Careful about people saying "just file this year and move on"!! I made this mistake and got hit with a $10,000 penalty for each year I missed filing the FBAR, even though my foreign account only had about $30k. The IRS is super serious about foreign account reporting.

I'm a tax professional who's helped many clients through similar situations, and I want to emphasize that you're absolutely right to address this proactively. Here's what I recommend: **Immediate Steps:** 1. File delinquent FBARs for all years you've been required (likely all 5 years you've been in the US) using the IRS Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures 2. Include a reasonable cause statement explaining you genuinely forgot about the account 3. Amend your tax returns for the last 3 years to report the unreported interest income **Good News:** - Your situation qualifies for non-willful treatment since this was an honest oversight - The relatively small amounts involved work in your favor - Voluntary disclosure before IRS contact typically results in minimal or no penalties **For the Singapore account specifically:** - You're correct that it's below the Form 8938 threshold - The interest income should be reported on Schedule B of your 1040 - Singapore's tax-exempt status doesn't matter for US tax purposes - you still owe US tax on the interest **FreeTaxUSA guidance:** - Go to Income → Interest Income → Add foreign interest - Enter the USD equivalent using IRS published exchange rates for each year - The software will automatically generate the necessary forms Don't let anxiety paralyze you - taking action now puts you in the best possible position with the IRS. Consider consulting a tax professional if the process feels overwhelming, but your situation is very manageable.

this might be a dumb question but i graduated in may 2024 too and my parents have always claimed me as a dependent. can i still use the 1098-T for anything if they claim me? or does it only matter for them?

Great question! I was in a similar situation when I graduated. You'll definitely still receive your 1098-T for spring 2024 since you were enrolled and paid tuition during that tax year. The school is required to issue it by January 31st regardless of your graduation status. One thing to keep in mind - if you're starting your career and expect to earn more income this year, it might be worth comparing whether you or your parents (if they can still claim you as a dependent) would benefit more from the education credits. Sometimes the credits are more valuable for parents in higher tax brackets, but other times new graduates in lower brackets can get more benefit, especially from the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit. Also, don't forget to keep track of any student loan payments you start making this year - you might be eligible for the student loan interest deduction on next year's return!

You might want to file Form 843 (Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement) specifically requesting a refund of the abated amount. Include copies of the abatement approval letter and the 1099-INT. Check box 5a for interest abatement. I had a similar situation where I received the 1099-INT but no refund. The IRS had applied the credit to another tax year where I didn't actually owe anything, so it just sat in limbo. The Form 843 forced them to properly process the refund.

Don't forget you need to keep track of the interest you're paying tax on! If you never receive the money, you can file a claim for credit or refund using Form 1040-X for the year you reported the phantom interest income. But you only have 3 years from the date you filed the original return to file for a refund.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed on February 23rd and my transcript has been blank this whole time with just that "as of date" showing. It's so nerve-wracking when you're used to seeing all those codes and activity from previous years. Reading everyone's experiences here is actually really reassuring - sounds like this is pretty normal and we just have to wait it out. The hardest part is not knowing if everything is processing correctly or if there's an issue. Thanks for posting this question because I was starting to think something was wrong with my return!

I've been dealing with tax returns for over 10 years and can confirm what others have said - the blank transcript with just an "as of date" is completely normal during early processing. What's happening is your return is in the IRS queue but hasn't been assigned to a processing center yet. The "as of date" will usually jump around every few days (sometimes weekly) until actual processing begins. Once processing starts, you'll see transaction code 150 appear first, followed by other codes. The good news is that filing 2 weeks ago puts you well within the normal 21-day processing window for e-filed returns. I'd recommend checking both your transcript AND Where's My Refund every few days, but don't panic if nothing changes for another week or two - this is just how the IRS system works.

Did anyone address whether books and supplies count in the support calculation? I spent about $1,200 on textbooks last year and another $600 on a required laptop. Do these count toward my total "support" figure?

Just wanted to chime in with some clarification since I see there's been some confusion in the thread about the support test calculation. The key thing to remember is that for the refundable portion of AOTC, "support" means the TOTAL amount it cost to support you during the tax year, regardless of who actually paid for it. This includes: - Full tuition costs (even scholarship-covered portions) - Full room and board costs (even if paid by grants) - Books, supplies, and required equipment - Personal expenses like clothing, transportation, medical costs - Any other living expenses So in your example, Elijah, if your fall tuition was $32,000 but scholarships covered $29,000, you include the full $32,000 in your support calculation, not just the $3,000 you paid. The IRS looks at it this way: What was the total dollar amount needed to support you? Then, did you provide at least half of that support through your own earned income? Given your income of $27,500, your total support would need to be $55,000 or less for you to qualify. With university costs these days, that might be challenging, but you'll need to add up all your actual expenses to see where you stand. Hope this helps clarify things!