I'm sure we don't qualify for FMLA - we're truly a small independent business with just 12 employees total. I did check into my state's laws and unfortunately we're in a state with minimal protections beyond the federal requirements. I'm going to look into the temporary disability option that a few people mentioned. I had no idea that might be available to me! And I'm definitely not going to file for unemployment fraudulently. After reading everyone's comments, I can see that's a terrible idea that could come back to haunt both me and my employer.

This is so true. My sister works for our state's unemployment department and they absolutely compare birth records with unemployment claims. They also check social media sometimes. Someone at her office caught a claimant posting about their new baby on Facebook during the exact period they claimed to be "laid off" and actively seeking work.

Wait, student loans count as support provided by the student?? I had no idea. What about if the parent is a cosigner on the loan? And do parent PLUS loans count as support from the parent?

Student loans are indeed considered support provided by the student even if a parent cosigns, because the student is ultimately responsible for repaying the loan. This is a common misunderstanding that causes problems during audits. For Parent PLUS loans, those DO count as support provided by the parent because the parent is legally responsible for repaying them, not the student. This distinction is important when calculating the total support. Another thing people often miss is that qualified tuition paid directly by the parent to the educational institution always counts as support from the parent.

Yes, you should include the full tuition amount in the total support calculation. The scholarship portion counts as support provided by a third party (not by either you or your son). So when determining if you provided more than 50% of support, the formula would be: (Amount you paid) ÷ (Total support including full tuition) > 50% The "total support" denominator includes everything: full tuition (including scholarship portion), housing, food, medical, etc. from ALL sources.

Wait what? 100% of meals can be deducted? I thought that was only for actual businesses, not independent contractors? And what counts as "far from usual work area"? Like is that a specific mile range?

Independent contractors ARE businesses - that's the whole point of being a contractor instead of an employee. As long as your wife files a Schedule C, she's operating a business and qualifies for these deductions. For the "far from usual work area" definition, there's no specific mile requirement in the tax code, but the general rule is that it needs to be far enough that it wouldn't be reasonable to return home for meals. Most tax professionals consider anything requiring an overnight stay or sites more than 50 miles from your home base to clearly qualify, but even shorter distances can work if there's a business necessity to remain on-site.

I'm not a tax pro but I've been a contractor for 6 years. The drive from home to first job site and last job site to home are considered personal commuting miles and NOT deductible. Only the miles between job sites during the day count as business miles. EXCEPTION: If you have a qualifying home office that serves as your principal place of business, then drives from home to job sites CAN be deductible business miles.

Do you need to maintain the physical receipts for tax purposes or are the digital scans enough if you get audited? I'm trying to go completely paperless but worried about IRS requirements.

The IRS actually accepts digital receipts as long as they're legible and contain all the required information (date, amount, vendor, etc.). The key requirement is that digital records must be as accurate as paper ones and accessible throughout the period of limitations for assessment. For most situations, scanned receipts are perfectly fine for audit purposes. I still keep physical receipts for major purchases or anything unusual that might raise audit flags, but for day-to-day business expenses, my digital system has been sufficient. I had a small business tax review a couple years ago and my digital documentation was completely accepted without issues.

I tried the NeatReceipts scanner last year and honestly it was pretty disappointing. The software was clunky and it misread a lot of receipts. I had better luck with a regular document scanner app on my phone plus a simple spreadsheet to track categories. Way cheaper too!

The whole system seems designed to confuse us. I've been holding some coins for years - do I seriously need to go back and figure out what I paid for them if I sell now?

Not a dumb question at all! Trading one crypto for another (like BTC for ETH) is absolutely a taxable event, even if you never converted to USD. The IRS treats it as if you sold the BTC for USD at market value, and then used that USD to buy the ETH. You have to calculate and report the gain/loss on that BTC based on what you originally paid for it versus its value at the time you traded it. This is one of the most overlooked aspects of crypto taxes that catches people by surprise!