checking with your university's international student office - they often have tax specialists who understand exactly how your school reports scholarships on the 1042-S forms. In my experience, universities sometimes change their reporting procedures between years, which can dramatically affect your tax calculations even when nothing else changes. They might have switched how they categorize your housing scholarship or changed which box they use on the 1042-S form. Also, when you're comparing your forms, pay special attention to: - Box 1 (Income Code) - this determines how the IRS treats your scholarship - Box 2 (Gross Income) vs Box 4 (Tax Withheld) - Any treaty exemption codes Your international student office can also help you understand if you should be filing Form 1040NR-EZ vs 1040NR, which can make a difference in your refund calculation. Good luck sorting this out!

anyone else notice they always pull this right b4 the end of the year? its like clockwork at this point smh

I've been through this exact situation! When I called extension 623, they were actually pretty helpful. The agent explained that my amended return got flagged because I made changes to multiple tax forms (Schedule A and Schedule C), which requires additional verification. They asked me to confirm some numbers from my original return and the amended version, then told me it would take 3-4 weeks to complete processing. Sure enough, I got my refund about a month later. The key is to have both your original return and amended return in front of you when you call - they'll want to verify specific line items. Don't stress too much, this seems to be their standard process for certain types of amendments!