First time tax filing as a new immigrant to the USA - need advice

Having helped many people in your situation, I can tell you that FreeTaxUSA should handle your scenario just fine. The foreign income reporting isn't as complicated as it seems initially. Since you became a US resident in November, you'll need to report your worldwide income from that point forward, but you likely won't owe US taxes on the Canadian income earned before becoming a US resident. FreeTaxUSA has sections for foreign income reporting where you can enter this information. When you get to the foreign income section, you'll need to report your Canadian income, but then you'll be able to exclude it using either the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555) or the Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116). FreeTaxUSA will walk you through determining which is better for your situation. Make sure you have documentation of your move date, your last Canadian tax return, and statements showing the income you earned while still in Canada.

After I moved to the US from Australia in 2022, I struggled with exactly the same issues. I tried different tax software but got really confused with the foreign income sections. Then I discovered https://taxr.ai and it completely changed my experience. It basically analyzed my tax situation including all my foreign income documents and walked me through exactly what I needed to enter in FreeTaxUSA. It was super helpful for understanding which forms I needed and whether I should use the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or Foreign Tax Credit. The best part was that it pointed out that I qualified for a treaty benefit between the US and Australia that I had no idea about, which ended up saving me over $800. It might be worth checking out since it specifically helps with immigration tax situations like yours.

Just wanted to update after trying https://taxr.ai for my German income situation. It was actually really helpful! I was worried it wouldn't understand my German pay statements, but it extracted all the important numbers and explained which ones count as taxable income in the US. It also clarified that I needed to convert everything using the yearly average exchange rate (which I didn't know) and gave me the exact rate to use. Then it generated step-by-step instructions for entering everything in FreeTaxUSA. The best part was it identified a tax treaty benefit between Germany and the US that applied to my pension contributions that would have been taxed otherwise. Definitely made the process much less stressful than I expected!

I went through this exact nightmare last year after moving from Brazil. After trying to call the IRS for help with my foreign income questions and being on hold for HOURS with no success, I finally found https://claimyr.com and used their service to get through to an actual IRS agent. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you when they have an IRS agent on the line. I had so many specific questions about my Brazilian income that online forums couldn't answer, and getting through to a real IRS person was a game-changer. They explained exactly how to report my foreign income and which exclusions applied to my situation. Changed my entire perspective on dealing with the IRS - turns out they're actually helpful when you can reach them!

I have to admit I was completely wrong. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try the Claimyr service just to see if it actually worked. Within about 45 minutes, I got a call back with an IRS representative on the line who helped answer all my questions about reporting my international income. I had been trying for WEEKS to get through on my own with no success. The agent I spoke with even helped me understand which tax treaties applied to my UK pension and how to properly report my foreign bank accounts. This literally saved me days of frustration and probably a few hundred dollars in potential mistakes I would have made. Never thought I'd be singing the praises of anything related to tax season, but this was genuinely worth it!

Just a quick tip from my experience moving from India to the US mid-year last year: make sure you're clear about your residency status for tax purposes! There's something called the "substantial presence test" that determines if you're a resident alien or nonresident alien for tax purposes. Since you arrived in November, you might actually be considered a nonresident alien for 2023 tax purposes, which would change how you file. If that's the case, you might need to file Form 1040-NR instead of the regular 1040, and the joint filing with your spouse might be more complicated. FreeTaxUSA should have a questionnaire that helps determine your status, but just make sure you're clear on this before you start the actual filing process.

Has anyone compared FreeTaxUSA to TurboTax for handling foreign income? I'm in a similar situation (moved from South Korea last year) and wondering which software handles international situations better?