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Just wanted to point out something about the Simplified Method for folks in this situation. If your 1099-R does change to code 7 (from the disability code 3), AND you made contributions to your pension plan with after-tax dollars, THEN you'll need the Simplified Method Worksheet to figure out what portion of your payments is taxable. If you didn't make any after-tax contributions (most people don't), then the full amount is usually taxable no matter what code is on the form. Code 3 vs Code 7 mainly affects WHERE you report the income on your return, not necessarily HOW MUCH is taxable.
This is super helpful! I've been trying to figure out if my payments are fully taxable or not. How do I know if I made "after-tax contributions"? I honestly can't remember from 30 years ago when I was working...
Great question! If you made after-tax contributions, they would have been deducted from your paycheck AFTER income taxes were already taken out (so you paid tax on that money when you earned it). Most employer pension plans only accept pre-tax contributions, but some allow after-tax too. Check old pay stubs if you have them - after-tax pension contributions would be listed separately from regular pre-tax retirement deductions. You can also contact your former employer's HR department or the current plan administrator to ask for your contribution history. They should have records showing the breakdown of pre-tax vs after-tax contributions you made over the years. If you can't find any records and you're not sure, it's safer to assume all contributions were pre-tax (which means 100% of your payments are taxable). Most people never made after-tax contributions to employer plans.
This is such a common source of confusion! I went through something similar when I turned 70 and was still receiving disability payments. Here's what I learned after consulting with a tax professional: At 71, you should definitely verify with your plan administrator whether you've reached your plan's minimum retirement age. Many plans set this at 62 or 65, so at 71 you may have already passed that threshold. If so, your 1099-R should show code 7 instead of code 3, and the payments would be reported as pension income rather than disability income. The key question is whether you made any after-tax contributions to your pension plan during your working years. If you did, then yes, you'd need the Simplified Method Worksheet to calculate the non-taxable portion of each payment. If all your contributions were pre-tax (which is most common), then the entire distribution is taxable regardless. I'd recommend calling your plan administrator first to clarify the minimum retirement age and whether your distribution code should have changed by now. That will help determine the correct way to report this on your return.
This is really helpful advice! I'm in a similar situation - 69 and still getting code 3 on my disability 1099-R. I never thought to question whether the code should have changed by now. My plan might have set the minimum retirement age at 65, which would mean I've been reporting this incorrectly for 4 years! @Lindsey Fry - when you consulted with the tax professional, did they mention anything about whether you needed to file amended returns for previous years if the coding was wrong? Or is it something you can just correct going forward?
I used to work in payroll. The backslash in box 14 is sometimes used for state-specific items. What state do you work in? Some states have mandatory disability insurance or other programs that get reported there. Check your state's tax department website - they often have guides explaining common box 14 entries. For example, California has SDI (State Disability Insurance), New Jersey has SUI (State Unemployment Insurance) contributions, etc.
Not OP but I'm having the same issue in Pennsylvania. My box 14 has \LST with an amount of $52. Any idea what that might be?
@Owen Jenkins LST typically stands for Local "Services Tax in" Pennsylvania. It s'a flat annual tax that many PA municipalities charge employees who work within their boundaries. The amount is usually around $52 per year, which matches what you re'seeing. You d'select Local "taxes or" Other "state and local taxes in" your tax software. This tax is generally not deductible on your federal return, but you might need to report it depending on your specific local tax situation.
I work in manufacturing payroll and can offer some insight here. The backslash symbol (\) in box 14 is often used by manufacturing companies for safety-related deductions or equipment rentals, which matches what you mentioned about the $873 amount and your biweekly deductions. Since you figured out it's likely safety equipment rental based on your bank statements, you're on the right track. In TurboTax, this would typically go under "Other" in the box 14 dropdown, and you can describe it as "Safety equipment rental" when prompted. The key thing to remember is that if this was deducted pre-tax from your paychecks (which equipment rentals usually are), it already reduced your taxable wages shown in box 1 of your W2. So you're not getting an additional deduction - you're just properly categorizing what the employer reported for informational purposes. If you want to be 100% certain, a quick call to your company's payroll department would confirm this, but based on the amount and your industry, safety equipment rental is very likely what the \ symbol represents.
Don't forget to check if your state has any inheritance tax too! Federal and state tax treatments can be different. I'm in Pennsylvania and was surprised to learn we have an inheritance tax even when there's no federal estate tax due. Cars might be exempt depending on your state, but it's worth checking.
