I filed my 2019 taxes as a non-resident alien. The IRS sent me a notice today saying that there were errors in my return and asked me to pay $3000. The letter says,
Information was changed because of the following:
We changed the other itemized deductions claimed on your return because you made one of the following errors on your Schedule A, Itemized Deductions:
- The amount was computed incorrectly.
- The amount included miscellaneous itemized deductions that are not allowed for the tax year (185D)
They then compare my tax calculations to theirs -- the only difference being that my taxable income is lower than my adjusted gross income (AGI) since I claimed standard deduction. While according to their calculations, my AGI and taxable income should be the same. There is no other information in the notice, so I guess that means that they have an issue with my standard deduction. As an Indian student on an F1 Visa, I'm allowed to claim standard deduction (see this link), and have done so since the past few years using the exact same method. I'm not sure what went wrong here.
Should I try to call the IRS and talk to a representative?
