Welcome to the community! As a newcomer here, I've been following this discussion with great interest since I'm considering entering the pet grooming industry myself. The consensus from everyone's experiences really confirms that booth rental arrangements like yours are completely legitimate when structured properly. What I find most reassuring is how consistently everyone emphasizes the same key factors - maintaining true operational independence, having proper documentation, and ensuring the relationship is genuinely landlord-tenant rather than employer-employee. Your situation clearly meets all the IRS criteria for independent contractor status. You control your own schedule and pricing, maintain direct client relationships, handle your own payments and supplies, and operate completely independently. The salon owner is essentially just your landlord, not your boss. The fact that the previous owner's audit went smoothly is excellent validation, but even without that precedent, your arrangement sounds textbook legitimate based on everything I've learned from this thread. For newcomers like me who are researching this business model, this discussion has been incredibly educational about the importance of proper documentation, clear rental agreements, and maintaining separation between your business operations and the salon's. Don't let those uninformed Facebook comments stress you out - you're clearly doing everything right and operating a legitimate business structure that's well-established in the industry!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm incredibly grateful for all the detailed information shared in this thread! I'm just starting to explore the pet grooming industry and was initially concerned about the legitimacy of booth rental arrangements after hearing conflicting opinions online. Reading through everyone's experiences has been so reassuring - it's clear that when structured properly with true operational independence, booth rental is a completely legitimate business model. The distinction between genuine independent contractor relationships and employee misclassification schemes makes perfect sense when broken down the way everyone has explained it here. What I find most valuable are the practical tips about documentation, maintaining separate business operations, and ensuring the rental agreement clearly establishes a landlord-tenant relationship rather than employer-employee. The fact that multiple people have gone through audits successfully really validates that this business structure works when done correctly. For someone like me who wants the independence of running my own business but isn't ready for the overhead of opening a full salon, booth rental sounds like the perfect stepping stone. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and expertise - this thread is going straight into my reference folder for when I'm ready to start my grooming business!

I just wanted to add another data point to this helpful discussion. I successfully completed my ID.me verification yesterday after dealing with the same E4401 error for over a week. What worked for me was a combination of several suggestions from this thread: - Unfroze Experian and TransUnion for 5 days (left Equifax frozen) - Waited 6 hours after unfreezing before attempting verification - Used Edge browser in InPrivate mode (Chrome kept giving me camera issues) - Did the verification at 2 PM with natural window lighting - Had my driver's license, most recent tax return, and utility bill ready The key insight for me was that the error wasn't just about credit freezes - it was also about browser compatibility. I had tried multiple times with Safari and Chrome, but Edge was the only browser that properly handled the camera and document upload steps without glitches. One thing I noticed that others haven't mentioned: make sure your driver's license isn't expired or close to expiring. Mine expires next month, and I initially got rejected even with credit unfrozen. I had to use my passport instead for the document verification step. The whole process took about 25 minutes once everything was properly set up. Finally got access to my tax transcripts and submitted them to my lender this morning. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - this thread was incredibly helpful!

I've been lurking on this thread for days while dealing with my own ID.me verification nightmare, and I finally got through this morning! Wanted to share what worked for me since I tried almost everything mentioned here. My winning combination: - Unfroze all three major bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) for 4 days - Waited exactly 12 hours after unfreezing before attempting verification - Used Firefox in private browsing mode (surprisingly, this worked better than Chrome for me) - Did it at 10 AM with my phone positioned near a window for optimal lighting - Had my passport, latest W-2, and current mortgage statement ready The breakthrough moment was realizing that my address on file with the credit bureaus was slightly different from what I was entering (I had "Street" abbreviated as "St" in some places but not others). Once I made sure to enter my address exactly as it appears on my credit reports, the verification went through smoothly. One more tip: if you have multiple addresses in your credit history (like if you've moved recently), be prepared to verify information from your previous address too. ID.me asked me about a mortgage I had at my old house from 2 years ago. Total time from start to finish was about 18 minutes. Now I can finally access my tax transcripts! This thread was a lifesaver - thank you everyone for sharing your experiences.

