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NebulaNova
I'm a bit confused about something related to this. If you contribute to a Roth 401k instead of a traditional 401k, you don't get the tax deduction now, right? But you still might qualify for the Saver's Credit on Form 8880 if you're under the income limits?
Dylan Cooper
ā¢Thanks for mentioning this! We actually have the option for both traditional and Roth 401k at our jobs. Sounds like with our income level, traditional might make more sense since we don't qualify for Form 8880 anyway?
NebulaNova
ā¢Thanks for clarifying that! I've been trying to decide between traditional and Roth for my 401k contributions. My second question - does Massachusetts treat 401k contributions differently than the federal government for state income tax purposes?
Paolo Conti
One thing that hasn't been mentioned - make sure you're looking at your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) when determining eligibility for Form 8880, not your total income. Your traditional 401k contributions actually LOWER your AGI, which could potentially bring you under the threshold for the Saver's Credit if you're close to the cutoff. Example: If you and your spouse have $75,000 in combined income, but contribute $5,000 to traditional 401ks, your AGI would be $70,000, which would put you under the $73,000 threshold for 2025 and make you eligible for at least a partial credit on Form 8880.
Amina Diallo
ā¢This is a great point! I think a lot of people miss this. Increasing your traditional 401k contributions can sometimes make you eligible for other credits and deductions that have income limitations, not just potentially the Saver's Credit.
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14 One important thing nobody has mentioned yet is that your mother should consider whether she qualifies for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555) if she continues living abroad. Since she's retired, this probably won't apply to her pension, but it's important to know about if she ends up doing any work overseas. Also, make sure she's aware that some countries have social security totalization agreements with the US even if they don't have full tax treaties. This can sometimes affect how retirement benefits are taxed.
3 Would the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion even apply to someone who has a green card? I thought you had to be physically present in the foreign country to claim that, but don't green card holders need to maintain their primary residence in the US?
14 Yes, green card holders can claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion if they meet either the physical presence test (physically present in a foreign country for at least 330 days in a 12-month period) or the bona fide residence test (foreign resident for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year). Green card holders do need to maintain their intent to live permanently in the US, but they are allowed to work and live abroad temporarily. However, staying outside the US for too long (typically more than a year) without a reentry permit can potentially lead to abandonment of permanent resident status. So it's a balance - they can work abroad and potentially claim the exclusion while maintaining their green card, but they need to be careful about how long they stay away from the US.
11 Just a heads-up that as a new green card holder, your mother should be aware of potential "exit tax" implications if she decides to surrender her green card in the future. If she holds the green card for 8+ years and then gives it up, she could be subject to the expatriation tax rules as a "long-term resident." This is especially relevant if she's not planning to move to the US permanently and might surrender her green card later. Worth keeping in mind when making long-term plans!
18 Would this apply even if someone's net worth is relatively low? I thought the exit tax was only for really wealthy people giving up citizenship. Are the rules different for green card holders?
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Not sure if this applies, but look into the "member of household" test for qualifying relatives. If your girlfriend and her daughter live with you the entire following tax year, they might qualify as dependents under that test even if they don't meet the qualifying child test. Also, sometimes it makes more sense tax-wise to get married if you're already living together and financially intertwined. Run the numbers both ways - sometimes marriage penalty hits hard but with income disparity like yours it often benefits.
Evelyn Xu
ā¢Thank you for bringing up the "member of household" test. Would this still apply even with her daughter's 50/50 custody situation? My girlfriend will definitely be living with me the entire next tax year, but her daughter will still split time with her dad. As for getting married, we've discussed it but aren't quite ready for that step yet. Is there a good calculator you'd recommend for figuring out the tax implications?
For the daughter with 50/50 custody, she wouldn't meet the member of household test because she doesn't live with you year-round. However, your girlfriend could potentially qualify as a dependent if she lives with you the entire year and her gross income is below the threshold (around $4,500). For marriage tax calculations, I recommend the Tax Policy Center's marriage calculator or TurboTax's free tax calculator - both let you run scenarios as married vs. single/HOH. With your income disparity and supporting multiple people, you'd likely benefit from marriage tax-wise, but it's worth running the actual numbers. Married filing jointly often benefits couples where one person earns significantly more than the other.
Don't forget about the Other Dependent Credit (ODC) which is $500 per qualifying dependent who isn't eligible for the Child Tax Credit. Your daughter might qualify for this even if she's working full time, as long as you provide more than half her support and her income is below the threshold. Also, if you're paying any education expenses for your daughter, look into the Lifetime Learning Credit which doesn't require the student to be your dependent!
Oscar Murphy
ā¢The Other Dependent Credit phaseout starts at pretty low income levels though. If OP is supporting three additional people, I'm guessing their income is high enough that they might phase out of this benefit. Worth checking the income limits before counting on it.
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What nobody's mentioned yet is that the box classification can affect your self-employment tax situation too. Box 3 "Other Income" is generally not subject to self-employment tax, while royalties can be depending on your specific situation and whether this is part of your regular business. If this is ongoing software licensing that's part of your normal business activities, you may need to consider whether self-employment taxes apply. Make sure you're thinking about that angle too when you get this resolved!
Justin Chang
ā¢Wait, so are you saying that by asking them to correct it to Box 2 royalties, I might actually end up paying MORE in taxes? I hadn't even considered the self-employment tax angle.
That's possible, yes. Royalty income that's part of your regular business activity would typically be subject to self-employment tax, while Box 3 "Other Income" generally isn't. However, you should still report it correctly regardless of tax implications - misclassifying income to pay less tax could cause problems later. Even if it means paying more now, correctly classifying the income as royalties establishes the nature of your business, which can be beneficial for other business deductions and for consistent treatment in future years. If you're concerned about the tax difference, you might want to consult with a tax professional who can look at your complete situation.
Jason Brewer
Just want to add from personal experience that the IRS matching program will absolutely flag your return if the boxes don't match what they have on file. My husband had a similar issue in 2023, and even though we reported the full income amount, we still got a CP2000 notice because we put it on a different line of our return than where the incorrect 1099 indicated. We had to respond with a detailed explanation of why we reported it differently. It got resolved but was a huge headache that lasted months. Definitely push for that corrected 1099!
What happened in the end? Did you have to pay the amount they said or did they accept your explanation?
Jason Brewer
ā¢They eventually accepted our explanation without us owing anything additional. We sent a copy of our contract showing the nature of the income and referenced the relevant IRS publications for how that type of income should be reported. The most annoying part was that it took about 3 months to get resolved, and we received automated follow-up notices during that time that made it seem like we hadn't responded at all. I had to call multiple times to confirm they had our response and it was still being processed. Definitely document everything and follow up persistently!
Chloe Harris
Check with your state tax rules too! While federal deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses were eliminated, some states still allow these deductions on your state return. I live in California and was able to deduct business expenses on my state taxes even though I couldn't on federal.
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Diego Mendoza
ā¢This is true for Pennsylvania too! We can still claim unreimbursed work expenses on our state return if they exceed a certain percentage of income. Won't help with federal taxes but at least it's something.
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Anastasia Popova
Have you considered asking your employer for a raise or bonus equivalent to the cost of the trip instead of direct reimbursement? Sometimes accounting departments have strict rules about certain expense categories but more flexibility with compensation. That way you'd at least offset the cost, even if it would be taxable income.
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