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Grace Thomas
For those unfiled years, I recommend filing them in order from oldest to newest. We had to file 4 years of back taxes for my father-in-law who had health issues, and doing them chronologically made it much easier to track everything. Also, put each year in a separate envelope! We made the mistake of sending multiple years in one package and it caused confusion at the IRS processing center.
Thank you for that tip about separate envelopes! I definitely would have put them all in one package thinking I was being efficient. Did you receive any kind of confirmation when they received/processed the returns? I'm worried about them getting lost in the mail.
Grace Thomas
ā¢You should definitely send them certified mail with return receipt requested through USPS. That way you'll get confirmation they were delivered. As for processing, it took about 4-5 months before we saw any activity - they're very slow with paper returns. Eventually, we received notices for each return - either bills for what was owed (with penalties) or notices about refunds. If you're really concerned, you can check your husband's IRS transcript online about 6-8 weeks after sending them to see if they show as processed.
Just a heads up - for that 2016 return, if your husband was owed a refund, he's probably out of luck now. The deadline for claiming refunds is generally 3 years from the original due date. So for 2016, that would have been April 2020. But he should still file it! Even if he can't get the refund, having a complete tax history is important for things like mortgage applications, loan approvals, etc.
Dylan Baskin
ā¢Yep, this is correct. I worked for a tax firm and we had clients who lost out on thousands in refunds because they waited too long. The 3-year rule for refunds is strict, but the IRS can come after you for taxes owed for much longer!
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Mei Liu
Something critical that hasn't been mentioned yet - you might need to file an FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) if you have any financial interest in foreign accounts that exceed $10,000 at any point during the year. This includes accounts where you're considered to have signature authority. If you're considered to have an interest in your grandfather's business accounts (which sounds possible given your arrangement), you might need to file this form. The penalties for not filing can be really severe - like $10,000+ for non-willful violations.
Ethan Brown
ā¢Wait, this sounds serious. I don't have signature authority on any accounts in Ecuador, but since I'm sending money and receiving profits, could that count as having a "financial interest"? How would I know if I need to file this FBAR thing?
Mei Liu
ā¢The definition of "financial interest" can be broad. If you have an arrangement where you're entitled to profits from the business, the IRS might consider you to have a financial interest in the accounts, even without signature authority. The safest approach would be to consult with a tax professional who specializes in international reporting. But generally, if you're investing in a business and receiving returns based on performance, you likely have a financial interest. If the total of all foreign accounts you have an interest in exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year, you'd need to file the FBAR. You might also need to look into Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets) depending on the amounts involved. These are separate from your tax return and have different filing requirements and deadlines.
Curious if anyone knows - would it be better for the grandpa to just label all the money as "gifts" instead of business returns? Wouldn't that avoid all these tax issues?
That approach could create more problems than it solves. The IRS looks at the substance of transactions, not just what you call them. If there's a pattern of you investing money and then receiving returns that correlate with business performance, relabeling them as "gifts" could be seen as tax evasion. While non-US persons can give gifts to US citizens without triggering gift tax for the recipient, unusual patterns of large gifts might trigger extra scrutiny. If audited, you'd need to prove these were genuine gifts with no expectation of return, which contradicts the investment arrangement described.
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FYI - The reason Part 3 is often blank on 1095-C forms has to do with employer insurance type. Here's a quick breakdown: If your employer is self-insured: They complete Part 3 of the 1095-C showing all covered individuals If your employer uses fully-insured coverage: Part 3 is blank on the 1095-C, and you should get a separate 1095-B from the insurance carrier You mentioned your wife was covered under your plan for several months. In that case, whoever was the primary policyholder should have a form showing your wife as a covered dependent - either on Part 3 of the 1095-C (self-insured employer) or on a 1095-B from the insurance company.
Miguel Ortiz
ā¢So if I never got a 1095-B but my 1095-C has a blank Part 3, does that mean my employer or the insurance company messed up? Who should I contact to get the correct forms?
