1 How can I tell which years I might have owed taxes without actually filing? My situation was pretty simple - just W-2 income with standard tax withholding, but I honestly don't remember the details from 5+ years ago.

3 You can request a "Wage and Income Transcript" from the IRS which shows all reported income for a specific year. This will show your W-2s, 1099s, and other income documents that were filed. If you only had W-2 income with standard withholding, you may not owe anything, but you'd need to run the numbers to be sure. Another option is to request an "Account Transcript" which will show if the IRS has already created a substitute return for you and assessed any taxes. This can give you a clearer picture of which years need attention first.

1 That's really helpful, thank you! So it sounds like for FAFSA purposes I'm probably okay since I've filed 2021-2023, but I should still consider filing the older years to avoid any potential issues with the IRS down the road. Do you know if scholarships or grants ever look at tax compliance?

13 Most federal and institutional scholarships and grants follow FAFSA guidelines, so they primarily care about your current financial situation rather than past tax compliance. However, some private scholarships may have their own requirements, and occasionally they do perform background checks that could potentially flag tax issues. The bigger concern is indeed potential issues with the IRS. Even if you don't owe money, having unfiled returns can create problems years later - especially when you reach important financial milestones like buying a home, starting a business, or applying for certain jobs. It's generally best to clean up tax issues while they're relatively recent and documentation is easier to obtain.

Florida requires C corporations that are doing business in Florida to file Form F-1120 (Florida Corporate Income Tax Return) regardless of whether they have any tax liability. Even if your corporation falls below the income threshold where you'd owe tax, you typically still need to file the return. There is an exception for corporations not doing business in Florida and corporations that have no income reportable to Florida. So it depends on where your C corporation is operating and generating income. Florida does have filing exemptions for certain entities like S corporations and certain non-profits, but standard C corporations generally need to file.

How do you figure out if there's a tax treaty benefit for your country? Is this something standard tax software will catch or do you need a specialist?

Standard tax software like TurboTax and H&R Block will ask questions about your citizenship and residency status, then apply any relevant tax treaty benefits automatically. The software will prompt you to identify your country of citizenship, and it has the treaty information built in. However, if you want to check yourself before filing, you can look up tax treaties on the IRS website - Publication 901 "U.S. Tax Treaties" lists all current treaties and explains the specific benefits. Common benefits include reduced taxation on certain types of income or special rules for students, teachers, and researchers. The treaty articles can be a bit technical to read, but the overview tables in Publication 901 make it fairly straightforward to see if any benefits might apply to your situation.

Which software did you end up using that worked well with the ITIN situation? I'm trying to decide between a few options.

Thanks for this insight! Quick question - do student loans factor into this calculation at all? My daughter has both scholarships and loans.

Student loans don't impact the taxability of scholarships. Loans are simply money you have to pay back, so they're not considered income. The calculation only looks at: 1) How much in qualified education expenses did you have? and 2) How much in scholarships/grants (money you don't have to repay) did you receive? If #2 is larger than #1, the difference is taxable income. Loans are completely separate from this calculation. However, you may be eligible for the student loan interest deduction for interest paid on those loans, which is a different tax benefit entirely.

How did they even catch such a small amount? Was it just random bad luck that you got audited or do they actually check everyone's forms that carefully?

Does H&R Block handle the capital gains calculation correctly? My situation is complicated because some of my RSUs vested early in the year and then I sold them months later when the price had changed quite a bit. I need to make sure I'm reporting both the initial income and the capital gains/losses correctly.

Yes, H&R Block handles the capital gains calculation correctly. It separates the initial income recognition (which appears on your W-2) from any subsequent capital gains or losses that occur between vesting and selling. When you enter your stock sales, you'll provide both the sale price and the cost basis (which is the fair market value on the vesting date). The software then correctly calculates only the difference as capital gains/losses. It's much more straightforward than TurboTax, especially for situations where there's a significant time gap between vesting and selling with price changes.

Form 3922 is for ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plans), not RSUs. For RSUs, employers typically provide a summary statement but not a specific IRS form. Most just include it on your W-2 and provide supplemental information.