Thanks for the insight! I did make around $8,900 over the summer, so that percentage makes sense. Do you think sharing my bank info with them is safe? That's my main concern honestly.

Sharing your bank info with a legitimate tax service is generally safe. They're handling millions of transactions and have security protocols in place. Account and routing numbers are actually printed on every check you write, so they're not your most sensitive financial information. That said, only provide this info through their secure portal, never via email or text. And if you're still uncomfortable, you can absolutely request a paper check instead as someone suggested earlier. It'll take longer but might give you more peace of mind. Most reputable companies offer both options.

THIS! I had the same experience. They called it a "refund management fee" on top of the tax prep fee I already paid. Check the paperwork you signed.

Do you know which 10 states haven't expanded Medicaid? I'm moving soon and worried about my coverage potentially changing.

As of early 2025, the states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Wisconsin is a special case because they cover adults up to 100% of the poverty level but didn't adopt the full expansion. If you're moving to one of these states, you'll want to carefully check the eligibility requirements, as they're more restrictive than expansion states. The income limits and categories of eligible people vary significantly in these non-expansion states.

I thought the whole point of the 1095 forms was for the penalty? If there's no penalty anymore, why do they still send these forms out at all?

Does that head of household thing really make a big difference? I've always just filed as single. Is it complicated to change to that?

Head of household makes a HUGE difference! For 2025, the standard deduction for HOH is around $20,800 compared to just $14,600 for single filers. That's over $6,000 more of your income that won't be taxed! It's not complicated at all to change your filing status. When you prepare your return, you just select "Head of Household" instead of "Single" and the tax software or forms will automatically apply the better tax rates and higher standard deduction. The requirements are that you're unmarried, pay more than half the cost of keeping up the home, and have a qualifying person living with you (your dependent parent counts for this).

The gross income limit only applies to taxable income. Social Security is only partially taxable or not taxable at all depending on total income. Check out the worksheet in IRS Publication 501 for determining if Social Security counts toward the gross income test.

Thanks for this tip! Does it matter what method I use to track expenses? Like can I just keep a spreadsheet or do I need special software? Also, for the home office deduction, is it better to do the simplified method or the regular one?

A simple spreadsheet works perfectly fine for tracking expenses - just make sure to keep all receipts too (digital copies are okay). I personally use a Google Sheet where I log the date, amount, vendor, and category of each expense. Some people prefer apps like QuickBooks Self-Employed or FreshBooks, but they're not necessary when you're just starting out. For the home office deduction, it really depends on your situation. The simplified method is just $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet (max $1,500 deduction), which is super easy. The regular method can potentially get you a larger deduction if you have a big office or high home expenses, but requires much more detailed record-keeping and calculations. I'd start with the simplified method your first year, then see if it's worth doing the math for the regular method next year.

You can still catch up! Make a payment now that covers what you should have paid for Q1 (April) and Q2 (June). Then stay on track with Q3 (Sept) and Q4 (Jan). You might face a small penalty for the late payments, but it's WAY better than waiting until tax time to pay it all! The penalty is basically an interest charge.

What about if some of my sales are direct through my website where I have to collect and remit the tax myself? Do I treat those differently than the Ebay collected ones?

For sales through your own website, you'll use the same principles but with a few extra steps. You'll still record the collected sales tax in a liability account (not income), but since you're responsible for remitting it yourself, the balance won't automatically zero out like with Ebay. You'll need to regularly (monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on your state requirements) transfer that money to the appropriate tax authorities. When you make those payments, you'd record them as drawing down from your sales tax liability account. This keeps your income clean and gives you a clear record of your tax collection and remittance activities.

I've been using TaxJar for this and it's been pretty helpful for tracking all the different state thresholds. The economic nexus rules are such a pain to keep up with manually.