Has anyone tried just calling their state housing agency about Form 8396 carryforward questions instead of the IRS? When I was confused about my MCC credit, I called my state housing authority and they were SUPER helpful - no hold times and they knew exactly how the carryforward worked.

I went through this exact same situation last year! For the carryforward on Form 8396, you'll want to look at line 10 from your 2023 Form 8396 - that's your unused credit amount that carries forward. That amount goes on line 9 of your 2024 Form 8396. One thing that tripped me up initially was making sure I understood the 3-year carryforward rule correctly. You can carry forward unused MCC credits for up to 3 years after the tax year they were first allowable. So if you couldn't use the full credit in 2023, you have until 2026 to use that unused portion. For TurboTax, try looking under the "Deductions & Credits" section and search specifically for "Mortgage Credit Certificate" or check if there's a section for "Credits from Prior Years." Sometimes it's not super obvious where to enter carryforward amounts, but it should be there somewhere. If you're still having trouble finding it, you might need to manually enter it in the forms view rather than the interview process. Keep good records of your Form 8396 from each year - you'll need to track these carryforward amounts if you can't use the full credit again this year!

Just wanna add - this is one of those things that seems huge when you're filing for the first time but honestly isn't a big deal at all. The IRS processes millions of returns and they're not going to flag you over a few cents difference from rounding. The only time cents really matter is if you're reconciling accounts or doing accounting where everything needs to balance perfectly. For a basic W-2 tax return, the rounded numbers are totally fine.

Don't stress too much about this! As someone who's been filing taxes for over a decade, I can confirm that rounding to whole dollars is not only acceptable but actually encouraged by the IRS. Your tax software is doing exactly what it should be doing. The IRS processing systems are designed to handle whole dollar amounts more efficiently, which is why most tax forms explicitly state "round to nearest dollar" in the instructions. What you experienced - $58,427.83 becoming $58,428 and $7,342.56 becoming $7,343 - follows the standard rounding rule perfectly. Since both amounts had more than 50 cents, they rounded up appropriately. You're definitely not going to get flagged for an audit over proper rounding. The IRS is looking for much more significant discrepancies or missing income, not whether you rounded $0.83 up to the next dollar. Focus on making sure all your income sources are reported and your deductions are legitimate - those are the things that actually matter for tax compliance. Welcome to the world of filing your own taxes - you're doing fine!

If you're using tax software like TurboTax or H&R Block, don't worry too much about manually figuring out the capital gains rates. The software will automatically calculate the correct tax based on your holding period and income level. Just make sure you correctly input the purchase date (12/14/2022) and sale date (03/27/2024) along with the cost basis and sale proceeds. The software will determine it's long-term and apply the right tax rate.

One thing that might help clarify the confusion - when you report your $6,700 long-term capital gain, it does flow through to your Form 1040, but it's NOT added to your ordinary income for tax calculation purposes. Here's what actually happens: Your long-term capital gains get reported on Schedule D, which then flows to line 7 of your 1040. But when calculating your tax, the IRS uses special worksheets (like the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet) to apply the preferential rates (0%, 15%, or 20%) to your capital gains separately from your ordinary income. So you'll see the $6,700 on your tax return, but it won't be taxed at your marginal income tax rate. Instead, it'll be taxed at whichever capital gains rate applies based on your total income level. This is the key difference between short-term gains (taxed as ordinary income) and long-term gains (taxed at preferential rates). The tax software or tax preparer handles all this automatically, but it's good to understand what's happening behind the scenes!

Does FreeTaxUsa handle state returns for multiple states? I worked in both New York and New Jersey this year and that's always a pain to figure out.

This is exactly what I needed to hear! I've been using H&R Block online for the past 4 years and watching my filing costs go from around $80 to over $160 this year. I also have W-2 income plus some freelance work that requires Schedule C, so our situations sound very similar. I've been hesitant to switch because I'm worried about missing something or making a mistake, but reading everyone's experiences here is really encouraging. The fact that you got the same refund amount when you tested both systems is reassuring. One question - did you have any trouble importing your previous year's tax information, or did you have to start fresh and re-enter everything? That's always been my biggest concern about switching software mid-stream.

Has anyone actually tried this with younger kids? My daughter is only 10 but she helps stuff envelopes for my monthly client mailings. Would the IRS accept that?

I actually went through this process last year with my 16-year-old who helps with my online retail business. The key thing I learned is that legitimacy is everything - the IRS doesn't care that it's your kid, they care that it's real work for real pay. Here's what I did that worked: 1) Created a proper job description for "Digital Marketing Assistant" 2) Had her track hours on a timesheet app (just like any employee) 3) Set up direct deposit payroll at $16/hour (market rate for her tasks) 4) She genuinely manages our Instagram, takes product photos, and handles customer service emails The tax savings were significant - about $3,200 for our family. She earned $8,000 total, paid zero federal taxes due to the standard deduction, and I got the full business deduction. Most importantly: treat it like a real employment relationship. No cash payments, no inflated hours, and make sure the work actually benefits your business. If you can't explain to an auditor why you need this work done and why it's worth what you're paying, don't do it. Your 15-year-old doing social media and photography sounds perfect for this - those are legitimate, valuable business functions that many companies outsource anyway.