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Can I claim medical expenses I paid for my father in South America on my tax return?
I'm in a bit of a financial bind after helping my father with some medical bills and wondering if I can get any tax relief. My father lives in Argentina and basically survives on his pension. He doesn't have health insurance. Last September, he had a medical emergency and needed to be hospitalized. Since he couldn't cover all the costs, I stepped in and paid about $28,500 directly to the hospital with my credit card. I've been making payments on this balance ever since. One important detail: my dad isn't a US citizen and has never lived here. He's always been in Argentina. I'm preparing my taxes now and wondering if there's any way I can itemize these medical expenses on my US tax return? Would it make a difference if I'm not claiming him as a dependent? I'm not very familiar with how the medical expense deduction works for family members who aren't US citizens and live abroad. Any advice would be really appreciated!
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Was misclassified as independent contractor - do I still fill out Schedule C? Does my paycheck count as business income?
So frustrating right now! I just finished my internship at a tech company last month and realized they misclassified me as an independent contractor instead of an employee. I received a 1099-NEC rather than a W-2 even though my situation was exactly like an employee: - They controlled my hours (9-5, M-F) - I used their equipment and worked at their office - Had a direct supervisor who assigned all my tasks - Couldn't work for other companies during this time - They even had me attend the employee orientation! I'm pretty sure this was illegal but I just need to file my taxes correctly now. Do I still have to fill out Schedule C even though I was clearly misclassified? And does the $5,400 they paid me actually count as "business income" for tax purposes when I was literally just an intern doing what I was told? I'm worried about paying self-employment taxes (which is like 15%!) when I should have been treated as a W-2 employee. This is my first time dealing with this and I'm totally lost. Any advice on how to handle this for the 2025 tax season?
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Quick tip from someone who dealt with this last year - make sure you also check your state tax requirements. In some states, you need to file additional paperwork at the state level to report misclassification. I'm in California and had to file a separate form with the state labor board. Also, keep detailed records of EVERYTHING that shows you were treated as an employee - emails about your schedule, equipment they provided, org charts showing your supervisor, orientation materials, etc. If you get audited or the company challenges your misclassification claim, this evidence will be crucial.
Thanks for mentioning this! I'm in New York - do you know if I need to file anything special with the state here? I definitely have plenty of evidence (emails, company handbook they gave me, etc). Should I be reaching out to the company about this or just handle it on my tax forms?
New York has pretty strong worker protection laws. You'll want to look into filing the IT-2104 form which is NY's equivalent of the W-4 for your state taxes. Also consider filing a report with the NY Department of Labor about the misclassification - they take these cases seriously and can help recover the employer portion of taxes you shouldn't have to pay. Regarding contacting the company, it depends on your relationship with them. Some people have success simply explaining the situation to their former employer and requesting they issue a corrected W-2. Others find this creates conflict. If you need them as a reference, consider how approaching them might affect that relationship. Either way, you can still file correctly on your end using Form 8919 even if they refuse to correct their mistake.
Has anyone actually had the IRS rule in their favor on an SS-8 form? I filed one 2 years ago for a similar situation and it took 11 months to get a determination letter. They did rule I was an employee but by then I had already paid the full self-employment tax. Had to file an amended return to get the overpaid taxes back.
Yes! I got a favorable determination but it took forever (9 months). The key was documenting everything thoroughly in the initial filing. I included copies of emails showing they controlled my schedule, photos of the company equipment I was required to use, their employee handbook they made me follow, etc. The more evidence you provide upfront, the faster and more likely you'll get a favorable ruling.
Will my J1 Visa Tax Refund be higher than $19? W2 federal tax withholding question
Title: Will my J1 Visa Tax Refund be higher than $19? W2 federal tax withholding question 1 Hey everyone, I'm super confused about my tax situation! I was on a J1 visa working in the US last summer and just got my W2 form to file taxes. According to my W2, I had $877 taken out for federal taxes and about $215 for state taxes during my work period. I used SPRINTAX to prepare my return since they specialize in nonresident tax filing, but I was shocked when it calculated my refund would only be $19! That seems really low compared to what I paid in. Several other J1 visa holders I know who worked in the same state and had similar withholding amounts got much bigger refunds in previous years. I'm wondering if SPRINTAX might be calculating something wrong or if there's another tax service that might be better for J1 visa holders? I really expected to get more of those taxes back since I didn't earn that much overall. Any advice on getting a more accurate refund or recommendations for J1-friendly tax services would be super appreciated!
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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!
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??
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.
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.
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?
How do I file taxes for missing years 2016-2018? Need advice!
So my husband and I got married last year, and I just found out he never filed his taxes for 2016-2018! I was shocked when he told me. I've managed to download all his wage information from the IRS website, so I have his W-2s and income data for those years. The problem is, I have no idea how to actually file these past returns now. Can I still use regular tax software? Do we need to mail in paper forms? I'm pretty good with taxes for current years, but this backfiling stuff is completely new territory for me. Would it be stupid to try to do this myself to save money? Or is this something where we definitely need to pay a tax professional? I'm worried about penalties and getting everything right. Any advice would be super appreciated! We're trying to clean up our finances before buying a house next year.
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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.
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.
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!
Do I have to pay taxes on income received from abroad as a US citizen?
I'm a US citizen and recently helped my grandfather in Ecuador start a business. I wired him around $12,000 earlier this year. He's not a US citizen and lives permanently in Ecuador. The business is legally under his name, but he considers me a partial owner even though I'm not on any paperwork. His business has started to do really well, and he's mentioned he wants to wire me back my initial investment plus potentially some of the profits as a thank you. The money would come as wire transfers to my US bank account. I'm confused about the tax situation here. Since I don't technically own any part of his business (he's the sole proprietor on paper), and since he's already paying business taxes in Ecuador, do I need to pay US taxes when he sends me money? Would it be considered a gift? Or investment returns? I might also send him more funds if things continue going well, but I'm not providing any actual services or work - just the funding. Any advice would be appreciated as I want to make sure I'm handling this correctly with the IRS!
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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.
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?
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.
Austin Leonard
Have you considered gifting money to your dad instead? While you can't deduct gifts on your taxes, you are allowed to gift up to $17,000 per year to any individual without having to file a gift tax return. Anything over that amount would require filing Form 709, but you still wouldn't owe any taxes until you exceed your lifetime gift exemption (currently over $12 million). This isn't a tax deduction, but it at least gives you a way to support your father without any additional tax implications for you.
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Liam Cortez
AuthorI appreciate the suggestion! In this case, I actually paid the hospital directly rather than gifting money to my dad, but that's good to know for future reference. Would it have made any difference tax-wise if I had sent him the money first and then he paid the hospital? Or is the end result the same either way?
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Austin Leonard
The end result would be exactly the same tax-wise. Whether you pay the hospital directly or give your father the money to pay, the IRS views it the same way - as a gift to your father. Neither approach would give you a tax deduction. The only practical difference is that paying directly ensures the money is used for its intended purpose, and sometimes hospitals offer cash discounts or payment plans when working directly with them. But from a tax perspective, there's no advantage to either approach.
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Anita George
Just to add another option to consider - you could look at this from a business expense angle if applicable. Do you own a business or are you self-employed? If your father provided any services to your business (consulting, translation, administration, etc.) you could potentially pay him as a contractor and deduct that as a business expense. This needs to be legitimate work with proper documentation, but it's sometimes an option for families with international ties. Just make sure everything is properly documented with contracts, invoices, and evidence of the work performed.
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Abigail Spencer
This sounds like tax fraud. You can't just claim personal expenses as business expenses by making up fake work. The IRS specifically looks for this kind of thing in audits.
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