I'm a tax preparer, and this home office mileage question comes up a lot with my clients. The key distinction is whether your home office qualifies as your "principal place of business" under IRS rules. If it does (which sounds like your case), then travel from your home office to other business locations is generally deductible. However, the IRS will look at the "regular or principal place of business" for each of your income streams separately. So if one of your side hustles has a different principal location, the rules might apply differently to travel for that specific business activity. Make sure you keep a detailed mileage log with dates, starting/ending locations, business purpose, and miles driven. Also document how the library qualifies as a legitimate business location (what work you do there, why it's necessary for your business, etc.).

Just want to point out something that helped me with a similar situation - the "temporary work location" rule might apply here. According to IRS Publication 463, if you have a regular place of business (your home office) and you travel to a temporary work location (the library), those miles can be deductible. But there's a catch - if you go to the library regularly and it becomes a "regular place of business" rather than a temporary location, the rules change. The IRS doesn't have a precise definition of how frequent is too frequent, but it's something to be aware of.

Has anyone actually been audited over this kind of thing? I got a 1099-K from PayPal too for about $5,200 which was mostly just friends paying me back for concert tickets and group vacation expenses. I'm wondering how aggressive the IRS is about following up on these.

I'm dealing with a similar situation but with a twist - I received loans through Zelle and Venmo but repaid some through PayPal when those platforms weren't working. Now I have 1099-Ks from multiple platforms showing different pieces of the puzzle. From what I've learned researching this, the most important thing is creating a clear paper trail that shows the loan-to-repayment relationship across all platforms. I'm putting together a spreadsheet that matches each incoming loan (with screenshots of the original transfer descriptions like "loan" or "help with rent") to the corresponding repayment, even when they happened on different apps. For reporting, I'm planning to use the Schedule 1 approach that Melissa mentioned - reporting the total 1099-K amounts and then offsetting with a negative adjustment. I'll attach a detailed explanation and my documentation spreadsheet to show these were legitimate personal loans, not income. The cross-platform aspect definitely makes it more complex, but the fundamental principle is the same - these are loan repayments, not taxable income, regardless of which app processed them.

Here's what I think happened: The IRS calculator adds your expected tax credits AND any over-withholding adjustment together in that Step 3 number. If you've been massively overwithholding (like putting "0" on your old W-4 when you should have been claiming allowances), the calculator might be trying to correct for that all at once. But $83,800 still seems WAY too high for that. More likely, you accidentally entered some annual amount as a per-paycheck amount, or vice versa. Those simple mix-ups can cause the calculator to be off by orders of magnitude.

I had the exact same issue last year! That $83,800 number is definitely wrong and you're right to be concerned. The most common cause is mixing up annual vs per-paycheck amounts in the calculator inputs. When the IRS calculator asks about your current withholding or deductions, make sure you're entering the RIGHT time period. If it asks "how much federal tax has been withheld so far this year" and you accidentally enter your annual salary instead, it throws off the entire calculation. For one dependent child, you should typically see around $2,000 in Step 3 (the Child Tax Credit amount), not $83k. I'd recommend starting fresh with the calculator and reading each question very carefully - especially distinguishing between "per paycheck," "monthly," and "annual" amounts. Also, if your employer said you've been overwithholding significantly, that could explain why the calculator is trying to make a huge adjustment. But even then, $83k is way too extreme. Double-check your inputs and you should get a much more reasonable number.

Have you filed taxes for previous years with a similar income situation? Your past returns would give you a pretty good baseline for what to expect this year. Also, which tax software have you been using for these estimates? Some are definitely more accurate than others.

Based on your situation, here's what you need to know: The EIC is calculated using your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), which is your gross income AFTER pre-tax deductions like 401k and HSA contributions. So if you're contributing $10k total to retirement/HSA, your AGI for EIC purposes would be around $52k, not $62k. With 3 qualifying children and an AGI of $52k, you should qualify for a substantial EIC - likely around $3,000-4,000. Add that to the Child Tax Credit ($6,000 for 3 kids), your wife's education credit ($2,500), and any withheld taxes you'll get back, and a total refund in the $9,000 range isn't unrealistic. The huge variation in calculator results is probably because some are factoring in your pre-tax deductions while others aren't. Make sure any calculator you use asks about 401k/HSA contributions to get an accurate estimate. The IRS has their own EIC calculator on their website that's pretty reliable if you want an official estimate.

I use Drake too and went with TheTaxBook last year. Found a good deal by buying during their summer sale. But honestly, I think the bigger question is whether you really need a physical book at all anymore? Drake has pretty decent built-in help, and I find myself using the IRS publications online more and more.

I've been using Drake for about 3 years now and went through this same decision last season. Ended up going with TheTaxBook after trying both, and I'm really glad I made the switch. The way TheTaxBook organizes information just flows better with how Drake presents forms and schedules. For discounts, I'd definitely recommend checking out professional associations like others mentioned, but also try reaching out to local tax preparer groups in your area. Our local AICPA chapter does a group buy every year that saves us about 25% off retail. You might also want to call TheTaxBook directly - I found their customer service much more helpful than CCH when I had questions about which edition would work best for my practice. One tip: if you do go with TheTaxBook, get the spiral-bound version if you're getting print. It lays flat much better when you're working at your computer with Drake open. Makes a big difference during busy season when you're constantly referencing it!