In filing the 2012 taxes, I used a widely known online tax software and ended up that I owe federal 6 dollars (I became suspicious - did I do this correctly?). For 2011, I got a refund of just over $800. Still, an unsatisfactory amount since I have received proportionately higher refunds in previous years. I have never consulted a tax expert in any of the years when filing. Regardless, my questions pertain to the 2012 tax year.

I am a Japanese citizen and my visa status changed from F1(in '04 to '11)/F1-OPT to H1-B in October 2012 and have been in status since, under the same employer in Seattle. I have also been in the US since 2009 for over 183 days in all of the years leading up to the current day.

My financial activity in 2012:

- I enrolled in an HSA through my employer's benefits program (2/2012) and I contribute to it monthly on a pre-tax basis, I also do not have any expenditure from that account. My employer matches my monthly contributions but the year-end total contribution reported on Form 5498-SA does not exceed $1500

- I purchased a used 2002 model vehicle from a used car dealer, I paid 140 dollars on registration and other associated vehicle fees at the dealership

- I opened my first credit card line (perhaps irrelevant?)

Other points of information:

- I am single and have no dependents

- I do not have any earnings and interest earning accounts outside of the US, including my country of origin

My question is; given the different variations of the 1040 forms out there, which one should I file and any others? As a follow up, is there any benefit (more refund) for me to use the First Year Choice option when filing?

Thank you very much.

The HSA contributions is probably the reason for the low refund.

You have to submit Form 8889 to properly account for the HSA contributions. If you do not, those contributions are added to your taxable wages.

AtlantaTaxExpert: I was under the assumption that when entering my information on the tax software, that Form 8889 was accounted for, and I do see a deductible of $5950 listed based on that, and a $3800 exemption (not sure where this comes from). I have also entered my numbers from Form 5498-SA manually into Form 8889 and I end up with the same result. As I mentioned in my original post, I contribute to my HSA on a pre-tax basis so I'm unsure why your statement holds true. Please explain.

I also do not understand how; given a lower taxable income, I am getting taxed 6 dollars more than before the deductible was accounted for. Which brings me to the latter half of my question from the original post, will I benefit if I filed under the First Year Choice option?

First Year Choice is a dual-status choice not available to you.

You are filing as a resident alien, a requirement for you since 2009.

I am not an expert on Turbotax, so I cannot walk you through the program to see if you have checked all the right boxes on the Form 8889.