This discussion has been absolutely invaluable for understanding this complex situation! As a newcomer to the community, I'm dealing with almost the identical scenario with my 20-year-old daughter who's in college and lives at home. What really resonates with me is how many families initially assume they're providing most support, only to discover through proper calculation that their student is actually more independent than expected. The consistent emphasis on student loans being counted as support the student provides for themselves is something I completely overlooked initially. My daughter has about $15,000 in student loans this year and earns roughly $6,500 from her part-time job. Reading through everyone's methodical approaches, I'm realizing I need to create that comprehensive support worksheet using IRS Publication 501 and properly calculate fair market rental value for her housing. The recurring theme throughout this thread about following actual IRS rules rather than just optimizing for tax benefits gives me confidence there's a legitimate path forward. I appreciate how this community focuses on doing things correctly while helping families understand their options within the proper guidelines. I'm planning to research comparable room rentals in our area and create a detailed monthly breakdown of all support sources. The documentation advice from those who've been through audits is particularly valuable - better to be thorough upfront than deal with complications later. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and practical guidance. This discussion has provided exactly the roadmap I needed to work through our situation properly!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm so grateful to have found this incredibly thorough discussion! I'm facing the exact same situation with my 19-year-old daughter who just started her sophomore year of college. Like many families here, I initially assumed I was providing most of her support since she lives at home during breaks and I pay for things like car insurance and her phone. But reading through everyone's detailed breakdowns has made me realize I need to calculate this much more systematically. My daughter has about $11,000 in student loans this year and earned around $5,800 from her campus job. She also pays for most of her personal expenses - textbooks, clothes, gas, entertainment, and food when she's at school. When I start adding it all up using the approach many of you described, it might actually put her over that 50% support threshold. What really stands out to me is the consistent emphasis throughout this thread on following the actual IRS rules correctly rather than just choosing what's most tax-beneficial. As someone new to navigating these situations, that approach gives me confidence there's a legitimate way to handle this transition properly. I'm planning to create that comprehensive support worksheet using IRS Publication 501 that everyone keeps mentioning, and I'll research fair market rental values in our area for the housing calculation. The documentation advice from those who've experienced audits is particularly valuable - clearly it's better to be thorough from the start. Thank you to this entire community for sharing such practical, honest guidance. This discussion has given me exactly the roadmap I needed to work through our situation within the proper tax guidelines!

Has anyone actually tried to submit an amendment past the 3 years just to see what happens? I'm curious if they automatically reject it or if there's some review process where they might consider special circumstances.

I'm sorry to say this, but based on everything discussed here, your mother is unfortunately outside the refund window for her 2018 medical expenses. The 3-year statute ran out in April 2022 (assuming she filed by the original due date in 2019). However, don't give up entirely on tax savings! A few things to consider: 1. **Future planning**: Make sure you're tracking all her ongoing medical expenses for current and future tax years. If she's still having significant medical costs, you don't want to miss them again. 2. **State taxes**: Some states have different amendment periods than federal. It might be worth checking if your state allows longer amendment windows. 3. **Other missed deductions**: While you're reviewing her situation, check if there are any other deductions or credits from more recent years (2021-2024) that might have been missed and are still within the amendment window. The $12K potential refund stings, but unfortunately the IRS is extremely rigid about these deadlines. Even filing the amendment now would likely just result in a rejection letter citing the statute of limitations. Better to focus that energy on making sure nothing gets missed going forward.

Has anyone here tried using accounting software like QuickBooks Self-Employed? I'm wondering if it actually helps with the tax calculations or if it's just for tracking expenses?

