Anyone use TurboTax for this? I'm trying to figure out where to enter qualified education expenses that aren't on my 1098-T.

I went through something very similar last year! The key thing to remember is that the 1098-T is just what the school reports based on their accounting system - it's not the complete picture of what you can claim for education credits. Since you paid with loan proceeds in January 2025, those expenses would be claimed on your 2025 tax return (filed in 2026), not your current 2024 return. The IRS considers expenses "paid" when the loan funds are actually disbursed to the school, regardless of when you were billed. Make sure to keep copies of your loan disbursement records and university account statements showing the payment date. The IRS allows you to claim qualified education expenses paid with loan funds, and you can definitely include expenses that aren't reported on the 1098-T as long as they're legitimate tuition and required fees. Don't stress too much about it - you're asking the right questions and getting good advice here! Just remember it's for next year's return, not this year's.

One trick I learned is that the IRS doesn't require equal payments for estimated taxes if your income is seasonal or irregular. Use Form 2210 Schedule AI (Annualized Income) to calculate different payment amounts for each quarter based on when you actually earn the income. Huge help for my lawn care business where I make 80% of my money in summer months!

Just wanted to add something that really helped me when I first started dealing with estimated taxes - you can actually make your payments online through EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) instead of mailing those paper vouchers. It's free to set up and you can schedule payments in advance, which is super helpful for budgeting. Also, if you're really unsure about your amounts, consider the "safe harbor" rule: if you pay 100% of last year's tax liability (110% if your AGI was over $150,000), you won't owe any underpayment penalties even if you end up owing more at tax time. It might mean a bigger refund, but it gives you peace of mind while you're learning the ropes of self-employment taxes. One last tip - keep detailed records of your business income and expenses throughout the year. This makes it so much easier to adjust your quarterly payments if your income changes significantly from what you initially projected.

processing date doesnt mean nuthin tbh. mine changed like 3 times b4 i got my refund last year

Based on your transcript, the February 25th processing date is when the IRS will finish reviewing your return, not when you'll receive your refund. Typically, refunds are issued 1-3 business days after the processing date for direct deposit, or 5-10 business days for paper checks. Your cycle code 20250605 indicates you're in the 6th processing week of 2025. Since all your credit transactions (EIC, withholdings, additional credits) are dated April 16th, 2025 on your transcript, this suggests the system is using standard tax year dates rather than actual processing dates. With a clean transcript showing no holds or additional reviews needed, you should expect your $12,404 refund around February 28th - March 3rd if you chose direct deposit. Keep checking the "Where's My Refund" tool for your official deposit date once it's assigned. The large EIC portion might trigger a brief additional review, but your transcript doesn't show any delay codes.

Lots of good advice here, but I want to add something important! The foreign earned income exclusion that your ex might claim could potentially affect your situation. If your ex is excluding foreign earned income on her US tax return, it can impact how the IRS views the support calculation.

This is such a complex situation! From what I've learned dealing with similar tax issues, you're likely able to claim your kids as dependents since they're US citizens and you're providing over half their support with those monthly payments. The Child Tax Credit is trickier though - the IRS generally requires the child to live with you in the US for more than half the year, and a permanent move to Spain probably doesn't qualify as a "temporary absence." One thing I'd be careful about is making sure your ex isn't also claiming them on her US tax return if she's still required to file here. That could create problems. Also, since Spain has a tax treaty with the US, there might be specific rules about which parent gets certain benefits when you're in different countries. Given all the international complications everyone's mentioned - the foreign earned income exclusion, treaty provisions, documentation requirements for audits - this might be worth getting professional help with. The potential refund difference could easily justify the cost of a consultation with someone who specializes in international tax situations.

I see a lot of people suggesting the conversion of an option to stock through assignment might trigger wash sale rules, but I'm not sure that's correct. Publication 550 specifically states that wash sales apply when you sell stock or securities at a loss and buy "substantially identical" stock or securities. The key is whether a call option and the underlying stock are "substantially identical" - and most tax professionals I've worked with don't consider them to be unless the options are deep ITM. Your ATM options likely wouldn't qualify as substantially identical. My CPA has always treated synthetic longs exactly as your brokerage is reporting them - separate transactions with different tax treatment for each leg.

The confusion around "substantially identical" securities is understandable because the IRS hasn't provided crystal clear guidance specifically for synthetic options strategies. However, there are some key distinctions that might help clarify things. The general rule from Revenue Ruling 58-384 is that options and their underlying stocks are NOT considered substantially identical securities for wash sale purposes, unless the option is so deep in-the-money that it's essentially equivalent to owning the stock itself. Since your options were at-the-money when opened, they likely wouldn't meet this "deep ITM" threshold. The timing issue is also important - in your case, you didn't sell stock at a loss and then buy an option. Instead, you had an option expire worthless and simultaneously acquired stock through assignment of another option that was part of the same synthetic strategy from day one. That said, given the complexity and the fact that synthetic longs are designed to replicate stock ownership, I'd recommend keeping detailed documentation of your investment rationale (beyond tax considerations) and consider consulting with a tax professional who specializes in options strategies if you're using this approach frequently. The current treatment by your brokerage appears to follow standard practice, but having professional backup never hurts with complex strategies.