I went through something very similar with my old Coca-Cola shares that I inherited and had in DRIP for years. The key thing to remember is that each DRIP purchase creates a separate tax lot with its own cost basis and purchase date, even if it's just buying a fraction of a share. For record-keeping, I'd strongly recommend creating a spreadsheet that tracks each purchase (including reinvested dividends) with the date, number of shares purchased, and price per share. Then apply any stock splits chronologically to adjust both the share count and cost basis per share for each lot. When you sell using FIFO, you're correct that you'd start with your oldest shares first. So yes, your original gifted share (now 4 shares after the splits) would be sold first, then move chronologically through your DRIP purchases. One thing to watch out for: make sure you're accounting for any dividend reinvestments that happened between the stock splits, as those would have their own purchase dates and would also be subject to the split adjustments. It can get complex quickly, but the principle remains the same - oldest shares out first under FIFO.

One thing that might help is to check if McDonald's has an investor relations section on their website with historical dividend and split information. Many companies maintain detailed records of all their corporate actions that you can use to verify your calculations. Also, since you mentioned this was a gift from your grandparents, make sure you're using their original cost basis (what they paid for it), not the fair market value when you received it. Gifted shares retain the original owner's cost basis, unlike inherited shares which get a stepped-up basis. If you're still enrolled in any dividend reinvestment plans, your statements should show the cost basis for each DRIP purchase. Many companies switched to electronic recordkeeping in the early 2000s, so you might be able to access historical records online through the plan administrator's website.

I went through this exact same confusion with my Schwab statements last year! The way I finally understood it: your broker creates the 1099-B showing all your stock sales, and they also organize that same information in Form 8949 format to make your life easier when filing. You're not double-reporting anything - you use the 1099-B data to fill out Form 8949 on your actual tax return. Think of the broker's "Form 8949 section" as a helpful cheat sheet showing you how to organize the 1099-B information. In FreeTaxUSA, just go to the investment income section and enter each transaction from your 1099-B (or use that organized section your broker provided). The software will automatically generate the real Form 8949 and Schedule D for your return. Pro tip: if you're missing sale dates, try downloading your year-end tax statement from your broker's website - it usually has more complete information than the consolidated document they mail you. Most brokers keep detailed transaction records available online for at least 3 years.

As someone who's been dealing with investment taxes for several years now, I can confirm what others have said - you're definitely not double-reporting! The confusion is totally understandable though. Here's the simplest way to think about it: Your broker sends the 1099-B to both you and the IRS showing what happened. Form 8949 is YOUR form that you fill out using that 1099-B information to report it on your personal tax return. Many brokers now format their statements to show both because they know it helps taxpayers. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned - make sure you pay attention to the "Box 1a" codes on your 1099-B. These tell you whether the cost basis was reported to the IRS or not, which affects how you fill out Form 8949. FreeTaxUSA will ask you about this when you're entering the transactions. Also, don't stress too much about getting every tiny detail perfect on your first year. The IRS computer systems will catch most discrepancies and send you a notice if something doesn't match up with what your broker reported. Just be as accurate as you can with the information you have!

Anyone know if the interest deduction limits are different if you bought your house in a high-cost area? I've heard something about exceptions for certain housing markets.

Just wanted to add one more thing that might help - when you're calculating that average balance, make sure you're using the principal balance only, not the total payment amount. Your Form 1098 should show the outstanding principal balance at year-end, but if you're calculating monthly averages, don't include the interest portion of your payments. Also, keep all your mortgage statements and closing documents organized in case the auditor asks for backup documentation. They'll want to see proof that the loan was actually used to purchase your home (not a cash-out refi for other purposes). Since you bought in 2022, your closing disclosure should clearly show this was acquisition debt. The fact that you're being thorough about this now will definitely help your audit go more smoothly!