5 In my experience, calling before the 21-day mark is pretty useless. They'll just tell you it's still within the normal processing time. I'd wait until at least 21 days have passed before trying to contact them - then at least they might give you more specific info about any delays.

9 Thanks for the advice. You're right - I should probably wait until the 21-day mark passes. My return is pretty straightforward so hopefully it won't take much longer than that. Just the waiting and uncertainty that drives me crazy!

1 That's good to know! So even though I'm still waiting for that verification letter, my refund is still being processed behind the scenes? I was worried the whole process was on hold until I got that official verification.

I tried using the free fillable forms for my back taxes from 2020 and it was a nightmare. They don't provide any guidance, and I kept getting errors when I tried to submit because I missed some obscure form. Ended up paying for basic TurboTax anyway because I got so frustrated. If you only have W-2 income it might be doable, but with any complexity, I wouldn't recommend it.

Thanks for sharing your experience. That's exactly what I was worried about. I do have some investment income and a small side business, so it sounds like the free forms would be more trouble than they're worth. I'll probably just bite the bullet and pay for some basic tax software to make sure everything gets filed correctly.

Do you know if the Fresh Start program works for someone who hasn't filed in 5 years? I'm scared to even contact the IRS at this point.

That's interesting! I do have a 2-year lease here and a Singapore employment pass. Would that help establish bona fide residence? The physical presence test seems more straightforward but I'm wondering if bona fide residence might be better long-term since I do plan to visit home occasionally.

Yes, your 2-year lease and Singapore employment pass are excellent proof for the Bona Fide Residence test! Other helpful documentation would include local bank accounts, driver's license (if you have one), utility bills in your name, and evidence of community involvement. You're right that physical presence is more straightforward for your first year, but bona fide residence gives you more flexibility for visits home in future years. The key is demonstrating that Singapore is truly your tax home and center of life. Once established, you can generally maintain bona fide residence status even with more substantial visits to the US, as long as your trips are temporary and you clearly intend to return to Singapore.

This is so true. I'm from California and even after moving to Germany for work, they kept considering me a CA resident because I kept my driver's license and had some investment property there. Had to pay state taxes on top of everything else until I officially "moved" to Florida first (on paper) before heading overseas again.

Yes, TurboTax does push you to Form 1116 once you exceed the threshold, but DON'T take the deduction just to avoid the form! I made that mistake last year with $820 in foreign taxes. Taking the deduction instead of the credit cost me around $600 in missed tax savings (I'm in the 32% bracket, so the deduction was way less valuable than the credit). Form 1116 seems intimidating but isn't that bad once you get into it. Most of your dividend-related foreign taxes just go into the "passive income" category, and TurboTax will guide you through it step by step.

Thanks for the advice! I was leaning toward just taking the deduction to avoid dealing with another form, but $600 in missed savings is definitely worth spending an extra 30 minutes on Form 1116. I'm in a similar tax bracket, so I'd probably be leaving similar money on the table. Is it true that I need to categorize dividends from different countries separately, or can I just lump all my foreign dividend taxes into one entry on Form 1116?

Is there a specific form or worksheet for tracking the carryforward amounts? I'm worried I might have some excess credits from previous years that I didn't claim. Does TurboTax automatically carry these forward if you used it in previous years?

Do you know if there's any regulation about how much extra they can charge for credit? My local station is charging almost a dollar more per gallon for credit vs cash which seems WAY more than the actual processing fee would be.

The regulations vary by state, but generally there's no strict limit on the price difference. However, in most states, they do need to clearly post both prices. Some states like California have regulations requiring that credit card surcharges can't exceed the actual cost to the merchant, but enforcement is spotty. The large difference you're seeing (nearly a dollar) is definitely more than just covering the processing fee. It's likely they're using the cash discount to encourage a payment method that has other benefits for them - faster settlement, no chargebacks, and possibly some unreported cash transactions. It's a way to improve their overall margins in a business with typically very thin profit margins.

Is it true that gas stations make almost no money on the actual gas and make all their profit on the convenience store stuff? I've heard that's why they try so hard to get people inside the store.