Has anyone considered the possible tax implications if the house was truly a "gift" but never properly transferred? The IRS might view this differently depending on how everything was documented. Was there an official gift declaration filed when they "gave" you the house but kept it in their name?

Your calculations look pretty solid! Just want to add a couple things that might help your parents save even more: 1. **Selling expenses are deducted from the sale price** - so your $18.7k in realtor fees and closing costs actually reduce the taxable gain. Instead of paying 15% on $135k, they'd pay on roughly $116.3k ($135k - $18.7k), which saves them about $2,805 in taxes. 2. **Document ALL improvements** - that deck and bathroom renovation Ryder mentioned could be worth thousands in deductions. Even smaller things like new appliances, flooring, or significant repairs can add up. The key is having receipts. 3. **Consider timing** - if your parents have any losses from other investments this year, they might be able to offset some of the gain. Also, if they're close to a lower tax bracket, timing the sale could matter. One thing to double-check: make sure they qualify for the 15% rate based on their total income for the year INCLUDING this gain. Sometimes the gain itself can push people into a higher bracket. Have they considered getting a professional tax consultation? With a $135k+ gain, spending a few hundred on proper tax advice could save thousands.

The IRS, TurboTax, and SBTPG are all playing hot potato with our money while collecting interest. I waited 7 business days after "funded" status before my deposit came through. The system is designed to be confusing and slow.

I'm in the EXACT same situation! Filed early February, got the TurboTax "refund on the way" email March 6th, DDD of 3/15 on my transcript, and SBTPG has been showing "funded" since March 9th. Still nothing in my account as of today (3/17) and my bank says no pending deposits. This is so frustrating - I need that money! Has anyone else with a 3/15 DDD actually received their deposit yet? Starting to wonder if something went wrong or if this is just the normal SBTPG delay everyone's talking about.

I swear watching these deposits is worse than tracking a package lmaooo refreshing my account every 5 mins

Same boat here! DDD 2/12 with Credit Karma and had fees taken out. Based on what everyone's saying, sounds like we should see it hit tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. The waiting game is brutal though - definitely feels like Christmas morning as a kid 😅

Has anyone compared H&R Block Tax Pro Go to the similar TurboTax Live Full Service? Trying to decide between them and the pricing seems similar.

I actually used H&R Block's Tax Pro Go service last tax season and had a pretty good experience overall. Like others mentioned, being detailed in the questionnaire is key - I made sure to mention my rental property income and some freelance work upfront. The upfront pricing held true for me ($179), and my assigned tax pro caught a few deductions I hadn't thought about, including some property management expenses. The whole process took about 5 days from upload to final review. One thing I'd add is that you can actually message back and forth with your tax pro through their portal if you have questions, which was helpful when I needed clarification on some business expense categories. Way less stressful than trying to figure it all out myself in TurboTax, especially with the more complex stuff like depreciation on rental property.

Make sure you're keeping detailed records of when your daughter is with you vs when she's with your ex. If your ex's boyfriend does try to claim her and it triggers an IRS review, having a calendar with all the days marked will be super important. Also save things like school records that show your address, medical appointments you took her to, etc. My sister went through something similar and what helped her was having text messages where her ex admitted the kid lived with her most of the time. The more documentation you have, the better!

This is a tricky situation that involves both IRS rules and family court obligations. From a pure tax perspective, you're absolutely right about the residency requirement - the boyfriend cannot claim your daughter as a dependent if she doesn't live with him for more than half the year. Since your ex-wife isn't filing taxes, she can't "transfer" her right to claim your daughter to her boyfriend. The IRS doesn't recognize such transfers between non-spouses. With your 60/40 custody arrangement where your daughter lives with you the majority of the time, you actually have the stronger claim under IRS rules regardless of what your custody agreement says. However, here's the important part: while the IRS won't enforce your custody agreement, family court might hold you in contempt if you violate the tax provisions. Some judges take these agreements very seriously. You might want to consider petitioning the court to modify the tax provision since your ex is no longer filing taxes - this would give you legal protection to claim your daughter every year. As for splitting the Child Tax Credit, if your custody agreement only mentions alternating the "tax exemption" and doesn't specifically address splitting refunds, you likely have no legal obligation to share the money. But again, family court interpretation can vary. I'd recommend consulting with a family law attorney to understand how your specific state and judge might view this situation. It's better to be proactive than deal with contempt charges later.