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furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

AbbiTheDog posted:

Oooh, skipped over that part. Trying to lay off coffee.

I love how just as we finally trained most of our clients to bring us the statement of taxable income for ISO exercises, most companies switched to RSU's. The STI for RSU's doesn't show how many shares were sold to cover, just how many were released :bang:

So now I get to badger my clients with RSU's to give me every single confirmation of release document in order to determine the basis of the remaining shares. Fortunately my practice is in Silicon Valley so it doesn't come up more than once every two or three clients.

:suicide:

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pancaek
Feb 6, 2004

sup fellaz

furushotakeru posted:

I love how just as we finally trained most of our clients to bring us the statement of taxable income for ISO exercises, most companies switched to RSU's. The STI for RSU's doesn't show how many shares were sold to cover, just how many were released :bang:

So now I get to badger my clients with RSU's to give me every single confirmation of release document in order to determine the basis of the remaining shares. Fortunately my practice is in Silicon Valley so it doesn't come up more than once every two or three clients.

:suicide:

I PM'd you a couple months ago but never got a response (I just moved to the bay area). Can I give you money to do my taxes? I don't want to get any angry letters from the IRS :[

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

pancaek posted:

I PM'd you a couple months ago but never got a response (I just moved to the bay area). Can I give you money to do my taxes? I don't want to get any angry letters from the IRS :[

Certainly, but I don't see a pm from you, sorry. You can email me at russell@barnettaccounting.net.

Eris
Mar 20, 2002
I have a really stupid question. I got married in September of this year for insurance reasons (shh, dont tell anyone, the wedding is in September!) and obviously, we need to file our taxes soon. I assume we should file married, filing jointly.

Stupid questions: Do we both fill out and file our taxes? Is one form enough for both of us? As in, we get one refund from our one jointly filed return, or do we both file?

Does that make sense?

Also, he's a grad student and makes less than $20k - should I even look into filing married, filing sep?

Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

Eris posted:

I have a really stupid question. I got married in September of this year for insurance reasons (shh, dont tell anyone, the wedding is in September!) and obviously, we need to file our taxes soon. I assume we should file married, filing jointly.

Stupid questions: Do we both fill out and file our taxes? Is one form enough for both of us? As in, we get one refund from our one jointly filed return, or do we both file?

Does that make sense?

Also, he's a grad student and makes less than $20k - should I even look into filing married, filing sep?

Married filing jointly will be one form (or online thing) all together, where you will input all the info about both you of you in one place (and get one refund, or owe one amount jointly).

If he's a grad student, probably not filing separately, it eliminates the tuition and fees deductions and the student loan interest deduction, which I assume he/you'll want to take advantage of.

Eris
Mar 20, 2002

kaishek posted:

Married filing jointly will be one form (or online thing) all together, where you will input all the info about both you of you in one place (and get one refund, or owe one amount jointly).

If he's a grad student, probably not filing separately, it eliminates the tuition and fees deductions and the student loan interest deduction, which I assume he/you'll want to take advantage of.

Thank you. That's super helpful. Except I'm a little unclear on your second part. "Probably not filing separately?" Does that mean that you think we should or shouldn't?

I have to look into it a little more, but I don't think his interest deductions should be that high, given that it's a city school and we don't have a ton in loans for him.

Admiral101
Feb 20, 2006
RMU: Where using the internet is like living in 1995.
99.9% of the time, unless you have some kind of bizarre unique situation, MFJ is the better answer.


MFS has so many penalties its not even close to worth it, and the only people I know that file MFS do so because they're bitter, angry old people as opposed to any tax advantage

You will both fill out one form, and you are eligible for MFJ status presuming you were married before 12-31.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Admiral101 posted:

99.9% of the time, unless you have some kind of bizarre unique situation, MFJ is the better answer.


MFS has so many penalties its not even close to worth it, and the only people I know that file MFS do so because they're bitter, angry old people as opposed to any tax advantage

You will both fill out one form, and you are eligible for MFJ status presuming you were married before 12-31.

I have at least one client who files MFS because it is not the first marriage for either spouse and they have separate property trusts. Apparently their respective attorneys recommended that they file separately in order to avoid even the appearance of commingling assets, or something.

pancaek
Feb 6, 2004

sup fellaz

furushotakeru posted:

Certainly, but I don't see a pm from you, sorry. You can email me at russell@barnettaccounting.net.

