Venting thread

[rotting bones]

My back is annoying me.

This one helped me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DBY2X24?ps ... ct_details (Disclaimer: The packaging says the product may get hot enough to burn you.)

[doctor shark]

Minor vent: Due to a change in how US tax laws were interpreted regarding foreign tax credits, I filed amended returns (one with the federal government, one with North Carolina) to claim back some taxes I overpaid back in 2013 (for the period when I worked in France in 2012). Because these are amended returns, though, they have to be filed on paper because many US government agencies seem like they still function in the Stone Age. No worry, though: I sent the returns when I was back home. In early January.

It's July. I've heard nothing from either of the two. And calling either of them would be a major pain, so more waiting around...?

[Moose-tache]

Wait, why did you pay any taxes on foreign income in 2013 in the first place? Did you make more than the cap?

[Rounin Ryuuji]

I had to file a late return because of Covid, and I'm also yet to hear back. I should probably do something to nag the IRS about it.

[doctor shark]

Wait, why did you pay any taxes on foreign income in 2013 in the first place? Did you make more than the cap?

I wasn't outside of the US for a long enough period: I was abroad for a total of ~10 months (304 days: mid-June 2011 through end-April 2012), and I would have needed over 11 months' (330 days) stay outside the US to be able to exclude the income.

[Moose-tache]

Wait, why did you pay any taxes on foreign income in 2013 in the first place? Did you make more than the cap?

I wasn't outside of the US for a long enough period: I was abroad for a total of ~10 months (304 days: mid-June 2011 through end-April 2012), and I would have needed over 11 months' (330 days) stay outside the US to be able to exclude the income.

I get that you would need to file your taxes. But anticipating a refund implies that you already had taxes withheld. Who was deducting taxes from your income? I've never heard any rule that your foreign income becomes taxable if you don't stay away long enough.

EDIT: Yeah, actually my wife has definitely spent more than a month in the US most calendar years since we moved abroad, and none of the professionals we pay to file our taxes have told us we owe the Federal government decades of back taxes. I think whoever told you about this 11 months rule is full of shit.

[doctor shark]

Wait, why did you pay any taxes on foreign income in 2013 in the first place? Did you make more than the cap?

I wasn't outside of the US for a long enough period: I was abroad for a total of ~10 months (304 days: mid-June 2011 through end-April 2012), and I would have needed over 11 months' (330 days) stay outside the US to be able to exclude the income.

I get that you would need to file your taxes. But anticipating a refund implies that you already had taxes withheld. Who was deducting taxes from your income? I've never heard any rule that your foreign income becomes taxable if you don't stay away long enough.

I actually had to write a check to pay a North Carolina tax bill at the end of the year (because Ohio taxes back then were quite low and NC's were quite high), and I also worked in the US from July onwards as a Ph.D. student assistant, so the over-withholding from that paid for my Federal tax bill for my stay in France. As a US citizen, income is always taxable by the federal government (and state, depending on where you're domiciled), but then it just so happens that, if you meet one of two tests (bonafide residence, which is where you or physical presence), then that income becomes excludable. In my case, I couldn't meet the bonafide residence test, since I was in France on a temporary work visa and couldn't be resident in France for a full, uninterrupted tax (calendar) year, so the only test I could meet was the physical presence test, and that didn't happen. However, the foreign tax credit (where you take the foreign tax paid as a credit against the US tax to be assessed) is always applicable, regardless of the length of stay in the foreign country, so that's what I'm filing for all these years later. Should be about $300 each from NC and the Federal government, so not much, but, still, stuff I shouldn't have had to pay in the end.

EDIT: Yeah, actually my wife has definitely spent more than a month in the US most calendar years since we moved abroad, and none of the professionals we pay to file our taxes have told us we owe the Federal government decades of back taxes. I think whoever told you about this 11 months rule is full of shit.

That's because of the separate "bona fide residence" test for the exclusion which states that, once you are considered resident in a foreign country for an uninterrupted tax year, then you qualify to take the exclusion, regardless of how much time you spend within the US within the tax year. This is a bit less bright-line compared to the physical presence rule, which is much more simple: out of country for 330 days or more, you qualify. Since your wife then is considered bona fide resident outside the US, then regardless of the periods she's physically within the US, she qualifies for the income exclusion and you then don't owe the federal government huge amounts of money or have to deal with the foreign tax credit form.

