Form 8582 is super confusing! I messed mine up last year and got a letter from the IRS. Make sure when you're doing this, you check if you qualify as a real estate professional. If you do, you might not need Form 8582 at all since your rental activities wouldn't be considered passive.

Just wanted to chime in with my recent experience - I sold my rental condo last year after owning it for 6 years and had about $22K in suspended passive losses. The key thing I learned is that you need to make absolutely sure you're tracking the suspended losses correctly from year to year. I found discrepancies between what my tax software was showing and what was actually on my filed returns. Turns out my software wasn't properly carrying forward some of the losses from 2020. When I sold the property, I was able to claim all the accumulated passive losses against my regular income - not just against the gain from the sale. This was a huge tax benefit that I almost missed because I didn't understand the rules initially. My advice: Go back through your actual filed returns (not just what your software shows) and manually track your suspended losses year by year. Make sure the amounts match up. The IRS has all your filed returns on record, so you want to make sure you're claiming the right amount when you dispose of the property. Also, don't forget that if you had any years where you used some of the passive losses (maybe you had other passive income), those amounts reduce your suspended loss carryforward. It's easy to overlook this when calculating your total accumulated losses.

Just FYI - eBay is changing their reporting thresholds. For 2022 tax year the threshold was $600 before they issue a 1099-K, but the IRS delayed implementing that. Just be prepared that you might get 1099s in the future for much smaller amounts of selling.

I've been dealing with similar eBay tax confusion myself. One thing that really helped me was keeping detailed records of everything - not just the sale prices, but also what I originally paid for each item, when I bought it, and any selling expenses like shipping and eBay fees. The key distinction everyone's mentioned between hobby vs business is crucial. If you're just selling personal collectibles you've owned for years (like cleaning out your collection), that's very different from regularly buying items with the intent to flip them for profit. The IRS has specific tests for this - they look at whether you're doing it regularly, if you depend on the income, and if you're putting significant time and effort into making a profit. For your $1100 net profit, definitely keep all your documentation. Even if you don't get audited, having those records makes filing much easier and gives you confidence you're reporting correctly. And like others said, you still need to report the income even without a 1099 - the IRS expects you to report all income regardless of whether you receive tax forms.

Hey just wanted to add something important that nobody mentioned yet - if you made $13,500 as a self-employed person, you'll need to pay the self-employment tax which is about 15.3%. That's on TOP of your regular income tax. I learned this the hard way last year when I did some freelance work and ended up owing WAY more than I expected. You might want to set aside around 25-30% of your earnings for taxes to be safe. Also, if you haven't been making quarterly estimated tax payments, you might get hit with a penalty for underpayment.

I work for multiple gig apps and what I do is keep a spreadsheet with all my earnings throughout the year. Each month I download statements from the apps and update my records. This makes tax time so much easier! Also, don't forget to track your mileage if you're driving for work - that's a huge deduction. I use an app called Stride that tracks my miles automatically. For healthcare workers, you can also deduct things like scrubs, medical equipment you purchase yourself, continuing education, licenses/certifications, and sometimes even a portion of your phone bill if you use it for work.

Just a heads up that if you've owned this property for more than one year and haven't been filing with the QJV election, you might need to file Form 3115 (Change in Accounting Method) when you switch to the QJV reporting. We had to do this last year when we changed how we were reporting our rental property. Also watch out for state tax implications! Some states treat the QJV differently than the federal government does. We're in Pennsylvania and had some extra paperwork at the state level even though the federal part was straightforward.

One thing nobody's mentioned is that you need to make sure both spouses are "materially participating" in the rental business for the QJV to work properly. If one spouse does all the work managing the property, you might run into issues. Also check if your state actually recognizes the federal QJV election. I learned this the hard way in New York where we still had to file a state partnership return even though federally we used the QJV election. Cost us extra in preparation fees that first year!

Does anyone know if the OASDI limit will increase for 2025? It seems like it goes up almost every year and I'm trying to plan ahead...

Just wanted to add some clarification that might help with your planning - the OASDI tax is actually deducted from your paychecks throughout the year by your employers, so you don't need to calculate or pay it separately when you file your taxes. Each employer withholds 6.2% of your wages up to the annual limit ($168,000 for 2024, $175,800 for 2025 as someone mentioned). The key thing to remember is that if you change jobs during the year or have multiple employers simultaneously, each employer treats your OASDI withholding independently. So if you made $100,000 at Job A and $80,000 at Job B, you'd have OASDI withheld on the full $180,000 even though you should only pay it on $168,000. That's when you'd claim the excess back on your tax return. Your spouse's income has absolutely no impact on your individual OASDI calculation - you each get your own $168,000 limit regardless of your combined household income or filing status.