Emailed, thanks. I just got a couple more forms in the mail today and really don't want to have to e-file any of this stuff on my own. Eek.

khazar sansculotte
May 14, 2004

I had a Uniform Gift to Minors thing set up when I was a kid that I've withdrawn from periodically since I got to college. In the summer of 2010, I withdrew $4000 from it to help finance a trip to Europe. I just got a letter in the mail from the IRS about a week ago saying that I owe $625 in taxes and interest from 2010 on what they're calling income from "securities" (the $4000 I withdrew) and "dividends" ($31, I have no idea where this part came from). I've withdrawn money several times from this account and never had to pay taxes on it as far as I recall, so I'm just wondering what was different in 2010? I turned 24 in 2010 if that means anything, and have been a full time student since I was 18. Did I withdraw too much in one year or something?

entris
Oct 22, 2008

by Y Kant Ozma Post

Ronald McReagan posted:

I had a Uniform Gift to Minors thing set up when I was a kid that I've withdrawn from periodically since I got to college. In the summer of 2010, I withdrew $4000 from it to help finance a trip to Europe. I just got a letter in the mail from the IRS about a week ago saying that I owe $625 in taxes and interest from 2010 on what they're calling income from "securities" (the $4000 I withdrew) and "dividends" ($31, I have no idea where this part came from). I've withdrawn money several times from this account and never had to pay taxes on it as far as I recall, so I'm just wondering what was different in 2010? I turned 24 in 2010 if that means anything, and have been a full time student since I was 18. Did I withdraw too much in one year or something?

How was the account funded?
What assets are in the account?
How did you report the account on your income tax return?

Did you make enough money in 2010 to have an income tax liability?

The income from securities is probably capital gain, since you probably sold securities and pulled out the sale proceeds.
The dividends were probably generated by one or more of the securities in the account.

It doesn't have anything to do with you withdrawing too much or turning 24.

Yarrbossa
Mar 19, 2008
I'm not sure how to really ask this.

I'm a graduate student and a graduate assistant, meaning the school pays for my tuition, I just pay out of pocket for fees, books, parking pass, etc...

I got my 1098-T in the mail, and it has the tuition rate of $17,905, which is tuition for both Fall 2011 AND Spring 2012 (tuition for one semester is 8,730). But on the 1098-T, it only says I received $8,730 in grants. OK, so it appears not to have the grant covering my Spring semester.

The big kicker, is that of those amounts, Turbotax asks me how much I actually paid out of pocket in 2011 for what was billed, which is around $443 for school fees for Fall(Spring fees are on an installment plan which I pay on now, in 2012). Given this information, it cut my refund to more than half of what it was originally, because it thinks I made around $8,000 more in income than I actually did, which isn't the case (god I wish it was).

This doesn't seem right, so I thought I might ask here before asking around elsewhere and making a fool out of myself. Am I just getting hosed from now on every year I'm a graduate student, or is something legitimately off here and I should talk to someone in the bursar about it? Should I put in that I paid $443+8730 to cover the spring semester? I don't really know how to handle this situation so I'm not doing things incorrectly, but it just feels wrong.

I hope I've given enough information to help me out. Thanks in advance for anything.

Tyro
Nov 10, 2009
This might be a long shot but I figured I'd ask. I am mildly familiar with corporate accounting, not very familiar with tax accounting at all.

I'm applying for a job at a nonprofit. By going through their 990's, I was hoping to estimate an average salary to figure out where to start negotiations. It's a small association (gross assets $1.2M) The number I came up with is absurdly low unless either (1) they have a lot of part time employees, (2) they had high turnover and the actual number of employees is lower, or (3) I'm calculating something wrong.

Employees: 11 (from W3, assume this includes the Executive Director/CEO)
Reportable compensation of ED/CEO: $212K
Other salaries and wages: $302K

Does this mean the mean salary is $30K? Even for a nonprofit this seems low, especially when you consider that there's a Senior Director who makes $123K. When that person is accounted for the mean drops to just under $20K. The numbers from the prior year are very similar.

Is there something I'm missing?

khazar sansculotte
May 14, 2004

entris posted:

How was the account funded?

