Just want to add that I'm in a similar production business with an S-corp and I DO file Schedules L and M-1 even though I'm under the threshold. My reasoning is that these schedules create a paper trail of your business's financial position over time. If you ever get audited or need to show financial history for loans/investors, having these forms consistently filed gives a more complete picture.

Based on your situation, you're absolutely correct that Schedules L and M-1 aren't required since you're well under the $250k threshold. However, I'd strongly recommend addressing the salary issue that Dmitry mentioned - the IRS can be quite strict about S-corp owners taking reasonable compensation when the business is profitable, even if it's just $1,270. For the schedules themselves, since you're a small one-person operation, I'd suggest keeping it simple and only filing what's required unless you have a specific reason to include them (like establishing a financial history for future lending). Your time is probably better spent on growing the business back to full operations. One practical tip: if you do decide to include the optional schedules in future years as your business grows, start maintaining the books now in a way that makes completing them easier later. This gives you flexibility without extra work this year.

Don't forget about wash sale rules if you're planning to buy back into a similar fund later! If you sell at a loss and buy back within 30 days, you can't claim the tax loss.

Great thread everyone! As someone who's been through this exact situation, I wanted to add a few practical tips for when you actually execute the sale: 1. **Timing matters**: If you're close to the end of the tax year, consider whether it makes sense to delay the sale until January to push the tax liability to the following year's return. 2. **Document everything**: Take screenshots of your lot selection choices and keep records of which specific shares you sold. This will be helpful when you get your 1099-B and need to verify everything matches. 3. **Consider tax-loss harvesting**: Even though you're selling at a gain, check if you have any other investments with losses that you could sell to offset some of the gains. 4. **Emergency fund planning**: Since you're using investments for an emergency, consider rebuilding an actual cash emergency fund once you're back on your feet so you don't have to deal with tax implications next time. The 0% capital gains rate that @Nia Davis mentioned is huge - definitely verify your income situation before selling. You might be in for a pleasant surprise!

I've been dealing with PayPal transactions for my small side business, and this thread is spot-on about the confusion between income reporting and sales tax collection. What many people don't realize is that the $600 1099-K threshold was actually lowered from the previous $20,000 threshold, which has caused a lot of panic among casual sellers who suddenly started receiving these forms. They see "IRS reporting" and immediately think they owe more taxes or need to collect sales tax, but that's not how it works. The 1099-K is simply an information document that reports your gross payment volume - it doesn't determine what you actually owe in taxes. If you're selling personal items at a loss (like most garage sale type transactions), you often don't owe any income tax on those sales at all. Your seller is definitely confused about their obligations. Even if they were required to collect sales tax (which is unlikely for a casual personal sale), that should have been clearly disclosed and included in the original invoice. You can't retroactively add taxes after payment has been completed and accepted. Stand firm on your decision not to pay additional money. You fulfilled your part of the agreement completely by paying the invoiced amount.

This situation is unfortunately becoming more common since PayPal lowered their 1099-K reporting threshold to $600. Many casual sellers are getting confused about their tax obligations and mistakenly trying to pass those concerns onto buyers. To be absolutely clear: you should NOT pay any additional money. The seller is confusing two completely different things: 1. **Income tax reporting** - PayPal reports their earnings to the IRS via 1099-K, which might affect the seller's personal income tax return 2. **Sales tax collection** - A separate obligation that typically only applies to registered businesses, not casual individual sellers Even if sales tax were somehow required (which it probably isn't for a private transaction), it should have been clearly itemized in the original invoice before you paid. You can't retroactively add taxes after a completed transaction. The seller's potential tax obligations are their responsibility, not yours. You paid the full invoiced amount as agreed - the transaction is complete. I'd recommend a polite but firm response explaining that any tax concerns they have are separate from your completed payment of the agreed-upon invoice amount. Don't let them pressure you into paying extra money for their confusion about tax rules!

Has anyone actually had success getting their 1095-A corrected? Mine's been wrong for over a month and despite three calls to the Marketplace, nothing has changed. I'm near the filing deadline and getting desperate.

I went through this exact same situation last year and can relate to your frustration! After weeks of back-and-forth with the Marketplace, I discovered that declining advance payments doesn't disqualify you from the Premium Tax Credit - you should absolutely still be eligible to claim it when filing. The key issue is that your 1095-A Column B (SLCSP amounts) shouldn't be zeros if you're income-eligible for the credit. This sounds like a system error on their end. Here's what finally worked for me: 1. Use the SLCSP lookup tool on healthcare.gov to find your correct monthly benchmark amounts 2. Enter those amounts in Column B when completing Form 8962 (not the zeros from your 1095-A) 3. Keep documentation showing you looked up the official SLCSP rates Don't let the incorrect 1095-A prevent you from claiming the credit you're entitled to. The IRS allows taxpayers to use the correct SLCSP amounts when the 1095-A is wrong. Just make sure to save screenshots of your lookup results and any communication with the Marketplace for your records. You're not doing anything wrong - this is a known issue that affects people who chose to receive their credit at tax time instead of monthly advance payments.

One important detail that hasn't been mentioned: check Box 6 on your 1099-C form. It should have a code that indicates the reason for the cancellation of debt. Code A means bankruptcy, Code B is for other judicial debt relief, Code E indicates expiration of collection statute, etc. This code can help determine if you might qualify for an exclusion. Also, verify that Box 4 (debt forgiveness date) shows 2024 - if it shows 2023, that would mean it should have been reported on last year's taxes, not this year's.

This is a really stressful situation, but you're definitely not alone - late-arriving tax documents happen more often than people think! The key is acting promptly now that you have the 1099-C. First, definitely verify the information on the form is accurate (amount, your SSN, the date). Then, as others mentioned, you'll likely need to file Form 1040-X to amend your return. However, before you panic about owing money, check if you qualify for any exclusions - insolvency is a common one where if your total debts exceeded your assets when the debt was canceled, you might not owe tax on it. The IRS has worksheets to help calculate this. If you do owe additional tax, file the amendment ASAP since interest accrues from the original filing deadline. Consider consulting a tax professional if the amount is substantial or if you're unsure about potential exclusions.