What about Social Security benefits? I'm semi-retired collecting Social Security but started selling vintage hats at markets. My friend said making too much could reduce my benefits but IDK if that's true???

Great advice from everyone here! I wanted to add one thing that helped me tremendously when I started my vintage vinyl side business - keeping a dedicated business bank account and credit card. It makes tracking so much easier come tax time. Even though you're just starting out, separating your personal and business finances will save you hours of sorting through transactions later. Use the business account/card for ALL business expenses - inventory purchases, booth fees, supplies, gas for sourcing trips, everything. Then your bank statements become a perfect record of your business activity. Also, consider getting a simple bookkeeping app like QuickBooks Self-Employed or even just a spreadsheet template. I track every purchase with photos of receipts and notes about what I bought and where. When tax time comes, everything is already categorized and ready to go. The few extra minutes each week saves massive headaches in April! One more tip - start building relationships with other vendors at your markets. They're often happy to share tax strategies and might even refer customers to you. The vintage community is surprisingly supportive once you become a regular face at the markets.

Has anyone tried just calling PayPal to get them to issue a corrected 1099-K? This seems like a massive problem they've created for tons of people who use their service for gambling transactions.

This is such a frustrating situation that many of us are dealing with thanks to the new $600 1099-K reporting threshold. I went through this exact same headache last year with about $12K showing on my PayPal 1099-K when my actual sports betting profit was only around $2,800. What worked for me was keeping meticulous records from each betting platform showing my complete transaction history. Most sites like DraftKings and FanDuel will provide you with annual summary statements if you contact their customer service - these are gold for documentation purposes. I reported my actual gambling winnings as "Other Income" on Schedule 1 and attached a brief statement explaining the discrepancy with the 1099-K. The key is being transparent about the situation rather than trying to hide it. The IRS knows this is a common issue with payment processors now. One tip: make sure you track not just your deposits and withdrawals, but also any bonuses or promotional credits you received. Those can sometimes count as taxable income even if you didn't actually win that money through betting. Keep everything organized in a spreadsheet with dates and amounts - it'll save you tons of stress if you ever get questioned about it.

Just FYI - my wife had to file for disability a few years back. You CANNOT be claimed as a dependent by your spouse, regardless of income. Spouses file either jointly or separately, but never as dependents. The only question is whether to file jointly or separately once you get your back pay. In our case, filing jointly was still better even with the lump sum payment.

Hi Kayla! I went through this exact situation a couple years ago. Like others have said, you definitely can't be claimed as your husband's dependent - that's just not how it works for married couples. What I learned from my experience: file jointly for sure. Even with zero income on your side, the joint filing will give you better tax benefits. The standard deduction alone makes it worth it. One thing to prepare for though - when your disability gets approved (fingers crossed!), those back payments can create a bit of a tax surprise. I got a lump sum that covered 18 months of back pay, and even though it was all legitimate disability income, it still pushed us into a higher bracket that year. My advice is to start setting aside maybe 15-20% of any back payments you might receive for taxes, just to be safe. Better to have extra money than to owe the IRS come tax time! Good luck with your claim - the waiting is the hardest part, but hang in there!

If all else fails and your payment does get rejected, don't forget you can always make an immediate payment through IRS Direct Pay on their website. That way you minimize any potential penalties. Just go to https://www.irs.gov/payments/direct-pay and you can make a one-time payment from your checking account (with the correct number!) right away.

I went through something similar a few months ago and can share what worked for me. The key is acting fast since you still have time before the payment processes. First, definitely call your credit union tomorrow morning like Michael suggested - since both accounts are there, they might be able to redirect the payment internally. That's honestly your best bet for a quick fix. If that doesn't work, you have two main backup options: 1. Try calling the IRS at 888-353-4537 (this is specifically for the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System). I found this number gets you through faster than the general 800 number everyone calls. 2. If you can't get through to the IRS by phone, you can also send a written request to cancel the payment. Send it certified mail to: Internal Revenue Service, Stop 5735, Kansas City, MO 64999. Include your SSN, tax year, payment amount, scheduled date, and explain the account number error. The good news is that even if the payment gets rejected, you won't face immediate penalties as long as you make the corrected payment within about 10 days of getting the rejection notice. But definitely try the credit union route first since that's your easiest solution! Keep us posted on how it goes - this info could help other people in similar situations.

I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here - it's incredibly helpful to see that this situation is more common than I initially thought! As someone who just went through this exact scenario last month, I wanted to add a few practical tips that made the process smoother for me. When I called the IRS to modify my existing installment agreement, I made sure to emphasize that I was current on all my existing payments and wanted to remain compliant. The representative seemed to appreciate this approach and was very willing to work with me. One thing that really helped was asking the representative to walk me through exactly what my new monthly payment would be before finalizing anything. They calculated it right there on the call - took my remaining balance from the first year, added the full second year amount, and divided by the remaining months in my original term. This let me confirm I could afford the new payment before committing. The rep also mentioned that since I was being proactive about addressing the second year immediately after receiving the notice, I qualified for some penalty relief that I wouldn't have gotten if I had waited longer. That saved me about $250 right off the bat. My advice: don't overthink this or let the stress paralyze you. Call the IRS this week, be honest about your situation, and ask to modify your existing agreement. The representatives in the installment agreement department deal with this every single day and have standard procedures to help you. You've got this!

Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation where I have multiple tax years with outstanding balances, and the advice about calling the IRS to modify existing installment agreements rather than trying to set up multiple plans makes perfect sense. One thing I'd add from my research is to make sure you understand the total cost comparison before deciding between modifying your payment plan versus paying one year off quickly. The IRS interest rate is currently around 7-8% annually, plus the 0.5% monthly failure-to-pay penalty. For a $5,000 balance over 60 days, you're looking at roughly $100-120 in additional penalties and interest. Compare that to what your monthly payment increase would be if you modify your existing plan. If the payment increase is manageable for your budget, the modified plan might actually cost less in the long run, especially when you factor in the penalty relief that several people mentioned getting for being proactive. The key seems to be acting quickly rather than letting either balance sit there accumulating more penalties. From what everyone has shared, the IRS is much more cooperative when you reach out to them immediately after receiving notices rather than waiting weeks or months to address the issue.