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.

Does anyone know which type of 1099 form exchanges typically send? Is it 1099-K, 1099-MISC, or the newer 1099-B? I got something from Coinbase but I'm not sure which one it is and if it matters.

Most cryptocurrency exchanges issue either a 1099-B or 1099-K. The 1099-B is more common now and includes details about your specific transactions. The 1099-K is generally issued if you had a large volume of transactions or if you conducted certain types of crypto activities. You can tell which form you received by looking at the top right corner of the document. The form type should be clearly marked. And yes, it does matter which form you received because they report different types of information and may need to be handled differently on your tax return.

FreeTaxUSA can handle crypto! I used it last year for my bitcoin and ethereum trades. You just manually enter your transactions on the capital gains section. It's not as automated as the paid services but it works fine if you don't have tons of transactions.

I'm definitely going to contact the site coordinator. Should I specifically mention which volunteers made the mistakes, or just explain the situation generally? And is there any chance this could get me in trouble since I signed it even though the information was wrong?

It's helpful to mention specifically which volunteers made the mistakes so the coordinator can address the training issues, but don't worry about getting yourself in trouble. The IRS understands that taxpayers rely on preparers' expertise, especially in VITA programs. You're taking the proper steps to correct the return, which shows good faith on your part. Remember that VITA volunteers are trained specifically not to create forms or enter information they don't have documentation for. The site coordinator needs to know this happened so they can make sure those volunteers receive additional training or supervision. This protects future taxpayers from experiencing the same issues.

I've used both VITA and TurboTax Free. Honestly, for basic student returns, the free software is pretty foolproof. It asks straightforward questions about your education expenses and walks you through everything. Plus, you can save your work and think about it or do research before submitting.

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?