My parents put money into it out of their paychecks (I'm not sure if it is pre or post tax income) steadily over ~18 years.

quote:

What assets are in the account?

It was a couple of mutual funds, the money this time came from selling from Legg Mason Clearbridge Equity Fund.

quote:

How did you report the account on your income tax return?

The only tax forms I've ever received relating to this account are 1099-DIVs.

quote:

Did you make enough money in 2010 to have an income tax liability?

I made almost $16,000 last year, but now the IRS says I made $20,000 because the $4000 I withdrew counts as income.

quote:

The income from securities is probably capital gain, since you probably sold securities and pulled out the sale proceeds.
The dividends were probably generated by one or more of the securities in the account.

It doesn't have anything to do with you withdrawing too much or turning 24.

That makes sense, I guess I'm just confused why I had 6 years of tax returns without ever running into this issue.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Yarrbossa posted:

I'm not sure how to really ask this.

I'm a graduate student and a graduate assistant, meaning the school pays for my tuition, I just pay out of pocket for fees, books, parking pass, etc...

I got my 1098-T in the mail, and it has the tuition rate of $17,905, which is tuition for both Fall 2011 AND Spring 2012 (tuition for one semester is 8,730). But on the 1098-T, it only says I received $8,730 in grants. OK, so it appears not to have the grant covering my Spring semester.

The big kicker, is that of those amounts, Turbotax asks me how much I actually paid out of pocket in 2011 for what was billed, which is around $443 for school fees for Fall(Spring fees are on an installment plan which I pay on now, in 2012). Given this information, it cut my refund to more than half of what it was originally, because it thinks I made around $8,000 more in income than I actually did, which isn't the case (god I wish it was).

This doesn't seem right, so I thought I might ask here before asking around elsewhere and making a fool out of myself. Am I just getting hosed from now on every year I'm a graduate student, or is something legitimately off here and I should talk to someone in the bursar about it? Should I put in that I paid $443+8730 to cover the spring semester? I don't really know how to handle this situation so I'm not doing things incorrectly, but it just feels wrong.

I hope I've given enough information to help me out. Thanks in advance for anything.

1098-T's are kind of dumb because they report on a calendar year basis, which doesn't always line up with school calendars. For instance, many schools might require the payment of spring 2012 tuition before the end of calendar year 2011, but most students might be naturally inclined to include it on their 2012 return rather than their 2011 return, etc.

Use the amount you actually paid out of pocket and don't worry about the 1098-T unless it shows that you received more in grants and scholarships than they are reporting in tuition.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Tyro posted:

This might be a long shot but I figured I'd ask. I am mildly familiar with corporate accounting, not very familiar with tax accounting at all.

I'm applying for a job at a nonprofit. By going through their 990's, I was hoping to estimate an average salary to figure out where to start negotiations. It's a small association (gross assets $1.2M) The number I came up with is absurdly low unless either (1) they have a lot of part time employees, (2) they had high turnover and the actual number of employees is lower, or (3) I'm calculating something wrong.

Employees: 11 (from W3, assume this includes the Executive Director/CEO)
Reportable compensation of ED/CEO: $212K
Other salaries and wages: $302K

Does this mean the mean salary is $30K? Even for a nonprofit this seems low, especially when you consider that there's a Senior Director who makes $123K. When that person is accounted for the mean drops to just under $20K. The numbers from the prior year are very similar.

Is there something I'm missing?

You'll need to ask them directly. My understanding is that nonprofits tend to pay the peons less than the private sector, although as you can see the executives can be paid decently depending on their role and the organization.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Ronald McReagan posted:

My parents put money into it out of their paychecks (I'm not sure if it is pre or post tax income) steadily over ~18 years.


It was a couple of mutual funds, the money this time came from selling from Legg Mason Clearbridge Equity Fund.


The only tax forms I've ever received relating to this account are 1099-DIVs.


I made almost $16,000 last year, but now the IRS says I made $20,000 because the $4000 I withdrew counts as income.


That makes sense, I guess I'm just confused why I had 6 years of tax returns without ever running into this issue.

It's not withdrawing $4,000 that is the taxable event, it is selling the shares of the mutual fund in order to generate the necessary liquidity to withdraw $4,000. You will only pay tax on the difference between $4,000 and what the cost basis is on the shares, which you might be able to get from the brokerage that holds the custodial account.

