That's an interesting perspective I hadn't considered. Do you have any sources that outline how the UN plan might benefit regular businesses? Most of what I've read frames it as a power struggle between institutions rather than discussing practical impacts on different types of companies.

I've been primarily looking at analysis from international tax policy organizations like the Tax Justice Network and some academic papers from the Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation. They discuss how formulary apportionment (which the UN plan leans toward) can benefit companies with substantial physical operations in multiple countries versus those relying heavily on intellectual property shifting. The UN approach tends to favor taxation where actual economic activity occurs (employees, sales, physical assets), while the OECD approach gives more weight to where value is "created," which can be more subjectively determined. For companies with transparent international operations, this can mean less competitive disadvantage compared to those using complex structures.

Totally agree! I'm so tired of seeing big corps pay less in taxes than I do as a small business owner. I don't really care if it's the UN or OECD leading the charge as long as someone closes these ridiculous loopholes. The current system is completely broken.

Thank you for bringing this up! I do have a separate business account for the dance studio, but I've occasionally used my personal card for studio expenses when I forgot the business card. Is that going to be a problem? Should I be reimbursing myself officially or something?

Using your personal card occasionally isn't the end of the world as long as you properly document everything. Keep all receipts and create a formal reimbursement process - even if it's just you approving it as the director. I recommend creating a simple reimbursement form that details the expense, date, purpose, and business justification. Attach the receipt and have it "approved" (by you or ideally another board member if you have any). This creates a clear paper trail showing these were legitimate business expenses, not personal ones. The key is maintaining that clear separation with proper documentation.

This! I run a small nonprofit music education program and had to file separate forms with my state's department of revenue AND secretary of state to maintain our state-level exemptions. Each state has different requirements.

So in my original example, if I had $7,000 in non-refundable credits instead of $3,700, I'd still only get a $5,800 refund (the amount that was withheld), not $7,000? And I'd basically lose $1,200 in credits?

That's exactly right. If your tax payable is $5,800 and you have $7,000 in non-refundable credits, you can only use $5,800 of those credits to reduce your tax to zero. The remaining $1,200 in credits is essentially "wasted" (except for specific credits like tuition amounts that can be carried forward). Since your employer withheld $5,800, you would get all of that back as a refund, but not the extra $1,200 in unused credits. That's the key difference between non-refundable and refundable credits - the latter would give you the full value regardless of your tax owing.

But doesn't that depend on your tax bracket? I heard RRSP contributions are better if you're in a higher bracket now than you expect to be when you withdraw.

Do you know if we can just use regular tax software for this? Or do we need something special for self-employment stuff?

Regular tax software will work fine for this amount of self-employment income. All the major ones (TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxAct, etc.) can handle Schedule C and Schedule SE. Some free versions have limitations though, so you might need to pay for a slightly upgraded version that handles self-employment. The software will walk you through the specific questions about your business income and expenses. Just make sure to select the option that indicates you have self-employment or business income when you start the process.

That's true! But isn't the standard deduction only for income tax and not self-employment tax? I think they'd still owe the SE tax even with the standard deduction.

Thank you for bringing this up! I hadn't even considered the resident vs. nonresident alien distinction. Do you know if there's any advantage to being classified one way or the other? And will FreeTaxUSA automatically determine which forms I need based on my answers?

There can definitely be advantages depending on your specific situation. Generally, if most of your income was earned outside the US (which sounds like your case), being a nonresident alien means you only pay US tax on US-source income. As a resident alien, you'd be taxed on worldwide income. FreeTaxUSA will guide you through questions to determine your status and should select the appropriate forms. However, there's a special provision where nonresident aliens married to US citizens can elect to be treated as residents for tax purposes, allowing you to file jointly. This is often beneficial but depends on your specific numbers. The software should walk you through this option as well once it determines your status.

I've used both. TurboTax is more hand-holdy with foreign income but WAY more expensive when you need the premium version for international situations. FreeTaxUSA has all the same forms and capabilities but the interface is slightly less polished. Functionally they both work fine - I switched to FreeTaxUSA and saved about $70.