Reminder: she might still need to file even if she makes less than $13,850 if she had any taxes withheld and wants a refund!

Just went through this exact situation last year! You can definitely still claim her as a dependent. The main thing is that you're providing more than half her support (food, housing, clothes, etc.) and she lives with you more than half the year. Her having a job doesn't disqualify her at all. Make sure when she files that she checks the box indicating someone else can claim her as a dependent - this prevents the IRS from getting confused when both returns are processed. Good luck!

Just to share my experience - I submitted a W8-BEN to my US publisher without them asking, and they had no idea what to do with it! They literally emailed me back asking what department should handle it. Their accounting team finally figured it out, but it was clear they'd never dealt with international authors before even though they were distributing my work in the US. Sometimes these smaller companies just don't know their obligations.

This is such a common issue with smaller US distributors and publishers! I'm a tax professional who specializes in international artist taxation, and I see this scenario constantly. You're absolutely right that under the US-Ireland tax treaty, royalties are generally exempt from US withholding tax (0% rate), but the W8-BEN documentation requirement still applies regardless of the treaty rate. Here's the key point: as an Irish resident receiving royalty income that's treaty-exempt, you're typically NOT required to file a US tax return even if the payer fails to collect proper documentation. The filing obligation generally falls on US persons or when you have US-source income that's actually subject to tax. However, I'd strongly recommend proactively sending them a completed W8-BEN form anyway. This protects you by establishing your treaty position on record, especially as your royalties grow. Include a brief cover letter explaining that this establishes your eligibility for treaty benefits under Article 12 of the US-Ireland tax treaty. If they continue to mishandle things, keep records of your attempts to provide proper documentation. This creates a paper trail showing your good faith compliance efforts, which could be valuable if any questions arise later. The distributor could face penalties for not collecting required forms, but that's their problem, not yours!

anybody else notice the tap website is down like every other day? 🤔

I'm in the same situation! Filed my Mississippi return about a month ago and still waiting. Thanks for asking this question - the www.dor.ms.gov/tap link that Daryl shared is exactly what I needed. Just checked and my refund is finally showing as "in process" so hopefully it'll come through soon. Mississippi definitely takes way longer than federal but at least now we can track it!

Has anyone considered how ASC 606 specifically applies to this situation? I think step 5 of the revenue recognition model is most relevant here - "Recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

This is a great discussion and I'm learning a lot from everyone's experiences. I run a small electronics repair shop and have been struggling with this exact issue for months. What I've found helpful is creating a clear internal process to document when repairs are actually "complete." We take photos of the finished work and have the technician sign off digitally with a timestamp. This creates a clear audit trail for when the performance obligation was satisfied. One thing I'm curious about - for those of you who recognize revenue at repair completion, how do you handle warranty obligations? Do you set up a separate liability account for potential warranty work, or do you handle it differently? I want to make sure I'm accounting for all aspects of the transaction properly. Also, has anyone dealt with customers who dispute the completion date? We had one situation where a customer claimed we hadn't actually finished the repair when we said we did, which made me question our documentation process.

Has anyone used TurboTax Self-Employed for estimated taxes? Their website says it can help calculate quarterly payments but I'm not sure if it's worth paying for the full year just to figure out my AGI for estimated taxes.

Great thread! As someone who made the same transition from W-2 to freelance last year, I can share what worked for me. The key thing I learned is that AGI calculation for estimated taxes is actually pretty straightforward once you break it down: Your AGI = Total Income - Business Expenses - Self-Employment Tax Deduction - Other Above-the-Line Deductions For variable income, I use what I call the "true-up method" each quarter: 1. Calculate my actual year-to-date AGI based on real numbers 2. Project what my full-year AGI will be based on current trends 3. Calculate the tax on that projection 4. Subtract what I've already paid in estimates 5. Pay 25% of the remaining balance (since there are 4 quarters) This keeps me from overpaying early in the year when income is low or underpaying when I have a good month. The IRS doesn't care if your payments are uneven as long as you hit the safe harbor amounts by year-end. Also, don't forget that as a freelancer, you can deduct things like your home office, business phone, professional development, and even some meals if they're business-related. These all reduce your AGI and lower your estimated tax burden.