Has anyone dealt with a situation where the deceased owner hadn't been taking depreciation properly before death? My uncle passed and left me his rental property, but I discovered he hadn't claimed depreciation for 3 years even though he should have. Does the step-up basis just make all that irrelevant now?

Great question about the depreciation situation! I went through something very similar when my grandmother passed and left me her duplex. She had also missed claiming depreciation for several years before her death. The good news is that @Libby Hassan and @Eva St. Cyr are absolutely right - the step-up in basis at death essentially gives you a clean slate. All the missed depreciation from before becomes irrelevant because you're starting with a fresh basis equal to the fair market value at the date of death. One thing I'd add is that you might want to consider filing an amended return for your uncle's estate if the missed depreciation deductions were significant. While it doesn't affect your stepped-up basis, it could result in refunds for the estate that the beneficiaries would receive. My CPA helped us recover about $4,200 in missed deductions from my grandmother's final three years. Also, make sure to start your depreciation schedule immediately once you inherit - don't repeat your uncle's mistake! The IRS expects you to claim depreciation whether you actually take it or not, so there's no benefit to skipping it.

Ugh I'm literally in the EXACT same situation! PATH Act filer with cycle code 20250704 and my account transcript is completely blank too. I've been refreshing WMR like every hour and it's still just sitting on "received and processing" 😤 This is my second year filing with EITC so I should know better but I'm still stressing about it. Reading everyone's comments here is honestly so reassuring though - sounds like we're all just stuck in the same waiting game until mid-February. The blank transcript thing had me worried something was wrong but apparently that's totally normal for us PATH filers. Still doesn't make the waiting any less painful though! 😭

I'm in the exact same boat! PATH Act filer with cycle code 20250704 and my account transcript is completely blank too. This is actually my third year filing with EITC/ACTC and I remember freaking out about this same thing my first year. The blank transcript with just a cycle code is totally normal for PATH filers in early February - it basically means your return processed but they're holding everything until mid-Feb per the PATH Act requirements. Your cycle code shows processing happened on 2/4/25 which is actually pretty good timing! The account transcript won't populate with the 846 refund code until they're ready to actually release the funds. I know the waiting is absolutely brutal when you need that money, but you're definitely not alone in this. We're all just stuck in limbo until the IRS lifts the hold period. Hang in there! 💪

Based on all the helpful responses here, it sounds like your broker is correct and you just missed the mark by one day. The "more than one year" rule is really strict - it has to be the day after the anniversary of your purchase date. For future reference, I've found it helpful to set calendar reminders a few days before the one-year mark so I don't accidentally sell too early. Even though it seems like 365 days should be enough, that extra day makes all the difference for tax purposes. Since your broker already reported it as short-term on the 1099, you'll need to report it that way on your return to avoid any IRS matching issues. It's frustrating when you're off by just one day, but at least now you know the exact rule for next time!

This is such a common mistake that catches so many investors off guard! I learned this the hard way a few years ago with some Apple stock I thought I'd held long enough. One thing that might help going forward is to think of it as needing to hold until the day AFTER the anniversary of your purchase date. So if you buy on November 15th, you need to hold until at least November 16th of the following year to qualify for long-term treatment. The tax difference can be significant too - short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income (potentially up to 37% for high earners), while long-term rates max out at 20% for most assets. That one extra day of holding could have saved you quite a bit depending on your tax bracket. Unfortunately, since your broker has already issued the 1099 reporting it as short-term, you'll need to report it that way on your return. But definitely keep this rule in mind for future trades!

