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Concerns About Tax Refund Service Legitimacy for International Student
Hey everyone, I'm an F1 student who spent last summer working in the US (2024). I filed my taxes through an online tax prep company and already signed all the necessary paperwork so they could handle my return (paid their fee already). They're now telling me they've received my refund and need my banking details (account number, routing number, etc.) to transfer the money to me. They're saying I'm getting around $680 back, which honestly seems higher than I expected. Can anyone confirm if this is normal procedure? The company seems legit from what I've researched online, but I'm still a bit nervous about sharing my bank info. Thanks for any advice! PS: With the account and routing numbers, would they even be able to withdraw money from my account if they wanted to?
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First-time filing 1040-ES as independent contractor - completely lost
This is my first year doing independent contractor work and I'm completely lost with the 1040-ES form. I started doing some freelance graphic design on the side of my regular job around March, and I've made about $9,500 so far. My friend mentioned I need to pay quarterly taxes and gave me this 1040-ES form, but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. When it asks for estimated income, do I put what I've made so far or what I think I'll make by the end of the year? And do I include my W-2 income from my day job too? The instructions might as well be in another language. I'm also not sure if I'm already late on payments since I've been doing this since March. Any help would be super appreciated because I don't want to mess this up and end up owing penalties or something!
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Don't forget to save around 30% of your freelance income for taxes! I learned this the hard way my first year. The 1040-ES helps you pay quarterly, but many newbies (including myself) underestimate how much they'll actually owe. Self-employment tax (15.3%) + regular income tax can add up fast. Also, track EVERYTHING for deductions - home office, software, equipment, professional development, portion of internet/phone bills. I use a separate credit card just for business expenses to make it easier at tax time. This can significantly reduce your taxable income.
Thanks for this tip! Does it matter what method I use to track expenses? Like can I just keep a spreadsheet or do I need special software? Also, for the home office deduction, is it better to do the simplified method or the regular one?
A simple spreadsheet works perfectly fine for tracking expenses - just make sure to keep all receipts too (digital copies are okay). I personally use a Google Sheet where I log the date, amount, vendor, and category of each expense. Some people prefer apps like QuickBooks Self-Employed or FreshBooks, but they're not necessary when you're just starting out. For the home office deduction, it really depends on your situation. The simplified method is just $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet (max $1,500 deduction), which is super easy. The regular method can potentially get you a larger deduction if you have a big office or high home expenses, but requires much more detailed record-keeping and calculations. I'd start with the simplified method your first year, then see if it's worth doing the math for the regular method next year.
Anyone know if it's too late to start making quarterly payments for 2025 if I started doing gig work in January but didn't know about these forms until now in August? Will I get penalized?
You can still catch up! Make a payment now that covers what you should have paid for Q1 (April) and Q2 (June). Then stay on track with Q3 (Sept) and Q4 (Jan). You might face a small penalty for the late payments, but it's WAY better than waiting until tax time to pay it all! The penalty is basically an interest charge.
Are sales taxes I collect from my Ebay customers counted as taxable income for my small business?
So I'm kinda new to running my own business selling collectibles on Ebay, and I'm totally confused about how to handle the sales tax situation for my taxes. When customers buy something from me, Ebay automatically adds and collects sales tax based on their location. That money shows up in my payment reports, but then disappears before the final deposit. I'm trying to figure out if I need to report those collected sales taxes as part of my business income when I file my taxes? The total amount collected last year was around $3,200 in sales tax that Ebay collected and (I assume) sent to the various states. But I'm worried because that money briefly appeared in my transaction history before being removed. Do I count this as income and then deduct it? Do I ignore it completely? I'm using Quickbooks to track everything but I'm not sure if I'm handling this correctly. Any help would be much appreciated since I don't want to mess up my first year filing business taxes!
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Here's a tip if you're doing your own bookkeeping: create a separate "Sales Tax Collected" account in your accounting software as a current liability (not income). When Ebay collects the tax, you'd record it going into this account, and when they remit it to the state, it leaves this account. This keeps it completely separate from your income accounts and gives you a clean trail if you ever get audited. The balance should always zero out if Ebay is handling all the remittance for you.
What about if some of my sales are direct through my website where I have to collect and remit the tax myself? Do I treat those differently than the Ebay collected ones?
For sales through your own website, you'll use the same principles but with a few extra steps. You'll still record the collected sales tax in a liability account (not income), but since you're responsible for remitting it yourself, the balance won't automatically zero out like with Ebay. You'll need to regularly (monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on your state requirements) transfer that money to the appropriate tax authorities. When you make those payments, you'd record them as drawing down from your sales tax liability account. This keeps your income clean and gives you a clear record of your tax collection and remittance activities.
Important note: if you're selling on multiple platforms, double-check the marketplace facilitator laws for each state you sell into. Some states have different thresholds for when marketplaces must collect taxes vs when sellers need to handle it themselves. It gets complicated fast!
