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A house is "available for rent" on the day you are looking for a tenant, not necessarily on the day that a tenant moves in.  If you were hunting for a tenant - and paying realtors to do it for you - then the house was available.     You need to amend your 2024 tax return and change the number of days that the house was available to the day that you were ready to have someone move in.  You will then be able to deduct eligible expenses.

You don't need a Form 8879 for "self-prepared" tax returns.  Assuming you are not a "paid preparer" and will e-file her tax return, have her sign the 1040 to signify that she has reviewed and approved the tax return.

"why does the IRS only permit a recovery of $100+, over 20 years?" Since I cannot see your private tax data, I don't have an answer; however, I would imagine that if your life span is estimated to be 20 years (based on the IRS tables), then you should be able to recover all of our "cost" or "basis" in that timeframe.   To see you say that you have a "cost" or "basis" or 7k to 22k but the nontaxable portion each year is only 100 to 200 dollars, I have to wonder if something has been entered incorrectly, because the intent of the law is to enable you to recover your cost or basis over your life span.   Is it possible that there is confusion on what "cost" or "basis" is? This is the sum of after-tax dollars that you contributed to your city plan while you were employed. Many retirees have no cost or basis in their pensions, so they are taxed on 100% of their pensions. So are you saying that you and/or your spouse contributed 7k to 22k in after-tax dollars to your pension while you were working?   "Where is that rule, that prevents a 100% immediate recovery, or a better rate of recovery, and for a shorter time period?"   It is buried in that tax code that I showed you earlier. There will not be a user-friendly version of the tax code, just as other laws are incomprehensible to the layman and have to be interpreted by lawyers. This requirement of interpreters for the law is dictated by the fact that the law must be precise while the English language is not precise.   You ask "where is that rule", and the answer is, "It's right here in the Simplified Method" which is applied to most qualified plans.   If you want, you can share with us the data that TurboTax asks for, such as plan start date, number of payments per year, your cost or basis, and the other questions that TurboTax asks in the 1099-R interview. Perhaps I will be able to spot something.

Thanks, but unfortunately, these suggestions was precisely what did not work in my online "premium" version. E.g., there was no such option in the "Deductions ..." section for "Estimated ...". However, I since found another reply to another user who had similar problems, using the "Tools" feature, which I'm pasting below: With the return open, go to the left menu column and click on TAX TOOLS, then the subtab TOOLS. In the Tools Center choose the blue button Topic Search. In the topic search line enter the phrase estimated tax payments without quotes. Make the selection in the list (it may already be highlighted), and either double-click it or click the GO button. Next screen is Estimates and Other Income Taxes Paid. Expand the section Estimated Tax Payments. Choose the appropriate category and tax year you are reporting (Federal, state, local) and click START or Revisit.

1) This suggestion for Estimated Taxes was precisely what does not work in my online "premium" version, unfortunately. There was no such option in the "Deductions ..." section for "Estimated ...". However, I since found another reply to another user who had similar problems, using the "Tools" feature, which I'm pasting below: With the return open, go to the left menu column and click on TAX TOOLS, then the subtab TOOLS. In the Tools Center choose the blue button Topic Search. In the topic search line enter the phrase estimated tax payments without quotes. Make the selection in the list (it may already be highlighted), and either double-click it or click the GO button. Next screen is Estimates and Other Income Taxes Paid. Expand the section Estimated Tax Payments. Choose the appropriate category and tax year you are reporting (Federal, state, local) and click START or Revisit. 2) Thanks for the Cap Gains tip. I hadn't seen that the 1099-B form (for cap gains) was one of the options in the investments section (to the right of 1099-div, etc.)!

@rachele-ohare  generally your income is sourced to the place where work is performed.  Thus  IL should be the one where your income is sourced.  However,  since you are using billing companies in each state, you should check with them as to how they are handling this --- some states want a cut of this remote work income.

Thanks dmertz for your input.  Let me explain further. Mass. taxpayer (public school teacher) established section 403 plan in 1996. For example purposes, employee contributions to the Plan from 1996 to her retirement in 2006 were $100,000.  For federal income tax purposes, all contributions to the Plan were pre-tax. For Massachusetts purposes, Contibutions prior to 1998 of $20,000 were after-tax. Thus her Mass. tax basis is $20,000. In 2012, she directed the trustee of her 403(b) plan to make a total distribution of $110,000 directly to the Trustee of IRA Annuity Trust A  ("IRA A"). This direct rollover distribution of $110,000 was reported by the 403(b) plan on 2012 Form 1099-R  (Distribution Code G); taxable amout zero.  IRA A filed 2012 Form 5498 reporting receipt of the $110,000 rollover contribution and provided taxpayer with a copy.  In early 2025, at the direction f taxpayer, the Trustee of IRA A made a total transfer of IRA assets to IRA Annuity Trust B ("IRA B"). No Form 1099-R was issued. Taxpayer has never received a distribution from either IRA A or IRA B. All required RMD requirements attibutable to IRA A though 2025 have been satisfied by distributions to taxpayer from a separate traditional IRA ("IRA C").  Taxpayer has never received a Form 1099-R from IRA A.  Again, for example, in 2025,  RMDs were IRA A ($10,000) and IRA C ($2,000) and were satisfied with a distribution of $12,000 from IRA C.  IRA A did provide taxpayer with a letter containing its computation of the 2025 IRA A  RMD.  Data input to TurboTax for IRA C shows that taxpayer satisfied her 2025 RMD with distibutions to her of $12,ooo from IRA C. But, without a 1099-R from IRA A, what input to TurboTax is needed  to prevent generation of Form 5329 Penalty?