When I filed my 1040-NR with a similar situation, I made sure to keep extensive documentation of my travels. Take screenshots of flight confirmations, keep hotel receipts, and maintain a spreadsheet with entry/exit dates for each country. The IRS seems to be paying more attention to these "nowhere" tax residents, and if you get flagged for review, having that documentation ready will save you a lot of trouble.

I faced this exact same issue with tax software! Most consumer programs like TurboTax aren't designed for these edge cases. I ended up using FreeTaxUSA for my 1040-NR filing - it's more flexible and actually allows you to leave the tax residency field blank or enter custom text. For Schedule OI specifically, I wrote "None - Digital Nomad Status" in the tax residency field and attached Form 8275 (Disclosure Statement) explaining my situation in detail. The key is being completely transparent about your circumstances and providing documentation. Pro tip: If you do get questioned later, having a travel log with exact dates, flight records, and accommodation receipts makes everything much smoother. I use a simple spreadsheet that tracks country, entry date, exit date, and days spent - takes 2 minutes to update but could save hours of headache later!

The same thing happened to me but with Spotify! Tax was like 14.2% and I was so confused. Turns out I had moved counties but my billing address was still using my old address which had higher local taxes. Check your billing address in your Apple account. Even if you updated your Apple ID info, sometimes the billing address for subscriptions updates separately.

I work in tax compliance for a digital services company, and what you're experiencing is actually quite common. The 13.6% rate you're seeing is likely a combination of multiple tax layers that Apple has to collect based on your billing address. Here's what's probably happening: your base state sales tax, plus any county tax, city tax, and potentially a specific digital services tax. Many jurisdictions have added special taxes on streaming and digital subscriptions in recent years - some call them "amusement taxes" or "digital goods taxes." Chicago is notorious for this - they have a 9% amusement tax on top of regular Illinois sales tax. If you're in a high-tax area, 13.6% is unfortunately not unusual for digital subscriptions. The key thing to check is your billing address in your Apple account settings. Make sure it's current and accurate, because Apple calculates tax based on that address, not where you physically are when you use the service.

Has anyone used the Cash App Taxes option? I heard it's completely free and handles investment forms, but I'm wondering if it's user friendly.

I actually just went through this exact situation last month! Had a 1099-MISC from Robinhood with only $23.18 in miscellaneous income and was so frustrated when TurboTax wanted to charge me nearly $100 to file it. After reading through all these comments, I ended up using FreeTaxUSA and it worked perfectly. The whole process took maybe 15 minutes, it handled my Schedule D form automatically, and it was completely free for federal filing. The interface is definitely more basic than TurboTax, but for something this straightforward it was totally fine. Just wanted to confirm for anyone else in this boat - you definitely need to report it (learned that the hard way when I called the IRS using that Claimyr service someone mentioned), but you absolutely don't need to pay $90+ to do it. The free options handle stock sales just fine, even tiny amounts like ours. My total tax on the $23 ended up being about $3.50, so definitely not worth paying premium software fees for!

This thread has been absolutely incredible for troubleshooting EFTPS access issues! As someone who just started managing payroll taxes for my consulting business, I was completely overwhelmed when I hit the same login.gov authentication error that Evelyn described. What I love about this community is how everyone has provided such specific, actionable solutions rather than generic "clear your cache" advice. The systematic approach here - starting with the EFTPS technical support line (800-982-3874), then trying browser-specific fixes, and finally checking network-level issues like VPN interference - gives you a clear troubleshooting path instead of random trial and error. I ended up needing a combination of solutions: the EFTPS tech support cleared an account flag I didn't know existed, and then I had to use Firefox with Paolo's security settings because Chrome was still having SSL certificate conflicts even after the flag adjustments. For anyone new to this issue, I'd definitely recommend saving this thread as a reference. Having multiple proven solutions means you're not stuck if one approach doesn't work for your specific situation. The follow-up posts from people confirming what actually worked for them made all the difference in knowing which solutions to prioritize. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share detailed solutions and follow up with results - this is exactly the kind of community knowledge sharing that makes dealing with government site technical issues so much less stressful!

Welcome to the community, Jace! It's great to see how this thread has evolved into such a comprehensive troubleshooting resource. As someone who's been dealing with various government site technical issues over the years, I can definitely confirm that the systematic approach outlined here is much more effective than the random troubleshooting most people end up doing. One additional tip I'd suggest for newcomers: when you do call the EFTPS technical support line at 800-982-3874, ask the tech to document in your account notes what specific issue they resolved (like "cleared suspicious activity flag" or "reset login.gov linkage"). This way, if you encounter similar problems in the future, the next tech you speak with can quickly see your history and potential recurring issues. Also, I'd recommend keeping a simple log of which solution worked for you - browser type, specific settings, whether you needed to disconnect VPN, etc. These government sites seem to have periodic updates that can break previously working configurations, so having your own record of what worked can save time if issues resurface. It's wonderful seeing how collaborative problem-solving in this community has created such a valuable resource for anyone dealing with EFTPS access issues. Looking forward to hearing how the troubleshooting goes for you!

Just want to add one more important point that I learned the hard way - make sure you file your return by tomorrow's deadline even if you can't pay! The failure-to-file penalty is 5% per month (up to 25% total) while the failure-to-pay penalty is only 0.5% per month. That's a huge difference on $20k. I made the mistake of not filing on time a few years ago because I couldn't pay, and it cost me an extra $5,000 in penalties. The IRS is actually pretty reasonable about payment plans if you file on time and communicate with them. They'd much rather work with you than chase you down later. Also, once you set up the payment plan, make sure you never miss a payment or they can default the entire agreement. Set up autopay if possible to avoid any accidents. Good luck!

I just went through this exact situation last month with a similar amount owed. One thing that really helped me was calling the IRS Practitioner Priority Service line (1-866-860-4259) instead of the regular taxpayer line. As long as you have a power of attorney form or are calling about your own account, they typically have much shorter wait times - I got through in about 20 minutes. The agent walked me through all my options and helped me understand that with a $20k balance, I could actually qualify for a "guaranteed" installment agreement since it's under $50k and I was current on filings. They also explained that if I could somehow pay it off within 120 days, there would be no setup fee at all and minimal interest accrual. Another tip: if you're self-employed or have irregular income, ask about a different payment structure. They can sometimes work with seasonal income patterns or allow lower payments during slower months. The key is being upfront about your financial situation when you call.