Be careful with the advice about "selling at a loss isn't taxable." While that's generally true for personal items, if you're regularly selling stuff online, the IRS might consider you to be running a business, which has different rules. The frequency of sales, whether you're buying items to resell, and your intent all factor in.

Great question Sofia! The confusion is totally understandable since the rules have been changing. For 2024 tax year, the 1099-K threshold is $5,000 - the IRS postponed the planned reduction to $600. Since you're just clearing out personal items (clothes, electronics, collectibles), most of what you're selling probably won't be taxable income anyway. If you're selling items for less than what you originally paid, that's considered a personal loss and isn't reportable income. Only if you sell something for more than your original purchase price would you potentially have taxable capital gains. Keep basic records of your sales and what you originally paid for items (even rough estimates are okay for personal belongings). The 1099-K threshold is just about when platforms must send you a form - you're technically supposed to report all taxable income regardless, but again, most personal item sales at a loss aren't taxable anyway. Don't stress too much about it - sounds like you're just doing normal decluttering, not running a business!

Based on your income levels, you're right to think strategically about this. Here's what you need to know: You CANNOT file as Head of Household without claiming at least one qualifying dependent - that's a hard IRS requirement. So your idea of filing HOH while letting your partner claim both kids won't work. Your best option is likely for each of you to claim one child and both file as HOH. This gives you both the better tax brackets and higher standard deductions that come with HOH status. Even though you're over the income limit for child tax credits, the HOH filing status itself provides significant tax savings compared to filing Single. Your partner will get the full child tax credit and likely EITC for their claimed child, while you'll still benefit from the HOH tax brackets and standard deduction for yours. Just make sure you document who pays for what household expenses throughout the year. The IRS does scrutinize unmarried couples who both claim HOH, so keep records of rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries, and childcare costs to show you're both legitimately supporting the household. One more thing - definitely coordinate clearly about who claims which child before filing. I've seen too many people accidentally both claim the same kid, which triggers an automatic IRS review and major delays.

As a tax professional, I want to emphasize a few key points that haven't been fully addressed yet: First, you're absolutely correct that you cannot file as Head of Household without claiming at least one qualifying dependent. The IRS is very strict about this requirement. However, there's an important nuance about the "support test" that others haven't mentioned. For unmarried parents living together, each child can only be claimed by one parent, and that parent must provide more than half of the child's total support for the year. This includes housing, food, clothing, medical care, education, and other necessities. Given your income difference ($190k vs $32k), you're likely providing more than half the support for both children through housing costs, insurance, and general living expenses. This means you might actually be the only one who can legally claim either child as a dependent, even if your partner is the primary caregiver. I'd strongly recommend getting professional advice or using the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant tool to determine who actually qualifies to claim each child based on the support test. The "tiebreaker rules" only apply when both parents equally meet all the dependency tests. Also, keep in mind that even if splitting the dependents is allowed in your situation, you'll want rock-solid documentation of how expenses are divided, especially since both filing as HOH with your income levels will likely trigger IRS scrutiny.

Has anyone had issues with their employer repeatedly sending incorrect W2s? This is the second year my company has messed up my tax documents. Last year they had to issue THREE corrected W2s before they got it right. I'm wondering if there's any penalty for employers who consistently do this.

I completely understand your frustration! Having dealt with similar employer delays, I know how maddening it is when they finally come through literally one day too late. Given that you've already filed with Form 4852 and the difference is only $400, I'd strongly recommend just waiting for the IRS to process your original return. The IRS automatically matches W-2 information from employers with filed returns, and when they see the small discrepancy, they'll typically just adjust your refund amount without requiring any action from you. Since you reported slightly less income than the corrected W-2 shows, your refund will be reduced by roughly $88-120 (depending on your tax bracket), but you'll still get the majority of your expected refund. The IRS deals with these situations constantly and has streamlined processes for handling them. You used Form 4852 exactly as intended - for situations where employers fail to provide timely or accurate W-2s. You won't face any penalties since you followed proper procedure by attempting to get the correct information first and documenting your good faith effort to comply. Save yourself the headache of filing an amended return for such a small difference. Let the IRS handle it automatically!

Something nobody has mentioned - check if you qualify for the standard mileage rate instead of actual expenses/depreciation. For 2023 it's 65.5 cents per mile for business miles. If you're using your car primarily for business and it's not a luxury vehicle, this is often simpler and can be more advantageous. You'd still need to reconstruct your business mileage, but you wouldn't have to worry about calculating depreciation separately. The standard mileage rate builds in depreciation, maintenance, gas, insurance, etc.

I've been through this exact situation as a realtor! The good news is you don't need to reconstruct every single trip from the past two years - the IRS accepts reasonable reconstruction methods. Here's what worked for me: I pulled my MLS activity reports showing all listings and showings, grabbed my closing documents, and reviewed my calendar appointments. Then I created a monthly average of business miles based on typical patterns (client meetings, property showings, office visits, etc.). For your $38,500 vehicle with 65% business use, if you've been using straight-line depreciation over 5 years, you would have claimed roughly $5,005 per year in business depreciation ($38,500 ÷ 5 years × 65%). So for 2 full years plus partial 2024, you're probably looking at around $10,000-12,000 in total depreciation claimed. The key is documenting your methodology. Write up a simple explanation of how you calculated the 65% business use percentage and keep copies of the supporting documents you used (MLS reports, calendar entries, client files). This creates a defensible paper trail if you're ever questioned. Don't stress too much about perfection - focus on being reasonable and consistent in your approach.

Have you considered alternating years? That's what my ex and I do - I take odd years, he takes even years. No Form 8332 needed if you follow the tie-breaker rules and have it specified in your custody agreement. Saves a lot of paperwork and potential disputes. We just make sure our custody agreement clearly states which parent claims the child in which years, and then we each take the exemption, Child Tax Credit, and any medical expenses we personally paid in our designated years. Much simpler than dealing with Form 8332 every year.

As someone who went through a similar situation with significant medical expenses for my child, I can share what I learned from both my tax preparer and direct experience with the IRS. The key insight that helped me was understanding that Form 8332 creates a very specific split of benefits - it ONLY transfers the dependency exemption and Child Tax Credit to the non-custodial parent. Everything else stays with whoever is entitled to it under normal rules. For your medical expenses specifically, you can deduct them if YOU paid them, period. The IRS doesn't care who claims the dependency exemption when it comes to medical expense deductions - they only care who actually wrote the checks or used their credit card. I claimed $3,200 in medical expenses for my daughter even though my ex claimed her as a dependent that same year. No issues whatsoever. Just make sure you have solid documentation (receipts, insurance statements, etc.) showing you were the one who paid. One tip: if you're close to the 7.5% AGI threshold for medical deductions, run the numbers both ways to see if it makes more sense for you or your ex to claim the medical expenses, assuming you both contributed to the costs.