I moved from New York to Florida last year specifically for tax reasons. Saved me about $12,000 in state income tax alone. BUT there are serious considerations beyond just the tax savings. Florida has higher insurance costs, and the culture shock was bigger than I expected. Also, you need to be really careful to establish proper domicile in your new state - the high-tax states are aggressive about auditing people who claim to have moved.

This is really interesting! Would this work for regular W-2 employees though? I don't have control over when my employer pays me, but I do make charitable donations. Would bunching them actually help if I don't have enough other deductions to itemize?

It's more challenging for W-2 employees, but you still have options. While you can't control your regular paychecks, you might have some flexibility with bonuses or by adjusting your W-4 withholding toward the end of the year. Regarding charitable donations, bunching absolutely helps if it pushes you over the standard deduction threshold. For 2025, the standard deduction is projected to be around $14,000 for single filers and $28,000 for married filing jointly. If your itemized deductions (including state/local taxes, mortgage interest, and charitable giving) would normally be just below the threshold each year, bunching two years of donations into one year could push you over the limit, allowing you to itemize in that year and take the standard deduction the next.

Thank you for sharing your real experience! That's exactly the kind of insight I was hoping for. Can I ask how you found out what type of audit you were facing? Is it clearly stated in the initial letter from the IRS?

Yes, the IRS notification will specify what type of audit it is. For correspondence audits, you'll get a letter asking for specific documentation on certain items. For office audits, they'll request you come to an IRS location. For field audits, they'll propose coming to your home or business. The type of audit often indicates how serious the IRS considers the examination. Correspondence audits are usually for simple matters, while field audits suggest they're looking more comprehensively at your situation. That's why the field audit is where I decided having an attorney made sense - the stakes and scope were much higher.

Do you know if these professionals typically charge flat fees for audit representation, or is it always hourly? And does complexity of the return affect their rates?

Oh crap, I just used a regular stamp and dropped it in my apartment complex's outgoing mail slot. I don't have any tracking or proof of mailing. What should I do now?

Don't panic, but definitely learn from this for next time. For now, I would wait about 8-10 weeks since that's how long paper returns typically take to process. Mark that date on your calendar, and if you haven't received your refund by then, use the "Where's My Refund" tool on the IRS website to check the status. If there's no record of your return at that point, you might need to resend it. Next time, always use certified mail with return receipt or at minimum get a tracking number when sending anything to the IRS. It's worth the extra few dollars for the peace of mind and proof of submission.

Does this actually work? My brother tried to get an appointment at our local IRS office last month and they said they were booked solid until June!

Did the state board help you get any compensation for the extra taxes you paid or did they just discipline the CPA? I'm worried about the time and expense of going through the complaint process if we don't get any actual money back.

The state board only handled the disciplinary action against the CPA - they don't have the authority to order financial compensation. However, filing the complaint created documentation that helped when I filed amended returns with the IRS. It strengthened my case that the errors weren't my fault. For getting money back, that happens entirely through filing amended returns with the IRS. My new accountant handled that process. I did end up suing the original CPA in small claims court for the fees I paid him plus the costs of having the returns corrected, and I won that case. The disciplinary action from the state board was helpful evidence in that lawsuit.

Does anyone know if filing amended returns increases your audit risk? I've always been scared to amend my returns even when I find mistakes.

Did you find any good resources that helped you fill out these forms correctly? I'm leaning toward doing it myself at this point.

The best resource I found was IRS Publication 901 (U.S. Tax Treaties), which has country-by-country breakdowns of treaty benefits. Also, Publication 519 (U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens) was super helpful for understanding the overall non-resident tax filing requirements. Most university international offices also have tax workshops or guides specifically for J1 visa holders - these were much more helpful than generic tax advice since they focus on our unique situation. My university had PDF guides for the most common countries their researchers come from.

TurboTax doesn't support 1040NR filing at all. TaxAct does have 1040NR support, but in my experience last year, it was very limited with tax treaties and didn't have good guidance for J1 scholars. Glacier Tax Prep is another option some universities provide that's specifically designed for non-resident returns.