One thing nobody's mentioned - if your boyfriend claims you as a dependent, make sure he understands how it affects your healthcare coverage. When my partner claimed me as a dependent, it screwed up my Medicaid eligibility because they suddenly considered his income when determining my benefits. We had to do some serious paperwork to explain that while I was his tax dependent, I was still separate for healthcare purposes. Different states have different rules about this. Double-check with your local Medicaid office before changing anyone's tax filing status.

This is such a frustrating situation, but you're absolutely right to question your mother's plan to claim you. Based on everything you've described, she has no legal basis to claim you as a dependent for 2024. Here's what I'd recommend as your action plan: 1) Have your boyfriend determine if he can claim you as a dependent. Since he's providing most of your support and you've lived together all year, he likely qualifies under the "qualifying relative" rules (assuming your disability income is under the threshold). 2) File ASAP when tax season opens. Don't wait - whoever files first has the advantage if there's a conflict. 3) Document everything now: lease agreements, utility bills showing who pays what, bank statements showing your boyfriend's support, records of when your mother stopped being your payee, etc. 4) If your mother files incorrectly anyway, don't panic. The IRS will catch the duplicate dependent claim and send letters to both parties. You'll be prepared with documentation while she won't have legitimate proof of support. The key thing to remember is that dependency for tax purposes is based on who actually provides support, not family relationships. Your mother can't just decide to claim you if she's not supporting you. Stay strong and don't let her intimidate you into going along with incorrect filing.

Just to share my experience - I had a similar situation last year but my LLC had about $200 in expenses and no income. I called the IRS and after being on hold forever, they told me I definitely needed to file an amended return with Schedule C showing the loss. They said even though it wouldn't change my tax situation much, it was important for their records to show the business activity. The agent was actually pretty nice about it and said as long as I filed the amendment within a reasonable time, there wouldn't be penalties since I wasn't underpaying taxes.

I went through this exact same situation two years ago with my dormant LLC! The stress was real, but it turned out to be much less dramatic than I expected. Here's what I learned: Yes, you technically should file an amended return (Form 1040-X) with Schedule C showing the zero activity. Even though there's no tax impact, the IRS wants documentation that the LLC exists and had no activity rather than just ignoring it completely. The good news is there are no penalties when you're not underpaying taxes. I filed my amendment about 6 weeks after realizing my mistake, and it was processed without any issues or additional fees. Just make sure to clearly indicate on the Schedule C that this was a business with no activity during the tax year. One tip: keep good records going forward. Even if your LLC continues to have zero activity, you'll want to document that fact each year so you don't forget again. It's much easier to include a zero-activity Schedule C from the start than to amend later!

Quick question - how large was your insurance payment? My understanding is that PayPal shouldn't even be issuing 1099-Ks unless you received over $20,000 AND had more than 200 transactions in a year. Did they change the rules?

Just to clarify something that might help - if PayPal issued you a 1099-K for $3,750 and the new threshold is $5,000, they may have sent it to you but NOT reported it to the IRS. You should check the "Copy B" version of your 1099-K form - there's usually a checkbox or notation that indicates whether it was actually submitted to the IRS. If it wasn't reported to the IRS, you technically don't need to do the offsetting entry on your return since there's no mismatch for them to catch. However, I'd still recommend keeping detailed records of the insurance claim and payment documentation in case you ever get audited. That said, if you're unsure whether it was reported or want to be extra cautious, following the advice about reporting it as Other Income with an offsetting adjustment is still the safest approach. Better to over-document than under-document with the IRS.

quick question - what happens if i dont file? i worked at a restaurant for like 4 months last year but only made maybe $6000 total and they paid me mostly in cash except for the hourly minimum wage part. do i still need to file something?

@Tristan Carpenter - I went through almost the exact same situation last year! Here's what worked for me: First, don't panic about the filing deadline - you still have time. Since you worked from July to January, you definitely had income in 2023 that needs to be reported. Target is required by law to send you a W-2 by January 31st. If you haven't received it, here's what to do: 1. Check if they have your current address - sometimes W-2s get sent to old addresses 2. Call Target's corporate payroll department (not your store manager) - they have a dedicated line for former employees requesting tax documents 3. If that doesn't work, you can request a wage transcript from the IRS which will show what Target reported Even if you made less than the $13,850 filing threshold, you should still file because Target likely withheld federal taxes from your paychecks that you'd get back as a refund. I got back about $800 when I filed! The good news is that as a first-time filer with just one W-2, your return will be pretty straightforward. Most free tax software can handle this easily once you get your documents. Don't let the process intimidate you - it's much simpler than it seems, and you'll feel so much better once it's done!

Just a quick thought - have you considered running the numbers both ways? My partner and I got "unofficial married" years ago but kept filing separately until we had our daughter. That first year with a kid, we ran the taxes both ways and discovered we'd save about $4k by filing married. The main advantage came from being able to combine our incomes which let us qualify for more of the child tax credit and child care credits.

Great question! I was in almost the exact same situation a few years ago. My partner and I did a ton of research on this, and here's what we found: The biggest factor is your income levels. If you have similar incomes (especially if both are on the higher side), staying unmarried might actually save you money due to the marriage penalty. But if there's a significant income gap, marriage usually wins out. One thing that really surprised me: the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can be much better for single filers in certain income ranges. If one of you qualifies for EITC as a single parent, that alone could make staying unmarried worth thousands. Also consider timing - you don't have to make this decision permanently. Some couples I know got legally married after their second kid when the math clearly favored it, or when one partner's income changed significantly. My advice: use one of those tax comparison tools mentioned earlier to run your specific numbers, but also think about the non-tax factors. We ended up getting legally married because the peace of mind around medical decisions and automatic inheritance rights was worth more to us than the potential tax savings. Every situation is different, but you're smart to think about this ahead of time rather than just assuming marriage is always better financially!