These scammers really out here trying to catch us slipping during tax season smh 🤦‍♂️

Always trust your gut when something feels off! As a general rule, legitimate tax services like TurboTax will never ask you to click links in emails for sensitive info. When in doubt, go directly to their official website by typing it in yourself. Better safe than sorry - these scammers are getting more sophisticated every year 🛡️

Just wondering - should you also attach an explanation or statement to your tax return when you have this situation? I have both 1042-S and 1099-DIV forms and am worried the IRS might think I'm not reporting all my income if they see the 1042-S but don't immediately connect it to the dividend income I'm reporting.

I went through this exact same situation last year and want to share what I learned after consulting with a tax professional. The key issue is that Morgan Stanley likely had you classified as a non-resident alien at some point during the year, which triggered the 1042-S filing even though you were actually a full-year resident. Here's the step-by-step approach that worked for me: 1. **Compare the forms carefully** - Look at the dates and amounts on both the 1042-S and 1099-DIV. Often they're reporting different dividend payments or different portions of the same payments. 2. **Report dividend income once** - Add up all your dividend income from both forms (avoiding double-counting) and report the total on Schedule B as regular dividend income. 3. **Claim all withholding** - The $315 federal tax withheld on your 1042-S should be claimed as additional federal tax payments, separate from any withholding shown on your 1099-DIV. 4. **Contact Morgan Stanley** - Call them to update your residency status in their system so you don't keep getting 1042-S forms unnecessarily in future years. The IRS matching system will see both forms were issued to you, but as long as you report all income and claim all withholding correctly, there shouldn't be any issues. I had no problems with my return being processed, and no follow-up questions from the IRS. Good luck with your filing!

As someone who's dealt with this exact same confusion, I can confirm that VIS and DEN codes in Box 14 should definitely be categorized as "Health Insurance Premiums" in TurboTax. These represent your pre-tax contributions for vision and dental coverage that your employer has already excluded from your taxable wages in Box 1. Don't stress too much about it - while it's important to categorize them correctly for record-keeping purposes, these particular entries won't change your refund amount since the tax benefit was already applied when your employer calculated your taxable wages. The key thing is just making sure TurboTax knows what these codes represent so everything matches up properly with IRS records. You're almost done - just select "Health Insurance Premiums" for both and you'll be good to submit!

Just wanted to chime in as another data point - I had this exact same issue with my W2 showing VIS and DEN codes in box 14. After reading through all the helpful responses here, I went ahead and categorized both as "Health Insurance Premiums" in TurboTax and everything went smoothly. My refund processed without any issues, and looking back at my paystubs, I could see that these amounts were indeed already deducted pre-tax throughout the year. So selecting "Health Insurance Premiums" was definitely the right choice. For anyone else stuck on this - don't overthink it like I did! The consensus here is solid: VIS = vision insurance premiums, DEN = dental insurance premiums, both should be categorized as "Health Insurance Premiums" in your tax software. You've got this!

Guys, I think there's some confusion about the forms. The 1099-MISC doesn't even have Box 7 for nonemployee compensation anymore - that was moved to the 1099-NEC a few years ago. So if you're getting self-employment income, it's probably coming on a 1099-NEC now, not a 1099-MISC. The 1099-MISC Box 3 is usually for things like prizes, awards, or other random payments that aren't for services you provided as part of a business. That's why it's not subject to self-employment tax.

Thanks everyone for all the detailed explanations! This has been super helpful. I was definitely mixing up the self-employment tax with regular income tax, and I had no idea about the form changes either. Just to make sure I understand correctly: my Box 3 income from the 1099-MISC will just be added to my other income and taxed at whatever bracket I end up in based on my total income for the year, right? So if I'm in the 22% bracket, that's what I'll pay on this income too? And @Cameron Black, thanks for mentioning the AGI impact - I hadn't thought about that at all. I should probably look into increasing my IRA contribution this year to help offset some of it. This community is amazing for breaking down confusing tax stuff!

has anyone actually gotten a refund after fixing this error? I made the exact same mistake but Im worried if I call the IRS theyre just going to audit me or something. my additional medicare tax was like $1,300 and thats exactly what my refund was short. so frustrating!!!

I had this EXACT same problem last year! Put my Additional Medicare Tax withholding on line 25c instead of line 26 and the IRS adjusted my refund down by that exact amount. It's such a common mistake because the Form 8959 instructions aren't super clear about where the withholding amount goes on the 1040. The good news is that once you understand what happened, it's usually fixable. Like others mentioned, the withholding from Form 8959 line 24 should go on line 26 with your other federal tax withholding, not on line 25c. The IRS computer system catches this and moves it to the correct line, which is why your refund calculation changed. If you haven't heard back from them yet with a correction notice, you might want to call and explain that you misreported the withholding location. Most agents understand this is a common filing error and can help you get it sorted out. Don't stress too much - you're definitely not the first person to make this mistake!