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7 One thing nobody has mentioned yet is that Section 179 also has business income limitations. You can't claim more in Section 179 deductions than you have in business income for the year. So if your business only made $40,000 in net income this year, you couldn't take the full $60,000 truck deduction under Section 179 (though you could carry forward the excess to future years). Also, make sure you actually need the vehicle for business. Buying an expensive truck just for the tax deduction is never a good idea since you're still spending more than you're saving.
11 Wait, so if my business is just starting out and hasn't made much profit yet, Section 179 might not help me much? What about bonus depreciation as an alternative?
7 That's exactly right. If your business is just starting and hasn't generated much profit, the immediate benefit of Section 179 would be limited to your business income amount. Bonus depreciation is a great alternative to consider in that situation! Unlike Section 179, 100% bonus depreciation doesn't have the business income limitation. For 2023, you can still take 80% bonus depreciation (this percentage is decreasing each year), and it applies after any Section 179 deduction you take. So you could potentially use a combination of Section 179 up to your business income amount, then apply bonus depreciation to the remainder. Just keep in mind that for both Section 179 and bonus depreciation, the business use percentage matters. If you only use the vehicle 60% for business, you can only deduct 60% of the cost using these accelerated methods.
4 Has anyone considered leasing instead of buying? For my concrete business, I found that leasing heavy equipment and writing off the full lease payment each year was actually more advantageous than Section 179 for purchasing.
20 Leasing might be better for some businesses but doesn't work for me. I put a lot of miles on my vehicles and most leases have mileage limits. Plus at the end of the lease you've got nothing to show for all those payments.
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Former TurboTax employee here. This was a known issue with the 2018 version. The easiest workaround is to claim the affordability exemption (Code G) instead of the hardship exemption if your income was low enough that insurance would have cost more than 8.05% of your household income for 2018. If you navigate to the Health Insurance section, select "Claim exemptions" and then choose "Coverage was unaffordable" instead of "Hardship," you'll be able to proceed without an ECN. Based on your self-employment income of around $8,100, you should qualify for this exemption anyway.
That's super helpful! Would I need to calculate that 8.05% threshold manually first to make sure I qualify? My total income was only around $8,100 for the year as you mentioned.
With an income of $8,100, you would definitely qualify for the affordability exemption. The calculation is pretty straightforward - 8.05% of $8,100 is about $652. If the annual premium for the lowest-cost plan in your area minus any premium tax credits you'd be eligible for exceeds $652, then coverage would be considered unaffordable. Given your income level, the lowest-cost Bronze plan in almost any region would have cost more than $652 annually after tax credits, so you should easily qualify. TurboTax should actually perform this calculation for you once you select the affordability exemption path and enter your income details.
Has anyone else noticed that TurboTax seems to have more and more issues with each passing year? I had a similar problem with claiming education credits in 2018.
I switched to FreeTaxUSA after years of TurboTax frustration. FreeTaxUSA handled my 2018 hardship exemption correctly right out of the gate. Federal filing is free and state is only $15. Way better than paying $60+ for TurboTax that can't even keep up with tax law changes.
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5 One thing nobody mentioned yet - make sure your wife keeps really good records of all business expenses and income! My husband started a side business last year and our tax filing got delayed because we had to go back and organize all his expenses and receipts at the last minute. Also, don't forget about estimated quarterly tax payments. Since taxes aren't automatically withheld from business income like they are from a regular paycheck, you might need to make quarterly payments to avoid a penalty when you file.
10 What's the threshold for when you need to start making those quarterly payments? My wife's photography business is just getting started and probably won't make much profit the first year.
5 Generally, you need to make estimated tax payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more in taxes when you file your return. For a new business, it can be tricky to estimate, but it's based on the profit (income minus expenses), not just the total income. Since your wife is just starting out, you might not need to worry about this the first year if she's investing in equipment and has more startup expenses than income. But it's definitely something to keep in mind as the business grows. The IRS website has a worksheet to help figure out if you need to make these payments.
22 Quick tip from someone who's been filing taxes with my husband's small business for years - you might want to open a separate bank account and credit card just for the business. Makes tracking expenses SO much easier at tax time. Also look into what business deductions you can take - my husband's photography business was able to deduct equipment, a portion of our home for his office space, mileage to photoshoots, etc. Those deductions really added up on our joint return!
16 Do you need a business license before you can start deducting business expenses? My wife has been taking photography jobs but hasn't formally registered anything yet.
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Just wanted to throw in my two cents as someone who's been in this exact situation. My now-husband and I lived together for 4 years before getting married, and he supported me and my twins financially. We found that the most important thing was making sure we didn't BOTH claim the kids. The IRS will definitely flag that and both returns will get held up. What worked best for us was: 1. I signed Form 8332 releasing my claim 2. He claimed the kids and got the tax benefits 3. I still filed as Head of Household (you can do this if you provide over half the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and a qualifying person) The year we did this, our combined tax benefit was about $3,200 better than when I had claimed them the previous year. Just make sure you're keeping records of who pays for what in case you ever get questions from the IRS.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Quick question - how did you still qualify for Head of Household if you signed the Form 8332 releasing your claim to the kids?
I was able to file as Head of Household because the form 8332 only releases the dependency exemption - it doesn't change the fact that the children lived with me for more than half the year. The IRS allows you to use a qualifying child for Head of Household status even if you can't claim them as a dependent because you released the claim. It gets a bit complicated, but basically the requirements for Head of Household and the requirements for claiming a dependent aren't exactly the same. This is definitely something worth confirming with a tax professional for your specific situation, but it worked for us and saved a lot on our combined taxes.
One thing no one's mentioned yet - if you guys are getting married next summer, would it be before or after December 31st? Because your tax filing status is determined by your marital status on the last day of the tax year. If you're getting married before the end of 2025, then you'd be filing as married for that whole year anyway, and this becomes a non-issue since you'd likely file jointly and claim the child together.
Good point! And to add to this - if they're getting married in 2025 but AFTER December 31st, then for 2025 taxes (filed in 2026) they'd still be considered unmarried for tax purposes. Also worth noting that sometimes it's actually better tax-wise NOT to file jointly even when married - it's called the "marriage penalty" and can happen when both people have similar high incomes. Might be worth calculating both ways once they are married.
Leslie Parker
One thing to consider - even though you probably won't owe capital gains tax, you may still have to FILE a tax return to properly document the home sale. The IRS likes to see that paperwork even if no tax is due. You'll need to report the sale on Form 8949 and Schedule D. Make sure you have good records of: - Original purchase price - Substantial improvements you made (can increase your basis) - Selling costs like realtor fees (these reduce your gain
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Sergio Neal
•What if the sale price is less than the $250k exclusion amount? Do you still need to file all those forms?
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Leslie Parker
•Yes, you still need to file and report the sale even if the gain is well under the exclusion amount. The IRS requires you to report the transaction on Form 8949 and Schedule D regardless of whether you'll ultimately owe any tax on it. This is important because it creates a record of you using the exclusion, and documents that you properly handled the transaction. If you don't report it, the IRS might send you a notice later asking about the sale since they receive information about real estate transactions.
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Savanna Franklin
Does anyone know if selling now with no income might actually be BETTER than waiting until you have a job? I'm wondering if the lower income bracket could help somehow, even with the exclusion.
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Juan Moreno
•If your gain is under the $250k exclusion, your income level doesn't matter at all - you won't pay tax either way. But if your gain is OVER $250k, then yes, selling during a low-income year could be strategic since any amount above $250k would be taxed at lower capital gains rates.
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