I had a similar situation with our debate club a few years back. One thing that really helped was creating a simple financial agreement between me and the club officers stating that I was acting as a "custodial account holder" rather than the beneficial owner of the funds. We had everyone sign a document acknowledging that the money in the account belonged to the club, not to me personally. This created a paper trail showing clear intent that these weren't my personal funds. We also made sure to have monthly treasurer reports that were shared with all members showing exactly how much money came in and went out. The key is documentation, documentation, documentation. Keep receipts for everything, maintain meeting minutes that reference financial decisions, and make sure multiple people are aware of and can vouch for the club's financial activities. This way if the IRS ever questions it, you have plenty of evidence that you were just facilitating the club's finances, not receiving personal income. Also, consider having the club reimburse you directly for any expenses you pay out of pocket rather than mixing personal and club spending in the same accounts.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now with my chess club! We're a small group but we collect membership fees and occasionally get donations for equipment. I've been losing sleep over whether I'm going to get hit with unexpected taxes on money that isn't even mine. Reading through these responses, it sounds like the university route might be the best first step. I'm definitely going to check with our student activities office this week to see if they have a program like what Giovanni mentioned. The custodial agreement idea from StormChaser also sounds really smart - having that paper trail proving the money belongs to the club and not to me personally. Has anyone here actually had to deal with the IRS directly about this kind of situation? I'm curious if they're generally understanding about student organizations or if they tend to be suspicious about these arrangements.

Based on what you've described, it sounds like you should be able to claim your daughter as a qualifying child dependent! Since she's 20 and a full-time college student, she meets the extended age requirement (under 24 for students). Her dorm living counts as temporary absence for education - she's still considered to live with you. And if you're covering 75% of her expenses while she only earned $8,200, you're definitely providing more than half her support. Just make sure when you calculate total support, you include everything - tuition, room & board, books, food, medical expenses, transportation, etc. Her $8,200 job income needs to be less than half of that total amount. From what you've shared, it sounds like her total expenses are way more than $16,400, so you should be good! Don't forget to also look into the American Opportunity Tax Credit when you file - you can get up to $2,500 in education credits for her college expenses since you'll be claiming her as a dependent.

Yes, you should definitely be able to claim your daughter as a qualifying child dependent! At 20 years old and enrolled full-time, she meets the extended age test for students (under 24). The dorm living actually works in your favor - temporary absences for education are considered as still living with you for tax purposes. The key thing to focus on is the support test. Since you're covering about 75% of her expenses and she only earned $8,200, you're clearly providing more than half her support. Just make sure when you're calculating this, you include ALL expenses: tuition, room & board, books, food, medical, transportation, personal expenses, etc. Her income needs to be less than half of that total amount. One important tip: make sure your daughter knows to check the box "Someone can claim you as a dependent" if she files her own return for that $8,200 income. She can still file to get back any taxes withheld, but she can't claim her own exemption if you're claiming her. Also don't miss out on the American Opportunity Tax Credit - you could get up to $2,500 in education credits since you'll be claiming her as a dependent and paying her college expenses. That's a significant tax benefit on top of the dependent exemption!

Double check that you entered both account numbers correctly on your tax form. I had this exact problem last year and turned out I mistyped one digit in my second account number. The money got sent back to the IRS and then I had to wait for a paper check which took almost 2 months to get to me. Check your Form 8888 if you have a copy of your return!

This is really common with split refunds! I've been splitting mine for the past 3 years and there's almost always a delay between the two deposits. The IRS processes them as separate transactions, so they don't hit your accounts at the same time. Since your transcript shows the full refund was issued, that's the important part - it means the IRS has sent both payments. The second one is probably just working its way through the banking system. Capital One can sometimes be slower than other banks to post ACH deposits. I'd give it until early next week before worrying. If it doesn't show up by Wednesday, call Capital One first to see if they have any pending deposits. They can usually see incoming transfers before they actually post to your account. If they don't see anything, then it would be worth calling the IRS to make sure there wasn't an issue with the account info. Don't stress too much - in my experience, the second deposit always shows up eventually, just not when you expect it to!

