Propfirm tax write off to save my bank (HELP)
Hey guys I really need your help, anyone who has experience with taxes as a propfirm trader, or knows about tax law related to prop firm trading. I am someone who has tried to become profitable through prop firm trading, but wasn't able to succeed. Throughout my trading career from january to now, I have made $14k in payouts from propfirms, with all of them being from Lucid, except for one payout from Tradeify. I set aside 30% of that 14k into a HYSA as my "tax" money that I will eventually owe in April. Throughout this process, I have blown all my profits and some of my own money, to being a total of $20k being spent on evaluations and resets. I don't want to continue trading and dig myself into an even deeper hole so I decided to quit now. I wanted to see if there was any route where I could save my lost income, through potentially tax write offs. I don't have an LLC, I don't have an Scorp, or any business card. All expenses were made through a personal credit card/debit card. I've asked around from some traders and from chatgpt and the general consensus is I should be able to write off evals, one trader I asked was even writing off their rent and electricity bills. I didn't want to go around telling people my exact numbers, so I wanted to come here and ask here what my situation is looking like. Seeing the numbers I have, (14k in payouts, 4k taxes, 20k in expenses) I am basically 10k in red. Please let me know what is the best course of action and help me understand what is likely to happen.
SIDE NOTE: I am a college student, this year I have done two PAID internships (one in Boston, one in Colorado) meaning I also have W-2 wages.
Will I be able to write off all 4k of that tax money from the 20k I spent on evals (meaning I would owe no tax money)?
Would I be able to get a tax refund since I am considered a business loss, meaning my taxable income from my W-2 income would be reduced and I'd get a refund from that?
During my 2 internships, I stayed in different states, one in Boston, one in Colorado. I was staying in a furnished finder (similar to airbnb), should I report the rent I paid as a "business expense"?
I know it's very early considering we are months from April, but I want to get a general idea of what it looks like and if I should do this myself or get a CPA. I would like to hear from anyone experienced who might have some good knowledge related to my situation.
Thanks!