Don't forget about state taxes too! Your 1099-B might not be taxable for federal purposes as a nonresident alien, but some states have different rules. For example, I'm in California and they consider certain capital gains taxable for nonresidents even when the feds don't. Check your state's rules or you might get a surprise tax bill later.

Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who went through this exact situation two years ago. The key thing that helped me understand was realizing that as a nonresident alien student, you're essentially in a "protected" category for most investment income. The IRS generally doesn't want to tax casual investment gains from nonresident students because you're not here permanently and aren't engaged in a U.S. trade or business. However, you still need to be careful about a few things: 1. Keep detailed records of your days in the US each year - this becomes crucial for both the substantial presence test and the special capital gains 183-day rule that Liam mentioned. 2. Don't forget about the FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) if you have foreign accounts with more than $10,000 aggregate balance at any time during the year. 3. Even if your capital gains aren't taxable, you might still want to attach a statement to your 1040NR explaining why you're not reporting them - this can prevent IRS questions later. The good news is that most F-1 students in their first few years don't have to worry about capital gains taxes, but the rules can get tricky if you stay longer or have substantial trading activity.

Anyone else remember the old days when we had to actually mail paper returns with a postmark by midnight? I once drove to the post office at 11:45pm on April 15th and there was a line of cars around the block! Now we're all stressing about electronic timestamps lol.

Don't panic! You're almost certainly fine. The IRS uses your local time zone for the filing deadline, so if you submitted at 11:23pm Pacific Time on April 15th, you made the deadline with 37 minutes to spare. The April 16th date on your confirmation is likely just because the tax prep service's servers are running on Eastern Time (where it was already past midnight when you filed). What matters to the IRS is the actual electronic submission timestamp with your local time zone info, not what's displayed on the confirmation page. If you want peace of mind, you can check your "Where's My Refund" status on the IRS website in a few days - once it shows up there, you'll know your return was accepted and processed normally. But based on what you've described, you should be all set!

Has anyone actually gotten audited for small theatre production income? I'm in a similar situation and wondering how detailed the IRS actually gets with these small creative projects.

This is exactly the kind of situation where keeping meticulous records from day one makes all the difference! I learned this the hard way after my first indie film project where I had similar income/expense confusion. One thing I don't see mentioned yet - make sure you're tracking your expenses by category that align with Schedule C categories. The IRS has specific line items for things like "advertising and promotion," "contract labor," "office expenses," etc. When you're organizing your theatre expenses, try to fit them into these standard categories rather than just lumping everything together as "production costs." Also, since this was your first time producing, you might want to consider whether this was a one-time thing or if you're planning to do more productions. If it's going to be ongoing, you should think about setting up proper business record-keeping from the start. It makes everything so much easier come tax time, and it shows the IRS that you're treating this as a legitimate business rather than just a hobby. The profit-sharing arrangement with the partner theatre is definitely deductible as you've been told, but document the business purpose clearly. Keep any emails, contracts, or written agreements that show this was a legitimate business arrangement, not just splitting money with friends.

If anyone else is confused about timezones like me, I found that most tax software automatically adjusts for your timezone based on your location. I used TurboTax last year and it showed a countdown timer with my local deadline. Just make sure your address info is correct in the software!

Great question about time zones! As someone who's dealt with this exact situation before, I can confirm that Carmen is absolutely right - it's based on your current legal residence, not where your income was earned. Since you're living in Colorado, your deadline is 11:59 PM Mountain Time on October 15th. One thing I'd add is to double-check that your current address is correctly listed on your tax return, since that's what the IRS uses to determine your time zone. Also, given that you're cutting it close, I'd strongly recommend not waiting until the very last minute on Tuesday evening. The e-filing systems can get overwhelmed on deadline day, and if there are any technical issues or if your return gets rejected for any reason, you might not have time to fix it and resubmit. Maybe consider trying to wrap it up during your lunch break or earlier in the evening if possible? Better safe than sorry with the IRS!

One little tip that saved me when I had to paper file: If you use tax software to prepare your return but then print it for mailing, make sure you sign the physical form with pen! The software obviously can't sign for you, and an unsigned return will get rejected or severely delayed. Sounds obvious but I made this mistake once and it delayed my refund by months.

I totally understand the anxiety about paper filing - I went through the same thing a couple years ago when I had issues with my e-file! One thing that really helped me was creating a simple checklist before mailing everything. Here's what worked for me: 1. Print your completed forms (Form 1040 + any schedules you need) 2. Attach your W-2 to the front of Form 1040 (use the actual W-2, not a copy) 3. Sign and date in blue or black ink - don't forget this step! 4. Make copies of everything for your records before sealing the envelope 5. Use the correct IRS processing center address for your state (check IRS.gov) 6. Send via certified mail with return receipt requested The waiting is honestly the worst part - paper returns do take 6-8 weeks minimum, sometimes longer. But once you get that tracking confirmation showing it was delivered, you can relax knowing you did everything right. You've got this! The fact that you're being so careful about getting it right means you're probably going to do just fine.