Couldn't you deduct the amount you paid to your friend as a business expense though? Like as a contractor payment or something?

That's what I thought too, but it's not that simple. Unless you have a formal agreement and you're paying them as a contractor with proper documentation (including a W-8BEN form for foreign contractors), those payments aren't automatically deductible. The IRS wanted to see proof that these were legitimate business expenses and not just me moving money around. Without the right paperwork established beforehand, they considered all the income as mine. Plus, there are strict reporting requirements for payments to foreign persons that I wasn't aware of. The whole thing turned into an audit nightmare.

This happened to my brother! His "friend" imported some electronics that turned out to be counterfeit. Customs seized the shipment and my brother got hit with a $15,000 fine since the business was in his name. The "friend" disappeared and my brother was stuck with the bill.

That's a really good point I hadn't considered. Do you know if there's any downside to claiming Sweden if they still consider me a tax resident? Would I still have tax obligations to Sweden even though I'm now living in the US?

Yes, that's the potential catch - if Sweden still considers you a tax resident, you might have ongoing tax filing obligations there. Sweden, like many countries, taxes its residents on worldwide income. However, there's a tax treaty between the US and Sweden that prevents double taxation. The treaty typically assigns primary taxing rights to the country where you're physically performing work (the US in your case for your PhD stipend), but investment income like dividends can be more complicated. The treaty usually reduces withholding rates, but you might need to report the income in both countries. I'd recommend checking the Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) website or contacting them directly about your specific situation to understand if and when your tax residency in Sweden officially ends.

Did you have any issues with your broker accepting the form with France instead of Germany? I'm worried my investment platform might question why my citizenship country doesn't match my residence country.

8 Wait really? So even if they get married on December 31, they're considered married for the WHOLE tax year? That seems weird... does that mean you could strategic time your wedding for tax purposes?

15 Yes, that's exactly right. The IRS only cares about your marital status on the last day of the year. If you're married on December 31st, you're considered married for the entire tax year. And yes, some people do strategically time their weddings for tax purposes, though I wouldn't recommend making such an important life decision solely based on taxes! But it's something to be aware of as you plan. In some cases, delaying a December wedding to January could be beneficial, while in other situations (like the original poster's with disparate incomes), getting married before year-end might save money.

2 I disagree - their withholding seems reasonable. The effective tax rate for someone earning around $570k would be close to 20% after deductions, and they're at 18.5% with a quarter of the year left. They're probably on track.

This is super helpful! I just checked my draft 2024 return and found Schedule C was there even though I'm purely W2. When I dug deeper, turns out I had checked a box about "online selling" because I sold some old furniture on Facebook Marketplace. TurboTax was treating that as self-employment and letting me allocate home office space to that "business." Would this tiny amount of selling stuff online actually qualify for home office?

For casual selling of personal items like furniture on Facebook Marketplace, that's typically not considered self-employment and wouldn't qualify for home office deduction. The IRS generally views that as selling personal items at a loss (since you're selling used items for less than you paid). For a home office deduction to be valid for self-employment, you need regular and exclusive use of the space for business purposes, and the activity needs to have a profit motive with regular, ongoing activity. Occasional selling of personal items doesn't meet those criteria. You should uncheck that box if you're not actually running a business with intent to make profit.

Same thing happened to me! The home office change affected my total itemized deductions which made them less than the standard deduction, so TurboTax switched me to standard. But then that made some of my state deductions invalid. It was a whole domino effect. Ended up owing about $2450 more than my original calculation.

That's a fantastic idea! I hadn't thought about checking public records. Would the Secretary of State site definitely have the EIN though? I was under the impression that EINs aren't always public information.

The Secretary of State site won't always have the EIN directly listed, you're right about that. But it will have the company's official registered name, address, and usually the name of the registered agent or owner. Having the full legal entity name is often helpful when reporting on your taxes. With that information, you can also try searching the EDGAR database on the SEC website if it's a larger company, or sometimes even a Google search for "[Company Name] EIN" works because companies often put their EIN on various public documents. Local business licenses sometimes include this info too.

This is terrible advice. If your estimate is significantly lower than what the company reports, you'll get a CP2000 notice and potentially owe penalties and interest. Better to overestimate slightly than underreport.