I'm definitely guilty of using my personal Amazon account to buy supplies for my business. Is that a big no-no? Should I be setting up separate accounts for everything?

Using a personal Amazon account isn't ideal, but it's not a disaster if you keep meticulous records. The best practice is to use your business card/account for all business purchases to maintain clear separation. What's more important is having a dedicated business checking account and never commingling funds. Don't deposit business income into your personal account, and don't pay personal expenses directly from your business account. If you use a personal account for a business purchase, reimburse yourself properly with documentation. The goal is maintaining a clear paper trail showing your business operates as a separate entity. Small occasional crossovers with proper documentation won't necessarily void your liability protection, but consistent mixing of finances definitely could.

Good point! Also, some places have something called a "gross receipts tax" that applies to LLCs but not sole props in certain jurisdictions. I got hit with this in my city and wasn't prepared for it.

21 What's the typical price range for a CPA who knows about nonresident taxes? I'm worried it would be crazy expensive compared to software.

3 The cost typically ranges from $200-500 for a nonresident return with HSA components, depending on your location and the complexity of your overall tax situation. Some universities also have partnerships with local CPAs who offer discounted rates for international students. While it is more expensive than software, it can be worth it for peace of mind, especially if you have multiple complications like an HSA, investments, or multiple state filings. Many CPAs also offer free consultations where you can ask about their experience with nonresident returns before committing.

11 Did you have any issues with the state return using H&R Block? I heard some tax software can do federal ok for nonresidents but mess up the state part.

Thank you for this heads-up! The funds did go directly to my bank account, not to providers. Do you know what specific documentation your sister needed to provide to resolve the issue? Did she need anything from the crowdfunding platform itself?

She needed to provide a few things to resolve it. First, she printed out the crowdfunding campaign page showing it was clearly for medical purposes. She also created a spreadsheet showing all the medical bills paid with the funds, along with copies of those bills and payment receipts. She didn't need any special documentation from the platform itself, though she did include the statements showing the transfers to her account. The most important thing was demonstrating the money was both received and used for the stated medical purpose. She wrote a simple letter explaining the situation and attached all this documentation. It took about 8 weeks, but the IRS eventually closed the case without requiring any taxes to be paid.

I went through this with TurboTax last year after my son's fundraiser. There's actually no place to report gifts you RECEIVE on your tax return since they're not taxable to you. TurboTax might ask if you received gifts over the annual exclusion amount, but that's just asking if someone needs to file a gift tax return (the giver, not you). The only exception would be if you received interest on the money after depositing it - then you'd report that interest income, but not the gift itself. Just keep good records of everything in case of questions later!

But if it's a hobby and not a business, can you still deduct expenses? I thought the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated hobby expense deductions?

You're absolutely right about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminating hobby expense deductions - which is precisely why it's actually beneficial for the original poster to treat their teaching as a business activity on Schedule C rather than a hobby! When you report income on Schedule C as self-employment, you can deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses against that income. If you were to classify it as hobby income, you'd still have to report all the income but couldn't take any deductions against it at all, which would result in paying more tax.

Try FreeTaxUSA instead! I switched last year and it's much more straightforward for handling these small 1099-NEC situations. It asks for the essential info without making you feel like you need an MBA to file your taxes.

I tried that last year and it worked great! Just go to the investment income section, choose "Enter on my own" instead of import, and select the summary option. As long as your 1099-B has the summary totals clearly stated (Box 5 on most forms), this satisfies IRS requirements.

Thanks! That sounds much easier than trying to reconcile hundreds of individual transactions. My broker's 1099-B does have clear summary totals in Box 5, so I'll try this approach. Would be so much simpler than spending hours trying to figure out why specific wash sale calculations don't match.

Omg this might be exactly what's happening! I did sell some losers in late December and then bought back some positions in January when I got my bonus. So TurboTax might actually be correct and my broker's 1099-B could be missing these cross-year wash sales?

Exactly! This is a common situation that causes these exact discrepancies. The IRS wash sale rule definitely applies across tax years, but brokers can only report transactions that occurred within the calendar year on your 1099-B. So if you sold at a loss on December 28, 2024, and repurchased on January 5, 2025, that's 100% a wash sale according to IRS rules. Your broker might not flag it on your 2024 1099-B because the repurchase happens in the next reporting year. TurboTax, however, is correctly looking at your full transaction history across the year boundary and applying the wash sale rule properly. In this case, TurboTax's calculation would be the correct one to use on your tax return!