My university provides free access to Glacier Tax Prep for international students, so check if yours does too before paying for anything! The international student office usually has this info.

Just wanted to add my experience as someone who went through this exact situation last year! I was also an F1 student with CPT income and was completely overwhelmed by the whole tax process. I ended up using Sprintax and it was definitely worth it for peace of mind. The key documents you'll need are your W-2 from your CPT employer, any 1042-S forms if you had scholarships, your I-20, and your passport/visa pages. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier - make sure to check if your employer incorrectly withheld FICA taxes (Social Security/Medicare) from your CPT income. As an F1 student, you're exempt from these for your first 5 years, but many employers mess this up. If they did withhold them incorrectly, you can get that money back when you file. Also, don't forget about Form 8843 - it's required for ALL F1 students regardless of whether you had income or not. Sprintax will remind you about this, but it's something a lot of people miss. The whole process took me about 2 hours with Sprintax, and having everything explained in simple terms made it way less stressful than I expected. Good luck with your filing!

Has anyone else noticed that OPM is TERRIBLE about explaining the "UNKNOWN" issue to survivors? When my dad passed and my mom started getting the survivor benefits, we called OPM like 5 times and got 5 different answers about how to handle the taxes. One rep told us it was all taxable, another said none was taxable, and one even said "just ask your tax preparer" which wasn't helpful at all! We ended up overpaying taxes for 2 years before a CPA finally explained the Simplified Method to us.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! My father passed away in early 2024, and my mother started receiving OMP survivor benefits in June. We just received her first full-year 1099-R and sure enough - "UNKNOWN" in boxes 2a and 9b. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful. I had no idea about the Simplified Method worksheet, and our tax preparer seemed just as confused as we were. They actually suggested we might need to report the entire amount as taxable, which based on what everyone is saying here would have been a huge mistake. Does anyone know if there are any special considerations for mid-year benefit starts? My mom only received survivor benefits for about 6 months in 2024, so I'm wondering if that affects the Simplified Method calculation at all, or if we just pro-rate based on the actual months she received payments? Also, has anyone successfully amended returns for this issue? We're probably looking at needing to file an amended return too since we may have reported this incorrectly initially.

PSA for everyone: This is exactly why I always pay electronically through the IRS Direct Pay system or EFTPS. No waiting for checks to clear, no wondering if your payment got lost, and you get immediate confirmation. Plus it's free. I learned my lesson years ago after a similar situation.

I'm in almost the exact same boat! Sent my $2,100 check 6 weeks ago and it still hasn't cleared. Reading through these responses is actually making me feel a lot better - sounds like this is pretty normal right now with all the processing delays. I think I'm going to wait another week or two before taking any action, but it's good to know there are options like calling (with help from services like Claimyr if needed) or using those tracking tools people mentioned. For next year I'm definitely switching to electronic payments though - this stress isn't worth it! Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. It's reassuring to know I'm not the only one dealing with this.

This might sound ridiculous but check if your name has any special characters or if it's extremely long. My husband has a hyphenated last name and we had similar transmission issues until we realized TurboTax was formatting it differently than what the Social Security Administration had on file. Such a stupid problem but took us forever to figure out!

I went through this same nightmare with TurboTax last year! After multiple failed transmission attempts, I discovered the issue was with my bank routing number on the direct deposit section. Even though I had entered it correctly, there was some formatting issue that TurboTax wasn't catching during their review process. Try going to the "Refund" or "Payment" section and double-check ALL your banking information, even if you're sure it's right. Sometimes removing the direct deposit option entirely and choosing to receive a paper check can get past transmission errors. You can always update your banking info with the IRS later if needed. Also, make sure you're filing during off-peak hours - I had much better luck transmitting early in the morning (like 6-7 AM) when their servers aren't overwhelmed. Don't give up! These transmission errors are usually something small and fixable once you identify the actual problem.

Has anyone used TurboTax to handle this situation? I'm trying to figure out where exactly to enter the prorated amounts. The interface is confusing me - when I enter my property tax on the rental screen, it doesn't seem to ask about partial year use.

This is such a common confusion point! I went through the same thing when I converted my primary residence to a rental mid-year. You're absolutely correct to prorate - only include the property taxes for July through December on Schedule E. One thing I learned the hard way is to keep really good records of the conversion date and your calculation method. I created a simple spreadsheet showing the total annual property tax, the rental period (6 months out of 12), and the prorated amount. This documentation came in handy when my CPA reviewed my return. Also, if you're in a state where property taxes are paid in arrears or have weird billing cycles, make sure you're matching the payment date to the period it covers. Some areas bill for the previous year, which can create additional complexity in your first year as a landlord. The lack of explanation for Line 16 in the instructions is frustrating, but you're thinking about it the right way!