Has anyone here actually successfully used the TAS recently? I tried back in 2023 for a different tax issue and they sent me a letter saying they were too backlogged to take new cases except in extreme hardship situations.

You're right that they've been overwhelmed in recent years, but their backlog has improved significantly in the last 6-8 months. The key is to clearly demonstrate the financial hardship the audit is causing you - be specific about any loans you've had to take, mental health impacts, inability to make financial decisions due to the uncertainty, etc. I've found that if you include supporting documentation of hardship with your Form 911, you're much more likely to be accepted. Also, calling your local TAS office directly (rather than just mailing in the form) can help get your case prioritized.

Thank you so much for this suggestion! I never would have thought of contacting my representative. Did you reach out to your House rep or Senator? And did they ask for anything specific besides the privacy form?

I hadn't even thought about checking if the amounts are correct! Where exactly would I find Box 1 and Box 5 on the form? And if something isn't right, do I just call the financial aid office?

Box 1 is near the top of the form labeled "Payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses" and Box 5 is labeled "Scholarships or grants." Compare those amounts to your actual payment records and financial aid statements. If you notice a discrepancy, yes, call your school's financial aid office or sometimes they have a dedicated bursar or student accounts office. Explain the issue and ask them to issue a corrected 1098-T. They're usually pretty good about fixing these errors since they're required by law to report accurate information to the IRS.

This is good advice! I lost access to my 1098-Ts after graduating and had to pay my old university $25 per form to get copies when I needed them later. Such a pain.

Whoa, I had no idea about this! How do I apply for the First Time Abatement? Is that something I can do online or do I need to call them?

You'll need to call the IRS and specifically request a "First Time Penalty Abatement" for your failure to pay estimated taxes. Have your notice handy when you call. The agent will check your compliance history for the past 3 years. If calling seems daunting (which it can be), you can also write a penalty abatement letter and mail it to the address on your notice. Be sure to reference the notice number, explain that this is your first time missing estimated tax payments, and specifically request a "First Time Penalty Abatement" in your letter.

Does it work if you use a different tax software to actually file your return? I use H&R Block to file but would love something that reminds me about quarterlies.

That sounds helpful! Do I need some kind of professional evaluation to do this component depreciation thing or can I figure it out myself?

For a single small rental property, you can probably DIY it with good documentation. Basically, you need to break out the costs of appliances, carpet, window treatments, etc. and depreciate them separately on a 5-7 year schedule instead of lumping them into the building's 27.5 year schedule. Professional cost segregation studies are typically used for larger properties or commercial buildings where the potential tax savings justify the cost. For your situation, just keep good records of anything you replace or upgrade, note the value, and depreciate those items on their shorter schedules. Most tax software can handle this if you set up each component separately.

This is so important! My brother didn't know this when he inherited our dad's rental property and he used the original purchase price. He missed out on thousands in depreciation deductions before his accountant caught the mistake.

This is super helpful! My program coordinator mentioned something about the practical hours counting toward credits but I didn't connect that to the tax implications. Does that mean I should include all my apprenticeship hours and not just the classroom time when figuring out if I meet half-time status?

Yes, absolutely include all hours that the college is counting toward your credits or certificate. Many apprenticeship programs are structured so that your on-the-job training hours translate to a certain number of credits in addition to your classroom time. For example, I had a client whose 4-week classroom portion only equated to 4 credits, which wouldn't meet the half-time requirement. But when we included the supervised work experience that was part of the program curriculum (which added another 4 credits), they qualified for AOC. The key is that these work hours must be formally recognized by the educational institution as part of your academic program.

Yes, online courses absolutely count toward your workload calculation for AOC purposes as long as they're part of your eligible program and offered by a qualifying educational institution. The IRS doesn't distinguish between delivery methods (online vs. in-person) when determining eligibility. What matters is the credit hours or equivalent as determined by your educational institution. For your situation with 3 weeks in-person plus 4 weeks online, you'd need to find out how many total credits/units that represents at your institution and whether it meets their half-time threshold.