As I mentioned before, though, for that year, I couldn't qualify under either of the two, so the money was fully taxable. (I also file my own tax returns, so I've combed through and researched a lot of this stuff extensively: part of it is me being incredibly cheap, the other being the complicated situation of needing to normally file at least four tax returns in a given year when I was in grad school in the US, and the costs for those add up.)

[Linguoboy]

My trans niece has been trying for months to get her name officially changed and it's been a real slog. Every time she and my sister think they've jumped through all the hoops, another one appears. The latest is that, despite being presented with an official government certification of the name change, the bank won't change her name on her account unless she first uses it to get an official state ID and then brings *that*. In addition, the state is at least three months behind in processing changes to birth certificates. I'm not even sure if Missouri is uniquely bad in this respect or if it would be the same elsewhere.

[Travis B.]

I've heard some states make it hard to change one's official gender in particular simply for teh evulz (because they'll oppress trans people just for it's own sake just because they can).

[Vardelm]

My trans niece has been trying for months to get her name officially changed and it's been a real slog. Every time she and my sister think they've jumped through all the hoops, another one appears. The latest is that, despite being presented with an official government certification of the name change, the bank won't change her name on her account unless she first uses it to get an official state ID and then brings *that*. In addition, the state is at least three months behind in processing changes to birth certificates. I'm not even sure if Missouri is uniquely bad in this respect or if it would be the same elsewhere.

It's Missouri, so OF COURSE they'll be vying for "most assholish state in the union."

[fusijui]

The state-to-state variation is pretty wild in the US, and even within states, some county/municipal courts can be wildly different from their immediate neighbors, too. Missouri has a bad reputation though... in everything, really.

[Moose-tache]

I'm clicking around various bank websites, and most of them say something like: "valid government-issued ID," and "court order of name change." The second could also be a marriage or divorce certificate, since that's the main reason most people change the name on their account. Sounds like your niece's bank is going the extra mile to be jerks.

As for the certificate delay, my impression is that every government agency since 2020 looks like Charlie and Mac in the mail room, so that might not be Missouri's fault. Still sucks.

[Nila_MadhaVa]

So dad passed away on Friday afternoon. I'm just grateful he went quickly and peacefully in his sleep. Mum was a real trooper; she'd hit the road in the early morning and was here that evening. Don't know what else to say about all that, the words may come later, but for right now I guess I'm still in a bit of shock.

I've still got lots to do winding up dad's affairs, so I haven't had much time to just stop and take things in. Again, mum's been great, but as the next of kin I've got to deal with most of this stuff myself. I'm really dreading contacting the Italian consular staff to register the death certificate, when that time comes. They are notorious for making people jump through the paperwork hoops. I've been advised to try the embassy rather than the local consulate, since apparently the embassy can be less intractable than the local consulate. I'm hoping that's the case and the embassy will be happy with a certified copy.

[malloc]

The state-to-state variation is pretty wild in the US, and even within states, some county/municipal courts can be wildly different from their immediate neighbors, too. Missouri has a bad reputation though... in everything, really.

It took over ten years but it looks like people are finally realizing I was right all along.

[Vardelm]

...

Condolences to you. It's good he could slip away in his sleep and that you could be with him at the end. Best of luck with the legal stuff.

[Man in Space]

My condolences, Nila_MadhaVa.

[Linguoboy]

It took over ten years but it looks like people are finally realizing I was right all along.

Dude, when did I ever disagree with you that Missouri sucks?

[malloc]

It took over ten years but it looks like people are finally realizing I was right all along.

Dude, when did I ever disagree with you that Missouri sucks?

I remember everyone telling me that I was delusional about the whole thing and just needed therapy.

[linguistcat]

It took over ten years but it looks like people are finally realizing I was right all along.

Dude, when did I ever disagree with you that Missouri sucks?

I remember everyone telling me that I was delusional about the whole thing and just needed therapy.

There's a difference between saying that therapy would help you deal with how much things suck, and saying that nothing is wrong and you're delusional. However, you do have a strong cognitive bias that if people don't agree with you 100% that everything is absolutely hopeless all the time, that they must think that everything is fine and you're just whining to whine. Which is a thought pattern that therapy COULD help you break out of. There are more options between "completely hopeless" and "it's fine so don't worry about it".

[hwhatting]

My condolences, Nila_MadhaVa.

My condolences, too.