I've been using TaxJar for this and it's been pretty helpful for tracking all the different state thresholds. The economic nexus rules are such a pain to keep up with manually.
Can I continue to depreciate new roof on inherited multifamily property? Need help with rental depreciation after parent's passing
So my mom passed away about 4 months ago and I inherited her multifamily rental property. It's a triplex she owned for like 15 years. About 3 years before she died, she had a complete roof replacement done on the building along with some other major upgrades (new HVAC system and plumbing work). I know she was depreciating all this over 27.5 years on her taxes since it was a rental property. My question is - can I continue to claim the depreciation for that roof and the other capital improvements on my taxes now that I've inherited the property? Or does the depreciation schedule somehow reset or get voided when property transfers through inheritance? The property is now generating income for me so I want to make sure I'm handling the tax situation correctly. I've never owned a rental before and the tax stuff is confusing me.
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Has anyone else dealt with county property tax reassessment after inheriting rental property? In my case, continuing the federal tax depreciation was straightforward, but I got hit with a massive property tax increase because the county reassessed the property value when it transferred to me. Might want to check if that's an issue in your area.
Yes! This happened to me in California. The property taxes nearly doubled after my parents' home transferred to me, even though the federal depreciation schedule continued. Each state/county has different rules about reassessment on inheritance.
One more tip - don't forget to depreciate the building separately from the improvements. The building itself (not including land) depreciates over 27.5 years from your date of inheritance based on the stepped-up basis. But as others said, the specific improvements like the roof continue on the original schedule. I messed this up my first year and had to file an amended return.
Automatic disbursement of small retirement account under $1,000 - can I avoid the 10% penalty on a check I never received?
So I just got off the phone with Vanguard about a really confusing situation. Apparently I had a small retirement account worth about $310 from a job I was at for only 8 months last year. I had completely forgotten about it since I left. I received a 1099-R in the mail showing this distribution that I never requested or received. When I called Vanguard, they explained that they automatically cash out and send checks for any accounts under $1,000 - something I had no idea about! The representative said the check was mailed months ago, but I never got it. Now they're setting up a direct deposit to send me the money. The gross distribution was about $310, they withheld around $62 for federal taxes, so I'm getting about $248 deposited. The distribution code on the 1099-R is "1". Since this whole thing was completely involuntary and I never even knew this was happening, is there any way I can claim an exception on the 10% early withdrawal penalty? I didn't choose to take this money out - their policy forced it out automatically. Has anyone dealt with this before? Any advice would be appreciated!
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Does anyone know if the distribution code "1" on the 1099-R matters for how this gets reported? When I had a similar situation my form had code "7" and I think that made a difference.
Code "1" on a 1099-R generally indicates an early distribution with no known exception, which means the custodian (Vanguard in this case) is basically telling the IRS "this person took money out early and we don't know of any exception that would exempt them from the penalty." Code "7" indicates a normal distribution, which wouldn't trigger the 10% penalty automatically. The different code does make a significant difference in how the IRS initially processes the form. If you complete a proper rollover, you'll need to report it correctly on your tax return to override what the 1099-R is indicating. Most tax software has specific sections for handling rollovers that will guide you through this.
Don't forget to look into your state tax implications too! The federal 10% penalty is one thing, but some states also have their own early withdrawal penalties. I learned this the hard way in California where they hit me with an additional 2.5% state penalty on top of the federal one for an early 401k withdrawal.
Camila Jordan
Just adding another perspective - I worked for a tax preparation company that specialized in international students. The $680 refund is actually pretty typical for F1/J1 students who worked summer jobs. As someone mentioned, you're exempt from FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare), which is about 7.65% of your earnings. If you worked and made around $8-10k over the summer, getting $680 back is totally reasonable. Many companies do receive the refund directly and then distribute it to you minus their fee (which should have been disclosed upfront).
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Lucas Bey
AuthorThanks for the insight! I did make around $8,900 over the summer, so that percentage makes sense. Do you think sharing my bank info with them is safe? That's my main concern honestly.
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Camila Jordan
Sharing your bank info with a legitimate tax service is generally safe. They're handling millions of transactions and have security protocols in place. Account and routing numbers are actually printed on every check you write, so they're not your most sensitive financial information. That said, only provide this info through their secure portal, never via email or text. And if you're still uncomfortable, you can absolutely request a paper check instead as someone suggested earlier. It'll take longer but might give you more peace of mind. Most reputable companies offer both options.
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Tyler Lefleur
Make sure the company isn't charging you a "refund transfer fee" or similar! Many tax prep companies targeting international students charge extra fees for "processing" your refund that aren't mentioned upfront. I got charged $40 just to receive my own money!
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Madeline Blaze
THIS! I had the same experience. They called it a "refund management fee" on top of the tax prep fee I already paid. Check the paperwork you signed.
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