I've filed as an independent contractor for 8 years now. According to IRS Publication 535, business expenses must be both ordinary and necessary to be deductible. Both software options apply identical IRS regulations, but TurboTax does have better explanations of these rules embedded in their interface. Last year I compared results by entering identical information in both systems and received the exact same refund amount.

I sort of had a bad experience with TaxAct last year, possibly just bad luck though. I had maybe 5 different 1099s and it seemed to get confused with some of my business expenses. Customer support was kind of limited compared to what my friends said about TurboTax. But I saved around $40 or so, which was worth it for me at the time.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation, and I probably need to make an estimated tax payment by April 15th to avoid penalties. The advance was about $1,200 in my case, which might mean roughly $250-300 in federal taxes depending on your bracket. It's definitely worth setting aside at least 20-25% of the advance amount if possible, just to be safe until you get official clarification.

You might want to check if you qualify for the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (Form 8880) since your income is under $20K. Contributing even a small amount to an IRA could help offset some of the tax impact from this unemployment advance. I was in a similar spot last year and putting $500 in a traditional IRA saved me more than that in taxes.

According to the IRS website (https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc308), you should file Form 1040-X to correct your return. The current processing time for amended returns is approximately 16 weeks according to the IRS Operations page, though in my experience last tax season it took closer to 20 weeks. Make sure to check the "Where's My Amended Return" tool on IRS.gov after 3 weeks to track progress. You'll need to mail the amendment - electronic filing for 1040-X is limited to certain situations and software providers.

If you've already received your refund, you might need to send payment with your amended return for any additional tax due. I would, um, suggest calculating the tax impact before filing the amendment. The additional $8,828 in income might push you into a higher tax bracket, depending on your total income. Also, don't forget that you may need to amend your state return as well if applicable.

Have you checked your daughter's account status through the online portal? Could your application already be processed but you haven't received notification? Is it possible the PIN was generated but sent to an outdated address? The most reliable solution is to log into the IRS online account associated with your daughter's SSN. Navigate to the "Get an IP PIN" tool under the Identity Protection section. If the application was successful, you'll see either a status update or the actual PIN displayed there. If nothing appears, your application is still being processed, which is normal if you only submitted on January 15th. The IRS typically takes 3-4 weeks during tax season for these requests.

The situation you're describing is different from how the IP PIN system actually works. Unlike other IRS programs like the Child Tax Credit rollout or the Economic Impact Payments where there were specific batches, the IP PIN system processes applications continuously. I've compared this to passport applications - you don't need to time your application with any specific government batch processing date. The January 21st date is simply when they start issuing the annual PINs to people who already had them in previous years, not a cutoff for new applications. Your daughter's application from January 15th is already in their queue and will be processed normally.

Did the IRS tell you specifically what caused the issue last year? I'm wondering if it was a simple oversight or something more significant that might trigger a pattern?

The IRS utilizes what's called the Discriminant Function System (DIF) to score returns for audit potential. While previous compliance issues can influence your DIF score, a single resolved issue typically doesn't significantly impact future filings. However, the IRS does maintain a Compliance Research Database that tracks patterns over multiple years. If you're concerned, ensure meticulous documentation for any areas similar to your previous adjustment. For immigrants specifically, the IRS recognizes there's a learning curve with U.S. tax law and generally doesn't penalize good-faith efforts to comply, even with occasional errors.