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Just want to add - I've been through this exact situation. Make sure your mom e-files FIRST before your dad can. If he e-files first claiming you, your mom's electronic return will be rejected and she'll have to paper file, which creates a huge mess and delays any refund significantly. Also, gather evidence now: school records showing your address, medical records, bank statements sent to your mom's address with your name, etc. Even affidavits from neighbors confirming you lived with your mom can help.
Thanks for this advice! This is making me nervous though. My dad is super organized with taxes and usually files right when he gets his W-2s. If he files first and claims me, will my mom definitely have to paper file? Is there any way to prevent this or fix it electronically?
Unfortunately, if your dad e-files first incorrectly claiming you, your mom will definitely have to paper file. There's no electronic workaround - the IRS system automatically rejects the second e-filed return that tries to claim the same dependent. If you know he's likely to file early, you might want to have a conversation with him explaining the potential consequences - both for your FAFSA and for him. The IRS will eventually investigate the duplicate claim, and since you didn't actually live with him, he could face penalties for an incorrect return. Sometimes explaining the potential audit risk can discourage someone from filing incorrectly.
One thing nobody's mentioned - your FAFSA situation might actually still be workable even if your dad incorrectly claims you. When completing the FAFSA, you're supposed to answer based on which parent you lived with more during the 12 months prior to filing the FAFSA (not the tax year). So even if your dad claims you on taxes, you should still list your mom as the parent on FAFSA since you lived with her. You might need to explain the situation to your financial aid office and potentially provide documentation, but your FAFSA shouldn't be automatically ruined just because of an incorrect tax filing.
Has anyone used TurboTax to handle rental property deductions? I'm wondering if it prompts you for these kinds of unusual expenses or if I need to know ahead of time where to put them.
I use TurboTax every year for my rentals. It asks general questions about different expense categories but doesn't specifically prompt for unusual things like towing. You basically need to know which category to put it in yourself (like Repairs & Maintenance in this case).
One more thing to consider - if the towing was for a vehicle that was abandoned on your property (like an old tenant left a car behind), that might fall under different rules than if it was just for parking enforcement. Different circumstances can change how you categorize the expense. Just something to keep in mind!
Just a heads up - if you're amending because of a 1099-INT that came late, you might also want to check if you need to pay estimated tax penalties. Sometimes when you have income that wasn't withheld (like interest), you're supposed to make estimated payments throughout the year. The IRS has a "safe harbor" rule where you generally won't face penalties if your withholding and estimated payments total at least 90% of your current year tax or 100% of your prior year tax (110% if your AGI was over $150,000).
I've never heard of this safe harbor rule before. Does this apply even for relatively small amounts like $900 in interest? That seems like overkill for the IRS to expect quarterly payments on such small amounts.
Yes, technically the safe harbor rules apply regardless of the amount. However, in practice, for relatively small amounts like $900 in interest resulting in under $200 in additional tax, the penalty would be very minimal - we're talking maybe a few dollars at most. The IRS calculates the penalty based on how much you underpaid and for how long. Since the interest is usually earned throughout the year, the penalty isn't on the full amount for the full year. Many people with smaller amounts of interest income don't worry about making quarterly estimates because the potential penalty is so small, but technically you're supposed to cover your tax obligations as you earn income.
Has anyone used the standard tax software (TurboTax, H&R Block, etc.) to file an amended return for something simple like a missed 1099-INT? I'm curious if that's easier than doing the paper form.
I used TurboTax to amend my return last year when I forgot about a 1099-INT. It was pretty straightforward - I just logged back into my account, selected "amend return," and followed the prompts to add the missing info. The downside is they charge extra for amendments, I think it was like $50 when I did it.
I think there's a distinction here that might be important - were you just mentally planning to buy these items, or did you create some kind of formal purchase requisition in your accounting system? If you actually created internal documentation showing approval and commitment to purchase, some accountants might argue that's enough to recognize the expense.
No formal purchase requisition, just noted in my accounting software as planned expenses and allocated the funds. Based on what everyone's saying, sounds like I definitely recorded these too early and should move them to 2025. Good catch on the distinction though!
Yeah, that's what I thought. Without formal documentation creating an actual obligation, it's just a planned expense, not an incurred one. For future reference, if you want to legitimately recognize expenses in a particular tax year, you need to create that obligation before year-end. A simple purchase order or signed contract dated before December 31st would have made those valid 2024 expenses even if you didn't pay until 2025. This is a common strategy for businesses wanting to accelerate deductions.
This might be a dumb question, but if I'm on cash basis accounting does any of this even matter? I just record everything when money actually changes hands and it seems way simpler.
For cash basis, this is all moot - you record when you pay, period. That's the beauty of cash accounting for small businesses. But OP specifically mentioned they're using accrual, which has all these timing rules we're discussing.
Sofia Torres
Check the actual date listed next to your 846 code on the transcript. That date is when the IRS schedules the deposit to be sent to your bank. Then your bank might take 1-3 more days to actually post it to your account. My 0604 path return had the 846 code but the date was for NEXT week, so I was checking my account for nothing.
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GalacticGuardian
ā¢Is the 846 date always accurate? Mine says February 28th but today is March 2nd and still nothing in my account. I also used Cash App like the poster mentioned.
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Sofia Torres
ā¢The 846 date is usually accurate for when the IRS releases the funds, but it doesn't guarantee when your bank or Cash App will make those funds available to you. Most financial institutions receive the money on the 846 date but can hold it for 1-3 business days before posting it to your account. With Cash App specifically, they sometimes have processing delays during tax season due to the high volume of deposits. If your 846 date was February 28th and today is March 2nd, I'd give it until the end of today. If nothing arrives by tomorrow, you might want to contact Cash App support to see if they can provide any information about pending deposits.
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Dmitry Smirnov
has anyone noticed that the 0604 path seems to be moving slower this year? i filed in January, got my 846 code last week, and my refund just hit my account today. last year i was a 0605 path and got my money 2 days after the transcript updated. is the irs just prioritizing certain paths first this year?
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Ava Rodriguez
ā¢I noticed the same thing! I was 0605 last year and got my refund super quick. This year I'm 0604 and it's taking forever even though my 846 code has been there for days. I think they're definitely processing certain paths differently.
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