Don't forget you can also check your property tax records directly with your county! Most counties now have online portals where you can look up your property and see the exact tax amounts paid and when. Just google "[your county name] property tax records" and you should find it. This is actually more accurate than the 1098 sometimes because the 1098 reports what the mortgage company paid in that calendar year, but depending on timing, that might not match the actual tax year amounts if payments crossed calendar years. I've been doing my own taxes for 11 years and I always verify the property tax amount independently rather than trusting what's on the 1098.

Also check your closing documents if you bought the house recently! When I purchased last year, I had to reimburse the seller for prepaid property taxes at closing, and that amount was also deductible but didn't show up on my 1098 at all. TurboTax has a separate section for property taxes paid outside of your mortgage escrow. Don't miss this if you had any special situations like buying a new home, paying taxes directly, or making additional tax payments.

Pro tip: Avoid MLPs in your regular brokerage account if you hate tax complications. I learned this the hard way. If you want to invest in energy stocks without the K-1 headache, look for energy companies structured as C-corps or consider ETFs that hold MLPs, as they issue 1099s instead of K-1s. Some good alternatives are tickers like XLE (Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund) or AMLP (Alerian MLP ETF) - both give you exposure to the energy sector but issue a simple 1099 instead of a K-1. Your future self will thank you next tax season!

Just a heads up that if you end up with lots of K-1s, Turbotax Deluxe won't cut it. You'll need to upgrade to Premier at minimum, and possibly Self-Employed if you have other business stuff. I found this out the hard way last year and had to pay more to upgrade mid-filing. Super annoying.

Just to add another perspective - I've been married to a Canadian citizen for 3 years who lives across the border. We initially got her an ITIN so I could file Married Filing Separately, but we discovered it was actually beneficial for us to make the election to treat her as a US resident (Form 8833) so we could file jointly. This works for us because Canada's tax treaty with the US prevents double taxation, and her Canadian income was already being taxed at a higher rate. Plus, filing jointly gave us better tax brackets and we could claim certain credits that aren't available when filing separately. Definitely worth having a tax professional review your specific situation to see which filing status is most beneficial. Each international marriage has its own unique considerations!

Has anyone successfully e-filed with a spouse who only has an ITIN? When I tried last year with my Brazilian spouse's ITIN, TurboTax kept rejecting it saying the ITIN didn't match IRS records. Ended up having to paper file which took FOREVER to process.

Something nobody's mentioned yet - have you looked into a 401k LOAN instead of a withdrawal? Usually you can borrow up to 50% of your balance (max $50k) and then repay it over time with interest (which goes back into your own account). The huge advantage is avoiding taxes and penalties completely since it's not considered a distribution. Not a perfect solution since you'd need to make regular repayments, but might be worth considering for part of what you need if cash flow allows. If your husband's plan allows it, of course.

Just sharing my experience - I withdrew from my 401k last year for an emergency home repair. The 20% federal withholding happened automatically. But what nobody told me was that I also had to make quarterly estimated tax payments because the withholding wasn't enough to cover my full tax liability. Make sure you talk to a tax professional about whether you need to submit estimated payments during the year, especially if the withdrawal pushes you into a much higher tax bracket. I got hit with an underpayment penalty because I didn't know this.

I'm a freelancer too and I've used both regular TurboTax and TurboTax Live. Honestly, the Live expert was totally worth it for me. I was missing so many deductions that the expert found for me - mileage I didn't realize was deductible, part of my cell phone bill, professional subscriptions, etc. They saved me at least $1,200 compared to what I would have paid doing it myself. For record keeping, start using an app like Quickbooks Self-Employed immediately - it connects to your bank/credit cards and makes categorizing expenses super easy throughout the year. Then next year your tax situation will be way cleaner.

One thing nobody has mentioned - if you're a first-time self-employed filer with complicated situations like yours, the peace of mind from TurboTax Live might be worth it just for anxiety reduction. I tried to save money doing it myself last year and ended up spending like 30+ hours still feeling unsure. This year I used TurboTax Live and the expert found SO MANY deductions I missed (especially around the home office and business percentage of things like phone/internet) and I felt confident my taxes were done right. Just make sure you get organized before the call - have all your 1099s, expense categories somewhat sorted, etc. The more prepared you are, the more value you'll get from their time.