You probably haven't heard from the IRS about this before because you didn't have a filing requirement in the other years you took money out even with the stock sales, so they didn't hassle you.

entris
Oct 22, 2008

by Y Kant Ozma Post

furushotakeru posted:

It's not withdrawing $4,000 that is the taxable event, it is selling the shares of the mutual fund in order to generate the necessary liquidity to withdraw $4,000. You will only pay tax on the difference between $4,000 and what the cost basis is on the shares, which you might be able to get from the brokerage that holds the custodial account.

You probably haven't heard from the IRS about this before because you didn't have a filing requirement in the other years you took money out even with the stock sales, so they didn't hassle you.

Do you think they are treating the $4000 as all gain due to his failure to file basis information? Isn't there some rule where they assign you a zero basis if you don't report it yourself?

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

entris posted:

Do you think they are treating the $4000 as all gain due to his failure to file basis information? Isn't there some rule where they assign you a zero basis if you don't report it yourself?

This is it exactly

Yarrbossa
Mar 19, 2008

furushotakeru posted:

1098-T's are kind of dumb because they report on a calendar year basis, which doesn't always line up with school calendars. For instance, many schools might require the payment of spring 2012 tuition before the end of calendar year 2011, but most students might be naturally inclined to include it on their 2012 return rather than their 2011 return, etc.

Use the amount you actually paid out of pocket and don't worry about the 1098-T unless it shows that you received more in grants and scholarships than they are reporting in tuition.

So is the suggestion to ignore the 1098-T entirely when filing, and just put in the $443 as education expenses? Will I get into some sort of trouble in the future for ignoring the 1098-T, or is the 1098 form more of a "hey guys, here's something to help you fill out your taxes for educational expenses" from the university? I know in years past I submitted before getting a 1098-T(before I knew what it was), and I never heard anything about it. I just want to make sure the IRS doesn't call me up in a few years about some stupid form I didn't input.

I guess the question is, what is the 1098-T? Is it important when filing if you know the amount you actually spent out of pocket(with proof) and didn't get more from grants then you were billed?

Dragyn
Jan 23, 2007

Please Sam, don't use the word 'acumen' again.
I think I know the answer, but I was hoping maybe the tax gurus here might have some further insight.

I have two student loans that I pay. One yeilds about $100 of interest and year and is in my name. The other, about $2500 a year and is in my dad's name. Is there any way that I can claim the interest on the larger loan, since I'm the one who pays it?

I tried to refinance it over to myself last year, but even with both my parents co-signing, no one would touch it (I have perfect credit as well)

Murgos
Oct 21, 2010
In 2011 I took a graduate course (towards an MSEE) for which my company reimbursed me. The course is slightly less than the $5200 tax exemption (the course was $4950) so I don't do anything, right? It doesn't get reported as income by my job and I don't pay any taxes on the reimbursement and I can't deduct the tuition I paid to the school or claim a continuing education credit. At least that's how I understand it.

This year I will take two of these courses for which I will be reimbursed ~$9900, well over the $5200 limit so I need to pay taxes on (9900 - 5200) $4700 as ordinary income which will be reported on my w-2, is that correct?

Since a portion of the tuition reimbursement is no longer tax exempt does that mean I can claim that portion as a deduction? Or apply for one of the tax credits?

I guess what I am asking is that since that additional income is treated as ordinary income then is it really ordinary income and the tuition I buy with it follows the out-of-pocket rules or is it still special?

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Yarrbossa posted:

So is the suggestion to ignore the 1098-T entirely when filing, and just put in the $443 as education expenses? Will I get into some sort of trouble in the future for ignoring the 1098-T, or is the 1098 form more of a "hey guys, here's something to help you fill out your taxes for educational expenses" from the university? I know in years past I submitted before getting a 1098-T(before I knew what it was), and I never heard anything about it. I just want to make sure the IRS doesn't call me up in a few years about some stupid form I didn't input.

I guess the question is, what is the 1098-T? Is it important when filing if you know the amount you actually spent out of pocket(with proof) and didn't get more from grants then you were billed?

Ignore the 1098-T unless it reports more grants and scholarships than tuition.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Murgos posted:

In 2011 I took a graduate course (towards an MSEE) for which my company reimbursed me. The course is slightly less than the $5200 tax exemption (the course was $4950) so I don't do anything, right? It doesn't get reported as income by my job and I don't pay any taxes on the reimbursement and I can't deduct the tuition I paid to the school or claim a continuing education credit. At least that's how I understand it.

