Is there a “standard deduction” for Line 5 on Schedule A of Federal taxes?
"The $10,400 is in the question, in two pieces.  His employer withheld $8000, and her employer withheld $2400.  Thus they paid together $10,400 in income taxes, which are deductible if you itemize deductions and choose income taxes over sales taxes (you can deduct one or the other).  There's nothing ""standard"" about the amount, though it is standard to take the income tax deduction (almost always higher than sales tax)."
You need to report the interest expense, assuming the loans were for your business: You need to report interest expense (only interest, principle is not an expense just as the loan proceeds are not income). The interest expense goes to the appropriate line on your Schedule C or E (depending on whether you used the loan for the online business or the rental). People whom you borrowed from must also report the interest as income to them on their Schedule B. You cannot deduct the interest expense if they don't report it as interest income. If you didn't take the loans for your business then the interest is not deductible. You don't need to report anything. People who lent you money still have to report the interest you paid to them as income on Schedule B. If you paid no interest (free loan) or below/above market interest to a related party (family member), then the imputed interest is considered income to them and gift to you. They need to report it on their Schedule B, and depending on amounts - on a gift tax return. For $1K to $10K loans there probably will be no need in gift tax returns, the exemption is for $14K per year per person. If the imputed interest rules may apply to you, better talk to a licensed tax adviser on how to proceed. Just from my own experience (I am not an accountant): In addition to counting as 'business income' (1040 line 12 [1]) your $3000 (or whatever) will be subject to ~15% self-employment tax, on Schedule SE.  This carries to your 1040 line ~57, which is after all your 'adjustments to income', exemptions, and deductions - so, those don't reduce it.  Half of the 15% is deductible on line ~27, if you have enough taxable income for it to matter; but, in any case, you will owe at least 1/2 of the 15%, on top of your regular income tax. Your husband could deduct this payment as a business expense on Schedule C; but, if (AIUI) he will have a loss already, he'll get no benefit from this in the current year.   If you do count this as income to you, it will be FICA income; so, it will be credited to your Social Security account. Things outside my experience that might bear looking into:  I suspect the IRS has criteria to determine whether spousal payments are legit, or just gaming the tax system.  Even if your husband can't 'use' the loss this year, he may be able to apply it in the future, when/if he has net business income. [1] NB: Any tax form line numbers are as of the last I looked - they may be off by one or two. You are faced with a dilemma. If you use a 529 plan to fund your education, the short timeline of a few years will limit your returns that are tax free. Most people who use a 529 plan either purchase years of tuition via lump sum, when the child is young; or they  put aside money on a regular basis that will grow tax deferred/tax free. Some states do give a tax break when the contribution is made by a state taxpayer into a plan run by the state. The long term plans generally use a risk profile that starts off heavily weighted in stock when the child is young, and becomes more fixed income as the child reaches their high school years. The idea is to protect the fund from big losses when there is no time to recover. If you choose the plan with the least risk the issue is that the amount of gains that are being protected from federal tax is small. If you pick a more aggressive plan the risk is that the losses could be larger than the state tax savings. Look at some of the other tax breaks for tuition to see if you qualify Credits An education credit helps with the cost of higher education by   reducing the amount of tax owed on your tax return. If the credit   reduces your tax to less than zero, you may get a refund. There are   two education credits available: the American Opportunity Tax Credit   and the Lifetime Learning Credit. Who Can Claim an Education Credit? There are additional rules for each credit, but you must meet all   three of the following for either credit: If you’re eligible to claim the lifetime learning credit and are also   eligible to claim the American opportunity credit for the same student   in the same year, you can choose to claim either credit, but not both.   You can't claim the AOTC if you were a nonresident alien for any part   of the tax year unless you elect to be treated as a resident alien for   federal tax purposes. For more information about AOTC and foreign   students, visit American Opportunity Tax Credit - Information for   Foreign Students. Deductions Tuition and Fees Deduction You may be able to deduct qualified education expenses paid during the   year for yourself, your spouse or your dependent. You cannot claim   this deduction if your filing status is married filing separately or   if another person can claim an exemption for you as a dependent on his   or her tax return. The qualified expenses must be for higher   education. The tuition and fees deduction can reduce the amount of your income   subject to tax by up to $4,000. This deduction, reported on Form 8917,   Tuition and Fees Deduction, is taken as an adjustment to income. This   means you can claim this deduction even if you do not itemize   deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). This deduction may be beneficial   to you if, for example, you cannot take the lifetime learning credit   because your income is too high. You may be able to take one of the education credits for your   education expenses instead of a tuition and fees deduction. You can   choose the one that will give you the lower tax. "There are a couple of things that are missing from your estimate. In addition to your standard deduction, you also have a personal exemption of $4050.  