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Yes you need to report it.  Especially interest from the IRS.  They know they sent it to you.   And you must report all your income.   Even $1.00 of bank interest you don't get a 1099 for.     And if the IRS changed your tax return and AGI you still enter the AGI from your original 1040 return next year to efile.  

@Renigma   Yes you have to report all  your income no matter how small.  Even $1 of bank interest you don't get a 1099 for.    If you have self employment you need to report it even if under $600.  You have to pay the self employment tax on $433 or more.  What if 20 people paid you $500 so you didn't get any 1099NEC forms.  That would be $10,000.  Or if someone didn't send you the 1099NEC for over $600?  You need to keep your own good records.   There are many reasons to report all your SE income.   The Net Profit on Schedule C can count as Earned Income to qualify for credits and IRA deductions.  And you might be able to write off medical premiums without using schedule A for itemized deductions.  

You get a tax refund when your total tax payments are greater than your total tax liability.    Enter your children as dependents in the My Info section of the program.  Then enter your W-2 tax data in the Wages & Income section of the program.  If eligible, you will receive a child tax credit for the dependents you have claimed.   See this TurboTax support FAQ for the child tax credit - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/child-tax-credit/L2lNhfGDl_US_en_US?uid=mbb2kwze   See this TurboTax support FAQ for the Earned Income Tax Credit - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/qualifications-earned-income-credit-eic-eitc/L7w4BFP32_US_en_US?uid=mbb2mluj

If you have reached out to the IRS and have not been able to resolve your questions, I recommend reaching out to a Taxpayer Advocate using this link.  They can act as a liaison between you and the IRS and help you resolve the confusion.   @LAC8 

You enter it as a vehicle expense when entering self-employment income and expenses.   See this TurboTax support FAQ - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/enter-self-employment-business-expenses-like-home/L1k6HJY4A_US_en_US?uid=mbb2eq78

Did you e-file your tax return and was it accepted? Only the IRS and your State control when and if a Federal or State tax refund is Approved and Issued.   You complete your tax return by finishing all 3 Steps in the File section. In Step 3, to e-file your tax return, you must click on the large button labeled "Transmit my returns now".   After completing the File section and e-filing your tax return you will receive two emails from TurboTax. The first email when your tax return was transmitted and the second email when the tax return has either been accepted or rejected.   Note - Once a tax return has been Accepted by the IRS or a State, TurboTax receives no further information concerning the tax return or the status of any tax refund.  Only the taxpayer listed on the tax return can obtain the status of a tax refund or a tax return.   To check the status of an e-filed return, open up your desktop product or log into your TurboTax Online Account. You can find your status within the TurboTax product. If accepted by the IRS use the federal tax refund website to check the refund status - https://www.irs.gov/refunds If accepted by the state use this TurboTax support FAQ to check the state tax refund status - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-refund/track-state-refund/L3jgO8PGs_...   After the tax return has been Accepted by the IRS (meaning only that they received the return) it will be in the Processing mode until the tax refund has been Approved and then an Issue Date will be available on the IRS website.

Even though your business is located in Maryland, if you're doing any sort of business within the District of Columbia, you are required to file a return in D.C. per this resource.   You may need to amend your Maryland return to apportion your income per the instructions on page 12 here.  You would only need to report the income earned in Maryland on your Maryland return, and any income earned in D.C. would be reported on the return for D.C.  See this link from the District of Columbia for more details on their filing requirements.    

Thanks for your message. I'm not giving someone that I don't know my SS# or any part of it. By the way that he was guiding me prior to this, I knew that his support wasn't going to get me anywhere anyway. He was just telling me to do steps that I already found on Google, Chat GPT and this community of volunteers. Yes, as someone suggested here, there was a response from TT via FB Messenger. So that's a good way to contact them. Possibly the only way in addition to Twitter. My licenses are registered using my username and password. This is how I activated TT each time. So they have all of my necessary info if they really want to be helpful.  I'll follow all of the tips that you provided. Thanks again for your willingness to help. I appreciate it.  

@rjs wrote: Social Security tax withheld from your pay, and shown in box 4 of your W-2, IS subject to federal income tax. You pay income tax on your gross pay (W-2 box 1), without subtracting Social Security tax (box 4) or Medicare tax (box 6). That's the way the tax rules work.   Well, your social security tax is based on your box 3 income.  Box 1 and box 3 income may be different in some cases, such as when you contribute to a 401k.   However, there are no tax deductions for paying social security tax, it is not a deductible tax like state income tax, sales tax, or real property tax. 

Are the expenses recorded in box 14?  That is a memo field, it is not taxable, forget about it.   Are the expenses included in your box 1 wages?  Then read below.   If the employer has an accountable plan (you prove expenses with receipts), then they should not include the reimbursement on your W-2.  You should ask them for a corrected W-2.  If they refuse, you have the option of submitting a "substitute W-2" form showing what you believe to be the accurate numbers, but this will almost certainly be questioned by the IRS.  So you want to have proof that you asked your employer, they refused, and you will need proof that you employer has an accountable expense plan.   If the expense plan is not an accountable plan, then it correct to include the payment as taxable wages, and you are not allowed to make any adjustments or deductions from that amount.  

@Arneoker  since user @guywong  has responded to your two articulated questions, I will comment only on the first paragraph of your post -- to wit:   "My wife says that she wouldn't pay taxes on this pension bonus until next year, so I would think that I couldn't apply for any credit until I do my 2026 tax return, which of course would be in 2027."   1. For US purposes you have to recognize the income in the tax year it was constructively received by you --- so if it was credited ( US Bank , Foreign account , posted etc. ) to you in calendar year 2025, then you have to recognize  this on your return for the tax year 2025 --- 2026 filing year.  This has nothing to do with when and how you settle  your foreign ( source country ) taxes / filings. 2. As I have mentioned earlier, there is no tax treaty in effect between US and Colombia in 2025 -- at the time of distribution.  Thus foreign tax credit is NOT available on this income.  You may be eligible for  SALT, as mentioned earlier. 3. A pension treatment does allow you to deduct her total contribution -- only the rest  ( growth plus any employer contribution ) is  taxable income.   Is there more I can help you with ?

The reference that Hal_Al gave says the following. "Here are some typical examples of household employees: ... • Health aides and private nurses" IRS Publication 926 (2025), Household Employer's Tax Guide, page 3, says the following. "Some examples of workers who do household work are: ... • Private nurses"  

So who can help me with this? The taxpayer is a Caregiver for a disabled client (not related to each other). The disabled client lives in her household and gets disability income from SSI. Caregiver is a W-2 employee and pays more than half the disabled clients total support, I am under the impression that the disabled client qualifies as a qualifying relative and as her dependent. Can taxpayer get the $500.00 credit for other dependents and if so, how do you enter it into turbo tax? I have tried every way I can think of, but have not been successful. Can someone run me through the steps, I am not high tech when it comes to computers, so is there a how to input in turbo tax for dummies? I have the home & business edition. Disabled client saves most of his money for when his caregiver can no longer take care of him. He pays a small amount of rent and buys some food. There are 6 people in the household, in which the caregiver pays the majority of rent, utilities, food and other items.   

@nettynoo which state is this.. check state website if any sort of penalty waiver/abatements in effect e.g. disaster relief in NC.   if they recalculate your underpayment penalty independently like Fed does but have different information for 2023 tax info or estimated payments, they may get a different result than TT calculation.  you should have a form in your state return with the penalty calculation you can go thru and see if there might be anything that state knows differently