Good point! I made this exact mistake. Tracked hundreds of volunteer miles and then my tax software showed it made zero difference to my return because I was taking the standard deduction anyway. Wish someone had told me sooner!

That's unfortunately very common! Many people don't realize that charitable deductions (including mileage) only benefit you tax-wise if you itemize. With the higher standard deduction after tax reform, fewer people benefit from itemizing unless they have substantial mortgage interest, state taxes, or other major deductions. For those who are close to the threshold where itemizing makes sense, tracking charitable mileage could potentially push you over that line. But if you're not near that threshold, it won't impact your tax return.

I haven't been audited specifically for that, but my accountant told me charitable mileage is rarely the trigger for an audit by itself. The key is having good documentation - a log with dates, starting/ending mileage, and the charitable purpose. Most audit flags come from unusual patterns or large deductions relative to income, not from reasonable volunteer expenses.

This happened to my sister too! The dealership claimed it was an "accounting error" but had been collecting both payments for 4 months before she caught it. She had to threaten legal action to get refunded.

Does this apply if you're not fully self-employed? I use my car about 30% for a side gig but have a regular W-2 job too.

Yes, it absolutely applies even if you're not fully self-employed! The business use of your vehicle for your side gig would be reported on Schedule C along with your other business expenses and income. You'd only deduct the percentage used for business - so in your case, you'd track all your mileage and then deduct 30% of it at the standard rate. Make sure you keep detailed records showing the date, starting point, destination, purpose, and mileage for each business trip. The IRS is particularly strict about vehicle deductions, so good documentation is essential. There are several good apps like MileIQ or Everlance that can help you track this automatically.

Wait how do you know if your brokerage is investing in municipal securities? Is there somewhere specific to look on the forms?

Look at Box 12 on your 1099-DIV specifically - that's where exempt-interest dividends are reported. If there's an amount there, that portion is generally not subject to federal income tax. You can also check the names of your money market funds in your account - those with "Municipal," "Tax-Exempt," or "Tax-Free" in the name are likely investing in municipal securities. Your brokerage's year-end statement often breaks this down in more detail than just the tax forms.

I'd be careful with that. Brokerage sweep accounts often have lower rates than dedicated HYSAs. Check the fine print - my Fidelity sweep account was only paying 1.2% while my HYSA was at 3.7%. The convenience isn't worth the lost interest.

Thanks for the heads up! I just double-checked and you're right - my brokerage's default sweep account is significantly lower than advertised. Apparently I need to specifically choose their "higher yield" cash option to get the competitive rate. The marketing was a bit misleading there.

We're actually not in a disaster area, this was just a regular plumbing leak that went undetected for a while. Insurance did cover about $2,000 of it, but we had a high deductible and they wouldn't cover the countertop replacement since they said it was an "upgrade" from what we had before. I'll definitely keep all receipts though!

That's important information about the insurance - you can only deduct expenses you actually paid out of pocket, not what insurance reimbursed. So you'd need to subtract that $2,000 from any potential deduction. Since you're not in a declared disaster area, casualty loss probably won't work. Your best bet might be documenting how the mold affected your office space specifically and trying for a partial business deduction. But honestly, for this amount and situation, getting professional advice (either through an IRS agent or tax professional) would be worth the investment to avoid potential audit headaches.

Good point! From what OP described, this sounds more like a capital improvement than a repair, especially the new countertops. Repairs restore something to its previous condition, while improvements add value or extend useful life.

This happened to me too! The preliminary statement didn't properly account for a merger that happened with one of my stocks. The final statement corrected the cost basis and changed my gain from $5,700 to $2,100. Huge difference.

Wow that's a massive difference! Makes me feel better about waiting for the final docs. Did you end up having to file an extension or did the final statement arrive in time?

Yes, his accountant uses professional software (I think ProSeries but I'm not 100% sure). That's a good idea - maybe we can at least get the process started. Dad's really worried about getting bumped from the appointment since his guy gets super busy this time of year.

That's perfect then. Just make sure the accountant knows upfront that you only have preliminary documents so they don't accidentally file before the finals arrive. They'll probably put some kind of flag or hold on the return in their system. The best part is that with most tax software, they can give your dad a pretty good estimate of his tax situation based on what they enter now, and then it only takes a few minutes to update once the final documents arrive. Much better than trying to reschedule during peak season!