I know this is probably a hot topic given the new requirements, but I'm struggling to find a thread explaining what I should do.

To give some context, I'm a full time college student living in California with no job, and this year I sold a lot of my games on EBay to save up for College. I'm well over the $600 limit, but I can say with certainty I sold everything at a loss. I know the requirement to receive a 1099-K form is $5,000 for this year, but in California it looks like it is $600. The only money I made this year was off selling these games, and I don't even know if I owe any taxes, but I also don't want to get screwed by the IRS. Can I just use FreeTaxUSA in my case, and put 0 dollars for everything except this form? Will I have to pay taxes on the ~$500 I made (after shipping costs)?

So I’m sure there’s a lot on Reddit about gambling losses and wins. So I have give or take 100 W-2Gs of a total amount of $350,000. I basically lost everything I won because I kept playing online. (Yes, I know it’s a problem) With my job, I make $34,000 a year. I’m currently suppose to get back roughly $3,200 for my refund (including state tax).

I just want to make sure that after reporting winnings and writing off my losses, I still get my Tax refund from my job right?

I have no other credits to claim and do not own house etc.

I live and played online casino in NJ.

I got married this year to a man who lives and works in another country. He has never been to the U.S. but we’re hoping he can immigrate in a few years (I-130 already submitted for CR1 visa).

I’m wondering if my only filing status option is married filing separately since my husband lives and works outside the U.S.? Or is it possible to file jointly? My gross income is $180k+ if that matters.

I will look for a tax professional to help with filing but just wanted to ask on here first. Thank you!

Side note: I'm trying to be specific without doxing myself.

My postal and my residential address are the same. When my mail comes it says Cincinnati, but I live on the border of Cincinnati and another city. I got a letter today saying I am delinquent in filing an income tax return with the other city's taxes. I have lived here for the past two years but they're only claiming I needed to file for 2023. Is this true, is there a way to prove that I live in Cincinnati and therefore owe them nothing? I do not work in the other city either.

So I’m self employed I just wanted to ask for some wisdom with taxes. Should I make an LLC, and what benefits does that give me? How can I save the most money as a self employed person?

Hi, looking for some advice here. I am unemployed this year and given my low income, plan to use this year to convert my Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The taxable portion of the conversion is $50,000, to be reported as income on my Form 1040.

I would like to make a contribution to my IRA this year, but without a job and employment income, I am not eligible to contribute. However, can the taxable IRA conversion could as "Earned Income" for the purposes of eligibility to contribute to an IRA?

I purchased a house in Texas back in 2015. I currently live in California now. I recently sold the house a few months ago. Will I owe capital gains tax? And or owe any taxes at all on it?

Also I co-purchased a home in California in 2021 with a family member and was removed from the mortgage earlier this year as well. What are my tax implications on this?

As the title states. I have done pretty well so far with my filings but I'm starting to get out of depth on some items. the single sentence explanations aren't giving me clarity at times. Are CPA's like lawyers in that there is different versions for different issues civil/non-civil etc.

What makes a CPA good? How do I approach one that will just answer questions?

Not truly lost but could use some guidance on how to find someone to ask complex(to me) tax questions.

I have an independent contractor who I have paid 20K this year. They are pretty good at what they do and I would hate to lose them. At the same time, my business cannot afford to not claim the 20K in expenses (if I could , I would). It's a side-gig, and I gross 90K, and profit 6K/year. I know it's not my problem, but wonder if there are any other options?

I know it's not my problem, and I probably will need to end their services, but that will suck for their family.

I have a beneIRA. My minimum required distribution is less than 2k, but I'm considering taking out more. However, I just moved to CA this year and am not familiar with their tax rates. I am not asking for financial management advice, just looking for CA tax rates for beneIRAs.

I am having a really hard time finding this info online though. Until I pin down a cpa here, does anyone know how I can find out how much will be taken for federal and state for CA? Thanks in advance and please ask if I need to clarify anything here.

didn't know mileage for rental errands could be written off, so never kept a log. after finding out, i went back to my google timeline, texts, and receipts and pieced together the days and purposes of each trip. some trips are longer than others, since i'd make rental related runs to stores, offices, and such, but to keep the estimate conservative, i plan on only taking the round trip mileage from my home to rental. i'll have the date, property address, and purpose of travel, but no exact starting and ending odometer.

so a few related questions:

1. would that be sufficient for this year's taxes?

2. would this be ok in the event of an audit?

3. if i wanted to ballpark the additional miles for rental related stops i made to stores, offices, and such, is it ok to conservatively round up the miles? for example, if home to rental is 64 miles round trip, i round up to 70 on days i made additional stops. i'll have proof of the additional stops, just not exact odometer mileage log. would that be ok for tax purposes and audits?

4. at the moment, if i stick with my conservative method, it'll be 19 trips of 104 miles round trip. at 67 c/mi, it'll be $1324. if i round up 110 miles for days i made additional stops, it'll be around $1356. or do you guys think it's not worth the effort and risk for an extra $32 to round up?

definitely plan to keep a log in 2025. thanks!

