2 Just to clarify something - are you using a tax-advantaged account like an IRA or is this in a regular taxable brokerage account? If it's in an IRA or 401k, none of this capital gains stuff applies since those accounts are tax-deferred or tax-free.

This is a tough situation, but the advice you've gotten is correct - each transaction is treated separately for tax purposes. Your original $98k gain is already a taxable event that's locked in. One thing to consider is your overall tax strategy for the year. If you sell now and take the $51k loss, your net taxable gain would be $47k ($98k gain minus $51k loss). But you might want to look at whether you have any other investments with unrealized losses that you could harvest to further offset that gain. Also worth noting - if this stock continues to decline and you think it might recover eventually, you could consider selling now to capture the tax loss, then wait 31 days before buying back to avoid the wash sale rule. That way you get the tax benefit while still being able to re-enter the position if you believe in the long-term prospects. The timing of when you sell matters too since we're getting close to year-end. Make sure any sale settles before December 31st if you want the loss to count for this tax year.

I'm wondering if the simplified option for home office deduction would be better in your case? You get $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet (max $1,500). Less paperwork and no need to track all those actual expenses. Might be worth calculating both ways to see which gives you the better deduction.

As a partner with K-1 income, you're definitely eligible for the home office deduction since you're treated as self-employed for tax purposes. Your situation sounds like a clear case for claiming it - working 40+ hours weekly from home with only occasional visits to the firm office establishes your home as your principal place of business. One key point to emphasize: make sure your home office space is used EXCLUSIVELY for business. The IRS is strict about this requirement. If you use that space for any personal activities (watching TV, personal computer use, etc.), it could disqualify the entire deduction. For calculation, you have two options: the simplified method ($5 per square foot, max $1,500) or actual expense method (percentage of home expenses). Given that you're working full-time from home, the actual expense method will likely give you a much larger deduction. Keep detailed records of your office square footage, total home square footage, and all qualifying expenses (utilities, mortgage interest/rent, property taxes, repairs, insurance). You'll report this on Schedule C since your K-1 income is considered self-employment income. The fact that your firm maintains a separate office doesn't disqualify you as long as your home is where you conduct the substantial portion of your business activities.

FYI - the whole refund advance situation is diff this yr. TT basically front-loads their offers during peak marketing season (early Jan). They don't advertise this, but their advance $ comes from a limited pool that usually runs dry by end of Jan. Super annoying, ik! Pro tip: if ur refund's coming soon anyway, prob not worth the hassle of trying other options. Most ppl are getting refunds pretty quick this yr - like 14-21 days if ur return is straightforward. Might be faster to just wait for the real thing vs jumping thru hoops for an advance now.

Hey KhalilStar! I went through this exact same situation last year. TurboTax has definitely gotten more restrictive with their advance program - it's frustrating because they don't really explain the changes upfront. Since you already filed and got accepted, your best bet might be to just track your refund status closely. The IRS has actually been processing returns faster this season compared to last year. You can check "Where's My Refund" daily, and since you filed on Jan 24th, you should hopefully see movement soon. I know it's tough when you're counting on those funds, especially as a recent grad. If you absolutely need cash now, maybe look into your bank's options for small personal loans rather than trying to switch tax services at this point. Hang in there! 💪

16 I'm in the exact same situation and my accountant advised something different than what others are saying here. He told me that since I own more than 2% of the S-Corp, health insurance has to be handled as additional compensation on my W-2, then I deduct it as self-employed health insurance on my personal taxes. He said S-Corps can't use QSEHRA for owners with >2% ownership. Is this right??

As someone who's been through this exact scenario, I can confirm what others have mentioned about the >2% shareholder rules. The key thing to remember is that even though the reimbursements have to go through your W-2 as taxable wages, you still get the tax benefit through the self-employed health insurance deduction on Line 16 of Schedule 1. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned - make sure you keep detailed records of the actual premium amounts your spouse's employer deducts from their paychecks. The IRS may want to see that the reimbursements from your S-Corp don't exceed the actual premiums paid. Also, the reimbursement timing matters - you generally need to reimburse in the same tax year the premiums were paid. The formal plan documentation is absolutely critical. I learned this when helping a friend who got audited - the IRS disallowed all their health insurance deductions because they couldn't produce the required corporate resolutions and plan documents, even though they had been reporting everything correctly on their tax returns.

Don't forget the income requirements too. If you made substantially more in 2025 than previous years, you might have phased out of the credit. This happened to me when I got a big promotion and couldn't figure out why my credit disappeared.

I'm a tax preparer and see this issue frequently. Based on your income level ($75K), you're definitely eligible for the full Child Tax Credit. The most likely culprit is indeed those advance CTC payments you received throughout 2024. Here's what probably happened: If you received the maximum advance payments ($250/month per child under 6, $300/month per child 6-17), you would have gotten $3,600 for your 4-year-old and $3,000 for your 7-year-old over the year. When you file your return, TurboTax calculates your total eligible credit, then subtracts what you already received in advance payments. Look for IRS Letter 6419 which shows your total advance payments, or check your IRS online account. The "remaining" credit showing as $0 just means you already received your full credit amount throughout the year - you're not losing anything! This is actually the system working as designed. Many taxpayers are confused by this because they're used to getting the credit as a lump sum at tax time.