Do you need a paper mileage log or is there an app that's IRS-approved for tracking business miles? I always forget to write stuff down.

There's no officially "IRS-approved" app, but digital logs are absolutely acceptable as long as they contain all required information. The IRS needs the date, business purpose, starting point, destination, and total business miles for each trip. Many apps like MileIQ, Everlance, or TripLog can automatically track your drives and let you classify them as business or personal. These digital logs are actually better than paper in some ways because they can provide GPS verification if questioned. Just make sure you classify each trip contemporaneously (when it happens), not months later when preparing your taxes.

You got lucky! My cousin "forgot" about $8k in crypto gains and ended up getting a full audit where they found a bunch of other issues too. Cost him over $15k when all was said and done. The IRS doesn't mess around with unreported income.

1 That's a great idea! I just searched my email and found a confirmation from when I first set it up. It shows the last four digits of the account (ended in 4832). Now I know it's coming out of my checking account, not my savings. Thanks for the suggestion - such a simple solution I hadn't thought of!

2 I did this for my own 1099 payments and it worked perfectly. Just had to log into both bank accounts online and search for "TurboTax" in the transaction history.

But why would they reduce my income to zero though? Wouldn't they just hit me with penalties for not making enough quarterly payments? I did make some estimated payments but probably not enough.

You're right - they typically just assess penalties rather than reclassifying the income completely. This sounds more like either an error in processing or a mismatch in reported income. The zero income modification is unusual and definitely warrants investigation. When you contact them, specifically ask if this is related to Form 1099 mismatches or if they're questioning the nature of your business itself. Sometimes they'll reclassify business activity as a "hobby" if you've reported losses for several years, but reducing legitimate income to zero is different.

This is good advice. CP2000 specifically is an income verification notice that compares what you reported against what was reported to the IRS by others. Each notice type has specific response requirements.

Is that true for all visa types though? I thought F-1 students always have to file even if they have no income, just to submit the 8843 form?

You're absolutely right about the 8843 form. I should have been more specific in my comment. All F-1 students must file Form 8843 regardless of whether they earned any income. This is just an informational form that establishes your status as a nonresident alien for tax purposes. However, if your only income was reported on a 1042-S with the correct treaty withholding (Box 7 marked), you might not need to file an actual tax return (1040NR) in addition to the 8843. But the 8843 is still required every year you're in the US on a student visa.

I've used both! Sprintax is more comprehensive and handles more complex situations better, especially if you have income from multiple states or need to file state returns. GlacierTax is simpler but doesn't handle some of the more unusual situations. For 1042-S forms specifically, I found Sprintax did a better job explaining what to do with them and which parts were taxable vs. non-taxable. But both will generate the final forms you need to mail in.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I think I'll go with Sprintax then since I do have income from two different states (had an internship in a different state last summer). Good to know it handles the 1042-S forms well - that's been the most confusing part for me.

Do they have a good audit protection plan? That's the only reason I've kept using TurboTax. I'm always paranoid about getting audited.

They definitely do! Their "Deluxe" version includes audit assistance, and it's still way cheaper than TurboTax. It's not audit "protection" in the sense that they don't represent you in person, but they provide guidance on what documents you need and how to respond to IRS notices. I actually had a letter from the IRS questioning one of my deductions last year, and their audit assistance team walked me through exactly what to send and how to word my response. The whole thing was resolved with one letter. For the price difference, I think it's totally worth it, but if you want someone to physically represent you in an audit, you'd need to go with a CPA anyway.

I used it last year! It's legit free, but there are some limitations. It doesn't handle multiple state returns, foreign income, or some less common tax situations. If you have a straightforward return though it works perfectly fine. Only weird thing is that it's in the Cash App now which feels strange for tax software lol.