I understand the appeal of trying to monetize all that driving time, but I have to echo what others have said - the IRS is pretty strict about legitimate business activities vs. personal expenses. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the potential audit risk. The IRS has gotten much better at flagging businesses that look like they're just trying to convert personal activities into tax deductions. If you're deducting thousands in mileage but only have your own kids as "customers," that's going to raise red flags immediately. If you're really interested in this space, I'd suggest starting small with the legitimate rideshare services for kids that others mentioned. Build up some actual income history, understand the real costs (insurance, wear and tear, gas, time), and then maybe consider whether expanding into your own service makes financial sense. Also, don't forget that even legitimate business income means you'll be paying self-employment tax (about 15.3% on top of regular income tax), so the tax benefits might not be as attractive as they initially seem.

I'm glad to see people are steering you toward legitimate options! As someone who's dealt with IRS audits professionally, I want to emphasize how serious the "profit motive" test is. The IRS has specific factors they look at: whether you operate in a businesslike manner, maintain complete records, have expertise in the activity, expect to make a profit, and actually do make a profit in some years. Simply creating an LLC and paying yourself for driving your own kids fails almost all of these tests. You'd have no external customers, no market-rate pricing, and no realistic path to profit - it's essentially a paper transaction designed solely for tax benefits, which is exactly what triggers audits. The charitable mileage deduction mentioned earlier is a much safer approach if you're already volunteering. And if you want to explore the kid transportation business seriously, starting with an established platform like HopSkipDrive gives you legitimate income to build from. Just remember that even with real business income, you'll need to track everything meticulously - the IRS expects the same level of record-keeping whether you make $500 or $50,000.

The timing right now is much worse than earlier in the season. People who verified in January were seeing DDDs within 5-7 days, but now in peak season it's taking 2-3 weeks for many people. Your Thursday verification puts you in a better position than weekend verifications, which tend to get processed in later batches. I'd expect movement by next Thursday at the latest, compared to paper filers who are waiting months. Check your transcript daily - that's where you'll see updates first, usually with a 571 code reversing any previous holds.

I completely understand the anxiety, especially with your mom's medical needs. From what I've seen in this community, verification timing has been all over the place this season. A few things that might help while you wait: • Check your transcript daily at irs.gov - it updates before Where's My Refund and will show codes like 571 (reversing holds) or 846 (refund date) first • If you have genuine hardship due to medical expenses, document everything. The Taxpayer Advocate Service can sometimes expedite cases with medical hardship • Thursday verifications typically process in the next weekly cycle, so you might see movement by Wednesday/Thursday this week I was in a similar situation last year caring for my elderly father. The financial stress is real when you're waiting on funds for medical equipment. The good news is that once you've verified, you're past the biggest hurdle - now it's just processing time. Most people are seeing 8-14 days from verification to DDD this season. Stay strong, and I hope you get your DDD soon so you can get your mom what she needs. 🙏

Has anyone else noticed that these dividend reclassifications seem to be happening more frequently in recent years? I swear I never had to deal with this before 2020, but now almost half my dividends get some kind of adjustment after year-end.

I've been dealing with this exact issue for the past few years and wanted to share what I learned from my tax preparer. The key thing to understand is that these "Paid/adjusted in 2024, but for 2023" entries represent corrections companies make after they've completed their year-end analysis. For your specific example with Stock B, the reason the ordinary dividend reduction ($180.27) doesn't match the qualified dividend increase ($201.50) is likely due to foreign tax withholding or other adjustments. When foreign taxes are withheld from dividends, the gross amount might qualify as a qualified dividend, but the net amount you received was reduced by the foreign withholding. Regarding your quarterly payment concerns - you're absolutely right to think about this. For future years, I recommend keeping a spreadsheet tracking when you receive dividend reclassifications. If they come in February or March (which is typical), you can document that you made your Q1 estimated payment based on the best information available at the time. The IRS generally won't penalize you for underpayment if you can show you used reasonable assumptions based on the information you had. Since most of these corrections favor taxpayers (moving dividends to the lower qualified rate), you're usually in good shape. One tip: if you're using tax software, make sure to enter the final corrected amounts from the 1099-DIV rather than trying to manually track each payment. The software will handle the proper reporting automatically.

I had the exact same issue a few months ago! After trying everything else, what finally worked for me was going through the ID.me identity verification process again from scratch. Even though it was frustrating, I had to re-upload my documents and do the video chat verification. It took about a week, but once that was complete, I was able to access my IRS account again. Also, make sure you're using the exact same personal information (spelling, etc.) that's on your tax return - any tiny discrepancy can cause issues. Hang in there!

I went through something similar last year and it was such a headache! One thing that helped me was making sure I was using the exact same browser I originally used to set up my account. Also, try accessing the IRS site directly (irs.gov) instead of going through any bookmarks or third-party links - sometimes that can cause authentication issues. If you're still stuck, you might want to try creating a completely new ID.me account with a different email address if you have one. I know it's frustrating to start over, but sometimes it's faster than trying to recover a problematic account. Good luck!

Has anyone had the UK tax authorities reach out about EIS investments when you're not a UK tax resident? I invested in several companies through Crowdcube with EIS certificates but since I don't pay UK taxes (I'm a US citizen in France), I didn't claim any UK tax benefits. Still got emails about my EIS certificates though.

I'm dealing with a similar situation as a US citizen living in Italy who invested through both Crowdcube and Seedrs last year. One thing I learned the hard way is that you need to keep detailed records of each investment's structure and the underlying business activities, not just the total amounts invested. For reporting purposes, I created a spreadsheet tracking each company I invested in, their primary business activity, revenue sources, and investment structure. This helped me determine which ones might have PFIC issues (spoiler: most didn't, but one property development company was borderline). Also, don't forget that if any of these investments pay dividends or if you sell shares, you'll need to report that income on your US taxes. The UK won't withhold taxes for non-residents in most cases, but you still owe US taxes on the income. Keep good records of any foreign taxes paid too in case you can claim foreign tax credits. The EIS certificates are basically irrelevant for us as US taxpayers - we can't use the UK tax benefits, but the certificates do provide useful documentation about the nature of the investment for US reporting purposes.