Also check your closing documents if you bought the house recently! When I purchased last year, I had to reimburse the seller for prepaid property taxes at closing, and that amount was also deductible but didn't show up on my 1098 at all. TurboTax has a separate section for property taxes paid outside of your mortgage escrow. Don't miss this if you had any special situations like buying a new home, paying taxes directly, or making additional tax payments.

Great to see you figured it out! For future reference, if anyone else runs into this issue, there's one more thing to watch out for - make sure you're not double-counting property taxes if you made any direct payments to your county during the year. I learned this the hard way when I got an IRS notice. My escrow account was short one year, so I had to pay part of my property tax bill directly to the county. I mistakenly entered both the escrow amount AND the direct payment in TurboTax, which inflated my deductions. The key is to add up ALL property tax payments made during the calendar year - whether through escrow, direct payments, or even amounts paid at closing when you bought the house. Just make sure you're not counting the same payment twice from different sources!

Ugh, I'm in the exact same situation! Got code 971 about 10 days ago and have been refreshing my transcript daily hoping something would change. Filed in late January and was really counting on getting my refund by now to catch up on some bills. The uncertainty is honestly the worst part - like is it going to be 30 days or 6 months?? I've been seeing everyone mention taxr.ai in this thread so I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and try it for a dollar just to get some peace of mind about what's actually happening with my return. At this point I'd pay way more than that just to know if I should expect my money in weeks or months! Anyone else feel like the IRS customer service line is basically useless? Every time I call they just tell me to "allow additional processing time" 🙄

I've been dealing with code 971 for about 3 weeks now too and I completely understand the anxiety! From what I've learned lurking in these forums, the 971 code means they're sending you a notice but it can take anywhere from 2-8 weeks to actually receive it in the mail. The frustrating part is not knowing what they need or how long the review will take. I ended up calling the IRS after seeing it mentioned here and waited on hold for 3 hours, but the agent was actually helpful - they told me it was just a routine review to verify some W-2 information. Still waiting for the letter but at least I know it's nothing serious. If you can't get through on the phone, maybe try that taxr.ai tool everyone's been talking about? Seems like it might give you some clarity while you wait for the official notice. Hang in there! 💪

This is such a frustrating situation, and unfortunately you're not alone in getting bad advice from tax preparers about ISOs. The EA you spoke with was definitely wrong - ISOs absolutely trigger AMT when exercised, even if you don't sell. I went through something similar a few years back and ended up owing $23k in AMT after exercising options. What really helped me was keeping detailed records of everything - not just relying on TurboTax to track the credits properly. I created a simple spreadsheet with the AMT amount paid each year and credits used, because I've heard too many stories of people losing track when switching software. One thing to watch out for: make sure your company reported the correct fair market value on Form 3921. I've seen cases where the FMV was calculated incorrectly (especially for private companies), which can significantly impact your AMT calculation. If something seems off about the numbers, it might be worth having someone review the form before you file. The silver lining is that AMT credits don't expire, so you will eventually get that money back. It just takes patience unfortunately.

I just went through this exact same situation last month! The TurboTax EA was definitely wrong - you absolutely need to report ISO exercises even if you haven't sold the stock yet. I learned this the hard way after initially following similar bad advice. What helped me was calling the IRS directly to confirm the rules (took forever to get through, but they were clear that Form 3921 needs to be reported). The AMT hit is painful upfront, but those credits are real money you'll get back over time. One thing I wish someone had told me earlier: if you're planning to exercise more ISOs in future years, consider doing the math on whether it makes sense to do a same-year sale on some shares to cover the tax bill. It means paying ordinary income rates instead of capital gains, but it can help you avoid these massive AMT hits that take years to recover from. Also, definitely keep your own records of the AMT credits in addition to whatever TurboTax tracks. I use a simple spreadsheet with the year, AMT paid, and credits used each year. Too many people lose track of thousands in credits when they switch tax software.

Just joined this community as a newcomer and had to share - I'm experiencing the exact same thing as everyone else! Logged into my IRS account this afternoon and was amazed to actually get in without any errors. Seeing that $0.00 balance across all tax years (2022-2024) just like everyone else is reporting. What's really striking me as someone new to tracking all this is how the system performance has completely transformed. Usually I'd give up after getting timeout errors, but today everything loaded perfectly. Reading through all these comments, the fact that literally every single person is having this identical experience after maintenance can't be random. I'm trying not to get too excited since I know we've all been disappointed before, but the combination of major system improvements + universal $0.00 balances + that disclaimer about recently processed returns really does feel like they might be actively working on our returns behind the scenes. As a newcomer, should I be checking my transcript too like others mentioned, or is the improved account access alone a good sign? Either way, it's just nice to finally log in without wanting to throw my phone across the room! 🤞

Just joined as a newcomer and wow, I'm experiencing the exact same thing as everyone else! My IRS account is finally working after being completely inaccessible this morning, and I'm seeing that $0.00 balance across all tax years (2022-2024) that everyone's talking about. What really stands out to me is how much faster everything is loading now. As someone who's been fighting with error messages and timeouts for weeks, being able to actually log in and navigate smoothly feels almost too good to be true! Reading through all these comments, the fact that literally EVERYONE is reporting identical experiences after this maintenance period seems like way more than just coincidence. The improved system performance + universal $0.00 balances + that disclaimer about recently processed returns not being reflected yet really has me thinking they might be actively working through our returns behind the scenes. I know we shouldn't get our hopes up too much given past disappointments, but this feels different somehow. The timing of everything just seems too coordinated to be routine maintenance. At minimum, it's just amazing to be able to check my account without getting frustrated! Has anyone noticed if other IRS tools like "Where's My Refund" are working better today too? Curious if the improvements are system-wide! 🤞

I think people are overcomplicating this. If you're just casually trading skins and occasionally making a small profit, it's hobby income. Report it on Line 8z of Schedule 1 as "Other Income" and call it a day. Only need Schedule C if you're truly running this as a business with regular, consistent activity aimed at making profit.

Based on what you've described, you're definitely running this as a business activity since you're systematically buying skins at below market value with the specific intent to resell for profit. The IRS doesn't distinguish between digital and physical goods when it comes to business income. You'll want to use Schedule C to report this activity. Track your gross receipts (all sales - so yes, that $2,000), then subtract your cost of goods sold (what you paid for the skins) to get your net profit. That $300-400 profit will be subject to both regular income tax and self-employment tax. Pro tip: Keep meticulous records going forward. Save screenshots of all transactions, PayPal receipts, and Steam transaction history. Also consider tracking any business expenses like platform fees, internet costs for trading, or storage costs if applicable. The IRS loves detailed documentation, especially for newer types of businesses like digital item trading. Since you're already 6 months in, I'd recommend gathering all your transaction history now before it becomes an overwhelming task. Most platforms let you export your transaction data, which makes record-keeping much easier than trying to reconstruct everything later.