Has anyone successfully used H&R Block online instead of FreeTaxUSA for 1042-S reporting? I'm trying to decide which software to use this year.

I went through this exact same situation last year as a grad student with a research fellowship! After trying several approaches, here's what worked for me in FreeTaxUSA: 1. Go to Income → Other Income → "Other Income Not Reported Elsewhere" 2. Enter the taxable portion of your 1042-S (remember, amounts for tuition/fees are typically not taxable, only living stipends) 3. In the description, write "Fellowship income from Form 1042-S" 4. For withholding, go to Federal Withholding → "Other Federal Withholding" and enter the amount from Box 7 of your 1042-S One thing that caught me off guard was that my university had withheld taxes on the full amount, including the tuition portion that wasn't actually taxable. This meant I got a nice refund! Since you mentioned you're married filing jointly with W-2 income, investment income, and HSA contributions, make sure you understand how the fellowship income affects your AGI calculations - it can impact HSA contribution limits and other deductions. The good news is that as a tax resident, you don't need to worry about the complexity of non-resident tax treaties or forms like 8843. FreeTaxUSA should handle everything once you get the income entered correctly.

Hey, Italian-American dual citizen here with personal experience on this exact issue! US taxes are definitely a pain, but it's manageable. For me, I use TurboTax to file each year. It costs about $100 for the version that handles foreign income. I take the Foreign Tax Credit instead of the FEIE because Italian taxes are higher than US taxes, so I never end up owing anything to the US.

As someone who went through this exact situation (dual US-Italian citizen who didn't know about filing requirements), I can tell you it's definitely stressful at first but totally manageable once you understand the system. The key thing is don't wait any longer - the longer you put it off, the more anxiety it causes. I was terrified for months before I finally dealt with it, and it turned out to be much less complicated than I imagined. Since you mentioned you're 24 and have never filed, you'll likely need to use the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures that others mentioned. This is specifically designed for people in your situation who didn't know about the requirements. A few practical tips from my experience: - Gather all your Italian tax documents (they'll help show you've been paying taxes somewhere) - Make a list of all your bank accounts and their highest balances during each year - Don't stress about giving up citizenship yet - most dual citizens find the annual filing is just paperwork, not actual tax owed The Italian tax system is generally more aggressive than the US system, so between the Foreign Tax Credit and FEIE, you'll probably end up owing nothing. But yes, you still need to file the paperwork annually going forward. Feel free to ask if you have specific questions about the Italy-US situation!

I work in payroll for a mid-size company and see this issue occasionally. The empty boxes 1 and 2 with populated SS/Medicare boxes is almost always a system configuration error where the software isn't properly calculating federal taxable wages after pre-tax deductions. When you talk to your payroll department, ask them to check if your pre-tax deductions (like health insurance, 401k contributions, etc.) are being subtracted correctly from your gross wages to calculate box 1. Sometimes the system zeroes out box 1 instead of showing the correct taxable amount. Also ask them to run a payroll register report for you showing all your pay periods - this will help them see exactly where the discrepancy occurred. Most payroll software can regenerate W2s pretty quickly once they identify the configuration issue. Don't let them tell you it's "too complicated" to fix - this is a standard correction that should take them less than an hour to resolve.

As a newcomer to this community, I'm really impressed by how helpful everyone has been with this W2 issue! I'm dealing with something similar myself - my W2 has weird discrepancies between what my paystubs show and what's on the form. I wanted to thank everyone who shared specific resources and actionable steps. The suggestions about collecting paystubs as evidence, asking payroll about pre-tax deduction calculations, and knowing about Form 4852 as a backup option are all things I wouldn't have known to do on my own. It's reassuring to see that this isn't an uncommon problem and that there are multiple paths to resolution. The mix of personal experiences, professional insights from someone who actually works in payroll, and specific tools/services mentioned here gives a really comprehensive view of how to tackle W2 errors. For anyone else reading this thread with similar issues - it seems like the key takeaway is don't just accept a wrong W2. Document everything with your paystubs and don't be afraid to escalate if your employer isn't responsive. Thanks everyone for creating such a helpful discussion!

Possible reasons for verification: - Income discrepancy - Identity verification needed - Missing documents - Suspicious activity flag Best thing to do is wait for their letter or use taxr.ai to get specific insights about your case. That tool saved me so much time figuring out what was wrong with my return last month.

I went through this exact same thing last month! Got the "We need more information" notice and was freaking out thinking I did something wrong. Turns out it was just routine identity verification - they sent me a letter asking me to confirm some basic info like previous addresses and loan amounts. The whole process took about 3 weeks from when I mailed back the verification form to getting my refund deposited. Don't stress too much about it! The fact that you got your state refund is actually a good sign that your return info is correct. The IRS is just being extra cautious with their fraud prevention this year. Make sure to respond promptly when you get their letter and you should be good to go. Hang in there! 🙂

I never trust the WMR tool anymore. Last year it told me my return was still processing AFTER I already received my refund. This year it gave me a deposit date, then changed to "still processing" after that date passed, then a week later the money just showed up. It's completely unreliable.

I'm going through the exact same thing with Cross River Bank! Filed on 3/6, got accepted immediately, WMR showed 3/14 deposit date, and here we are on 3/20 with nothing. Called Cross River twice and they keep saying they haven't received anything from the IRS yet. It's so frustrating because I really needed that money for rent this week. Has anyone had success getting through to the IRS phone lines? I've been trying for two days straight and can't get past the "call volumes are too high" message. Starting to wonder if there's some kind of systematic issue with Cross River and IRS deposits this year since so many of us seem to be having the same problem.