This is a great question that highlights how inheritance tax rules can create unexpected situations! Just to add one more consideration - make sure you keep detailed records of everything: the loan payoff amount, sale documentation, and whatever evidence you can gather for the car's fair market value at the time of inheritance. Since you sold relatively quickly after inheriting, you might also want to consider whether there were any additional costs involved in the transfer process (title fees, registration, etc.) that could be added to your basis. These aren't usually large amounts for vehicles, but every bit helps when calculating your actual gain. Also, depending on the total amount of your capital gains for the year, you might want to consider the timing of any other asset sales to manage your overall tax situation. If this puts you over certain thresholds, it could affect other parts of your tax return.
This is really helpful advice about keeping detailed records! I'm curious about those additional costs you mentioned - would things like inspection fees or emissions testing that might be required during the title transfer also count toward the basis? I inherited my grandfather's old truck last year and had to get it inspected and do some minor repairs to make it roadworthy before I could sell it. I kept all the receipts but wasn't sure if they were relevant for tax purposes.
Anyone else feel like the government is just trying to squeeze more tax money out of regular people with these new 1099-K rules? Most people using Venmo and CashApp are just normal folks splitting bills, not businesses trying to evade taxes! š”
It's not really about taxing more people - it's about closing a reporting gap. People who earn income through these platforms SHOULD be paying taxes, just like income from any other source. The problem is the implementation is causing confusion between actual income vs. personal transfers. What they should've done is create clearer guidelines and better education before implementing the lower threshold. The apps themselves have been improving their systems to help distinguish personal from business transactions, which helps.
This is such a timely question! I went through the same panic last year when I first heard about the 1099-K changes. Here's what I learned after doing a lot of research and talking to a tax professional: The $600 threshold only applies to payments you RECEIVE that are marked as "goods and services" - not personal transfers like splitting dinner bills or paying rent to roommates. So if you're mostly sending money TO friends rather than receiving it FROM customers, you're probably fine. For the money you received from selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace, you'll only owe taxes if you made a profit. If you sold your old couch for $200 but originally paid $500 for it, that's actually a loss and not taxable income. My suggestion is to go through your transaction history ASAP and categorize everything: - Personal transfers (splitting bills, paying friends back) - Sales where you lost money (sold for less than you paid) - Actual profit from sales Keep screenshots and receipts as documentation. The IRS isn't trying to tax you on money that was never really income in the first place, but having good records will save you stress if questions come up later. Don't panic - most casual users aren't going to owe anything significant even if they do get a 1099-K!
This is really helpful, thank you! I think I'm in a similar boat - most of my transactions are sending money TO friends rather than receiving it. But I did sell a few things on Facebook Marketplace this year. One question - how do I prove what I originally paid for something if I don't have the receipt anymore? Like I sold my old gaming console for $180 but I bought it like 3 years ago and definitely don't have that receipt. Can I just estimate based on what it cost new at the time, or do I need actual documentation? Also, when you say "keep screenshots" - do you mean of the actual Venmo/CashApp transactions, or something else? I want to make sure I'm documenting the right stuff in case I do get audited later.
Emma Swift
Has anyone used TurboTax for reporting both types of mileage? I'm in a similar situation with coaching and wondering if it handles the split between charitable and business miles well.
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Isabella Tucker
ā¢I used TurboTax last year for this exact situation. It does handle both types of mileage but it doesn't prompt you to separate them very clearly. You have to be careful to enter the charitable miles in the deductions & credits section under charitable contributions, and the business miles under the self-employment/1099 income section. If you're not paying attention, you might put all miles in one place.
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Landon Morgan
Just wanted to add something important that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure you're only deducting the miles from your home to the sports activities, not any personal errands you might combine with those trips. The IRS is pretty strict about this. For example, if you drive from home to practice (deductible), then stop at the grocery store on the way back (personal), you can only claim the home-to-practice portion. I learned this the hard way during an audit a few years back. Also, keep receipts for any tolls or parking fees related to these trips - those are deductible too in addition to the mileage. For your paid coaching position, these would go on Schedule C along with your business miles. For volunteer activities, they'd be additional charitable deductions if you're itemizing. One more tip: consider using a mileage tracking app like MileIQ or Everlance. They use GPS to automatically log your trips and let you categorize them as business, charitable, or personal. Much more reliable than trying to recreate your logs from memory later.
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Lim Wong
ā¢This is really helpful advice about only claiming the direct miles to activities! I hadn't thought about the toll and parking fee deductions either. Quick question about the mileage tracking apps - do they create reports that are detailed enough for IRS requirements? I've been manually tracking everything but it's getting tedious and I'm worried I'm missing trips or making errors in my log.
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