I didn't even think of that! I just assumed their customer service would be useless. How long did you have to wait to talk to someone?

I called on a weekday morning and only waited about 15 minutes to talk to someone. The key is to call early in the day and not during peak filing season if possible. Their customer service rep was surprisingly knowledgeable and patient. They did a screen share with me and walked through my return to find where the disaster area designation was triggered. In my case, I had checked a box incorrectly during the "personal information" section. Once we fixed that, the message disappeared and I could file right away.

It's happening with multiple tax software programs. The IRS released some updated guidance on disaster relief provisions pretty late in the tax season, so all the major tax software companies are scrambling to implement it correctly. I'm a tax preparer and we got notification about this from several software providers.

I don't qualify as independent under any of those categories unfortunately. I'm 20, unmarried, and don't have kids. What's the professional judgment process? Is that different from the dependency override?

Professional judgment is different from dependency override. While dependency override changes your dependency status completely, professional judgment allows financial aid administrators to adjust your financial aid package based on special circumstances. In your case, you'd still need to file as dependent, but the financial aid office could potentially adjust your Expected Family Contribution based on the fact that you're not actually receiving support from your step-father despite what the FAFSA calculations assume. This might not solve your immediate filing problem, but could help with actual aid amounts if you do manage to submit your FAFSA.

This is good advice. I had a scholarship organization work directly with my school when my dad refused to file taxes. They arranged a temporary funding solution while I worked through the dependency override process.

Does the app separate business vs personal miles automatically? That's the part I always mess up. Also, does it integrate with any tax software?

The app lets you swipe right for business trips and left for personal ones after each drive, so it's not fully automatic - you still need to classify them. But it does track all the other details automatically (date, time, route, mileage). And yes, it can export to Excel or CSV formats that work with most tax software. I use TurboTax and it imports the data pretty seamlessly. The peace of mind knowing I have audit-proof records is totally worth the small effort of swiping each day.

This is super helpful perspective! My truck definitely falls into the "gas guzzler with high maintenance" category - it's a 2018 F-150 and I spent almost $4,300 on repairs last year plus all the gas. Sounds like I should really run the numbers on actual expenses based on your experience.

Definitely run the numbers with your specific situation. One other tip - if you go with actual expenses, don't forget to include less obvious costs like depreciation, property taxes on the vehicle, and even insurance. Those can really add up! A vehicle like yours with high repair costs often does better with actual expenses, especially if you're keeping all your receipts. Just remember that with either method, you need to track your business vs. personal miles to determine the business use percentage.

Do you know if this exclusion was automatic or something you had to claim specifically? I'm wondering if I missed out on this when I filed.

At the federal level, if you filed after the exclusion was enacted (March 2021), most tax software automatically applied it. If you filed before that, the IRS was supposed to automatically recalculate and issue refunds to eligible taxpayers. For state taxes, it varied significantly by state. Some states automatically conformed to the federal exclusion, some explicitly didn't follow it, and others required you to file an amended return to claim it. You'd need to check your specific state's department of revenue website to see their policy. If your state did conform and you were eligible but didn't claim it, filing that amended return now could potentially save you a significant amount on this bill.

You can request tax transcripts from both the IRS (for federal) and your state tax department to see your filing and payment history. That would show if you already reported and paid tax on the unemployment income. Some states didn't follow the federal $10,200 exclusion like the previous commenter mentioned, so you might still owe state tax even if you were exempt from federal tax.

Thanks for bringing that up! I hadn't considered FATCA at all. My investments are pretty minimal, but I should definitely check if they exceed the threshold. Do you know if the 40% ownership in my small company would trigger any special filing requirements? It's definitely not a passive investment - we actively run the business together.

Your 40% ownership in an active business where you're actually working probably won't trigger PFIC concerns, but it might require you to file Form 8858 (for foreign disregarded entities) or Form 8865 (for foreign partnerships), depending on how your business is structured in Argentina. These forms basically just disclose your ownership interest to the IRS. Since you're actively involved in the business, you would report your income as self-employment income on Schedule C, and you'd need to pay self-employment tax unless there's a totalization agreement between the US and Argentina. The income itself might be excludable via the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, but the SE tax often still applies.

This is so true! I moved from UK to Massachusetts and was shocked at how complicated everything is. In the UK, most people don't even file taxes - it's all done automatically through your employer. Here I had to learn about federal, state AND city taxes in some places.