Thank you for the insider perspective! Would you recommend I gather any other documentation before going in? I have the original Dollar Tree W-2 and my tax return paperwork from that year. Should I call and make an appointment specifically about this issue?

I would definitely recommend calling ahead for an appointment and specifically mentioning that you're coming in about a preparer error that requires an amendment. This helps ensure you get scheduled with someone more experienced rather than a seasonal preparer. Bring absolutely everything from that tax year - all W-2s (including the missed one), your full tax return packet, and any other tax documents like 1099s or interest statements. If you have any emails or receipts from your original preparation, bring those too as they might show what you paid for and what guarantees were included.

Good question! The Recovery Rebate Credits (stimulus payments) from 2021 started phasing out at $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for married filing jointly. Based on OP's description (adding about $26K to a previous $13K), their total income of roughly $39K would still be well below the phase-out threshold. So they likely wouldn't have to repay any stimulus money. The Earned Income Tax Credit is a different story though - that would almost certainly be recalculated based on the higher income, which might reduce the credit amount they received.

How do you calculate the right percentage to claim? Is it based on income split, hours worked, or something else?

You calculate it based on the square footage of your office space divided by your total home square footage. So if your office is 100 square feet in a 1,000 square foot apartment, you'd get a 10% deduction of eligible expenses. It's not based on income or hours worked at all. The more complicated part is that you can only deduct expenses against your self-employment income. So if your freelance work only brings in $2,000 but your deductible home office expenses would be $3,000, you're limited to deducting $2,000. The calculation can get a bit tricky but most tax software walks you through it.

Seconding this. My company reimburses up to $750 for home office furniture and tech. They switched to this model instead of maintaining physical offices. Definitely worth asking your employer about!

What kind of documentation did they want to see? I'm taking some bonus depreciation this year and paranoid about an audit.

The standard April 15 deadline (April 18 for 2025 due to the weekend) applies to non-residents as well. However, if you're a non-resident alien who doesn't have any US source income subject to withholding, you may have until June 15 to file.

I had no idea about totalization agreements! I'm from Brazil - do you know if that would apply to me?

Brazil currently doesn't have a totalization agreement with the US, so you would generally be subject to US self-employment taxes (Social Security and Medicare) on your 1099-NEC income. This is in addition to income tax. This is actually one of the trickier parts of filing as a non-resident with self-employment income, and why using specialized software can be worth the cost. The self-employment tax is roughly 15.3% on top of regular income tax, so it's a significant amount! Make sure whatever filing method you choose correctly calculates this for your 1099-NEC income.

Ooh, that's interesting about self-rentals. What about if I own a single-member LLC that owns both my business and a building, and the business operates in that building? Would that qualify as self-rental for QBI purposes?

For self-rentals and QBI, the key is having common ownership between the rental activity and the operating business, not necessarily the exact same entity. If your single-member LLC owns both the business operations and the building, it's actually simpler - it's all within one entity so there's no "rental" happening for tax purposes. The self-rental rule typically applies when you have separate entities or activities - like if you personally owned the building and rented it to your LLC business. In that case, the rental income would generally qualify for QBI regardless of whether the rental itself meets the trade or business standard.

Triple net leases are specifically mentioned in IRS guidance as potentially problematic for QBI. In Rev. Proc. 2019-38, they explicitly excluded triple net leases from the safe harbor. But that doesn't automatically disqualify you from claiming QBI - it just means you can't use the safe harbor provision.

Thanks for clarifying that! So I'd need to prove my triple net lease activities constitute a trade/business outside of the safe harbor? Sounds like an uphill battle given how passive those arrangements are by design. I might need to talk to my accountant about this one.