I've been dealing with this exact situation for years with my international investments. One thing nobody mentioned yet: check if you qualify for the simplified foreign tax credit limit election, where you skip Form 1116 entirely. But with your numbers, you probably don't qualify since the $300 limit ($600 if married) is well below your foreign taxes paid. Also, watch out for which mutual funds you're investing in going forward. I switched to funds that have lower foreign tax exposure to avoid this headache.

This is a frustrating situation, but you're understanding it correctly. When your foreign capital losses exceed your foreign dividend income, it does significantly limit your ability to claim the Foreign Tax Credit for the current year. Here's what's happening: Form 1116 requires you to calculate your net foreign source income by category. In the passive income basket (which includes your dividends), your $15K capital loss more than wipes out your $10.5K dividend income, leaving you with negative foreign source income in that category. You can't claim a foreign tax credit against negative income. However, don't despair - those foreign taxes you legitimately paid aren't lost forever. You can carry them forward for up to 10 years to use when you have positive foreign source income again. Make sure to complete Form 1116 anyway to establish this carryforward, even though you won't get a current year benefit. Also keep in mind that your $15K foreign loss may create an "Overall Foreign Loss" account that could complicate future years' tax calculations when you do have positive foreign income again. For future years, you might want to consider tax-loss harvesting strategies that separate your foreign gains and losses, or look into funds with lower foreign tax drag if this becomes a recurring issue.

Verification is actually a good thing - means they're protecting against identity theft. But yeah the wait times are brutal ngl

I just went through this process last month! The online ID.me verification worked for me after a few tries - definitely try early morning like someone mentioned. If that doesn't work, the in-person appointments are actually pretty quick, just hard to get. Once I verified, it took exactly 21 days to get my refund deposited. Hang in there, I know the waiting is stressful but you'll get through it!

I'm experiencing the exact same issues! Been trying to access FreeTaxUSA since around 10am and getting constant timeouts and error messages. Really glad I found this thread - it's such a relief to know this is just server overload from peak tax season traffic and not something wrong on my end. The Twitter update about 300% higher than normal traffic definitely explains what we're all going through. Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like the late evening/early morning approach is the way to go. I'm going to try again around 10pm tonight, and if that doesn't work, I'll set an alarm for 6am tomorrow. Really appreciate everyone sharing their workarounds and experiences - this community has been incredibly helpful! The cost savings compared to TurboTax are definitely worth waiting an extra day or two for their servers to stabilize. I almost panicked and was about to switch back to TurboTax, but now I'm confident this is just a temporary issue. Thanks for the tip about bookmarking the direct login page too - I'm going to try that approach if I run into more issues later!

I'm dealing with the exact same issue! Been trying to get into FreeTaxUSA since about 9am this morning and it's been nothing but error messages and slow loading pages. Really frustrating since I also planned today specifically for tax filing. After reading through all these experiences, it's clear this is just peak season server overload - which actually makes me feel better about sticking with FreeTaxUSA rather than switching to something more expensive. The fact that so many people are having success with the late evening approach gives me hope. I'm going to try again around 10:30pm tonight when traffic should be much lower. If that doesn't work, I'll try the early morning suggestion (maybe 5:30am before most people start their day). The cost savings compared to TurboTax are definitely worth waiting an extra day or two. Thanks to everyone for sharing their workarounds and experiences - this thread has been incredibly helpful and reassuring during a stressful situation! Sometimes it just helps to know you're not alone in dealing with technical difficulties.

Don't forget that if you trade micro e-minis or other small futures contracts, the wash sale rules don't apply like they do with stocks! This is a huge advantage for futures traders. You can take your losses in December to offset income and then jump right back into the same positions in January without triggering wash sale rules.

You're absolutely right to start gathering this information early! As someone who went through this same situation last year, here's what I wish I had known: Your tax preparer will definitely need the 1099 from Tradovate, but they'll also need to complete Form 6781 (Gains and Losses From Section 1256 Contracts and Straddles) to properly report your futures trading losses. The good news is that since you're using a professional tax preparer, they should handle all the form preparation - you just need to provide them with the documentation. Make sure to bring not just the 1099, but also any monthly statements from Tradovate showing your trading activity. Sometimes the 1099s can have errors, so having backup documentation is always smart. One advantage you have with futures losses is that they're marked-to-market at year-end, meaning any open positions are treated as if they were closed on December 31st. This can actually be beneficial for tax planning purposes. Since you mentioned you're new to filing with trading activity, I'd suggest having a brief conversation with your tax preparer about futures trading taxes before your appointment. Most good preparers are familiar with Section 1256 contracts, but it's worth confirming they have experience with trading taxes to avoid any surprises.

Has anyone ever had the IRS question their home sale reporting? I'm worried because we're in a similar situation where we're not going to owe any taxes due to the exclusion, but we did a ton of improvements over the years and I'm not sure I have receipts for all of them. Some were done 8+ years ago.

Just want to add a practical tip from my experience - even though you can't deduct the loss on your personal residence, make sure you keep detailed records of everything related to the sale. The IRS has been increasingly scrutinizing home sales, especially when large exclusions are claimed. For your situation with the negative $121k after exclusion, you'll report it as zero taxable gain, but having all your documentation organized (purchase records, improvement receipts, selling costs, etc.) is crucial. I'd recommend creating a simple spreadsheet that shows your calculation step by step - purchase price, improvements, selling costs, gross gain, exclusion applied, final taxable amount. Also, double-check that all your improvements qualify for basis adjustment. Generally, repairs don't count but improvements that add value, prolong the home's life, or adapt it to new uses do count. Kitchen remodels and basement finishing definitely qualify, but make sure you're not including regular maintenance items.