Filing taxes as an M4

[Mr. Clastogen]

Got some tax advices was hoping someone could add some clarification to.

1) I heard we should file taxes as fourth years even though income is $0 because next year when we are residents loan repayment rates are based on the previous year's income (i.e. now when our income is nil).

2) Heard on the interview trail from a program coordinator we can use residency interview expenses (travel, lodging, food) as tax write off because it is part of a job search. But would a tax write off even be beneficial this year since I didn't earn anything/pay any income tax?

So, file this year or no?

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[differentiating]

I filed using turbo tax’s free online version since i heard it could help with minimum loan payments the first year. Not sure how it would hurt.

 

[Gorne]

I tried to file online but most programs wont accept having $0 income so I mailed it in. Anybody know if we get confirmation they got it? I dont trust the snail mail.

 

[ndafife]

Go here: Free File: Do Your Federal Taxes for Free | Internal Revenue Service to get to the "free" version of different software (TurboTax, etc...) - EDIT: its an IRS.gov site, not sure why it feels the need to switch from the URL to a header

You're going to owe $0 in taxes if your income was $0 so there isn't any point trying to get a write off from $0.

But the tax return showing $0 in income, at least according to the financial aid people at my school, sets you up for your "income based repayment" to be on $0 in income. And having the tax return makes it much easier to get that all set up.

 

[MusicalMed]

Plus, if you are going for the PSLF program, apparently that first year of "nil" still counts as a year of on-time payments. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[mvenus929]

Got some tax advices was hoping someone could add some clarification to.

1) I heard we should file taxes as fourth years even though income is $0 because next year when we are residents loan repayment rates are based on the previous year's income (i.e. now when our income is nil).

2) Heard on the interview trail from a program coordinator we can use residency interview expenses (travel, lodging, food) as tax write off because it is part of a job search. But would a tax write off even be beneficial this year since I didn't earn anything/pay any income tax?

So, file this year or no?

1) when you apply for income based repayment plans, they ask if your income has changed significantly. Since most people apply towards the end of their forgiveness period, they actually have an income, so the answer is yes. You could lie, but companies are getting smarter with closing that particular loophole.

2) this is inaccurate. For one, the tax law change in 2018 made it so that you can not deduct any job hunting or moving expenses for a new job unless you are military (and then, the military generally finances moving expenses so you could only deduct what wasn’t covered by them ). I hated this change because I actually had expenses I could deduct this year... But even before that, residency job searches weren’t eligible because they are considered the first job in a new field, and only a job change in the same field qualified.