As someone who's completely new to this community and facing my first social casino tax situation, I want to express my gratitude for this incredibly thorough and educational discussion! I'm dealing with about $6,800 in social casino winnings from last year but spent roughly $4,200 on coin purchases across four different platforms. Before finding this thread, I was getting conflicting advice everywhere and had no idea whether this was gambling income, prize income, or something else entirely. This discussion has been absolutely transformative in helping me understand the key issues: **The reporting distinction** - Understanding that social casino winnings should be reported as "Other Income" rather than gambling income makes perfect sense given how these platforms operate to avoid gambling regulations. **Documentation urgency** - Reading about platforms purging transaction data has me taking screenshots immediately. I just checked and one of my platforms only keeps history for 4 months - I nearly lost crucial records! **Contest entry methodology** - The approach described by several members for documenting purchases tied to specific promotional contests versus general entertainment is brilliant. I'm currently doing "email archaeology" to identify when major cash prize contests were running. **Professional consultation threshold** - Based on @Abigail Spencer's guidance about the $5,000 threshold and @ShadowHunter's real-world results (55% contest entry allocation, $2,860 in documented deductions), professional consultation seems clearly justified for my situation. **State tax complexity** - I hadn't even considered that states might handle this differently than federal treatment until reading this discussion. What's most impressive is how this community has created a comprehensive resource for an area where official IRS guidance is still evolving. The practical insights shared here - from immediate documentation strategies to professional consultation criteria - provide a roadmap that simply doesn't exist elsewhere. Thank you all for sharing your real experiences and expertise. This thread has transformed what felt like an impossible tax puzzle into a manageable situation with clear, actionable steps!

As a newcomer to this community, I want to thank everyone for creating such an incredibly comprehensive resource on social casino taxation! I've been dealing with a similar situation and was completely lost until I found this discussion. I won about $7,200 from social casinos last year but spent approximately $4,800 on coin purchases across three different platforms. Like many others here, I was getting conflicting advice about whether to report this as gambling income or something else entirely. This thread has been absolutely invaluable in clarifying several critical points: **Proper reporting classification** - Understanding that social casino winnings should be reported as "Other Income" on Schedule 1 rather than gambling income makes perfect sense given how these platforms are structured to avoid gambling regulations. **Immediate documentation action** - The warnings about platforms purging transaction data really hit home. I just discovered that two of my platforms only keep records for 90 days! I'm taking screenshots of everything right now before I lose any more crucial documentation. **Contest entry vs entertainment distinction** - This concept was completely new to me but the methodology described by @ShadowHunter and others for identifying purchases tied to specific promotional contests is brilliant. I'm currently going through my email history to correlate purchase timing with major cash prize promotions. **Professional consultation value** - Given that my amounts exceed the $5,000 threshold mentioned by @Abigail Spencer, and seeing the real results others have achieved (like @ShadowHunter's 55% contest entry allocation), professional consultation seems clearly justified. What amazes me most is how this community has filled a gap where official IRS guidance is still evolving. The practical insights shared here - from documentation strategies to state tax considerations - create a roadmap that simply doesn't exist elsewhere. Thank you all for sharing your real experiences and expertise!

Has anyone actually compared the ACTUAL TAX FORMS between the two software? Not just the summaries, but download the actual Form 1040 and all schedules from both and compare them line by line? That's the only way to really see where the difference is coming from. I had a similar issue last year and it turned out one software was putting a business expense on the wrong line, which cascaded into a huge difference in the final calculation.

For the self-employed health insurance premium deduction, you need to make sure you meet all the qualification requirements. The deduction goes on Schedule 1, Line 17, but there are several conditions: 1. You must have net self-employment income from the business under which the health insurance plan is established 2. You can't be eligible for coverage under your spouse's employer health plan (if married) 3. You can't be eligible for coverage under any employer health plan for the months you're claiming the deduction 4. The deduction can't exceed your net profit from self-employment The most common mistake I see is people trying to deduct more in premiums than they actually earned from self-employment. If your SE income was $23k, your health insurance premium deduction is capped at that amount. Check both software to see how they're handling these limitations. TurboTax might be correctly applying the full deduction while FreeTaxUSA might be incorrectly limiting it, or vice versa. You'll need to manually verify which calculation follows the IRS rules properly.