Everyone's talking about the education credits but nobody's mentioned the tuition and fees deduction! It's another option that might be better depending on your parents' tax situation.

Hey Daniel! I went through this exact same situation last year when I was 20 and still claimed as a dependent. The key thing is coordination with your parents - you absolutely should NOT claim your 1098-T if they're claiming you as a dependent, but you also need to make sure they actually have the form and know to use it. What I did was give my parents a copy of my 1098-T along with a summary of what I paid versus what they paid for my education expenses. This helped them figure out which education credit to claim and avoid any issues. Also, double-check that they're actually planning to claim you as a dependent - sometimes there are situations where it might be better for the family overall if they don't claim you and you file independently instead. The good news is that if you just have W-2 income and you're not claiming education credits, your return should be pretty straightforward to file. Just don't rush into filing before talking to your parents about the 1098-T situation!

Wait, I'm still confused about this. Does this question have anything to do with whether someone can claim me as a dependent? That's what I'm worried about.

This is such a common source of confusion! I just went through this myself and here's what helped me understand it: Think of it this way - the IRS is trying to figure out if you're financially independent or if someone else is your primary source of support. The key is that "earned income" only includes money YOU made from working (wages, salary, tips, etc.). It doesn't include loans, gifts from family, scholarships, or other forms of support. So if your total living expenses for the year were $25,000 and you earned $18,000 from your job, then your earned income ($18,000) is MORE than half your support ($12,500), so you'd answer "No." But if you only earned $8,000 from work and the rest came from family help, loans, etc., then your earned income would be LESS than half your support, so you'd answer "Yes." The easiest way to think about it: Are you paying for most of your own life through your own job? If yes, answer "No" to the question. If someone else is covering most of your expenses, answer "Yes." Hope this helps clarify things!

One option nobody's mentioned yet - if your client uses TurboTax or similar software for their personal stuff, see if they can export their stock transactions from there into a format Ultratax can read. Sometimes the consumer software does a better job with the initial import from brokerages than the pro software does.

For complex stock reporting situations like this, I've found that breaking the problem down into phases really helps. First, I separate the employee stock options (ISOs, NQSOs, ESPP) from regular brokerage trades since they have different reporting requirements. The employee stock options often need Form 3921 or 3922 reporting in addition to the capital gains treatment, so make sure you're capturing the ordinary income component correctly. For the regular trades, focus on getting the covered securities imported first since those should have complete basis information from the broker. For the non-covered securities missing cost basis, I create a spreadsheet to track down the original purchase information. Sometimes clients have old statements or trade confirmations they forgot about. If not, you might need to research historical pricing for the acquisition dates. One thing that's saved me time - before doing any bulk imports, I always test with just 2-3 transactions first to make sure the mapping is working correctly. It's much easier to fix formatting issues on a small sample than to clean up 40 botched imports. The wash sale errors in Ultratax can be overly aggressive, so don't panic. Review each flagged transaction manually - the software sometimes flags things that aren't actually wash sales due to timing or different security classifications.

Check if any tax prep companies you used this year had fine print about representing you. Sometimes they sneak that in there.

Hey Sean! Code 960 is definitely something to take seriously. As others mentioned, it means someone has filed paperwork to represent you with the IRS. Since you didn't authorize anyone, this could be identity theft or fraud. Don't panic though - sometimes it's just a clerical error or mix-up with similar names/SSNs. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 first thing and ask them to pull up who's listed as your appointed rep and when they were added. If it's fraudulent, they'll help you revoke it immediately. Also make sure to check your credit reports and consider placing a fraud alert. Keep us posted on what you find out!

Has anyone actually received a 1099 from Steam or third-party CSGO marketplaces? I sold about $3,000 worth of skins last year and haven't gotten any tax forms.

Great question! I actually went through this exact situation last year when I sold some valuable CSGO items. Based on my research and experience, virtual game items like CSGO knives are generally treated as capital assets, not collectibles, so you'd qualify for long-term capital gains rates since you've held it for over a year. The key is proper documentation - make sure you have records of your original purchase price, date acquired, and selling price/fees. I used screenshots from Steam transaction history and payment confirmations from my bank/PayPal. One thing that caught me off guard was tracking the exact cost basis if you've done any trade-ups or swaps with the item. If your knife went through multiple trades before you acquired it, you'll need to establish the fair market value at the time you received it as your basis. Also worth noting - even if you don't receive a 1099, you're still required to report the gain. I'd recommend consulting with a tax professional if the amount is significant, especially since this area of tax law is still evolving with digital assets.