Friendly reminder that if you do make decent money from this, you should consider making quarterly estimated tax payments! When I started my Etsy shop, I didn't know this and got hit with a penalty the first year. Self-employment income gets taxed at about 15.3% for the self-employment tax portion (Medicare/Social Security) on top of regular income tax. So definitely set aside more than you think you'll need.

Just wanted to add - you mentioned you're 18 and your mom helps with taxes. Since you're legally an adult, you have the right to file your taxes independently if you want privacy. You could tell her you want to learn to do them yourself this year for experience, or that your taxes are getting more complicated with multiple income sources. If you do file independently, make sure you understand whether you can still be claimed as a dependent on her return (usually yes if she provides more than half your support and you're under 24 and a student, or under 19 otherwise). Being a dependent affects some of your tax benefits but doesn't change your obligation to report all income. Also, when you report self-employment income on Schedule C, you can be very generic with the business description. "Online digital content sales" or "freelance digital media" are perfectly acceptable and don't reveal specifics about what you're selling. The IRS cares about the money, not the details of your business model.

For your sister's situation, here's what the IRS told me when I called about my Scentsy 1099-MISC last year: If Line 3 is for prizes, awards, or incentive payments related to your sales activity, it still goes on Schedule C but on Line 6 (Other business income). This keeps it associated with your business but separates it from your main nonemployee compensation. The most important thing is to make sure your self-employment tax calculation only includes the Line 7 amount, not the Line 3 amount.

I'm a bit late to the discussion, but I want to add that this whole thing depends on WHAT the Line 3 payment actually is. I had a similar situation with my Tupperware business where Line 3 was for a referral bonus. In that specific case, my tax preparer put it on Schedule C but made sure to mark it as "not subject to self-employment tax" by making an adjustment on Schedule SE. She said different types of "other income" might be handled differently, so knowing exactly what the payment was for is crucial.

dont get ur hopes up about updates. been stuck on the same message since february lmaoooo

I had this exact same issue last week! The "daily limit" error is super frustrating when you know you only tried once. What worked for me was logging out of the IRS website completely (if you had it open), clearing all browser cookies for IRS.gov, then waiting about 30 minutes before trying the app again. The system seems to share login attempt counters between the website and app, so even having the website open in a browser tab can sometimes trigger this. Also make sure you're using the exact same credentials - any typos count as failed attempts too.

Isn't it CRAZY that we pay taxes but then have to become detectives to figure out what's happening with our own money? The whole system is so broken. Good luck OP, hope you get your refund soon! 🙏

I went through this exact same situation last year with code 420 on my transcript. The waiting is absolutely the worst part because you have no idea how long it's going to take. In my case, I had to provide school enrollment records and medical records showing my kids lived with me for more than half the year to verify my Head of Household status and EIC eligibility. The good news is that if you legitimately qualify for everything you claimed, you'll eventually get your full refund. The bad news is it can take anywhere from 45 days to 4+ months depending on how quickly you respond and how backed up they are. Start gathering your documentation now - anything that shows your dependents lived with you (school records, medical bills, daycare statements, etc.) so you're ready when that notice arrives. And definitely keep checking your transcript for updates because sometimes the codes change before you even get the letter in the mail. Hang in there! The IRS bureaucracy is frustrating but most of these reviews do get resolved in the taxpayer's favor eventually.

Pro tip: Switch to a different tax service next year! I used H&R Block for years and had nothing but problems the last two tax seasons. Their software has gotten buggy and their customer service keeps getting worse. I switched to FreeTaxUSA this year and it was WAY better - they actually prompted me for my IP PIN right upfront and the whole process was smoother.

This is such a common issue this year! I had almost the exact same experience with TurboTax - their system showed my return as "transmitted" but the IRS had actually rejected it due to my IP PIN. The communication between tax software companies and the IRS seems to have some serious lag issues this filing season. What really helped me was calling the IRS early in the morning (around 7 AM) when they first open. The hold times are much shorter then. You can also check your actual filing status directly on the IRS website using their "Where's My Refund" tool - it'll show you the real status from their end, not what H&R Block thinks. Once you get your IP PIN sorted out and refile, the process should go smoothly. It's frustrating that H&R Block's system doesn't handle this better, especially since IP PINs are becoming so much more common. Good luck getting it resolved!