Kivulink
The situations most offices won't touch.
Start my taxesITIN applications, mixed-status households, 1099 and cash income, and the health-subsidy reconciliation that decides whether your coverage costs you money in April.
What to bring, by situation.
Find the rows that describe you. Bring what they list and your return is usually finished in one sitting rather than three.
| If this is you | Bring | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone | Photo ID, Social Security card or ITIN letter for every person on the return, last year's return, and your bank routing and account numbers. | Last year's return carries forward figures the IRS expects to match. Bank details are what make a refund arrive in days rather than weeks. |
| You have no SSN | Passport, or two other identity documents, for every family member who needs an ITIN. Originals or certified copies. | Form W-7 is filed with the return, not before it. As an IRS-registered preparer we complete the ITIN application alongside the return so it is one process. |
| You had a Marketplace health plan | Form 1095-A, one for every plan anyone in the household was on during the year. | Without it the return cannot be filed correctly, and filing wrong can cost you next year's subsidy. |
| You are paid on a 1099, or in cash | All 1099-NEC and 1099-K forms, your own record of income the payer did not report, mileage, and receipts for tools, phone and supplies. | Your deductions are the whole difference on a self-employed return. Undocumented expenses are the money most people leave behind. |
| You are an employee | Every W-2, including from a job you held for two weeks. | The IRS already has all of them. A missing one is a letter later, not a smaller tax bill. |
| You have children or dependants | Birth certificates, school or medical records showing the address, and childcare provider details with their tax number. | Residency is what the IRS asks about when two people claim the same child, and it is easier to document now than to prove later. |
| You own a home, or sent money home | Form 1098 mortgage interest, property tax statements, and records of any tuition or student loan interest. | These decide whether itemising beats the standard deduction. We run it both ways and take the better one. |
Kivulink is an IRS-registered tax preparer holding a current PTIN. We do not provide legal advice. Document requirements come from the IRS and can change: see irs.gov on the ITIN.
Where a health subsidy becomes a tax bill.
The part of the return that catches families out, every single year.
When you enrolled in a Marketplace plan you estimated your income for the year, and the government paid part of your premium each month based on that estimate.
In April the estimate is compared against what you actually earned. That comparison is Form 8962, and it runs in both directions.
Earn less than you estimated and the difference comes back to you as a credit on the return.
Earn more, which is what happens when someone picks up extra shifts or a second job, and part of the subsidy is repaid. Federal rules cap that repayment for households under four times the poverty level, and the cap is what usually keeps a surprise survivable. Above that line there is no cap.
There is a second trap that has nothing to do with income.
If you had a Marketplace plan and do not file, or file without the 1095-A, you can be found to have failed to reconcile, and that can end your premium help for the following year. The coverage was fine. The paperwork was not.
Our free estimator asks three questions and tells you roughly where you stand, including whether a repayment cap applies to your household. It takes about two minutes, needs no sign-up, and is far easier to act on in October than in April.
Educational information only, not tax advice. Your actual result depends on your Form 1095-A, your household and your completed return.
One office for the return and the coverage.
A mixed-status household is not an edge case here, it is an ordinary Tuesday.
One spouse files with an SSN and the other with an ITIN, the children were born in Texas, and somebody in the house is on a Marketplace plan. Handled in one place, that is a single conversation. Split across a tax office that does not do insurance and an agency that does not do taxes, it becomes two appointments that each assume the other one asked the right question.
We also collect documents remotely. One family of nine finished an entire year of paperwork without anyone taking a day off work, and came into the office only to sign.
If getting here during business hours is the hard part, say so at the start and we will work around it.
And we are open after April. An IRS letter in September, an amended return, an ITIN renewal, a mid-year income change that will move your subsidy: those are the calls worth making early, and they are included for clients we filed for.
Start my taxesTax questions, answered.
Can I file without a Social Security number?
Yes. You file with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, and if you do not have one we complete Form W-7 and submit it with your return. Filing with an ITIN is a normal, legal way to meet a tax obligation.
Does filing taxes affect my immigration case?
We prepare tax returns; we are not attorneys and we do not give legal advice on immigration matters.
What we can say is that filing correctly and keeping copies is routinely useful, and that we will refer you to a licensed immigration attorney when a question belongs to one.
My spouse has an SSN and I have an ITIN. How do we file?
Usually as a married couple on one return, with each person identified by the number they hold. Whether filing jointly or separately produces the better result depends on income, credits and any Marketplace coverage, so we calculate both.
I lost my 1095-A. Can you still file my return?
We can retrieve it. It is available from your Marketplace account, and if you enrolled through us we can usually pull the details the same day. Do not let a missing form push you past the deadline.
What if I already filed and something was wrong?
An amended return fixes it. Bring the original return and whatever changed. Coming to us second is common and nothing to be awkward about.
How much does it cost?
It depends on the return, and we tell you the fee before we start work, not after. Simple returns are quick and priced accordingly. A self-employed return with an ITIN application and an ACA reconciliation is more work, and you will know that up front.
Written and reviewed by Innocent Muvunyi, Licensed Insurance Agent.
NPN 22182172. AHIP certified, CMS FFM registered.
Last reviewed .
Check this licence with the Texas Department of Insurance.