Former retail manager here. The sales tax issue is complicated because it varies by state and even by item category in some places. In our store, our system could only process full tax refunds with the original receipt because that contained the transaction code that linked to the exact tax filing information. For gift returns, we actually had a policy to give store credit for the full amount INCLUDING tax, but as a courtesy gesture rather than an actual tax refund in the system. Many larger corporate retailers have stricter accounting systems that don't allow for this workaround. My advice is to always ask to speak with a manager and specifically mention that you understand the tax has already been paid to the state, but you're hoping they can make an accommodation for the full amount as a customer service gesture. Works about 50% of the time in my experience.

Just to add another perspective - sometimes it's not worth the hassle for small amounts. I returned a $25 gift without a receipt and they kept about $1.50 in tax. I considered making a fuss but realized my time was worth more than that. For your $8 though, I'd definitely ask for a manager and politely explain that you understand it's their policy, but you're a regular customer and would appreciate if they could add the tax amount to a store credit as a one-time courtesy. Being super nice about it usually works better than demanding the money.

Creator for 3 years here. One thing nobody mentioned yet - you need to put aside money for quarterly estimated tax payments! This was my biggest mistake year 1. If you're making decent money, the IRS expects you to pay taxes quarterly, not just at year-end. I got hit with penalties my first year because I didn't know this. Now I automatically put aside 30% of every payment I get into a separate savings account for taxes.

Don't forget about the self-employment tax! This was a huge shock to me my first year. You pay both the employer and employee portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes, which comes out to about 15.3% ON TOP OF your regular income tax.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this yet - but your ex can still claim your son by filing a paper return instead of electronically. Then you'll BOTH get letters from the IRS asking for documentation to prove who has the right to claim him. The IRS will apply their tiebreaker rules: 1. They look at which parent the child lived with more nights during the year 2. If equal, then they give it to the parent with higher AGI 3. If neither of you are the parent, it goes to the person with the highest AGI So if your ex has documentation showing they were supposed to claim your son this year, you'll end up having to pay it back anyway plus potential penalties. Better to fix it now.

Something to consider - have you talked to your ex about this situation? I know you mentioned you don't communicate well, but maybe explain your financial hardship and offer to make it up next year by letting them claim both kids? Or perhaps work out some other arrangement to compensate them? I had a somewhat similar situation with my ex, and we managed to work out a deal where I claimed both kids one year when I really needed it, and then he got to claim both the following year. We put it in writing just to be safe. Sometimes being upfront is better than dealing with the fallout later.

One thing nobody has mentioned yet - make sure you're aware of the safe harbor rules for estimated taxes. If your 2023 AGI was under $150,000, you only need to pay 100% of your 2023 tax liability through withholding or estimated payments to avoid penalties for 2024. If it was over $150,000, you need to pay 110%. So depending on your situation, you might not actually need to make those estimated payments for 2024 if your 2023 tax liability was low enough and you've had sufficient withholding.

I just want to clarify something I learned the hard way: even if you overpay your 2023 taxes when filing in October, that overpayment credit is technically considered applied on April 15, 2025 for your 2024 taxes. BUT this doesn't erase any underpayment penalties you might owe for missing the actual quarterly due dates. The IRS calculates underpayment penalties quarter by quarter, so if you missed the April 15 and June 15 estimated payments for 2024, you'll still owe penalties for those quarters specifically. The overpayment just helps you going forward to meet your overall 2024 tax obligation.

Pro tip: if it was a smaller home daycare, sometimes they use their Social Security Number instead of an EIN. In that case, you would need to put their SSN on Form 2441 instead. Did they ever mention if they were a registered business or just an individual provider?

If nothing else works, just file for an extension to buy yourself more time to track down the EIN. That's what I did when my kids' afterschool program director took off to Belize with no warning! Finally found another parent who had last year's form with the EIN on it. The extension gave me an extra 6 months to sort everything out without penalties.