This is potentially dangerous advice without more context. Real estate professional status is one of the most audited areas by the IRS. Unless the original poster actually works in real estate as their primary profession, they almost certainly won't qualify. Having one rental property with some repair issues isn't enough to meet the substantial requirements for this status.

You're right that it's heavily scrutinized, and I should have been clearer. Real estate professional status typically requires working in real estate full-time and having multiple properties. For someone with just one condo that had issues, it's unlikely they'd qualify. A more realistic approach for most people is to ensure all legitimate expenses are captured on Schedule E, properly document everything, and then carry forward losses to future tax years when they can be used against rental income or when the property is sold.

That's interesting - I hadn't considered the casualty loss angle. The water damage was definitely sudden and unexpected (a pipe burst in the wall). Do you know how this would work with the insurance payments I received? The insurance covered about 85% of the damage, but I still had out-of-pocket costs.

I used TurboTax but I paid for it with my credit card during filing, so the fees definitely weren't taken from the refund. The weird thing is that the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool shows the full amount, but what's pending in my bank is less. That's what has me so confused.

In that case, it's almost certainly an adjustment or offset of some kind. One thing to check - did you receive all of your stimulus payments during COVID? Some people who claimed the Recovery Rebate Credit had it adjusted by the IRS if their records showed the stimulus was already paid. Also worth checking if your bank might have put a temporary hold on part of the deposit, though that's less common.

This happened to me too! I had a partial deposit and freaked out, then 4 days later the rest showed up. The IRS never explained why they split it. Something about fraud prevention maybe?

I'm actually in graduate school, so I'm past the 4-year limit for AOTC. And I file independently, so no worries about the dependent situation. Would the loan disbursement date still be the determining factor for the LLC just like it is for AOTC?

Yes, the same timing rules apply to both the LLC and AOTC - it's when the payment is made to the institution that matters. For loan proceeds, that's the disbursement date to the school. Graduate school definitely limits you to the Lifetime Learning Credit, but at least you can claim that for an unlimited number of years. One other thing to watch for: make sure you're only claiming tuition and required fees, not room and board or other expenses, as qualified education expenses. The rules are pretty strict about what qualifies.

In TurboTax, when you get to the education section, there's a screen that asks about your 1098-T. After you enter the 1098-T info, it will ask if you had additional qualified expenses not reported on the form. That's where you can add the extra qualified expenses. Just make sure you have documentation to back it up!

Really appreciate the idea about the Chamber of Commerce - never would have thought of that! And good point about setting up systems for the future. Do you find QuickBooks easy to use for someone who's not naturally organized?

QuickBooks Self-Employed is pretty user-friendly, even for the organizationally-challenged! It connects to your bank accounts and payment apps, then automatically sorts transactions. You just need to review them occasionally to make corrections. The mobile app is super convenient - you can snap pictures of receipts on the go, and it has automatic mileage tracking. My accountant did an hour-long setup session with me to customize categories for my specific business, which made a huge difference. The key is consistent small efforts rather than trying to sort everything at tax time.

I checked out the NATP site and found three CPAs in my area who list cryptocurrency experience! Thanks for this tip - seems much more targeted than just googling "accountant near me" which is what I was doing.

What if you sell land that was gifted to you? My parents gave me some property a few years back and I'm thinking about selling. Would I use their purchase price as my basis or something else?

With gifted property, you generally take the donor's basis (what your parents paid originally) as your basis. This is different from inherited property, which gets a stepped-up basis to fair market value at the time of death. However, there's a special rule if the fair market value at the time of the gift was LESS than the donor's basis and you sell at a loss. In that case, you use the fair market value at time of gift to calculate the loss. It's a bit complicated, but Publication 551 from the IRS explains this in detail. Also keep in mind that if your parents paid gift tax when they gave you the property, you might be able to add some of that gift tax to your basis, potentially reducing your gain when you sell.

Also check for any local taxes! Some cities have their own income taxes that apply to capital gains too. Philadelphia got me with this - had to pay city tax on top of federal and state.