Make sure u dont have any other holds besides the 810. Sometimes theres multiple codes that need fixing

The IRS is so behind on everything idk why they even bother with deadlines anymore smh

I had a similar issue last year and found out those numbers were just informational. BUT if you live in certain states (CA, MA, NJ, RI, or DC), they still have their own individual mandate penalties! I got hit with a $695 penalty in Massachusetts because I didn't realize this.

As someone who just went through this exact confusion with my first 1095-C form, I wanted to share what I learned after doing a deep dive into this. The dollar amounts you're seeing (like that $267.50) are NOT penalties or amounts you owe - they're just reporting what you would have paid monthly for the cheapest qualifying health plan your employer offered. The key thing to understand is that even though there's no federal penalty anymore, your 1095-C still serves an important purpose. If those monthly amounts add up to more than 9.12% of your annual household income, your employer's coverage is considered "unaffordable" under ACA rules. This is actually good news for you because it means you could potentially qualify for premium tax credits if you choose to buy coverage through Healthcare.gov instead during the next open enrollment. You definitely want to have that conversation with HR to confirm the actual costs, but don't stress about owing money right now - you're not in trouble with the IRS over this!

Dumb question maybe but does this work for USDA or VA mortgage insurance too? Or is it just FHA? I have a VA loan with funding fee.

Great discussion here! I've been using the regular method for my home office deductions for the past year and can confirm that the FHA mortgage insurance is definitely deductible as a business expense. I use about 18% of my home for my consulting business. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned - make sure you're consistent with your percentage calculations across all your home office expenses. I use the same 18% for my mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, homeowners insurance, AND the FHA mortgage insurance. The IRS wants to see consistency in how you calculate your business use percentage. Also, keep in mind that if you ever stop using that space exclusively for business, you'll need to adjust your deductions accordingly. I learned this the hard way when I temporarily converted part of my office into a guest room last year and had to recalculate everything mid-year. The documentation tips from Diego are spot-on too. I keep a dedicated folder with photos, measurements, and all the calculations just in case.

Does anyone know if the rules are different for state taxes? We're in California and their tax rules sometimes differ from federal. Can my son be my dependent on federal but independent on state? He's 19, in college, I pay more than half his support.

This is such a common confusion that comes up every tax season! Your son can absolutely file his own return to get his refund AND you can still claim him as your dependent - these two things are completely separate. The key is that when he files his return, he needs to check the box that says "Someone can claim you as a dependent." This tells the IRS that while he's filing to get his withholdings back, he's not claiming his own personal exemption. Based on what you've described, your son clearly qualifies as your dependent under the "qualifying child" test - he's under 19 (or under 24 if a full-time student), lives with you more than half the year, and you provide more than half his support. His $4,800 in earnings doesn't disqualify him at all. The benefits work out much better for your family this way too. You get to claim valuable tax credits like the Child Tax Credit, while he still gets back whatever was withheld from his paychecks. It's really a win-win situation, even though it might take some explaining to convince him that this is the smart financial move for the whole family!

This is a really helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation where my spring semester payment from January 2024 isn't showing up on my 2024 1098-T yet, but I made it in early January. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like I need to keep track of my actual payments regardless of what the 1098-T shows. One question though - if I'm claiming expenses that aren't on my 1098-T, do I need to attach any additional forms or documentation when I file my taxes? Or do I just keep the receipts in case of an audit? Want to make sure I'm doing this correctly and not setting myself up for problems later.

I had a very similar situation with my university last year! My December 2023 payment of about $3,200 didn't show up on my 2023 1098-T either, and I was really worried about how to handle it for my taxes. Here's what I learned: you're absolutely right that schools often have reporting cutoffs in November, so late payments get rolled into the next year's form. But the key thing is that for tax purposes, what matters is when YOU made the payment, not when the school reports it. I ended up claiming my December payment on my 2023 taxes even though it wasn't on the 1098-T, and I kept all my payment confirmations from the university's online portal as backup. When I got my 2024 1098-T this year, sure enough, that December payment showed up on it. Just make sure you have good records of all your payments - screenshots from your student account, bank statements, whatever shows the payment date and amount. The 1098-T is helpful but it's not the final word on what you can claim for education credits.