Has anyone here actually tried claiming a portion of major home repairs when they have a home office? I use about 15% of my house exclusively for my freelance work and file a Schedule C. Would that mean I could deduct 15% of something like a repipe as a business expense?

I went through something very similar when I bought my first home last year - $38k furnace and HVAC replacement right after closing. It's such a gut punch when you're already stretched thin from the down payment and closing costs! One thing I learned that might help: even though you can't deduct the repipe as a personal expense, make sure you're thinking long-term about your tax strategy. Since you mentioned wanting to rent out a room, if you do decide to go that route in the future, you could potentially convert that portion of your home to rental use. At that point, you might be able to depreciate the business portion of improvements you've already made. Also, definitely keep every single receipt and document related to this repair. Not just the main invoice, but any permits, inspection reports, before/after photos, everything. When you eventually sell the house (even if that's decades from now), having this documentation will be crucial for proving the increase to your home's basis and potentially saving thousands in capital gains taxes. The 0% APR credit card strategy you mentioned is actually pretty smart for the short term. Just make sure you have a solid plan to pay it off or refinance before that promotional rate expires!

Called HR and they said by EOD tomorrow for most employees

Same boat here! Been refreshing ADP multiple times a day 😅 Good to know from @Harold Oh that HR said EOD tomorrow - gives me some peace of mind. Really hoping they come through because I've already got all my other docs ready to go. The waiting game is killing me!

Just an FYI - cash accounting for small sellers is great but watch out for the inventory exception limits. If your business has average annual gross receipts over $26 million for the prior 3 years, or if you're in certain industries like mining or manufacturing, you can't use this exception. Also, if you maintain inventory in your accounting system for non-tax purposes (like for business tracking), make sure your tax preparer knows you're using the small business exception on your actual tax filing so they don't mistakenly treat you as accrual basis.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation with my small eBay business and have been struggling with the same questions about cash accounting and donations. One thing I wanted to add - make sure you're keeping detailed records of the fair market value of donated items at the time of donation, not just your original cost. The IRS requires you to use FMV for the charitable deduction, which might be different from what you paid originally. For eBay items that have been sitting unsold, the FMV is often lower than your original cost. Also, I've found it helpful to set up separate tracking categories in my system: "Sold Items" (goes to COGS), "Donated Items" (personal charitable deduction), and "Personal Use Items" (no deduction). This way everything has a clear destination when I remove it from my purchase tracking. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so valuable during tax season!

To add to this convo - don't forget that if you do form an LLC and keep it as a disregarded entity (basically taxed as a sole prop), you can still deduct the annual LLC fee that most states charge as a business expense on Schedule C! That's separate from your state income taxes. I pay $800/year to California for my LLC and that amount IS deductible as a business expense.

I think we're all overcomplicating this. Just use an accountant people! I tried doing my own taxes as a sole prop for 2 years and missed so many deductions. Paid $650 for an accountant last year and she found over $3k in deductions I missed. She also explained that some business structures have higher audit risk than others so it's not just about the deductions.

I've been dealing with the same TurboTax frustration for my family trust! After reading through all these recommendations, I'm definitely going to try either TaxAct Estates & Trusts or FreeTaxUSA Business for next year's filing. One thing I'd add - if you do end up needing to contact the IRS about anything related to your trust return (like I did last year when they questioned some of my distributions), definitely keep that Claimyr option in mind. I spent literally an entire day trying to get through to them about a 1041 issue and got nowhere. The automated system kept dropping my calls after hours of waiting. For what it's worth, I've also heard good things about TaxWise from Universal Tax Systems, though I haven't tried it personally. It's supposedly designed more for small practices but might work for individual filers too. The key seems to be getting away from the consumer-grade software that tries to do everything but doesn't do trust returns particularly well. Thanks for starting this thread - it's exactly the kind of real-world comparison I needed to see!

I've been preparing trust returns professionally for about 8 years, and I completely understand your frustration with TurboTax Business. It's really not designed well for fiduciary returns. Based on your description of a straightforward complex trust, I'd strongly recommend TaxAct Estates & Trusts. I've used it for several clients and it handles Form 1041 and K-1 generation very well. The interface is much cleaner than TurboTax, and at around $200-250 for the software, it's significantly cheaper than what you're probably paying for TurboTax Business with all their add-on fees. Another solid option is ATX from Wolters Kluwer - they offer a pay-per-return model that might work well if you're only filing one trust return. It's about $150-200 per return but includes excellent support and handles more complex scenarios if your trust situation ever becomes more complicated. I'd avoid H&R Block for trust returns - while it technically supports them, the interface feels clunky for fiduciary work. Drake is excellent but probably overkill (and expensive) for a single simple trust. One tip: whichever software you choose, make sure you have your trust document handy during preparation. The income distribution deduction calculations can be tricky if you're not clear on the trust's distribution provisions.