I've been through this exact thing with my parents in Brazil. I ended up using Form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income) and was able to offset some costs, but it was super complicated. Make sure your parents qualify as dependents under the IRS rules before you go through all the trouble.

The residency test is indeed a major hurdle that many people overlook. Since your parents are in Thailand, you're unfortunately correct that you likely can't claim them as dependents due to the residency requirement. However, don't give up entirely on tax relief. As Mateo mentioned, you might still be able to deduct medical expenses if you pay providers directly. This means instead of sending money to your parents who then pay the doctors, you would need to pay the Thai medical facilities directly from your US bank account. Keep detailed records of these direct payments. Another option to explore is whether any of the medical care qualifies as qualified medical expenses that you could pay with a Health Savings Account (HSA) if you have one. While the dependency rules are strict, HSA rules for medical expenses can sometimes be more flexible. I'd strongly recommend consulting with a tax professional who specializes in international tax situations before your next filing. The rules around foreign medical expenses and dependencies are complex and change frequently, so getting expert guidance could save you from costly mistakes.

According to the IRS.gov FAQ section on common filing errors, incorrect birth dates are among the top 5 most common errors they encounter. They specifically state that these errors alone don't typically delay processing. If you check the Where's My Refund tool and it shows your return is being processed, you're likely fine. Just make sure to review your return carefully next year before your preparer submits it.

I went through this exact situation two years ago! My preparer somehow entered 1992 instead of 1993 for my birth year. I was stressed for weeks thinking it would delay my refund, but it processed completely normally. The IRS has sophisticated matching systems that cross-reference your SSN with their existing records - that's your primary identifier. Since you mentioned everything else is correct (SSN, income, etc.), you should be fine. The DOB error will likely be flagged internally but won't stop processing. I'd recommend just monitoring your refund status through Where's My Refund and avoid spending money on unnecessary services or amended returns unless the IRS specifically requests it. Save your stress and your money - this is way more common than you think!

TurboTax is super annoying with this! Last year they kept asking me to categorize stuff in box 14 that didn't matter at all. I called my HR department and they told me to just pick Health Insurance for the DEN and VIS codes.

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!

Has anyone tried deducting home office expenses for their Vine reviewing "business"? I've got a dedicated space where I photograph and test the products, and I'm wondering if I can deduct a portion of my rent/utilities.

Thanks everyone for the detailed responses! This is super helpful. I'm feeling much more confident about handling this now. One quick follow-up question - since I only started with Amazon Vine in September last year, would it make sense to start making quarterly estimated payments now for this year's taxes, or should I wait until I have a better sense of how much I'll receive in products this year? Also, for those who mentioned deducting business expenses - I assume I need to keep receipts for everything, right? Like if I buy a new camera specifically for taking better product photos for my reviews, that would be deductible?

upload everything online when u can instead of mailing. way faster turnaround time trust

I went through this exact same situation last year! The waiting for the letter is definitely the worst part. In my case, they requested copies of my W-2s and a form to verify my identity (had to provide SSN, DOB, and prior year AGI). One thing that helped me was calling their customer service line after I got the letter - they were able to confirm what specific documents they needed over the phone, which saved me from having to guess or send extra stuff. The number should be on the letter when you get it. Also, definitely use the online upload option like others mentioned. I submitted everything digitally and got my refund about 3 weeks later. Way faster than mailing paper copies. The online portal also lets you track the status of your document submission, so you'll know when they've received and reviewed everything. Try not to stress too much - from what I've seen, most of these requests are routine verification stuff, not because there's actually a problem with your return. Good luck!