Does anyone know if selling on Facebook Marketplace triggers the same 1099-K requirements? I've been selling furniture I refinish and I'm getting close to that threshold but haven't received any tax forms from them.

The whole 1099-K situation is incredibly frustrating for casual sellers. I've been dealing with something similar after selling some of my old photography equipment on eBay. What helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet tracking original purchase dates, amounts paid, and sale prices for everything. One thing your H&R Block advisor might not have mentioned - if you can prove you're selling personal items at a loss (which it sounds like you are), you should be reporting this on Schedule D as capital gains/losses, not as business income on Schedule C. Personal items held for more than a year get capital gains treatment, and while you can't deduct the losses, you also don't pay self-employment tax on the transactions. The key is documentation. Even without original receipts, you can use credit card statements, bank records, or research comparable prices from when you likely purchased the items. The IRS accepts reasonable estimates if you make a good faith effort to determine your actual cost basis. Don't give up on selling entirely - just get organized and understand the rules. The 1099-K is just a reporting mechanism, not a tax bill.

Anyone else notice that the SDI rates changed in some states for 2025? I'm in California and my SDI jumped from 1.1% to 1.3% this year. Maybe that's why some of your deductions increased? Worth checking what state you're in and if any rates changed recently.

Hey Ethan! I totally get the confusion - those acronyms are like a foreign language when you're starting out. Everyone covered the basics well, but I wanted to add something that might explain your $95 jump specifically. Since you mentioned this is your first "real" job after college and you've only been there 3 months, there's a good chance your employer might have initially set you up with minimal withholdings during your probationary period or while you were getting your paperwork sorted. Now that you're fully onboarded, they probably switched you to the standard withholding rates based on your actual W-4 elections. Also, if you got any kind of raise or shift differential that kicked in after your probationary period, that would bump up both your gross pay AND your withholdings proportionally. Even a small hourly increase can cause a noticeable jump in total deductions. I'd suggest checking with payroll to see if anything changed in your employment status or pay rate recently. They should be able to show you exactly what changed between the two paychecks. Don't stress too much though - this kind of adjustment is super common for new employees!

Quick tip on the expense tracking part - don't overthink it when you're starting out. I wasted so much time trying different complex systems. Just get a dedicated business credit card that automatically categorizes expenses and syncs with accounting software. I use Chase Ink Business which integrates with QuickBooks. Makes expense tracking almost automatic. For an S Corp with your revenue level, you'll want a simple chart of accounts that tracks: - Office expenses - Travel & meals - Software subscriptions - Professional services - Equipment purchases - Home office (if applicable) Keep digital copies of all receipts (I use the QuickBooks app to snap photos). The IRS accepts digital receipts now.

The meal deduction rules have changed several times recently, but for 2025, business meals are generally 50% deductible if they're ordinary and necessary for your business. The key is proper documentation - you need to record the business purpose, who attended, and the business relationship. For S Corps specifically, if you're entertaining clients or having business meetings over meals, those qualify. Solo meals while traveling for business also count. Just make sure you're not trying to deduct personal meals or anything that could be seen as lavish. The temporary 100% deduction for restaurant meals that was in place during COVID has expired, so we're back to the standard 50% rule. Keep detailed records because the IRS scrutinizes meal deductions more than most other business expenses.

Just want to add something important - make sure you're tracking ALL your legitimate business expenses, not just the obvious ones. Internet costs, portion of rent/utilities if you work from home, camera equipment, lighting, subscription services related to your work, advertising costs, website fees, etc. So many content creators leave money on the table by not claiming all eligible deductions. The adult toy is definitely a legitimate business expense if used for work, but don't miss the bigger deductions that could save you much more!

Great advice from everyone here! As someone who's been through this process, I'd recommend keeping a simple spreadsheet throughout the year to track all your business expenses. For items like what you mentioned, I use descriptions like "Content Production Equipment" or "Business Props" - keeps it professional and accurate without unnecessary detail. One thing I learned the hard way is to photograph your receipts immediately and store them digitally as backup. Some of the stores in this industry don't always provide the most durable paper receipts, and you definitely want that documentation if needed later. Also consider setting up a separate business bank account if you haven't already - makes tracking expenses so much easier come tax time. The key is consistency in how you categorize similar expenses. Whatever description you choose, use it for similar items throughout the year. The IRS cares more about legitimate business purpose than specific item details.

Had the EXACT same issue. Filed 2/8, transcript showed zilch until 4/1. Then boom - everything updated at once. Got my DD 3 days later. IRS is just super behind this yr. Btw, I called the tax advocate hotline (877-777-4778) after wk 6 and they confirmed my return was "in the system" even tho transcript said otherwise. The systems don't talk to each other properly. Hang tight - prob nothing wrong w/ ur return.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed on 2/13 and my transcript still shows "no tax return filed" - it's been driving me crazy. Reading through everyone's experiences here is actually really reassuring though. I did receive an acceptance confirmation from TurboTax, so I know it made it to the IRS, but like many of you mentioned, the transcript system seems to be completely out of sync with their processing system this year. I've been checking every Friday hoping for an update but nothing yet. @Admin_Masters - thank you for mentioning the identity verification possibility! I hadn't considered that the letter might have gotten lost. I'm going to call that number you provided just to rule it out. Better to be proactive than wait another month wondering. It sounds like most people who experienced this eventually got their transcripts updated all at once, followed by their refunds pretty quickly after that. Fingers crossed we're all in that same boat! 🤞