This year I will take two of these courses for which I will be reimbursed ~$9900, well over the $5200 limit so I need to pay taxes on (9900 - 5200) $4700 as ordinary income which will be reported on my w-2, is that correct?

Since a portion of the tuition reimbursement is no longer tax exempt does that mean I can claim that portion as a deduction? Or apply for one of the tax credits?

I guess what I am asking is that since that additional income is treated as ordinary income then is it really ordinary income and the tuition I buy with it follows the out-of-pocket rules or is it still special?

I would use the education expenses to the extent that they were treated as taxable income to you. In other words, you have it right.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

Dragyn posted:

I think I know the answer, but I was hoping maybe the tax gurus here might have some further insight.

I have two student loans that I pay. One yeilds about $100 of interest and year and is in my name. The other, about $2500 a year and is in my dad's name. Is there any way that I can claim the interest on the larger loan, since I'm the one who pays it?

I tried to refinance it over to myself last year, but even with both my parents co-signing, no one would touch it (I have perfect credit as well)

I don't think that you can technically deduct the interest if you aren't legally liable for the loan (and not just "my dad will kill me if I default"). That said, I might take it anyways because you aren't exactly scamming the government here and it probably makes a small enough difference that no one will care. In other words, do it at your own risk. Maybe stick a statement in the back of the return explaining that you are repaying the loan even though it is reported under your father's SSN just to cover your bases.

AbbiTheDog
May 21, 2007

furushotakeru posted:

I don't think that you can technically deduct the interest if you aren't legally liable for the loan (and not just "my dad will kill me if I default"). That said, I might take it anyways because you aren't exactly scamming the government here and it probably makes a small enough difference that no one will care. In other words, do it at your own risk. Maybe stick a statement in the back of the return explaining that you are repaying the loan even though it is reported under your father's SSN just to cover your bases.

CP2000 notice? The IRS computers are going to throw out an error message, and those are automated - nobody will read a statement on the tax returns before the computers flag it.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

AbbiTheDog posted:

CP2000 notice? The IRS computers are going to throw out an error message, and those are automated - nobody will read a statement on the tax returns before the computers flag it.

I know that but then his response can be "Look at what I put on the return to explain this".

Never seen a CP2000 notice for student loan interest but I don't see why it can't happen. They do send them out on mortgage interest deductions if there isn't a 1098 in the system.

null_user01013
Nov 13, 2000

Drink up comrades
If my mother made no money in 2011 (unemployed, not getting unemployment money anymore) and I pay most of her bills and we share the same legal residence (but I have billing addresses elsewhere and live in another town from her with my lady) is there anything fishy about claiming her as a dependent? I'm taking my taxes to a tax person if this is so, maybe they can get more money, otherwise I'm doing the ez form since I got nothing else going on this year and only 1 w2 and tax breaks never seem to work on me anyway.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

AxeManiac posted:

If my mother made no money in 2011 (unemployed, not getting unemployment money anymore) and I pay most of her bills and we share the same legal residence (but I have billing addresses elsewhere and live in another town from her with my lady) is there anything fishy about claiming her as a dependent? I'm taking my taxes to a tax person if this is so, maybe they can get more money, otherwise I'm doing the ez form since I got nothing else going on this year and only 1 w2 and tax breaks never seem to work on me anyway.

It sounds like you can claim her as long as she didn't have more then $3700 of reported income for the year

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

I'm using Turbo Tax and it doesn't seem correct, but I'm also looking at the paper forms and I'm totally lost.

The first thing is my 1098-E says $1,227 paid in student loan interest. I paid part of this and my mother paid part. We're both liable for the loan, but she's a cosigner, my SSN is the borrower ID on the form, and I'm the only one who received one. After entering this form in Turbo Tax, my tax owed changed from $4 (it was $3 last year) to a refund of $191. I thought student loan interest paid was basically handed back to you up to the annual limit. Is this not even remotely how that works?

