I have two sons who are degree-seeking undergraduate students at a State University. They both received form 1098-T, where box 5 (scholarships) exceeds box 1 (payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses). Do I report the excess in miscellaneous income on my tax return, or do they have to file their own returns? The scholarships are Pell Grant and FAFSA, and they are full-time non-working students.

January 31st, 2024

My husband received a 1099-R with a code 1 due to early retirement and long-term disability. We had to pull his retirement to avoid losing our home. We are unsure if we need to report this to the State of Mississippi for taxes.

December 4th, 2023

In February 2013, my employer let me go owing me $20,000 in back wages, which he covered with a personal loan note. He has been repaying this with interest and sends me a 1099-MISC each year. He recently paid off the principal but still owes interest and penalties. The loan was for 2 years at $500 per month with 1% monthly interest and late charges of $40 after the due date. He offered a cash settlement for half the remaining debt, which I accepted and declared as paid. He later sent me a 1099 for the checks and cash given in 2015. I looked online and found that I can only declare the interest on a personal loan and can give him a 1099-C for debt cancellation. Can you clarify my tax obligations?

November 13th, 2023

I'm working on a tax return for a Chinese restaurant that had bank deposits of $152K but 1099-K revenue of $159K for the year. Are there any published benchmarks on what's the normal ratio of cash to credit card sales for this kind of business?

November 6th, 2024

I have a $45,000 Federal tax debt from 2002-2006 with a lien. I heard about the offer in compromise but am unclear if I qualify because I should have all of what I owe paid up to submit an offer. Do you have any advice or information that would make things clearer to me?

April 21st, 2024