Just wanted to add something that might help with the complexity everyone's mentioning - consider opening a US brokerage account once you become a US tax resident rather than keeping everything in German accounts. I made the mistake of keeping my European broker when I moved here for grad school, and it created a reporting nightmare. US brokers automatically generate the tax forms you need (1099s) and handle cost basis tracking, which makes filing much simpler. Also, regarding the crypto tracking that Giovanni mentioned - I use Koinly to aggregate all my crypto transactions from different exchanges. It connects to most major platforms and generates the tax forms automatically. Still need to be careful about the international reporting requirements, but at least the transaction tracking becomes manageable. One more tip: if you're planning to stay in the US long-term after your PhD, it might be worth talking to a tax professional who specializes in international taxation early on. The decisions you make now about where to hold investments and how to structure things can save you thousands in taxes and headaches down the road.

This is such a comprehensive thread! As someone who went through a similar transition from Germany to the US for my PhD, I want to emphasize a few points that might save you some stress: First, definitely consider getting professional help early. The intersection of J-1 visa status, US-Germany tax treaty provisions, and investment taxation is genuinely complex. I tried to handle it myself initially and made several costly mistakes. Regarding your specific questions about broker choice - it's not just about taxes, but also about compliance. Many German brokers don't provide the specific cost basis information in the format the IRS expects, which can create problems even if you're technically allowed to pay taxes in Germany under certain treaty provisions. For cryptocurrency specifically, keep in mind that Germany has different holding period rules than the US. In Germany, if you hold crypto for more than one year, gains can be tax-free, while the US treats it as capital gains regardless. This creates potential double taxation scenarios that the treaty doesn't fully address. One thing I wish I'd known earlier: start documenting everything NOW, even before you move. Get statements from your German broker showing your cost basis in their format, because once you're dealing with US tax requirements, having that historical data becomes crucial. The tools mentioned here like taxr.ai and Claimyr sound helpful - I ended up paying a lot more to sort things out after the fact than if I'd used better resources upfront.

One other form to be aware of - if you're converting in 2025, the custodian will issue a 1099-R for the conversion with distribution code G. Make sure that matches what you report on your tax return. Sometimes people get confused because they see the 1099-R and think they need to report it as income, but in your case (with non-deductible contributions and a loss), you'll report the distribution but won't have additional taxable income from it.

Great question about IRA conversions! You're smart to be cautious about the pro-rata rule and Form 8606. A few additional points to consider beyond what others have mentioned: 1. **Timing the conversion**: Since you're converting at a loss, you might want to consider doing the conversion early in the year. This gives your Roth IRA more time to potentially recover and grow tax-free. 2. **State tax implications**: Don't forget to check your state's treatment of Roth conversions. Most states follow federal rules, but a few have quirks that could affect your tax liability. 3. **Documentation**: Keep excellent records of everything - your original contribution statements, the conversion documentation, and all Forms 8606. The IRS can ask about this years later, and having a clear paper trail will save you headaches. 4. **Future contributions**: After your conversion, you'll have a clean slate for future backdoor Roth contributions since your traditional IRA balance will be zero. The fact that you're asking these questions beforehand shows you're approaching this thoughtfully. Your situation seems relatively straightforward compared to people juggling multiple IRAs with mixed deductible/non-deductible contributions.

I just went through this exact same situation about a month ago! Got my CP24 letter and was immediately stressed about when the money would actually arrive. Like everyone else has mentioned here, the IRS's 4-6 week estimate is definitely overly conservative. My refund hit my account in exactly 19 days from when I received the CP24 letter. The adjustment was actually in my favor - they caught that I had missed claiming the Premium Tax Credit properly, which added an extra $320 to my refund. Here's what I learned that might help: The CP24 notice means they've already completed the heavy lifting of processing your return. The August 25th date on your letter indicates they finished their review by then, so you're actually further along than it might seem. I'd strongly recommend using the IRS2Go app with notifications enabled - it updated me automatically when my status changed from "processing" to "approved" about 8 days after I got the letter. Make sure you're checking with your new adjusted refund amount from the CP24, not your original filing amount. Based on all the timelines people are sharing here, you should definitely have your car repair money well before October - probably by early to mid-September. The CP24 is actually good news since these adjustments are usually in the taxpayer's favor!

I'm also dealing with a CP24 situation right now and this thread has been incredibly reassuring! Got my notice about a week ago and was really worried about the 4-6 week timeline, but seeing everyone's actual experiences of 13-19 days is such a relief. One thing I wanted to add that I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're really anxious about the timeline like I was, you can also set up account alerts through your bank's mobile app. That way you'll get notified immediately when any deposit hits your account, even if the IRS systems haven't updated yet. I've been checking "Where's My Refund" daily with my new adjusted amount (thanks for that tip everyone!), but knowing I'll get a bank notification the moment the money arrives gives me extra peace of mind. Based on all these positive experiences, it sounds like your car repairs should definitely be covered by mid-September rather than October. The CP24 really does seem to be good news rather than something to stress about!

I just want to point out that for the 2025 filing season (for 2024 tax year), there's a slightly higher threshold for long-term capital gains tax rates. For single filers, the 0% rate applies up to $47,025 of taxable income and the 15% rate applies up to $518,900. So depending on your income level, this could affect how you fill out the Capital Gain Tax Worksheet. The Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet is critical because if you don't use it, you might massively overpay your taxes. FreeFileFillableForms won't catch this - it just takes whatever numbers you input.

Just to add another perspective here - I've been using FreeFileFillableForms for several years with investment income, and the key thing to remember is that it's really just a digital version of the paper forms. You're still responsible for all the calculations that would normally be done on supporting worksheets. For the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet specifically, I usually download the PDF from irs.gov, work through it step by step, and keep a copy with my tax records even though it doesn't get submitted. The most important thing is making sure you use the correct tax year's version - don't accidentally grab last year's worksheet since the income thresholds and rates change annually. One tip that's helped me: after completing the worksheet, I always cross-reference my final tax calculation with the tax tables to make sure everything looks reasonable. FreeFileFillableForms won't catch computational errors in your supporting worksheets, so that sanity check has saved me from mistakes more than once.

This is a bit off-topic but make sure whatever brokerage you're using actually allows non-resident aliens if that's your status! I had a friend who was on F-1, started trading with a popular app, then found out later they weren't supposed to be using it as a non-resident. Caused all kinds of headaches at tax time.

Just wanted to add another perspective here - I went through a similar visa transition (F-2 to F-1) a couple years ago. One thing that really helped me was getting a copy of my complete I-94 travel history from the CBP website before trying to figure out my residency status. The substantial presence test calculations can get really complex with visa changes, especially when you're trying to figure out which days count as "exempt" vs "non-exempt." Having the exact entry/exit dates made it much easier to work through the math. Also, since you mentioned you've been here since December 2019, you're probably still within the 5-year exempt period for F-1 students (which started when you switched to F-1 in March 2024). But the F-2 time might have different rules depending on your spouse's/parent's visa status during that period. Given the amount of money you're planning to invest, it's probably worth getting professional advice from a tax attorney or CPA who specializes in international tax issues. The wrong classification could cost you way more in taxes than the consultation fee, especially with the dividend withholding differences others mentioned.