Hi, Amelies Uncle:
Not, I am not military; however, do work for the federal government on official gov’t orders overseas - not only the military goes overseas for official government business. Not sure if military tax rules are the same as federal government civilian employee tax rules.
No where in any of the options did Turbo Tax ask me if I was ‘military’ - so, not sure how this applies as I was never given the option to enter my employment status other than under the “Personal” information where “Federal Government” as my employment.
Here’s the entire history.
1. Purchased condo in June 2005 for $378K as a primary residence.
2. 2007 moved out (not primary residence) as my work takes me overseas (State Department) all the time. Rental property and 100% rental from 2007 to 2011.
3. Returned to the condo in 2011 after my overseas assignment once again moved back in as a primary residence.
4. Moved out of the condo again in 2013 for another overseas assignment - once again a full 100% rental unit from 2013 to 2020 when sold at a loss for only $300K.
Originally when question asked, “When did this property become a rental” I put 2007; however, it was an on and off rental with the last time a “full rental” in 2013 to 2020 (when sold).
I amended the date for, “When did this property become a rental” to 2013 from 2007 as that’s the reality because in 2011 - 2013 it was my primary residence before once again going full rental in 2013 to 2020 when sold.
After doing this, my return amount owed decreased. That’s the short version. I have not/not lived in the condo since 2013 and since 2013 it’s been 100% full rental.
I then performed the “Let’s check your taxes for errors” and none were found. I then checked, “Audit risk” and it was all the way to the left in fully “Green” indicating as low audit risk as possible.
Therefore, I assumed I was doing it correctly as I filed my taxes (federal and state) over the weekend and both federal and state were accepted.
So, if I did something wrong for sure they will find it, correct it, and bill me more or refund - I've made mistakes before and they always find it and send me a bill.
I’m currently on assignment again in Europe - so, my time and/or access to an American tax lawyer does not exist - ergo, using Turbo Tax is the only viable method to file my taxes from abroad.
Thank you for the follow up as this is all confusing to me. But, the end result is taxes were filed and accepted - if there's more taxes owed IRS and State will send me a bill as they've always done.
