That's a great point about the NIIT - totally forgot about that one! And the charitable donation bunching strategy is smart. Do you think it's worth trying to stay under the NIIT threshold even if it means taking a slightly lower salary?

For most people, higher income still wins out even with the NIIT, but it depends on your investment mix. If a large portion of your income is from investments, staying under the threshold could make sense. The charitable bunching strategy works really well if you're close to the itemization threshold. For example, if you normally donate $10k yearly but your total itemized deductions would be just under the standard deduction, you could donate $20k every other year, itemize in those years, and take the standard deduction in between.

I've heard that too, the "happy middle" where you have enough to be comfortable but the tax code still throws you some bones. Makes me feel better about my "measly" 90k salary lol

I've heard about the S-Corp strategy but wasn't sure if it would work for an international situation. How complicated was it to set up the S-Corp election? And did you have any issues with paying yourself from US business accounts while living abroad?

Setting up the S-Corp election just requires filing Form 2553 with the IRS. The form itself isn't complex, but timing matters - you generally need to file within 2 months and 15 days of the start of the tax year you want it to take effect. For paying myself while abroad, I maintain both US and local bank accounts. I pay my "official" salary from the business account to my US personal account, then transfer money as needed to my local account. You'll want to document everything clearly - keep records of transfers and maintain separate business and personal accounts. The biggest challenge was figuring out the "reasonable salary" requirement, as it needs to be justifiable if audited. I worked with an accountant to determine an appropriate amount based on comparable roles in my industry.

This is super important! I got hit with double taxation because I didn't properly structure my business activities between the US and Thailand where I was living. There's a tax treaty between US and China that might help avoid double taxation, but you need to know how to properly claim those benefits.

22 You can file without the actual W2 by using Form 4852 (Substitute for Form W2). You'll need your last paystub to estimate your earnings and withholdings. BUT you should only do this after trying to get your W2 from your employer and then contacting the IRS for help. The downside is your refund might be delayed while the IRS verifies your information. If your estimates are significantly off from what your employer reports, you might need to file an amended return later.

5 Thanks for the info! I'll try contacting my employer one more time tomorrow, and if that doesn't work, I'll try the IRS route before using Form 4852. Hopefully I can still get my refund relatively soon - I hate how one missing form can mess up everything!

1 Oh! I didn't think of that! We did use some online system for viewing our paystubs. I'll try logging in tonight to see if I can access it. Hopefully my account is still active even though I don't work there anymore. That would be such an easy solution!

Do you use a special app for tracking receipts? I have a small Etsy shop and I'm terrible at keeping track of all the little supply purchases and shipping costs.

I use a combination of tools that work well together. For receipts, I use an app called Expensify - you just snap a photo of each receipt immediately and it extracts all the important data. Then I export everything quarterly to a spreadsheet for my records. The key is making it a habit to immediately capture every receipt the moment you get it. For mileage tracking, MileIQ has been a game-changer. It runs in the background on your phone and automatically detects when you're driving. After each trip, you just swipe right for business or left for personal. Super easy and has detailed reports for tax time. The peace of mind from knowing everything is properly tracked is honestly worth even more than the tax savings!

I've heard this before but I'm actually the opposite - I LIKE getting a big refund because I'm terrible at saving. It's like a forced savings account for me that turns into a nice vacation fund each spring. Would you really recommend changing to smaller refunds for everyone?

I'm actually not sure! In the first service I think I just followed the prompts about having received a 1099-MISC and entered the numbers. In the second one I might have categorized it differently without realizing. That could explain the difference. Do you know if mediation work should be considered self-employment income or something else?

Mediation work reported on a 1099-MISC should typically be treated as self-employment income, which means you'd need to pay self-employment tax on it (an additional 15.3% covering both employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare). If one service is calculating it as self-employment income and the other isn't, that would explain a big difference. The service showing you owe money is probably calculating it correctly with self-employment tax, while the other might be missing that. Check box 7 on your 1099-MISC - if there's an amount there for "Nonemployee compensation," that's definitely self-employment income.

Second this advice about the local tax preparer. Online services have improved but they're still not perfect with state-specific regulations. I found a small local accounting office that reviewed my self-prepared return for $65 and found several errors that would have cost me hundreds.