Just to clarify something that might be confusing from the other responses - you absolutely DO need to report that $1,200 as taxable income on your federal return, regardless of whether you itemize deductions or take the standard deduction. The gambling winnings get reported as "Other Income" on your 1040. The loss deduction piece is separate and optional - you can only deduct gambling losses if you itemize deductions AND only up to the amount of your winnings. So if you normally take the standard deduction (which most people do), you'd pay taxes on the full $1,200 and wouldn't be able to deduct that $300 loss. Make sure you received the W-2G form from the casino when you collected your winnings - they're required to give it to you at the time of payout for slot wins of $1,200 or more. You'll need that form to complete your tax return. If you didn't get it or lost it, contact the casino's player services department to get a copy.

One thing that helped me when I was in a similar situation was keeping track of the exact time and date of both my losses and winnings during that casino visit. Since you mentioned losing $300 before hitting the $1,200 jackpot all in the same trip, you might want to check if your player's club card tracked those transactions automatically. Many casinos keep detailed records of your play when you use their rewards card, and you can often request a win/loss statement from them that shows all your activity for that day. This can serve as official documentation for both your winnings and losses, which is really helpful if you do decide to itemize deductions. Even if you end up taking the standard deduction, having that documentation is good to keep for your records in case the IRS ever has questions about your return. Also, don't forget that if any taxes were withheld from your winnings (which sometimes happens on larger jackpots), that information should be on your W-2G form and you can claim those withholdings as payments made toward your tax liability.

One thing no one has mentioned yet - if you do claim your daughter as a dependent, you might qualify for the American Opportunity Credit (if she's in her first 4 years of post-secondary education) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (available for graduate school). This could save you up to $2,000-$2,500 on your taxes depending on which credit you qualify for and your income level. Since you paid those administrative fees, those would count as qualified education expenses. Keep all your receipts!

Based on what you've described, you should definitely claim your daughter as your dependent for 2024. Since she's 23, a full-time graduate student, has zero income, and you're providing all her support, she clearly meets all the IRS tests for qualifying child status. One important thing to keep in mind - make sure you have good records of all the expenses you paid for her this year. The $4,000 in administrative fees plus her living expenses should easily put you over the "more than half support" threshold, but it's good to have documentation just in case. Also, don't worry about what happened in previous tax years. Each year is completely independent when it comes to dependent status. The fact that she filed on her own last year when she was working has no bearing on this year's situation. Since she has no income this year, she won't need to file a return at all. You'll just claim her as your dependent and potentially qualify for education credits on those administrative fees you paid. It sounds like a straightforward situation once you understand the rules!

Great advice in this thread! I want to add a crucial point about the timing of documentation that I learned from my tax attorney. Even if you're creating loan documentation after the fact (like a promissory note), make sure to clearly state on the document that it's memorializing a prior transaction and include the original loan date. The IRS looks at substance over form, so what matters most is your actual intent when you put the money in. If you can demonstrate through bank records, business circumstances, and other evidence that you genuinely intended it as a loan (not a capital contribution), then creating proper documentation later can still protect you. Also, be consistent with how you treat it - if you call it a loan, make sure you actually repay it in a reasonable timeframe. Loans that sit on the books for years without any repayment activity are more likely to be reclassified by the IRS as capital contributions during an audit.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the importance of charging reasonable interest on the loan if you want to maintain its legitimacy as a true loan rather than a disguised capital contribution. The IRS has guidelines about what constitutes reasonable interest rates (generally tied to the Applicable Federal Rates published monthly). If you don't charge any interest at all, especially on a larger loan that sits on the books for an extended period, the IRS might question whether it's really a loan or just additional capital investment. You don't have to charge market rates, but having some reasonable interest rate documented in your promissory note strengthens the argument that this was a genuine arm's length transaction. Also, keep in mind that if you do charge interest, you'll need to report that interest income on your personal tax return, and the LLC can potentially deduct it as a business expense. It's a bit of extra complexity, but it can really help protect the loan classification if you're ever audited.

Just a quick warning from someone who's been there - make SURE you and your parents are on the same page about this! If you file as independent but your parents still claim you as a dependent, it'll cause BOTH your returns to get flagged by the IRS. My friend and his parents both got letters from the IRS because of this exact situation. It delayed their refunds and they had to submit additional documentation to prove who was right. Super annoying headache that took months to resolve.

Great question Andre! I went through this exact same confusion when I first started filing independently. The key thing to understand is that "independent" and "dependent" are two different concepts in tax terms. When you file your own tax return, you're filing as an "independent taxpayer" - meaning you're responsible for your own taxes. But you can't claim yourself as your own dependent because dependents are OTHER people you support (like children or elderly parents). What you'll do is: 1. File with "Single" status (assuming you're unmarried) 2. Check the box that says "No one can claim me as a dependent" 3. This automatically gives you your full standard deduction ($13,850 for 2023) The good news is that filing independently usually means more money back! You'll get the full standard deduction and may qualify for credits that weren't available when you were a dependent. Just make absolutely sure your parents know they can't claim you this year - if you both try to claim the same person (you), it creates a big mess with the IRS. TurboTax should walk you through this pretty clearly once you indicate that no one else can claim you as a dependent. You're on the right track!

Don't forget that if you sell your rental property for a gain in the future, any suspended passive losses from previous years can be used at that time. So even if you can't use the losses now against your capital gains, they're not lost forever. I made this mistake years ago thinking my rental losses were just gone, but when I sold my property, my accountant was able to apply all those carried-forward losses against the gain from the sale. Saved me thousands!

This is a really common misunderstanding! I had the exact same confusion when I first started dealing with rental properties and stock trading. The key thing to remember is that the IRS has very specific definitions for different types of income, and they don't always match what we'd think of as "passive" in everyday language. Your capital gains from stock trading fall under "portfolio income" while rental activities are "passive activities" - they're in completely separate buckets for tax purposes. That said, don't get discouraged about those rental losses. As others mentioned, if your MAGI is under $100k, you might still be able to deduct up to $25k of those losses against your other income this year. And even if you can't use them now, they'll carry forward and can be incredibly valuable when you eventually sell the property. I'd definitely recommend keeping detailed records of all your rental expenses and losses - you'll thank yourself later when tax time comes around in future years!