Has anyone considered that the type of YouTube channel might matter? I have a gaming channel with income from both ads and gaming sponsorships. My tax preparer said the sponsorships are definitely Schedule C, but put the ad revenue on Schedule E since they're technically royalties from my existing content. Been doing it this way for 3 years with no issues.

This is exactly the kind of gray area that drives people crazy during tax season! I've been dealing with a similar situation with my old blog that still generates affiliate commissions. After years of going back and forth, here's what I've learned: The IRS generally looks at the "origin and character" of the income rather than your current level of activity. Since you originally created YouTube content as part of what was essentially a business venture (even if informal), the income retains that business character even when the channel goes dormant. I'd recommend sticking with Schedule C for consistency, especially since you've been filing it that way for 7+ years. The IRS tends to scrutinize sudden changes in income classification, and you could face questions during an audit about why you switched approaches. One silver lining: even with a dormant channel, you might still be able to deduct certain ongoing expenses like internet costs (percentage used for business), software subscriptions for video editing tools you maintain, or even a portion of your phone bill if you use it to monitor analytics. These deductions can help offset some of that self-employment tax burden. The peace of mind from consistent filing often outweighs the SE tax savings, especially at your income level where we're talking about maybe $200 in additional taxes.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation with Energy Transfer and have been struggling with the same confusion about whether to enter the partnerships separately or combined. One thing I wanted to add that might help others - I found that keeping a simple Excel spreadsheet with columns for each tax year has made tracking my basis much easier. I have columns for: Starting Basis, Box 19A (return of capital), Taxable Income Allocated, and Ending Basis. It takes a few minutes each year but saves hours of reconstruction later. For anyone still confused about the partnership breakdown, I called Energy Transfer's investor relations line (1-800-248-4536) last year and they were actually pretty helpful in explaining how their K-1 structure works. They confirmed that yes, you should enter each entity separately using the breakdown information, not the combined totals. The representative also mentioned that they've been working on making their K-1 forms clearer because they get a lot of calls about this exact confusion. Hopefully future years will be less confusing for all of us!

As a tax professional who deals with MLP K-1s regularly, I want to emphasize a few critical points that haven't been fully covered: First, regarding the Energy Transfer structure - you're absolutely correct to enter ET, USAC, and SUN as separate partnerships. However, make sure you're allocating the income and deductions proportionally based on ET's ownership percentages in each subsidiary, not just copying the breakdown amounts directly. Second, be extremely careful with passive activity loss rules. Energy Transfer activities are generally considered passive for individual investors, which means any losses can only offset other passive income or be carried forward. This is particularly important if you have losses from any of the three entities. Third, for state tax purposes, you may need to file returns in multiple states where these partnerships conduct business. Energy Transfer operates across many states, and some states require non-resident returns even for small amounts of income allocation. Finally, I strongly recommend keeping detailed records of all your MLP investments beyond just basis tracking. The IRS has been increasing scrutiny of MLP reporting, and having comprehensive documentation is essential if you're ever audited. The complexity is real, but with proper attention to detail, MLP investments can be very tax-efficient over the long term.

Before u switch make sure ur looking at the RIGHT prior year AGI. Its gotta be from the ACTUAL return u filed last year not what u put in turbotax this year

Check your 2023 tax return (the actual filed copy, not what's in TurboTax) for line 11 - that's your AGI from last year. The IRS is super picky about this matching exactly, down to the dollar. If you amended your 2023 return or there were any IRS adjustments after filing, you'd need to use the adjusted AGI amount instead. You can get your actual filed AGI from your tax transcript on the IRS website if you're not sure.

This is such a helpful thread! I've been playing social casino games for about two years and had no idea about the tax implications. I probably made around $400 last year from various apps but never thought to report it since I didn't get any tax forms. Reading through all these responses, it sounds like I need to go back and figure out exactly how much I made and report it as "Other Income" on my return. One question though - for those apps where you can only cash out to gift cards (not actual cash), does that still count as taxable income? I have probably another $200-300 in various gift cards I've redeemed from gaming apps over the year. Also, if I bought coin packages but never cashed anything out from a particular game, I assume there's no income to report from that one, right? Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - this community is so much more helpful than trying to navigate the IRS website!

This is exactly the kind of situation I dealt with last year! I was playing multiple social casino apps and had small cashouts throughout the year that totaled around $650. What really helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track everything - date, app name, amount cashed out, and method (PayPal, gift card, etc.). One thing I learned that might help others here: keep screenshots of your cashout confirmations if possible. Some of these apps don't keep great records on their end, and if you ever need to verify your reported income, having those screenshots can be really valuable. Also, don't forget to check smaller apps - I almost missed about $80 from a word game app that let me cash out to Amazon gift cards. For the loss deduction question, remember you can only deduct losses if you itemize, and only up to the amount of your winnings. So if you won $800 but spent $1,200 on coin packages, you can only deduct $800 in losses. Make sure the math actually works out in your favor before choosing to itemize instead of taking the standard deduction!

This has been such an incredibly thorough and helpful discussion! As someone who's been following along and taking notes, I wanted to add one more consideration that I haven't seen mentioned yet. If you're planning to do this transfer and major renovation, make sure to check if your area has any historic preservation restrictions or neighborhood covenants that could affect your renovation plans. I learned this the hard way when we tried to do major updates to my family's older home and discovered it was in a historic district with strict requirements about materials and design changes. Even if the property isn't formally historic, some neighborhoods have HOA covenants or city ordinances that could limit your renovation options or require special approvals. It's better to know about these restrictions before you transfer ownership and start planning the gut renovation. Also, with all the great advice about documentation that everyone has shared, consider setting up a dedicated cloud storage folder for all the transfer and renovation documents. Between property records, tax forms, contractor agreements, receipts, photos, and permits, you'll accumulate a massive amount of paperwork. Having everything organized digitally from the start will save you huge headaches later, especially if the IRS ever has questions or when you eventually sell the property. The trust option really does seem like the smartest approach for your situation based on everything discussed here. It addresses the authority issues for renovations, protects your dad's living situation, and provides clear legal structure for the eventual inheritance/sale process. Best of luck with this project - your dad is fortunate to have family members who are putting so much thought and care into handling this properly!

This has been an absolutely incredible thread to follow! As someone completely new to property transfers and family estate planning, I've learned more from this discussion than from hours of trying to research this stuff online. The progression from basic gift tax questions to all the nuanced considerations - insurance updates, contractor coordination, historic restrictions, utility transfers, Medicaid planning - really shows how complex these seemingly simple family transactions can be. I'm particularly struck by how many people mentioned unexpected costs and complications they wish they'd known about upfront. The consensus seems to be pointing toward the trust option as potentially the best approach for situations like this, especially with the added complexity of major renovations and a parent continuing to live in the property. The fact that it provides clear legal authority for renovation decisions while protecting everyone's interests really appeals to me. I'm also taking notes on the professional help recommendations. It sounds like finding an estate planning attorney who really understands both the legal and tax implications is worth the investment, rather than trying to coordinate multiple professionals who might not communicate well with each other. One thing I'm curious about - for those who went the trust route, did you find that contractors and service providers were comfortable working with trustees, or did you run into any complications with that arrangement? I want to make sure we don't create any unnecessary hurdles for the actual renovation process. Thanks to everyone for sharing such detailed, real-world experiences. This is exactly the kind of practical wisdom you can't get from government websites or generic legal advice!