If I have a short-term capital loss, I cannot use that to net a long-term capital gain or vice versa?

Hi! I am self employed and I meet the qualifications to claim my son for the Earned Income Credit. My question for this year, with hypothetical numbers, is as follows: If I earned $10,000 net profit from my business, but then I started a second business this same year and it tanked, and I lost $10,000 on that one, does that make my net income zero, and cancel out the $10,000 I earned, and now I get zero EIC?

Hey Reddit,

I’m hoping someone can help me understand how taxes work in my situation. Here’s the background:

• I’ve been living in New York City for the past 8 years, renting an apartment for $2,800/month (my partner pays $1,000 of this).
• I work remotely.
• I recently purchased my first home in Massachusetts, which is about 3.6 hours away by train from NYC. I put 40% down on the house, and my monthly mortgage is $2,000.

When I applied for my loan, I said this home would be my primary residence (since it’s my first home). However, I’m still renting in NYC and living there part-time.

My questions are:

1. How does this impact my taxes? Will I owe taxes in both New York and Massachusetts?
2. Since I’m renting in NYC and don’t own property there, how does that factor in?
3. Are there any steps I need to take to avoid issues with the "primary residence" classification for my loan?

I have some mature series EE bonds that I would like to redeem. Face value (pre-interest) ~$500. My household and income situations differ somewhat substantially by tax year. Will it make a difference, from a tax perspective, whether I redeem them now, or in January?

For 2024, I would have 1 dependent and ~4k salary income. For 2025, I’d have 2 dependents and about 60k salary income. My fiancé and I aren’t currently planning to marry until 2026, but if we married in 2025, then in 2025 our household would have ~120k income and 3 dependents.

If the answer to this is a kick in the nards for overthinking a tree-fiddy change to my tax return either way, I’d appreciate knowing that too. Thank you.

Filed and paid my gf’s 2023 taxes and when they (IRS) asked for more information I complied. Just received an overdue notice to pay without explanation.

I’m tempted to pay so interest stops accruing and then figure out WTH is going on. Need to open an online account.

Input appreciated.

I'm trying to make sure you understand this correctly and I don't have enough to consult with a CPA right now. Help me understand if I have this correct. Thank you in advance.

-I've been laid off for 15 months, I have a part-time job and will make just shy of $10k income this year. This makes me in the 0% capital gains tax bracket correct? That said:

I do have a stock portfolio that has helped me keep my head above water financially. For the year is out, I plan to sell some stocks and I'm hoping to minimize my tax impact:

Q1. Anything I sell that I've owned less than a year will contribute to my capital gains tax bracket, correct? Ex: So if I short sell 56K in gains, I would get thrown into the 15% tax bracket, because stock sales I've owned less than a year contribute to my income? Or would my short sales be taxed at 0% because my income in 10k, qualifying me for 0% gains bracket?

Q2. Anything I sell that I've owned more than a year would be tax at 0% as long as I keep my capital gains tax bracket in the 0%?

Q3. There's no limit in long-term stock sales that would change my tax bracket? EX: if I long sell $60k in stock profits, Will that still be 0% because I've been unemployed all year?

I tried to explain this the best I could, but please let me know if I can clarify anything. I'm trying to figure out up to what point I can sell stocks without premium capital gains tax. I used a calculator but I was unclear what qualified as income.

I was running the numbers and realized that my federal tax withholdings for the year will only come out to about 88% of my federal tax liability. (The amount owed at filing will be >$1000 and my total withholdings will be <100% of last year's tax liability. So it looks like being under the 90% threshold means I will have a small underpayment penalty if I do nothing to correct it before filing this year's return).

I understand that the IRS requires you to pay taxes in the quarter that you earn the income. I am a W-2 employee, and it appears that for W-2 employees, the IRS considers withholdings (and W-2 earnings?) to be spread out evenly throughout the year.

For simplicity let's use fake even numbers and say my income throughout the year was as follows:

• Quarter 1: $25k salary + $50k bonus/stock-based W-2 income, some of which did not have tax withheld at the time of the income
• Quarter 2: $25k salary
• Quarter 3: $25k salary
• Quarter 4: $25k salary

1. If I make a direct payment to the IRS now (December) to get above the 90% threshold, will I avoid the underpayment penalty? Or would I have had to make a payment in the first quarter when I had extra income that didn't have tax withheld?

2. Does it change anything if I change my tax withholding on my final paycheck of the year to get to above the 90% threshold versus making a direct IRS payment?

Any help/guidance is much appreciated!

