How to handle having both 1042-S and W-2 income in the same tax year?

Your situation is actually pretty common among academic researchers! Let me break this down: For your January 15th question - this deadline is for making your fourth quarter estimated tax payment for 2024, not for filing your actual tax return. This is just to cover the taxes you should have been paying throughout the year on your fellowship income. To answer your specific questions: 1. Use Form 1040-ES to make estimated tax payments. Form 1040 is your actual tax return that would be filed later. 2. If you haven't been making quarterly payments all year, you should make an estimated payment before January 15th to reduce potential underpayment penalties. Your actual tax return is still due April 15th. 3. The January payment and April filing are separate things. Make your estimated payment now, then file your complete tax return after you have all documents. Since your fellowship doesn't withhold taxes, the IRS expects you to make these payments yourself throughout the year. The January 15th payment covers October-December 2024 income. Even if you pay now, you'll still file your complete return after you have all your forms.

Just wanted to share my experience with this exact situation! I was getting absolutely nowhere trying to figure out the 1042-S and W-2 combination until I found https://taxr.ai which completely saved me. I uploaded my documents and it instantly identified that I needed to make estimated payments AND explained exactly how to calculate the right amount based on both income sources. It was super helpful because it showed me how to properly report fellowship income on my tax return (it's not as straightforward as regular W-2 income) and calculated my potential underpayment penalty. The system even generated a filled-out 1040-ES form that I could just print and mail with my payment. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused about the process.

I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and wow - it was exactly what I needed! I was completely lost trying to figure out my 1042-S income alongside my campus job W-2, and the regular tax software I used before just wasn't designed for this situation. It walked me through everything step by step, explained which parts of my fellowship were taxable (turns out not all of it was!), and even showed me how to claim a foreign tax credit for some taxes I paid in my home country. The estimated tax calculator showed me exactly how much I needed to pay for each quarter. The best part was being able to chat with the system when I got confused about something specific to my visa status. Honestly saved me so much stress and probably hundreds in penalties I would've incurred from filing incorrectly!

If you're still having trouble with the IRS or need to speak with someone directly about your situation, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar position with mixed income types and the IRS kept sending me automated letters about underpayment. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to an actual person at the IRS with no luck. Claimyr got me connected to a real IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone tree for you and holds your place in line, then calls you when an agent is actually available. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was able to confirm exactly what I needed to do with my 1042-S income and set up a payment plan that avoided most of the penalties. Totally worth it for the peace of mind alone.

I need to apologize for being so skeptical about Claimyr. After posting that snarky comment, I was desperate enough to try it anyway. I had been trying to reach the IRS for WEEKS about my 1042-S reporting requirements with absolutely no success. Used the service yesterday afternoon, and they actually got me through to a real person at the IRS in about 45 minutes. I was shocked. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle the fellowship income and confirmed I could avoid most penalties by filing Form 2210 with a proper explanation of my situation. For anyone dealing with this complicated tax situation where you really need to speak to someone at the IRS - this service actually works. I'm still surprised, but incredibly relieved to finally have clear answers about my tax obligations. Worth every penny just for the stress reduction.

Just a heads up - when you file taxes with both W-2 and 1042-S income, make sure you're using tax software that can handle this properly. I tried using the free version of [popular tax software] last year and it completely messed up reporting my fellowship income. Ended up having to upgrade to their premium version which had the forms I needed. Also, keep really good records of what portion of your fellowship was for tuition/fees vs. living expenses, as they're treated differently tax-wise. My university wasn't very clear about this on the 1042-S.

Don't forget about state taxes! If you worked in two different states like you mentioned, you'll probably need to file part-year resident returns for both states. This gets complicated fast when you have different income types.

I went through this exact situation last year! A few additional tips that helped me: 1. **Calculate your safe harbor amount** - If your prior year tax liability was under $1,000, you may not owe any estimated tax penalties at all. If it was higher, paying 100% of last year's tax liability (or 110% if your AGI was over $150k) through withholding + estimated payments will generally protect you from penalties. 2. **Consider Form 2210** - Even if you missed some quarterly payments, you might be able to avoid penalties by filing Form 2210 with your return and showing that your income was uneven throughout the year (which it sounds like it was, since you started the fellowship in June). 3. **Double-check your 1042-S reporting** - Fellowship income from a 1042-S typically goes on Schedule 1 as "other income" rather than being treated like regular wages. Make sure whatever tax software you use handles this correctly. 4. **Keep documentation** - Save all your fellowship award letters and any communication from your university about the tax treatment. Sometimes there are special provisions for certain types of research fellowships. The January 15th estimated payment is definitely worth making to avoid additional penalties, but don't stress too much about the earlier quarters - the penalties are usually manageable and there are often ways to reduce them when you file your actual return.