So ""D"" in your calculation should be $6300 + $4050 = $10,350. As a self-employed individual, you need to pay both the employee and employer side of the Social Security and Medicare taxes.  Instead of 6.2% + 1.45%, you need to pay (6.2% + 1.45%) * 2 = 15.3% self-employment tax. In addition, there are some problems with your calculation. Q1i (Quarter 1 estimated income) should be your adjusted annual income divided by 4, not 3 (A/4). Likewise, you should estimate your quarterly tax by estimating your income for the whole year, then dividing by 4.  So Aft (Annual estimated federal tax) should be: Quarterly estimated federal tax would be: Qft = Aft / 4 Annual estimated self-employment tax is: Ase = 15.3% * A with the quarterly self-employment tax being one-fourth of that: Qse = Ase / 4 Self employment tax gets added on to your federal income tax.  So when you send in your quarterly payment using Form 1040-ES, you should send in Qft + Qse. The Form 1040-ES instructions (PDF) comes with the ""2016 Estimated Tax Worksheet"" that walks you through these calculations." "On your tax return's Schedule C, Line B, you need to enter the Principal Business or Professional Activity Code that corresponds to your business's activities.  There is a list of these 6-digit codes  at the end of the Schedule C instructions.  (HTML version here, or you can look at the last two pages of the PDF version.)  The directions at the top of this list reads: Select the category that best describes your primary business activity (for example, Real Estate). Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts (for example, real estate agent). Now find the six-digit code assigned to this activity (for example, 531210, the code for offices of real estate agents and brokers) and enter it on Schedule C or C-EZ, line B.  (Emphasis mine.) Although there are a lot of codes, it is entirely possible that you won't find one that exactly matches what you do.  The directions say to pick the ""best"" one that you can.  First, pick the broad category.  You haven't specified your business, but let's say that you are a freelance programmer (a common occupation for Stack Exchange users).  The category you decide is best might be ""Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services.""  There are several subcategories and activity codes under this, and you might find one that fits your business.  However, if you don't, at the end of most categories, there is an ""Other"" code.  For our example, there is code 541990, which is ""All other professional, scientific, & technical services."" If you can't even find a broad category that describes your business, there is the last code in the list: 999999, which is for ""Unclassified establishments (unable to classify).""" Here's the best explanation I found relating to why your T4 box 39 might not have an amount filled in, even when box 38 has one: Department of Finance – Explanatory Notes Relating to the Income Tax Act [...]. It's a long document, but here's the part I believe relevant, with my emphasis: Employee Stock Options ITA 110(1)   [...]   Paragraph 110(1)(d) is amended to include a requirement that the   employee [...] exercise the employee’s rights under the stock   option agreement and acquire the securities underlying the agreement   in order for the deduction in computing taxable income to be   available [...] ensures that   only one deduction is available in respect of an employment benefit. In other words, if employee stock option rights are surrendered to an   employer for cash or an in-kind payment, then (subject to new   subsections 110(1.1) and (1.2)) the employer may deduct the payment   but the employee cannot claim the stock option deduction. Conversely,   where an employer issues securities pursuant to an employee’s exercise   of stock options, the employer can not deduct an amount in respect of   the issuance, but the employee may be eligible to claim a deduction   under paragraph 110(1)(d). Did you receive real shares based on your participation in the ESPP, or did you get a cash payment for the net value of shares you would have been issued under the plan? From what I can tell, if you opted for a cash payment (or if your plan only allows for such), then the part I emphasized comes into play. Essentially, if conditions were such that your employer could claim a deduction on their corporate income tax return for the compensation paid to you as part of the plan, then you are not also able to claim a similar deduction on your personal income tax return. The money received in that manner is effectively taxed in your hands the same as any bonus employment income would be; i.e. it isn't afforded tax treatment equivalent to capital gains income. Your employer and/or ESPP administrator are best able to confirm the conditions which led to no amount in your box 39, but at least based on above you can see there are legitimate cases where box 38 would have an amount while box 39 doesn't. If it's a legitimate cost of doing business, it's as deductible as any other cost of doing business. (Reminder: be careful about the distinctions between employee and contractor; the IRS gets annoyed if you don't handle this correctly.) To start with, I should mention that many tax preparation companies will give you any number of free consultations on tax issues — they will only charge you if you use their services to file a tax form, such as an amended return. I know that H&R Block has international tax specialists who are familiar with the issues facing F-1 students, so they might be the right people to talk about your specific situation. According to TurboTax support, you should prepare a completely new 1040NR, then submit that with a 1040X. GWU’s tax department says you can submit late 8843, so you should probably do that if you need to claim non-resident status for tax purposes.