If your 1095-C has a blank Part 3 and you didn't receive a 1095-B, you should first contact your employer's HR or benefits department. They can confirm whether their plan is fully-insured (in which case you should have received a 1095-B from the insurance carrier) or if there's some other reason Part 3 is blank. If they confirm you should have received a 1095-B, then contact the insurance carrier directly to request your form. Sometimes these forms get lost in the mail or might be available electronically through your insurance portal.
Has anyone used TurboTax to handle these 1095-C issues? I'm in a similar situation with blank Part 3 sections and I'm wondering if the tax software helps figure this out or if I need to get additional documentation before filing.
QuantumQuest
ā¢I used TurboTax last year with a similar situation. It basically just asks if you had coverage for each month, but doesn't actually verify it against your 1095 forms. Since the federal penalty is $0 now, it didn't matter much for federal taxes, but I did have to be more careful for my state return since I'm in California where they still have a mandate.
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Pro tip: If you're getting stuck in the TurboTax interface, try switching browsers or using incognito mode. I had this exact same issue where direct deposit and payment plan options weren't showing up. Turns out my browser extensions were interfering with some elements on the page. Switched to Edge (which I never use) and suddenly all payment options appeared!
Kaitlyn Otto
ā¢Really? What browser extensions would cause that? I'm using Chrome with adblock and a few others. Could that be why I'm only seeing credit card options too?
I think it was my ad blocker causing the issue. It was blocking some elements on the TurboTax payment page. I'm not 100% sure which extension was the culprit, but when I tried in Edge with no extensions, everything loaded properly. Another possibility is to try clearing your cache and cookies for the TurboTax site. Sometimes data from previous sessions can cause weird display issues.
Axel Far
Has anyone tried calling TurboTax support directly? I had this problem and called them - turns out there's a glitch in their system that sometimes doesn't display all payment options depending on how you answer previous questions in the tax interview. The rep had me go back and change my answer to the question about "how do you plan to pay your taxes" much earlier in the process, then the direct payment option finally showed up.
How long did you have to wait on hold? I tried calling TurboTax last week about a different issue and gave up after 45 mins on hold.
Jade O'Malley
9 Former international student advisor here. One thing to check that nobody's mentioned yet is if SPRINTAX applied the correct FICA exemption. As a J1 visa holder, you should be exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA) during your first 2 calendar years in the US. If your employer incorrectly withheld these taxes (which happens A LOT), you should be getting those back in your refund. Check your W2 boxes 4 and 6 - if there are amounts there, you should be getting those back completely, which could be a significant amount!
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Jade O'Malley
ā¢7 Omg thank you for mentioning this! I just checked my W2 and there's like $300 in box 4 and $75 in box 6. SPRINTAX never mentioned anything about this. Do I need to file something special to get these back??
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Jade O'Malley
ā¢9 You need to file Form 8843 along with a special statement requesting a refund of incorrectly withheld FICA taxes. SPRINTAX should have this capability, but sometimes you need to specifically indicate your FICA exempt status. If they missed this, you can either restart your SPRINTAX return and make sure to answer the FICA questions correctly, or use a different service that better handles J1 visa FICA exemptions. This could easily explain why your friends got larger refunds if they properly claimed their FICA exemptions and you didn't.
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Jade O'Malley
4 Just wanted to add that tax refund amounts can vary widely even among J1 visa holders from the same country working in the same state. The biggest factors are: 1. Your actual income amount 2. How long you worked (partial year vs full year) 3. If your employer withheld at the correct rate 4. Whether you had any US source income before arriving I'm guessing your friends who got bigger refunds either had higher withholding relative to their income, or they successfully claimed FICA exemptions that you might have missed.
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Jade O'Malley
ā¢13 This is so confusing! I worked 4 months and made about $12,000 total. My employer is a big company that hires tons of J1s every year so I assumed they knew what they were doing with the withholding. Is there any way to know if they did it right?
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