So my sister and I inherited a good size estate from our parents, split equally. It’s been bittersweet, but we are eternally thankful. The brokerage is a combination of stocks and mutual funds, and the cap gains and dividends amount to around $40-50k a year. We each have pretty much the exact same stocks/funds. So here’s the rub…

Neither of us work, retired early a few years ago. She runs a part time business with a storefront that’s appointment only. Her husband is also retired, no income. In 6 years of the business I don’t think they’ve ever turned a profit - if they did it was very minimal. Our financials and living expenses are very similar. So for the last 2 years that I know of, their total tax bill is basically zero. Mine was over $8k in 2023 just on the brokerage. Somehow they are using the business losses and expenses for offsetting their tax bill from $50k of dividends. At 12% fed and 4% state tax, they should have an obligation basically the same as mine. What kills me is it’s a very small business - how are they able to write off enough business expenses / losses to cover $8000+ in personal taxes?? I know they have nothing else to itemize - no debt, no mortgage, etc. They have an accountant, but… what gives?

Hi everyone. Within Fidelity, I sold shares in a single stock in 2024 at a loss. It amounts to about $3,500.00 in losses. I did not sell any shares from any of my holdings at a profit in 2024. I know you can carry over current losses into future years but I don't know how to do it or most of the finer details. Can someone please share some good and accurate resources for me to learn more about this? Is there anything I should know about carrying the loss over into future years such as using it by a certain time or losing it? Can I carry it forward forever until I have something to offset it such as selling stocks at a profit? Can I use FreeTaxUSA to make this happen or do I need a specific tier of turbotax? Those are the only two tax software I have experience with but open to other suggestions to make this a painless process. Any guidance is appreciated.

If I have a property which I am selling at $8 and I have a cost basis of $5.

Buyer puts down $3 I seller finance $5 at interest only with balloon payment of $5 in year 5. Is it possible to 1031 the $3 down payment and than $5 balloon payment?

If not. Sell at $8 cost basis of $5. Buyer puts down $3 can I contribute $1 for at total of $4 for a 1031? Than will my tax liability be $1.5 ( which is 50% of $8 where $3 is my capital gain)?

I'm in the process of applying for ACA marketplace health insurance for 2025. My main source of income comes from my stock investments and I have the option to lower my income through tax loss harvesting. Is it a good idea to report the lowest possible income figure on the app for lower premium to start with and adjust up (like an interest free loan) vs overpay on the insurance and get the difference back through Form 8962 PTC? Thanks.

Hi all. In 2023 my federal adjusted gross income was 74,058.00, my filing status was Single, and I claimed zero allowances. Yet, after filing I owed the state $412. I thought I would owe nothing, since I claimed zero allowances. Can someone explain why I owe $412.

Anyone know roughly how much taxes I Will owe information secrion... self employed llc made 180,000 after deductions materials supply ect. I will have a income section of 65k married with 3 kids 12,10,1 I'm thinking with children tax credit I should owe about 5k? My income is only income in house hold wife doesn't work

I have someone who wants to give me over 20k a month as a gift.. Would I have to pay taxes on said gifts like its income? They want to give it to me online. Im honestly confused as to why they want to do that but if they go through with it I want to be ready.

It would be through Throne. It is a genuine gift, and they will get nothing in return. Again, im as confused as you are. It may be a scam, but if not I want information. Thank you and im sorry to bother you all.

My understanding of the tax law is that gross winnings are reported as income (INCLUDING the amount of the wager) and losses are reported if you itemize deductions. My question is, can you report the wager amount as a deduction or ONLY report losses from other bets?

For example, you place a $20 bet that pays out $120 ($100 plus $20 bet back). You also place a $50 bet that loses.

Am I correct in understanding that you would report $120 in winnings (the bet that one) and $70 in losses (the $20 initial wager for the winning bet and $50 bet you lost)? Or would you only report $50 in losses (the amount that truly "lost")?

Hey all. I live in Louisiana and have a question about deductions. Let's say I make 40,000 in 2024. I can apply the federal standard deduction to reduce my taxable income for federal tax, but does that also reduce my state tax, or is it just my state's standard deduction (or equivalent) that reduces my state tax? I believe Louisiana's standard deduction is 4,500 for 2024 and the federal standard deduction is 14,600. So for my state income tax would my taxable income be 35,500, or 20,900?

Hello I took about 50k in personal loan and credit card loan(at 0%) over the last two years to renovate a 2nd home. We are going to take out a HELOC on the increased home equity and consolidate the two loans. Since these two loans where used to improve the home can I deduct the interest on the new HELOC? I know if HELOC goes direct to improvement you can do this. The ambiguity is if it is used to pay off loans that were for improvements.

Hello,

Basically the title. I'm aware of the Solo401k employee and employer contribution deadlines. And I understand that employer contributions can be made until the tax day (Apr 15th or so).

My question that I am confused about: can I make 2024 employer contribution before the end of this year (2024)? Is there a law against it?

Thanks.

I'm asking a genuine question so please don't call me stupid because I already know I'm sometimes stupid.

Let us say I make $6500 gain in short term stock market investment. What if I contributed all that money to my IRA account?

Will that contribution to IRA offset the gain from the stock market?