As someone who's been self-employed for over 5 years, I completely understand your frustration! The key thing to remember is that you're not just paying income tax on your freelance income - you're also paying self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare) which is 15.3% on top of your regular income tax. Here's what worked for me: I set aside 30% of every payment I receive and put it in a separate high-yield savings account that I never touch except for tax payments. Yes, it might be slightly more than you need, but it's better to have a refund than owe money plus penalties. For your situation making $56K as a freelancer with a spouse earning $47K, you'll likely be in the 22% tax bracket for federal income tax, plus the 15.3% self-employment tax. Don't forget you can deduct the employer portion of SE tax (7.65%) and any business expenses like your home office, equipment, software, etc. The IRS calculator might be showing you're overpaying because it's factoring in your husband's W-2 withholdings. If he's having extra withheld or getting refunds, that can offset what you owe. You might want to adjust his withholdings to account for your self-employment income instead of making such large quarterly payments.

I've been in a very similar situation and can definitely relate to that sinking feeling when you realize the payment date is wrong! The good news is that you're absolutely correct about the penalty being minimal for just one day late. From my experience, the IRS charges daily interest on late estimated tax payments at the current federal short-term rate plus 3%. With rates where they are now, you're looking at roughly 0.02% per day. So on a typical quarterly payment, even if it's several thousand dollars, you're talking about a penalty of just a few dollars. I'd recommend just letting it ride rather than making a duplicate payment. The interest charge will be automatically calculated when you file your 2024 return, and most tax software handles this seamlessly once you input the actual payment date. One thing that helped me avoid this in the future was setting up recurring calendar reminders a week before each quarterly deadline, with a follow-up reminder two days before. It's such an easy mistake to make when you're juggling dates! Don't stress too much about this - it happens to more taxpayers than you'd think, and the IRS system is well-equipped to handle these minor timing issues.

I completely understand that panic when you realize you've scheduled a payment for the wrong date! I went through something very similar with my Q2 payment earlier this year - scheduled it to settle on June 18th instead of June 17th and had the exact same "oh no" moment. Everyone here is giving you great advice about the interest calculation being minimal. In my case, it worked out to about $1.85 on a $2,800 payment, so you're definitely looking at just a few dollars at most. One thing I learned that might help ease your mind: EFTPS sometimes processes payments a day early depending on banking holidays and weekends, so there's actually a small chance your payment might still be credited on time even though you scheduled it for the 17th. It's not something to count on, but it does happen occasionally. Either way, don't make a duplicate payment. The tiny interest charge isn't worth the hassle of potentially having to get a refund processed later. When you file your 2024 taxes, just enter the actual settlement date and let your tax software calculate any interest owed. It really is that simple. Set up those calendar reminders for next year and don't beat yourself up over this - we've all been there!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation as a graduate student - I contributed to my Roth IRA earlier this year thinking my research stipend counted as earned income, but now I'm reading that fellowship money might not qualify. The explanations here about the "return of excess contributions" process are really clear. I especially appreciate everyone mentioning the specific terminology to use with brokerages. It sounds like this mistake is way more common than I thought, which makes me feel less foolish about it. One question - does anyone know if teaching assistant income (like getting paid to grade papers or lead discussion sections) counts as earned income? I do have some of that, so I might be able to keep part of my contribution if it qualifies. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and solutions. This community is so helpful for navigating these confusing tax situations!

Don't feel bad about this mistake - I see this confusion all the time in my work helping people with tax issues. The earned income requirement for IRA contributions is one of those rules that seems simple but catches a lot of people off guard, especially students. Since you have zero earned income for 2023, you'll need to remove the entire $6,000 contribution. Here's exactly what to do: Call your brokerage and request a "return of excess contributions for tax year 2023." This is the specific process they use for this situation. They'll calculate any earnings on that money and withdraw both your original contribution plus those earnings. The good news: Your original $6,000 comes back to you tax-free since you already paid taxes on it. Any earnings will be taxable income and may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty, but that's still much better than the 6% penalty every year if you leave it in. You have until April 15, 2024 to fix this without penalties (or October 15 if you file an extension). Most brokerages can process this pretty quickly once you request it. The silver lining? You're 22 and already thinking about retirement savings - that puts you way ahead of most people your age! Once you graduate and start working, you can get right back to building that Roth IRA. This is just a temporary detour, not a roadblock.