I think there's a simpler way to look at this. For the bedroom rental period, you had personal use of 2/3 of the house and rental use of 1/3. For expenses that benefit the entire house (like repairs to common areas), you'd deduct 1/3 as rental expenses. For the period when the entire house was rented, 100% of expenses would be rental expenses. Don't overcomplicate by doing daily calculations unless it's a shared expense that spans both periods, like annual property taxes or insurance.

Don't forget to also track your "days of personal use" vs "days of rental use" on Schedule E! This is different from the allocation of expenses. The IRS wants to know the actual days the property was rented at fair market value, days it was available for rent but not rented, and days of personal use. In your case, for the bedroom rental period, you'd report 181 days of rental use for that portion. Then for the whole house rental, you'd report 170 days of rental use. It gets complicated with partial use properties but it's important to get right because it affects whether your rental is considered a business or a hobby.

Make sure you check if your school has any tax assistance programs! Many universities have free tax clinics run by accounting students (supervised by faculty) that specialize in helping fellow students with exactly these kinds of problems. I was in a similar situation last year and discovered our business school had a VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program that helped me identify additional qualified expenses and properly document everything. They even helped me file an amended return and set up a payment plan with the IRS. Also, don't forget to check if you qualify for any education tax credits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit. These can offset some of the tax liability from your taxable scholarship income.

Has anyone dealt with this by asking the financial aid office to restructure their aid for the following year? After getting hit with a surprise tax bill my sophomore year, I went to my financial aid office and explained the situation. They were able to adjust how my aid was classified for the next two years - shifting more of it to be explicitly for qualified expenses and less as general living stipends. This didn't help with the tax bill I already had, but it prevented the problem from getting worse in future years.

If you're just starting to learn taxes, focus on understanding your tax bracket and the difference between deductions and credits. Deductions reduce your taxable income, while credits directly reduce your tax bill dollar-for-dollar. Credits are way more valuable! Also, save everything! I keep a folder for receipts and tax documents throughout the year. Even stuff you think might not matter could be deductible depending on your situation. And definitely use tax software the first few years - it'll walk you through everything step by step.

Honestly the best way to learn is by doing. Reading about taxes is helpful but actually filling out forms is when it really clicks. I'd recommend downloading the free fillable PDF forms from the IRS website and practice filling them out before you submit anything. Form 1040 is the main form everyone uses, and you'll learn a lot just by seeing how the different schedules connect to it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes in your practice runs - that's how you learn what questions to ask!

Have you considered using a tax software specifically designed for multi-state returns? I use ProSeries and while it's more expensive than TurboTax, it handles the state allocation process much better. It automatically generates all the required state returns based on your K1 income allocation, and you can choose which ones to e-file or print for mailing. The downside is it has a steeper learning curve than TurboTax, but if you're comfortable with tax concepts it might save you money compared to a CPA. I think they charge around $40-50 per state return, which is still cheaper than professional preparation.

Just make sure you're tracking your basis in the partnership correctly. This is something many new partners overlook. Your initial capital contribution establishes your starting basis, and then it increases with your share of partnership income and decreases with distributions and losses. If you get this wrong, you could end up with major tax headaches down the road, especially if you ever sell your partnership interest or if the partnership liquidates.

Something no one mentioned - if you don't report the 1099-B, even with a small amount, you might get a CP2000 notice from the IRS later saying you underreported income. Happened to my brother. The IRS computers automatically match what brokers report against what's on your return. Much easier to just report it now than deal with that headache later!

You could just check the box on Schedule B that says you had capital gains but they were already reported on a 1099-B with basis reported to the IRS. That's what I did for years when I had small trading amounts and never had problems.