Wow, that's super helpful! My program requires us to buy specific software that costs like $600 per year and it's not included in the tuition. Does that count too? And do I need to get some kind of proof from my school that it's required?

Yes, required software for your program absolutely counts as a qualified education expense! Since it's required for your coursework, that $600 can be added to your total qualified expenses on Form 8863. For documentation, keep the receipt for the software purchase and ideally something showing it was required - like the course syllabus, program requirements list, or an email from your professor. The IRS doesn't require you to submit this documentation with your return, but you should keep it in case you're ever audited. Having the syllabus or program requirements that specifically mentions the software is the best proof.

This is a good point! But doesn't the school usually require payment before the semester starts? My university always wants payment in December for spring classes.

What exactly counts as "significant revenue drops"? Our ERC provider said we qualified because we had a 17% drop in one quarter of 2020 compared to 2019. Is that enough or did we get bad advice?

For 2020, businesses needed to show at least a 50% reduction in quarterly gross receipts compared to the same quarter in 2019 to qualify under the revenue decline test. For 2021, that threshold was lowered to a 20% reduction. If you were told you qualified with only a 17% reduction in 2020, that's definitely incorrect for the revenue decline test. You may still have qualified under the suspension of operations test if government orders significantly limited your business, but the revenue test would not apply at 17% for 2020. This is exactly the kind of misrepresentation the IRS is currently targeting.

Unfortunately this is becoming common. Several of these ERC mills have vanished overnight as scrutiny increases. You might want to file a complaint with the FTC and your state attorney general's office. If they've truly disappeared, you could be dealing with a complete scam rather than just aggressive tax advice.

That's amazing! Did you do anything special to make it go through faster? Or just straightforward electronic filing?

Nothing special at all - just made sure everything was accurate and double-checked all my numbers before submitting. I used the same tax software as last year and filed as soon as I had all my documents. I think the difference might be that I filed very early this year before the big rush, and my return was very simple with just one W-2 and standard deduction. No credits, no deductions, nothing that would trigger additional review.

I have a Schedule C too and got my refund in 14 days. Did you claim any home office or vehicle deductions? I've heard those can trigger additional review sometimes.

Check your return status on the IRS website. My Schedule C return was held up because I made a simple math error on one of my expense categories. They don't always notify you about these issues.

I had the exact same experience with eBay! Got a 1099-K for 2021 with around $7k in sales but nothing for 2022 with about $8k. I asked their support chat and they just sent me a link to a help article that didn't actually answer the question. Did you figure out what to do? I'm just reporting all income anyway but worried about inconsistencies triggering an audit.

I never got a satisfactory answer from Etsy, but I did some research and found that some states like Massachusetts, Vermont, and a few others had already implemented lower thresholds ($600) before the federal change was proposed. My guess is that either you or I moved states between 2021 and 2022, or the platforms changed how they determine which state's rules apply. I'm doing the same thing - reporting all income regardless of whether I got a form. My accountant confirmed that's the right approach and said inconsistencies in receiving forms shouldn't trigger an audit as long as you're properly reporting all your income.

That's correct. For 2022 tax filing (what you're filing now in 2023), the threshold remained at $20k AND 200 transactions for federal purposes. Some states have lower thresholds, which is why some people might receive a 1099-K even if they don't meet the federal threshold. For 2023 tax year (what you'll file in 2024), the threshold was originally supposed to drop to $600 with no transaction minimum. However, the IRS has actually announced ANOTHER delay for this implementation. So for 2023, the threshold will remain at $20k AND 200 transactions at the federal level. The $600 threshold is now scheduled to take effect for tax year 2024 (filing in 2025), but there's always the possibility of additional delays. Some tax software may not have been updated with the most recent delay announcement.

12 That's interesting! What country are you from? I'm wondering if this would apply to me too.

23 I'm from India, which has a comprehensive tax treaty with the US. Many countries have specific provisions for students and researchers in their tax treaties. The treaty provisions can sometimes override the general tax rules and provide more favorable treatment. You should definitely check if your country has a tax treaty with the US. If it does, read the specific articles that deal with students, teachers, and researchers. Form 8833 is used to disclose when you're taking a position on your tax return that's based on a tax treaty rather than regular tax law.

10 That's not completely accurate. For F-1 students, the exemption is for 5 calendar years, so days in the US don't count toward the substantial presence test for the first 5 calendar years. After that, F-1 days DO count. But for J-1 visa holders, it's only 2 years.