Wait, could this actually be a case of the Recovery Rebate Credit affecting your refund amount? The missing $1000-ish sounds suspiciously like it could be related to one of the stimulus payments. Did you get all your stimulus payments directly in 2021/2022, or were you claiming any of them on your 2023 return?

This is a really serious situation and I'm sorry you're dealing with this. The fact that she's refusing to give you copies of your own tax returns is absolutely unacceptable and highly suspicious - that's literally YOUR property that you paid for. Beyond the excellent advice already given about getting your tax transcripts and filing Form 14157-A, I'd strongly recommend documenting everything in writing. Create a timeline of all your interactions, save screenshots of any texts or emails where she refused to provide your returns, and keep records of all payments you made to her. You should also consider filing a police report for potential theft/fraud. If she did divert your refund money to another account, that's criminal behavior, not just a civil matter. Having a police report number can also strengthen your case with the IRS. One more thing - check your credit reports immediately. If she has access to your personal information and is willing to steal refund money, she might be using your identity for other fraudulent activities. You can get free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. Don't let this slide - tax preparer fraud is unfortunately becoming more common, and the only way to stop these people is to pursue every available avenue to hold them accountable.

Has anyone actually gotten in trouble for missing Form 8615 in the past? I think I was supposed to file it last year (I was a dependent with dividend income) but didn't know about it. Now I'm worried...

Just wanted to add some perspective as someone who works in tax preparation - you're absolutely right to be concerned about getting this right, but the good news is that based on your situation, you definitely don't need Form 8615. The key factors are: 1) You're filing as independent (nobody can claim you as a dependent), and 2) Your taxable scholarship income isn't considered "unearned income" for Form 8615 purposes anyway. That form is specifically targeting investment income like dividends, interest, and capital gains that parents might try to shift to their kids' returns. Your situation with $23k in taxable scholarships for room/board is actually pretty straightforward - just report it as income on your 1040. The fact that your previous preparer missed this entirely is concerning and suggests you made the right call handling it yourself this year. One tip: when you're reporting that scholarship income, make sure you're not double-counting it anywhere else on your return. And definitely keep good records of what portions of your scholarships went toward qualified vs non-qualified expenses in case the IRS ever asks. The IRS is generally reasonable with honest mistakes, especially from students navigating this stuff for the first time. If you made an error somewhere, they'll typically just send you a notice with the correction rather than assuming fraud. You're clearly trying to do things right, which goes a long way.

You also need to check your state's specific laws on this. I'm in New York and the state has specific guidance for fantasy sports that differs from traditional gambling. Meanwhile, my buddy in Nevada has completely different rules to follow. Some states classify DFS as games of skill rather than gambling, which affects how you report the income. And a few states don't allow these platforms at all, so if you used them while physically in one of those states, that could create additional complications.

Just want to add that the threshold for receiving a 1099 from these platforms has changed. Underdog and PrizePicks now issue a Form 1099-MISC if you win $600 or more in a calendar year. But even if you don't receive a form, you're still legally obligated to report ALL winnings. Also, watch out for the sessions reporting requirement. Each time you log in and play could potentially be considered a separate session. So don't just report the net amount for the year - you technically need to report each winning session separately.

I'm in the same boat needing $ now but these advance loans are predatory af. The fees eat up so much of ur refund its not even worth it no cap

I work at a tax prep office and see this question a lot. The main requirements for TurboTax Refund Advance are: 1) Expected refund of $500+ 2) Must use TurboTax Deluxe or higher (around $60-80) 3) Choose direct deposit 4) Pass their identity verification 5) Credit check (they don't specify exact score but 600+ helps). The advance amounts are usually $250, $500, $750, $1000, $1250, $1500, or $2000 max. With a $6k refund you'd likely qualify for the higher amounts if your credit is decent. Just remember it's a loan - if your actual refund ends up being less than expected, you still owe the full advance amount back.

I just went through this exact situation! For me, it turned out Robinhood only issues 1099-DIVs if you received $10+ from any SINGLE company. My $67 in dividends was spread across 12 different stocks, with none paying more than $9, so I didn't get a form. What I did was download my account statement for December 2023 (it has year-to-date totals) and manually entered the dividend amounts. The IRS doesn't care if you have the actual form - they just want you to report the income correctly.

I had this exact same issue with Robinhood last year! It's so frustrating when you're trying to be responsible about taxes and the brokerage doesn't make it easy. Here's what worked for me: Log into your Robinhood account and go to the "Documents" section in the app (it's under the account menu). Even if there's no 1099-DIV there, download your monthly statements for 2023. Each statement shows your dividend payments for that month, and you can add them all up manually. The $10 threshold that others mentioned is correct - it's per company, not total. So if you got $5 from Apple, $8 from Microsoft, etc., none would trigger a 1099-DIV even though your total was $40. For TurboTax, you can definitely try the import feature first to see if it picks up anything automatically. If not, just enter the dividends manually in the investment income section. You'll need to list each company that paid dividends and the amount - this info should be in your monthly statements. Don't stress too much about the $40 - the IRS cares that you report it, but it's not going to trigger an audit or anything major. You're doing the right thing by making sure to include it!