This is a really comprehensive discussion! As someone who's been through a similar conversion process, I want to emphasize one practical tip that saved me a lot of headaches: create a detailed spreadsheet right now with three columns - "Expense Description", "Date", "Amount", and "Category" (Personal Use vs Rental Use vs Post-Conversion). Go through all your receipts and categorize everything based on when it was purchased relative to your move-out date and when you started marketing the property. This will make your tax preparation much easier and provide clear documentation if you're ever audited. Also, don't forget about the smaller expenses that add up - things like cleaning supplies, light bulbs, basic maintenance items purchased after you moved out but before tenants moved in. These are often overlooked but can be immediately deductible as repairs/maintenance expenses. One last thing - if you're doing your own taxes, consider getting at least a consultation with a CPA who specializes in rental properties for this first year. The conversion from personal residence to rental property has some unique complexities that are worth getting right from the start. The consultation fee will likely pay for itself in properly maximized deductions and avoided mistakes.

As someone who's been managing rental properties for over a decade, I can confirm that the timing distinction everyone's discussing is absolutely critical. The IRS is very clear that expenses incurred while you're living in a property are personal expenses, even if your ultimate intention is to convert it to a rental. However, I want to add one important nuance that might help future readers: if you made any emergency repairs or maintenance items during those 7 months of renovations that were necessary to make the property habitable or safe (not improvements), and you can demonstrate that these were done in preparation for rental use rather than your personal comfort, there might be some gray area worth discussing with a tax professional. For example, if you had to fix a leaking roof or repair electrical issues for safety reasons, these might be treated differently than cosmetic improvements like new flooring or kitchen updates. The key is being able to show these were necessary repairs rather than elective improvements. Also, don't overlook the importance of establishing a clear "placed in service" date with documentation. I always recommend taking photos of the property in rental-ready condition and saving your first rental listing as proof of when you officially began seeking tenants. This documentation becomes invaluable if you're ever audited. Keep meticulous records - you'll need them not just for this year's taxes, but for calculating depreciation recapture when you eventually sell the property years from now.

Great question! I went through this exact situation last year and learned a lot about how survey income works with taxes. Here's what I discovered: The key thing to understand is that survey rewards ARE taxable income regardless of whether you receive any tax forms. The $400-500 you earned definitely needs to be reported on your tax return. For the 1099-K specifically - PayPal will only send you one if your total payments received through their platform exceed $600 for the tax year (this is the current threshold). If you're under that amount, you won't get a 1099-K, but you still need to report the income. Since you're doing surveys occasionally rather than as a regular business, this income should typically be reported as "Other Income" on Schedule 1 of your Form 1040, not as self-employment income. This is important because it means you won't owe self-employment tax on it, which saves you about 15.3%. Make sure to keep records of all your survey payments - PayPal should have a transaction history you can download. Even without receiving tax forms from the survey companies, you're responsible for reporting the income accurately. The IRS considers survey participation as being paid for your time and opinions, which makes it taxable income even though you're not technically an employee of these companies.

Adding to what others have said about the 1099-K threshold and reporting requirements - one important thing to keep in mind is that the IRS has been pretty clear that ALL income is taxable, regardless of whether you receive tax forms or not. For your $400-500 in survey income, you're definitely required to report it even without a 1099-K. The good news is that since this sounds like occasional survey participation rather than a regular business activity, you should be able to report it as "Other Income" on Schedule 1, which means you'll avoid the 15.3% self-employment tax. I'd recommend downloading your complete PayPal transaction history for the tax year to get an exact total of all payments you received. This will serve as your documentation since you likely won't receive any tax forms from the survey companies themselves. One tip that helped me: when reporting this on Schedule 1, I wrote something like "Survey rewards - various companies via PayPal" in the description field. This makes it clear what the income was if the IRS ever has questions, and shows you're being transparent about the source. The key is just making sure you report the full amount accurately, even though the process might seem confusing without receiving official tax forms.