Thank you for this perspective. My husband's company is pretty small (only 15 employees) and I think they're just not sophisticated with their accounting. When I asked him about it, he said they just direct deposit this extra amount every month with a note saying "travel" and have never asked for any kind of documentation. Should he just start tracking his miles anyway even if they don't require it?

Yes, he should absolutely start tracking his miles regardless of what the company requires. Use an app or a mileage log that records the date, business purpose, starting point, destination, and total miles for each business trip. This documentation will be invaluable if you're ever audited. With a small company, it's worth having a conversation with whoever handles payroll. They might genuinely not know the proper way to handle this. Many small businesses try to help employees with these stipends without realizing they're creating tax problems. You could suggest they implement a simple accountable plan where employees submit mileage logs monthly. This would make the stipend non-taxable when handled correctly, which benefits both the employee and employer (they wouldn't have to pay payroll taxes on properly documented reimbursements).

That's not entirely correct. You can't deduct both the standard mileage rate AND car payments. You have to choose one method - either standard mileage OR actual expenses. And with actual expenses, you can only deduct the interest portion of the car payment, not the principal, plus depreciation. And once you choose actual expenses for a leased vehicle, you have to use that method for the life of the vehicle.

That's a really good point I hadn't considered. Do you know if there's any downside to claiming Sweden if they still consider me a tax resident? Would I still have tax obligations to Sweden even though I'm now living in the US?

Yes, that's the potential catch - if Sweden still considers you a tax resident, you might have ongoing tax filing obligations there. Sweden, like many countries, taxes its residents on worldwide income. However, there's a tax treaty between the US and Sweden that prevents double taxation. The treaty typically assigns primary taxing rights to the country where you're physically performing work (the US in your case for your PhD stipend), but investment income like dividends can be more complicated. The treaty usually reduces withholding rates, but you might need to report the income in both countries. I'd recommend checking the Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) website or contacting them directly about your specific situation to understand if and when your tax residency in Sweden officially ends.

Did you have any issues with your broker accepting the form with France instead of Germany? I'm worried my investment platform might question why my citizenship country doesn't match my residence country.

2 Does requesting those transcripts trigger any kind of audit or review? My cousin says anytime you contact the IRS directly you're putting yourself on their radar for an audit. Is that true?

17 Requesting your wage and income transcripts absolutely does not trigger an audit or special review. That's a common misconception. These transcripts are your right as a taxpayer and millions of people request them every year for perfectly routine reasons. The IRS selects returns for audit based on specific statistical formulas looking for outliers and unusual patterns, not because someone requested their own information. In fact, being proactive about your tax situation by requesting transcripts and filing accurately is more likely to help you stay off the audit radar.

1 Not sure what software he used, but that's a good point about the W-2 possibly being wrong. How would he even go about proving that though? 7-Eleven probably isn't going to just admit they made a mistake, especially 2 years later.

This is super helpful! I just checked my draft 2024 return and found Schedule C was there even though I'm purely W2. When I dug deeper, turns out I had checked a box about "online selling" because I sold some old furniture on Facebook Marketplace. TurboTax was treating that as self-employment and letting me allocate home office space to that "business." Would this tiny amount of selling stuff online actually qualify for home office?

For casual selling of personal items like furniture on Facebook Marketplace, that's typically not considered self-employment and wouldn't qualify for home office deduction. The IRS generally views that as selling personal items at a loss (since you're selling used items for less than you paid). For a home office deduction to be valid for self-employment, you need regular and exclusive use of the space for business purposes, and the activity needs to have a profit motive with regular, ongoing activity. Occasional selling of personal items doesn't meet those criteria. You should uncheck that box if you're not actually running a business with intent to make profit.

Same thing happened to me! The home office change affected my total itemized deductions which made them less than the standard deduction, so TurboTax switched me to standard. But then that made some of my state deductions invalid. It was a whole domino effect. Ended up owing about $2450 more than my original calculation.

Good point! I'm in New York and got surprised last year when my state return didn't match the federal deductions. Do you know if there's a good resource that compares state vs federal depreciation rules?

I don't know of one comprehensive resource that covers all states, unfortunately. Each state has its own tax department website that usually outlines the differences between federal and state treatment of depreciation and Section 179. For New York specifically, they've partially decoupled from federal bonus depreciation rules but do follow the federal Section 179 limits with some modifications. Your best bet is to check the NY Department of Taxation and Finance website or consult with a tax professional who specializes in your state. I've found that state-specific tax forums can also be helpful for these kinds of questions.

What's the easiest way to track mileage? Do you use an app or just write it down?

I use MileIQ app and it's been a lifesaver. It automatically tracks all my drives and I just swipe right for business trips and left for personal. At the end of the year, I can export a detailed report for tax purposes. Before that, I tried keeping a paper log but always forgot to update it. The IRS can be really strict about mileage documentation during audits, so having an app that automatically creates timestamped records with starting and ending locations has given me peace of mind. Some other popular options are Everlance and Hurdlr - they all have free versions you can try.