11 What kind of tax treaty benefits did you find with the UK? My wife is from Canada and I'm wondering if there are similar advantages. Also, what's the threshold for FBAR reporting? We have a joint account in her country but it's not a huge amount.

3 The UK-US tax treaty had specific provisions about pension contributions and certain types of investment income that were beneficial in our case. Every treaty is different though - the US-Canada one has its own unique aspects, so definitely look into that specifically. For FBAR reporting, the threshold is if your foreign accounts combined exceed $10,000 at any point during the year. Even if your individual account is small, if you have multiple accounts that together exceed that amount, you need to file. And remember, it's not just bank accounts but also investment accounts, certain pension accounts, etc.

13 I e-filed last year with my husband's ITIN. The trick is that you need to enter the ITIN exactly as it appears on the ITIN letter from the IRS, including any hyphens. I had problems at first because I was entering it without hyphens.

Do you need to have an actual CPA for this? My guy has some tax credential but I don't think he's a CPA. Not even sure what the difference is honestly.

You can file complaints against any tax preparer regardless of their credentials. For CPAs, you'd contact the state board of accountancy. For enrolled agents, you'd file with the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility using Form 14157. And for any preparer who has a PTIN (Preparer Tax Identification Number), you can still file with the IRS. The important thing is documenting that they had access to the correct information and still prepared the return incorrectly. The fact that your preparer advised you on the 940/941 process and then still filed Schedule H is particularly damning since it shows they knew about both methods and still double-taxed you.

How often do these kinds of major errors happen? I always assumed professional preparers had software that would catch obvious stuff like double taxation...

Major errors like double taxation are relatively rare because most tax software does have flags for obvious issues. However, the software is only as good as the information entered into it. In this case, it sounds like the preparer entered the Schedule H without checking previous tax payments made through 940/941. Most professional offices have quality review procedures specifically to catch these kinds of errors - someone other than the preparer should review the return before filing. That's what's particularly troubling here. Either they completely skipped quality review, or whoever did it was equally incompetent. The issue with stock basis errors confirms a pattern of carelessness rather than a one-time mistake.

Thanks for breaking it down! Is FreeTaxUSA actually accurate though? I know TurboTax is expensive but I'm scared of using something cheap and getting audited or missing out on money I should get back.

FreeTaxUSA is absolutely accurate - I've used it for years including with some complicated situations (rental property, investments, etc). The calculations are all based on the same tax laws regardless of which software you use. Regarding audit concerns, your audit risk is based on what's reported on your return, not which software you use to file it. TurboTax doesn't have any special "audit protection" in their standard packages anyway - they just try to upsell you on that service. The best protection against audits is simply reporting all your income accurately and keeping good records of your deductions.

I used the IRS Direct File pilot program when they expanded it this year. It's completely free and pretty straightforward if you have a simple tax situation (W-2 income, standard deduction). The interface isn't as polished as TurboTax, but it gets the job done and there are absolutely zero upsells or hidden fees. The main limitation is that it only supports certain types of income and credits right now - no self-employment income, no itemized deductions, etc. But if you qualify, it's the most straightforward option.

This is bad advice and could get the OP in trouble. You can't just form an LLC to deduct volunteer work expenses. For a home office deduction, you need actual business income and profit motive. Volunteer work for a charity explicitly doesn't qualify, and trying to create a business structure around volunteer work could be seen as tax fraud if there's no legitimate business activity.

You're right, I should have been more specific. I wasn't suggesting creating an LLC just for volunteer work - that would definitely be problematic. What I was thinking was if OP had actual animal care services they provided separately from their volunteer work (like dog walking, pet sitting, etc.), then forming a legitimate business around those paid services might allow for some deductions that wouldn't be available otherwise. But you'd need genuine business income and operations, not just restructuring volunteer activities.

Thank you! This is really helpful - I hadn't even thought about things like utilities or cleaning supplies. Do you track the mileage to vet appointments with a specific app or just write it down somewhere?

I just use the notes app on my phone! Nothing fancy. I record the date, where I went, mileage, and purpose (like "Foster dog Bella - vet appointment for vaccines - 12.4 miles"). My tax guy said the IRS appreciates that level of detail. For things like utilities, I calculated the square footage of my foster room as a percentage of my total apartment, then applied that percentage to my utility bills. Keep all your receipts for supplies too - I use a separate folder in Google Drive just for foster expenses and take pictures of everything.

Do you know if this works if self-employment is just a side gig? I drive for Uber on weekends but have a regular W-2 job. Would I qualify for a solo 401k to do this rollover strategy?

Yes, this absolutely works with side gig self-employment! I was in exactly your situation - full-time W-2 job but also doing photography on the side with 1099 income. You can open a solo 401k with your self-employment income even if it's not your main job. There's no minimum income requirement to open a solo 401k, though you can only contribute based on your actual self-employment earnings. But for rollover purposes, you can roll in much larger amounts from your traditional IRAs regardless of how much you earn from your side gig. Just make sure you set up the solo 401k before the end of the calendar year.

I've heard horror stories like this! How much extra did you end up owing in taxes because of the mistake?