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If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls ā which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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Caleb Bell
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!
Donna Cline
ā¢Thanks for sharing your experience! Did you have to deal with the FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Reporting) requirements once you made the election to treat your spouse as a US resident? That's one concern I have about going that route.
Caleb Bell
ā¢Yes, making the election meant we had to report her foreign accounts on FBAR if they exceeded $10,000 combined at any point during the year. We also had to file Form 8938 for foreign financial assets. The additional reporting requirements added some complexity, but for us, the tax savings from filing jointly outweighed the extra paperwork. The key was documenting everything meticulously and using the foreign tax credits correctly to avoid double taxation. Make sure you consider these reporting requirements if you're thinking about making the election.
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.
Rhett Bowman
ā¢I e-filed successfully using H&R Block online. TurboTax has issues with ITINs sometimes. Make sure the ITIN hasn't expired - they need to be renewed if not used on a tax return for 3 consecutive years.
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Oscar Murphy
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!
Nora Bennett
ā¢Are there any disadvantages to holding MLP ETFs instead of the MLPs directly? I know MLPs have some tax advantages with distributions often being partially tax-deferred return of capital.
Oscar Murphy
ā¢Yes, there's definitely a trade-off. When you own an MLP directly, a significant portion of distributions is often classified as return of capital, which isn't immediately taxable (it just lowers your cost basis). That tax deferral benefit is one of the main advantages of MLPs. When you own an MLP ETF, it's structured differently for regulatory reasons. The fund itself pays corporate taxes on the MLP income before distributing to you, which creates some tax inefficiency. So while you avoid the K-1 hassle with an ETF, you potentially give up some of the tax advantages that make MLPs attractive in the first place.
Ryan Andre
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.
Lauren Zeb
ā¢Does TaxAct or H&R Block handle K-1s better? I've been using TurboTax but I'm getting tired of their upsells every time something slightly complicated comes up on my return.
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Mia Roberts
Just to add some context to what others have said - I'm a tax preparer who works with lots of international clients. The J1 visa situation is particularly tricky because there are different tax rules depending on what TYPE of J1 you have (student, teacher, researcher, au pair, etc). The substantial presence test that someone mentioned earlier doesn't apply the same way to all J1 holders. If you're on a J1 as a student, you're considered an "exempt individual" for the first 5 calendar years you're in the US, meaning you're generally treated as a nonresident alien regardless of how many days you're present. If you're on a J1 as a teacher, researcher, or trainee, you're an "exempt individual" for 2 of the past 6 calendar years. The Form 8833 election to be treated as a resident is almost always beneficial when married to a US citizen, as the tax rates for jointly filing are generally more favorable than filing as married filing separately or as a nonresident.
Thanks for the additional information! I'm actually on a J1 as a researcher, so I guess the 2-year exempt individual rule would apply to me. Does that mean I'm automatically considered a nonresident alien for tax purposes regardless of how long I've been here?
Mia Roberts
ā¢As a J1 researcher, you're considered an "exempt individual" for 2 out of the last 6 calendar years. This means that during those "exempt" years, your days of presence in the US don't count toward the substantial presence test. So if this is your first calendar year in the US, you would generally be considered a nonresident alien for tax purposes regardless of how many days you've been physically present. However, being married to a US citizen gives you a special option: you can elect to be treated as a US resident for tax purposes by filing a statement with your tax return (using the Form 8833 that others have mentioned). This is almost always financially beneficial because it allows you to file jointly with your spouse and access more favorable tax rates and certain credits that aren't available to nonresidents.
The Boss
Has anyone used TurboTax or H&R Block for this specific situation (J1 visa, married to US citizen)? I'm trying to figure out if the mainstream tax software can handle this correctly or if I need a specialist.
I tried using TurboTax last year in this exact situation and it was a disaster. The software kept getting confused with the residency election forms. It couldn't handle the treaty benefits properly either. I ended up having to get help from a CPA who specializes in international taxation and he had to correct a bunch of mistakes the software made.
The Boss
ā¢Ugh, that's what I was afraid of. I've always done my own taxes with TurboTax but this J1/marriage situation seems way more complicated. Did the CPA cost a fortune? I'm on a pretty tight budget with my research stipend.
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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.
Aaliyah Reed
ā¢Did you find the TurboTax Live person helpful with the quarterly estimated tax payments too? I always struggle with figuring out how much to send in each quarter.
Yes, the TurboTax Live expert was incredibly helpful with setting up quarterly estimated tax payments. They calculated the proper amounts for each quarter based on my projected income and even helped me set up reminders for the quarterly due dates. They also explained how to adjust my quarterly payments if my income fluctuated throughout the year, which is common for freelancers. This alone was worth the cost since I avoided underpayment penalties that I've been hit with in previous years.
Ella Russell
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.
How do they handle the home office deduction specifically? I've always been afraid to take it because I heard it's an audit trigger.
Anastasia Sokolov
One thing nobody's mentioned yet is that you might want to consider claiming this as a non-business bad debt if you can't fully document it as a business bad debt. Non-business bad debts are treated as short-term capital losses, which isn't as good as an ordinary business loss, but still better than nothing. For it to qualify as a business bad debt, you generally need to show you were in the business of lending money or that the loan was somehow related to your trade or business. If it was just a one-off loan, the IRS might challenge a business bad debt classification. I went through this last year with a similar amount and ended up going the non-business bad debt route because it was less documentation and less risk of audit.
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Isabella Ferreira
ā¢Interesting point! I actually made this loan with the intention of potentially becoming a partner in the business later, so there was a business motive beyond just earning interest. Would that help establish it as a business rather than personal loan?
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Anastasia Sokolov
ā¢That business connection definitely strengthens your case for treating it as a business bad debt. Keep any emails or documents that show discussions about partnership or business involvement. The key distinction the IRS looks for is whether you made the loan as an investment with business interests or simply as a personal loan. If you can document that connection to your own business activities or potential participation in their business, you're in a much better position to claim it as a business bad debt, which gives you the more favorable ordinary loss treatment rather than capital loss limitations.
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StarSeeker
Don't forget the timing issue - the bad debt deduction must be taken in the year the debt actually becomes worthless, not when you decide to write it off. If you have evidence it became worthless in 2023, you should take it then. If it's becoming worthless in 2024, take it this year. Taking it in the wrong year is a common mistake and the IRS can disallow the deduction even if you have all the right documentation. Since you filed an extension for 2024 taxes (due Oct 2024), you need to determine if the worthlessness occurred in this tax year.
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Sean O'Donnell
ā¢This is so important! My accountant told me the IRS is particularly picky about the timing of bad debt deductions. They expect you to take reasonable steps to collect before claiming worthlessness, but also don't want you waiting years after it's clearly uncollectible.
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