3 Has anyone else noticed that Meta seems to be changing their reporting thresholds this year? I only got around $550 last year and DID receive a 1099, but this year I made $580 and haven't received anything. I'm wondering if they moved to the $600 threshold that many companies use?

This is really helpful information! I'm dealing with a similar situation with my YouTube AdSense earnings - made about $350 last year but no 1099 from Google either. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like the key is just being accurate with your self-reporting. I've been keeping detailed records of all my payments in a spreadsheet anyway, so I guess I'll just use those numbers on my tax return. One question though - for those of you who went the Schedule C route, what kind of expenses were you able to deduct? I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the extra complexity and self-employment tax for my small amount of earnings. Things like my camera equipment, editing software subscriptions, and portion of internet costs seem like they could add up to meaningful deductions.

One important thing no one mentioned: you need to make quarterly estimated tax payments on your DoorDash income! When you have a W-2 job, taxes are withheld automatically, but with 1099 work, nothing is withheld. If you wait until tax time to pay, you might get hit with underpayment penalties. I found this out the hard way last year and had to pay extra. You can either increase withholdings at your regular job to cover the additional income or make quarterly payments directly to the IRS.

I did doordash last year and messed up my taxes by not tracking my miles properly. KEEP A MILEAGE LOG starting today!! The standard mileage deduction was worth waaaaay more than itemizing all my other expenses. Download a mileage tracking app that records your trips automatically. I use Stride and it saved me over $1800 in taxes last year just from mileage deductions alone.

Has anyone here used TurboTax to report inherited annuity income? I'm trying to figure out if their software handles this correctly or if I need to go to a professional this year.

One thing to keep in mind is that inherited annuities can sometimes trigger the "kiddie tax" rules if you're under 24 and considered a dependent, but that doesn't sound like it applies to your situation given your income level. Since you mentioned you're receiving $87,000 over 10 years, that's roughly $8,700 annually. Depending on your aunt's cost basis in the annuity, you might only be paying taxes on a portion of each payment. For example, if she paid $50,000 for the annuity, roughly 43% of each payment would be tax-free return of premium and 57% would be taxable earnings. Also, don't forget that inherited annuity payments are treated as ordinary income, not capital gains, so they'll be taxed at your regular income tax rates. With your $65k salary plus the annuity income, you'll want to check if this pushes you into a higher tax bracket and consider adjusting your withholding accordingly.

Isn't TurboTax supposed to catch things like the Saver's Credit automatically? I thought that was the whole point of using tax software!

This is exactly why I love this community - so much helpful information! I had no idea about the Saver's Credit either. For anyone else who might be confused like Omar and I were, I found that TurboTax does have a section for retirement savings contributions, but it's easy to miss if you're rushing through the interview. It's usually under the "Deductions & Credits" section, and they ask about contributions to IRAs, 401(k)s, etc. The key thing is that even though Roth contributions aren't deductible, you still need to report them IF you're eligible for the Saver's Credit. It's one of those situations where the same contribution serves two different purposes - your financial institution reports it to the IRS via Form 5498 (so they know you made the contribution), but you also need to report it on your tax return to claim the credit if you qualify. Thanks everyone for clearing this up - definitely going to check if I missed out on this credit in previous years!

Lots of good advice here, but I want to add something important! The foreign earned income exclusion that your ex might claim could potentially affect your situation. If your ex is excluding foreign earned income on her US tax return, it can impact how the IRS views the support calculation.

This is such a complex situation! From what I've learned dealing with similar tax issues, you're likely able to claim your kids as dependents since they're US citizens and you're providing over half their support with those monthly payments. The Child Tax Credit is trickier though - the IRS generally requires the child to live with you in the US for more than half the year, and a permanent move to Spain probably doesn't qualify as a "temporary absence." One thing I'd be careful about is making sure your ex isn't also claiming them on her US tax return if she's still required to file here. That could create problems. Also, since Spain has a tax treaty with the US, there might be specific rules about which parent gets certain benefits when you're in different countries. Given all the international complications everyone's mentioned - the foreign earned income exclusion, treaty provisions, documentation requirements for audits - this might be worth getting professional help with. The potential refund difference could easily justify the cost of a consultation with someone who specializes in international tax situations.