Wait, could I still qualify for stimulus money from 2021? I thought those were all sent out automatically. I definitely never received anything back then.

Yes, you might still be able to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 return if you didn't receive the stimulus payments and were eligible! The third stimulus payment (Economic Impact Payment) of up to $1,400 was issued in 2021, and many people who were eligible didn't receive it for various reasons. If you file your 2021 return now, you can claim this as the Recovery Rebate Credit. There's a worksheet in the 2021 Form 1040 instructions to help you determine if you qualify and how much you can claim. This is exactly why filing a return even with zero income can be beneficial - you might have money waiting for you!

Also remember to sign and date the return! IRS will reject unsigned returns and that just delays everything further. Ask me how I know 😩

H&R Block's truly free version doesn't support Schedule C or self-employment income. You'd need their Self-Employed version which runs about $85 for federal filing plus another $37 per state. I switched from them to FreeTaxUSA last year and saved a ton of money. H&R Block isn't terrible, but they're almost as expensive as TurboTax for self-employment stuff.

Thanks for the info! That's disappointing but good to know before I waste time starting with them. Seems like FreeTaxUSA is the winner for most people in this thread.

I've thought about going the direct form route, but I'm a bit intimidated by figuring out depreciation schedules on my own. Did you find good resources for learning how to do that part correctly? I'm comfortable with the general Schedule C stuff but some of the more technical aspects make me nervous about doing it without software guidance.

I found Publication 946 from the IRS really helpful - it explains all the depreciation rules. There are also some free online depreciation calculators that can help you determine the right amounts. I created a spreadsheet that I update each year for tracking my business assets and depreciation. The first year was definitely the hardest, but now I just update my spreadsheet annually. I actually feel more confident now because I understand exactly what's happening rather than trusting software to make the right choices for me. If you're comfortable with spreadsheets, it's totally doable with a bit of research.

Thanks for the suggestion, but isn't the 83(b) election only available for restricted stock, not RSUs? From what I've read, it doesn't apply to standard RSUs because there's no actual ownership until vesting. But I'd love to be wrong about this if it could help with future grants!

You're absolutely right, and I apologize for the confusion. The 83(b) election typically doesn't apply to standard RSUs because, as you correctly noted, there's no actual ownership until vesting. It's more applicable for restricted stock awards (RSAs) where you have immediate ownership with restrictions. For standard RSUs, tax planning is more about timing your sales after vesting to manage capital gains. Some companies offer programs where they automatically sell enough shares at vesting to cover tax obligations, which might be worth looking into for future grants.

I had the opposite experience! TurboTax Premier handled my RSUs perfectly but H&R Block kept giving me errors. Maybe it depends on the specific company's reporting format?

Thanks for mentioning the non-refundable aspect - that's really important! My AGI is around $65k so sounds like I'm okay on the income limits. Do you happen to know if I can claim this credit if I already used some tuition reimbursement from my employer? My company covered about $500 of the $1,800 course.

You're definitely under the income limits at $65k, so no problem there! For the employer reimbursement, you can only claim the Lifetime Learning credit on expenses you actually paid yourself, not expenses reimbursed by your employer. So in your case, you could only claim the credit on $1,300 of your tuition ($1,800 minus the $500 your employer paid). Make sure you reduce your qualified expenses by the amount of tax-free educational assistance you received.

Good point! Not all states offer education credits though. I'm in Florida and we don't have state income tax at all. Does anyone know which states specifically offer education credits similar to the Lifetime Learning credit?

Would this approach work in TurboTax too? I'm having almost the identical issue but with TT and a car my grandpa gave me that I donated to a local charity.

Yes, the approach works in TurboTax too. The key is the sequence of entering information. TurboTax tends to make assumptions if you immediately identify something as a gift. Enter the donation details first, then go back to modify the acquisition information. For TurboTax specifically, after entering the 1098-C information, look for the "Asset Information" section where you can edit the basis details. Enter what your grandfather originally paid for the car (estimate if needed) and when he purchased it originally. This establishes a proper basis instead of the $0 that TurboTax might default to.

That's not quite right. The basis absolutely matters with donated property, even vehicles. The deduction is limited to the LESSER of your basis or the gross proceeds reported on the 1098-C. So if your basis is $0 (which can happen with fully depreciated gifted property), your deduction would also be $0, even if the charity sold it for more.

I stand corrected! You're right about the "lesser of" rule. I checked Publication 526 and it does specify that for vehicle donations, your deduction is limited to the smaller of your basis or the gross proceeds from the charity's sale. This explains why the software is asking about the gift - it's trying to determine the basis. If the original owner had already fully depreciated the car (common for older vehicles), then the basis might indeed be $0, which would limit the deduction to $0 regardless of sale proceeds.