One important thing nobody mentioned - if you had a refund coming on your original return, the IRS will hold it until your amendment is processed. So if youre expecting money back, prepare to wait a LONG time.

I've been in a similar situation and definitely agree with everyone saying to wait for the letter. The IRS correspondence will have specific notice codes and exact amounts that you'll need for your amendment. Phone agents sometimes give incomplete or slightly incorrect information, and you don't want to file an amendment based on partial details. The letter will also tell you exactly what documentation you need to include with your 1040X. I know it's frustrating to wait when you just want to get it resolved, but doing it right the first time will save you months of additional delays. In the meantime, you could gather any missing tax documents (like that 1099 you mentioned) so you're ready to go once the letter arrives.

5 Has anyone addressed whether this could be an intentional income-shifting strategy by the mom? I've seen small business owners do this to reduce their own tax liability by "paying" family members. The IRS is aware of this practice and does scrutinize family business arrangements. If the child isn't actually performing meaningful work worth $6,300, or if they're not being paid market rates for the work, this could be problematic in an audit.

You're absolutely right to be concerned about this situation. As several others have mentioned, the $400 threshold for self-employment income is key here - your daughter definitely needs to file. However, I'd strongly recommend getting professional help before proceeding. The classification of a 12-year-old as an independent contractor is highly questionable and could trigger an audit. The IRS looks closely at family business arrangements, especially when children are involved. A few red flags I see: 1) A 12-year-old typically can't meet the "independence" test for contractor status, 2) The amount seems high for basic filing/sorting work by a child, and 3) This could be viewed as income shifting to avoid taxes. I'd suggest consulting with a tax professional who can review whether this should have been handled differently (like employee wages with FICA exemptions for children in family businesses) and help you navigate the filing requirements properly. The goal should be compliance, not just getting through this year's filing.

I've been through this exact situation with our 3-unit condo association! The confusion you're experiencing is totally normal - the IRS forms really weren't designed with small condo associations in mind. Before diving into where the numbers go on Form 1041, I'd strongly recommend checking if you actually need to file that form at all. Based on your description (member contributions for shared expenses), your condo trust likely qualifies for Form 1120-H treatment, which is infinitely simpler. For Form 1120-H, your $9000 in contributions would be "exempt function income" (not taxable), the $8200 in water/sewer expenses would be deductible operating expenses, and you'd only pay tax on any investment income at a flat 30% rate. The bank fees are fully deductible too. The key test is whether 60% or more of your income comes from member dues/assessments (yours is 100%) and whether 90% of expenses are for property maintenance (water/sewer definitely qualifies). I'd suggest pulling your trust documents to confirm the legal structure, but most small condo associations qualify for this election and it saves hours of confusion compared to wrestling with Form 1041.

I completely understand your frustration! I went through the exact same thing with our small condo association last year. The good news is that your situation is actually much simpler than you think - you're just using the wrong form. Based on what you've described (member contributions for shared expenses like water/sewer), your condo trust almost certainly qualifies to file Form 1120-H instead of Form 1041. This form was specifically designed for homeowners associations and small condo associations like yours. Here's why 1120-H would be perfect for you: - Your $9,000 in member contributions would be "exempt function income" (completely tax-free) - The $8,200 water/sewer expenses are fully deductible - The $85 bank fees are also fully deductible - You'd only pay taxes on investment income (which you don't have) at a flat 30% rate To qualify, you need 60% of income from member dues (you're at 100%) and 90% of expenses for property maintenance (water/sewer clearly qualifies). You make the election simply by filing 1120-H instead of 1041 - no separate paperwork needed. This would eliminate all your confusion about where numbers go on the 1041 because the 1120-H is designed specifically for situations like yours. I wish someone had told me this before I spent hours wrestling with trust accounting principles that don't really apply to condo associations!

Something important no one's mentioned - the Child Tax Credit amount phases out at higher income levels. Since your ex makes more than you ($78k vs $59k), you might actually benefit more from the credit than he would. For 2024, the phase-out begins at $75,000 for single filers. So your ex is already in the phase-out range while you're still under it. Depending on his exact income, he might not get the full benefit of the credit. If you're trying to maximize the total benefit between both households, it might make financial sense for you to claim both children in some years, especially if his income continues to rise. You could then work out some other financial arrangement to make things fair.

You're absolutely right to want to handle this fairly! As someone who went through a similar situation, I can confirm that splitting the Child Tax Credit with 50/50 custody is completely doable and legitimate. Since your divorce decree doesn't specify who claims the children for tax purposes, you have flexibility. The two most common approaches are: 1) Each parent claims one child every year, or 2) Alternate years where one parent claims both children. Given that you mentioned covering most of their healthcare costs, you might want to factor that into your negotiation with your ex. You could propose that you claim one child each year, or even suggest alternating who gets to claim both kids with the understanding that whoever doesn't claim them that year contributes more to certain expenses. The key is getting any agreement in writing - even a simple email or text exchange works. This prevents the "he said, she said" situations that can happen at tax time. Also, keep detailed records of your custody schedule and any expenses you pay for the children. While the IRS doesn't require you to prove who spent more money on the kids for the Child Tax Credit (unlike the dependency exemption rules), having documentation helps if there are ever questions. Don't let what happened last year repeat itself. Have this conversation now so you both know the plan going forward!

I'm a little confused... I took out a 401k loan in 2023 and I swear I got some kind of form for my taxes?? But maybe I'm mixing it up with somethin else?

Empower is absolutely correct! You don't need a 1099-R for a 401k loan as long as you're making the required payments on schedule. A loan from your 401k isn't considered a taxable distribution - you're essentially borrowing your own money and paying it back with interest (which goes back into your account). The TurboTax prompts you're seeing are standard questions that appear for everyone to make sure they haven't missed any retirement account distributions. Since a 401k loan isn't a distribution, you can safely answer that you didn't receive a 1099-R related to this transaction. Just keep making your loan payments as agreed and you won't have any tax implications. The only time you'd get a 1099-R is if you default on the loan or fail to repay it according to the terms - then the outstanding balance would be treated as a taxable distribution.