whatever you do, DO NOT just ignore this!!! i did that one year thinking "oh ill deal with it later" and the penalties just kept adding up. ended up owing almost double by the time i finally dealt with it. the irs doesn't play around with this stuff.

Just wanted to add that if you're having trouble accessing your online account on IRS.gov (sometimes the identity verification process can be tricky), you can also call the automated phone line at 1-800-829-1040. It's available 24/7 and you can get your current balance by entering your SSN and some basic info - no waiting on hold for a human agent. Also, since you mentioned this is your first time owing taxes, make sure to consider making estimated quarterly payments for next year if your withholding situation hasn't changed. This will help you avoid being in the same spot again. The IRS has worksheets and calculators on their website to help figure out how much to pay each quarter. Good luck getting it sorted out! The important thing is you're taking action now rather than letting it sit.

One thing that might help you going forward is to start keeping a gambling log from day one if you continue betting. I use a simple spreadsheet with columns for date, platform, bet type, amount wagered, amount won/lost, and running total. It takes maybe 30 seconds per bet to log, but it makes tax time so much easier. For your current situation with 1,700+ bets, definitely try to download your complete betting history from both platforms as others suggested. Most online sportsbooks are required to maintain detailed records and make them available to users. Hard Rock and Fliff should both have options in your account settings to export transaction histories. Also worth noting - if you plan to continue sports betting regularly, consider whether it might make sense to itemize deductions in future years. If you have other itemizable expenses (mortgage interest, charitable donations, etc.) that combined with gambling losses might exceed the standard deduction, you could potentially offset more of your winnings.

Just wanted to add something important that I learned the hard way - if you're using multiple platforms like the OP, make sure you're tracking your net position across ALL platforms, not just individual ones. I made the mistake of only focusing on my winning platform while ignoring losses on another, which gave me a completely wrong picture of my tax liability. Also, for anyone using apps like Hard Rock or Fliff, check if they offer any tax reporting tools or year-end summaries. Some platforms have started providing better tax documentation features to help users comply with reporting requirements. Even if they don't issue a 1099, many will provide detailed transaction exports that make the reporting process much more manageable. One last tip - if you're planning to continue betting in 2025, consider setting up a separate bank account just for gambling transactions. It makes tracking deposits, withdrawals, and your overall gambling P&L much cleaner for tax purposes.

Has anyone used the Safe Harbor for Small Taxpayers provision for this kind of expense? If your rental property has an unadjusted basis of $1 million or less, and your gross receipts are under $10 million, you might be able to deduct repairs and improvements up to the lesser of $10,000 or 2% of the unadjusted basis of the building annually.

For your $8,700 foundation repair in Phoenix, the key factor is whether this is restoring your property to its previous condition or actually improving it beyond what it was before the damage occurred. Since you mentioned the soil shifted after heavy rains and created new cracks, this sounds like you're dealing with sudden damage that needs to be repaired to restore normal function. This could potentially qualify as a deductible repair expense rather than a capital improvement that needs to be depreciated. Make sure to document everything thoroughly - take photos of the damage, get weather reports from that time period, and have your contractor provide a detailed invoice explaining exactly what work is being done to address the specific damage. The IRS will want to see that you're fixing a problem, not upgrading or improving the foundation beyond its original condition. Given the substantial cost though, I'd strongly recommend getting professional guidance from a tax professional or CPA who specializes in rental property taxes before making your final decision on how to classify this expense.

This is a really thorough discussion that covers all the important angles! As a newcomer to this community, I'm impressed by how thoughtfully everyone has analyzed both the legal and practical aspects of this situation. The consensus seems clear: asking customers to mark business payments as "friends & family" is problematic because it circumvents tax reporting requirements and removes consumer protections. Even if a business owner has good intentions (just trying to save on fees), they're essentially asking customers to participate in misrepresenting the nature of the transaction. What I find most valuable in this thread is the emphasis on education over judgment. Many small business owners probably don't fully understand the compliance risks they're creating. The suggestions about having supportive conversations and offering to cover processing fees show how customers can help businesses they care about while maintaining their own ethical standards. For anyone facing similar situations, the three-step approach mentioned earlier seems solid: have a friendly conversation about compliance concerns, offer practical alternatives like covering fees or using different payment methods, and if the business isn't willing to find compliant solutions, consider what that says about their overall approach to operating legally. It's encouraging to see so many people committed to supporting small businesses while also maintaining proper tax compliance and consumer protections!

This discussion really highlights how common this issue has become with small businesses trying to navigate payment processing costs. As someone who's worked in small business consulting, I've seen this exact scenario play out dozens of times. The key point that everyone's touched on is absolutely correct - what the bakery is asking for is essentially tax evasion, regardless of their intentions. The IRS doesn't care whether you're trying to save on fees or hide income; circumventing reporting mechanisms is problematic either way. What I'd add is that businesses doing this are also exposing themselves to significant penalties beyond just tax issues. Venmo and other payment processors actively monitor for this behavior and can freeze or close accounts when they detect friends & family payments being used for commercial transactions. I've seen small businesses lose access to their payment processing entirely, which can be devastating. The suggestion about offering to cover processing fees is excellent. In my experience, most small business owners are genuinely grateful when customers approach this supportively rather than just walking away. I've helped several businesses transition to compliant payment methods, and they often discover that proper business processing comes with benefits they hadn't considered - better record keeping, business credit building, and eligibility for merchant services they couldn't access before. For the bakery specifically, they might not realize that home-based food businesses have substantial tax deductions available that could more than offset the processing fees they're trying to avoid.

This is amazing progress! That 571 code is such a relief to see after being frozen since March. I went through something very similar - had an 810 freeze that lasted 7 months before finally getting the 571 code. The good news is that once you see that 571, things typically move pretty fast. In my case, I got the 846 refund issued code about 9 days later. Your situation looks really promising because the 570 and 571 codes are only a week apart, which suggests they resolved whatever was holding up your return relatively quickly once they got to it. With your cycle ending in 05, you should definitely check Friday mornings for updates since that's when weekly cycles typically refresh. After waiting 6+ months, you're finally almost there! Keep us posted when you see that 846 code - we're all pulling for you! 🙌

Congrats on finally seeing that 571 code! That's huge progress after being stuck since March. I had a similar freeze situation that lasted about 5 months before getting the 571. In my experience, once that code appears, you're usually looking at 1-2 weeks max before the 846 (refund issued) shows up. The fact that your 570 and 571 are only a week apart is actually really good news - means they worked through whatever was holding it up pretty quickly once they got to your case. With your cycle ending in 05, definitely keep checking Friday mornings when transcripts update. You've made it through the worst part - hang in there! 🙏