The second problem is I moved from Iowa to Nebraska in August 2011 while continuing to work in Iowa. My employer apparently didn't file my updated W-4 because my W-2 shows no tax withheld for Nebraska. Nebraska's IRS website says you're required to pay income tax to NE while a resident of the state and 1040-N schedule III allows for a credit of tax paid to other states. Where I'm lost is that I have no income from NE, and both the paper form and Turbo Tax seem to indicate I owe should have paid $0 taxes to NE.

What the hell am I doing wrong?

BonerGhost fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Jan 21, 2012

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

This has probably been asked already and if so I apologize, but I'm not sure what to do here.

I'm military and was deployed in 2010 so considering most of my pay for that year was non-taxable, I was stupid and decided to be lazy and not file since, ya know, it couldn't be that much, right?

Well, this year I lost some allowances and a higher cost of living so I'm hurting and I'm figuring that even if I get $200 back from 2010 it could help.

My question is, how do I file for two different years? I think I have to file both separately, but I'm using TaxSlayer.com and it gives me the option of adding another W-2 and I'm not sure if it's for the purpose of filing for two different years or if its for situations where you worked more than one job. Am I going to have to do two different 1040 forms for the 2010 and 2011 tax years?

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

life is killing me posted:

This has probably been asked already and if so I apologize, but I'm not sure what to do here.

I'm military and was deployed in 2010 so considering most of my pay for that year was non-taxable, I was stupid and decided to be lazy and not file since, ya know, it couldn't be that much, right?

Well, this year I lost some allowances and a higher cost of living so I'm hurting and I'm figuring that even if I get $200 back from 2010 it could help.

My question is, how do I file for two different years? I think I have to file both separately, but I'm using TaxSlayer.com and it gives me the option of adding another W-2 and I'm not sure if it's for the purpose of filing for two different years or if its for situations where you worked more than one job. Am I going to have to do two different 1040 forms for the 2010 and 2011 tax years?

You need to file two separate returns

life is killing me
Oct 28, 2007

furushotakeru posted:

You need to file two separate returns

Great, thanks!

agentq
Dec 23, 2003
Frag out
I have gifted money to my family (parents and sister) this past year. Can I claim that on my taxes to get more money back this year?

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

agentq posted:

I have gifted money to my family (parents and sister) this past year. Can I claim that on my taxes to get more money back this year?

No

miryei
Oct 11, 2011
I got married last year, TurboTax is telling me that I should file MSJ, even though my spouse did not live with me at any point, did not earn anything in the US, and is not a US citizen or resident. (It asked me all of those things). I was assuming we'd file separate returns, how would filing together work/would we even be able to/would doing so be beneficial? If it makes a difference, he's Canadian and we each earned ~$20k last year.

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

miryei posted:

I got married last year, TurboTax is telling me that I should file MSJ, even though my spouse did not live with me at any point, did not earn anything in the US, and is not a US citizen or resident. (It asked me all of those things). I was assuming we'd file separate returns, how would filing together work/would we even be able to/would doing so be beneficial? If it makes a difference, he's Canadian and we each earned ~$20k last year.

You Can either file as MFS, or file jointly and elect for him to be treated as a US resident for the entire year and file jointly. Doing so is generally an irrevocable election however and will mean his worldwide income will be subject to US taxation, so don't make the decision lightly. Between the doubled up tax brackets and foreign tax credit it might still work in your favor to file jointly though.

john mayer
Jan 18, 2011

I thought the answer to this was definitely not but everyone seems to be telling me I can do this. I got my 1098-E from my old lenders because I had consolidated my loans, so the interest that had accrued was paid this year. I assumed I couldn't claim that since the government, not me, had made the payment. Everyone else in my family seems to disagree with me which just seems wrong. Who is correct?

furushotakeru
Jul 20, 2004

Your Honor, why am I pink?!

john mayer posted:

I thought the answer to this was definitely not but everyone seems to be telling me I can do this. I got my 1098-E from my old lenders because I had consolidated my loans, so the interest that had accrued was paid this year. I assumed I couldn't claim that since the government, not me, had made the payment. Everyone else in my family seems to disagree with me which just seems wrong. Who is correct?

If they sent you a 1098-E it is safe to assume that this was merely deferred interest and not interest paid by the government. Take it.

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khazar sansculotte
May 14, 2004

furushotakeru posted:

This is it exactly

How annoying. I'm calling the brokerage first thing on Monday, thanks a ton for pointing this out to me!

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