Don't panic - this is actually more common than you think! I work as a tax preparer and see this situation several times each filing season. Here's my recommended action plan: 1. **Pay immediately** - Go to irs.gov and use Direct Pay to submit your $2,400 payment today. This protects you from failure-to-pay penalties and stops interest from accruing. You'll get a confirmation number that proves when you paid. 2. **Check if it was actually received** - Create an account on the IRS website and pull your tax account transcript. Sometimes returns are received and being processed even when tracking shows "In Transit." The transcript will show if they have any record of your return. 3. **Call the Practitioner Priority Line** - If you can't get through on the regular line, try calling early morning (7-8 AM) when hold times are shorter. Have your SSN, filing status, and prior year AGI ready. 4. **Wait 6-8 weeks total before refiling** - Paper returns are taking much longer to process this year. I've had clients' returns show up in the system 7-8 weeks after mailing, even when USPS tracking never updated. 5. **Keep everything** - Save your tracking number, mailing receipt, payment confirmation, and any screenshots of your account transcripts. This documentation will be crucial if you need to request penalty abatement later. You're not going to get in trouble for a lost return - the IRS deals with this regularly. The key is making that payment ASAP to minimize any potential penalties!

This exact thing happened to me in 2022! My return with a $1,800 balance due got stuck "In Transit" for 5 weeks and I was absolutely freaking out about penalties. Here's what I learned: The IRS processing centers are still dealing with massive backlogs from the pandemic, and paper returns are taking WAY longer than the normal 6-8 weeks they used to quote. My return eventually showed up in their system after 9 weeks, even though USPS tracking never moved past "In Transit." The absolute most important thing you can do RIGHT NOW is make that $2,400 payment through IRS Direct Pay. Don't wait - do it today. The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5% per month, which adds up fast, but if you pay electronically you'll have a timestamp proving when you paid. The failure-to-file penalty is much higher (5% per month), but that's based on when they actually receive your return, not when you mailed it. Also, create an account on irs.gov and check your "Account Transcript" - this updates faster than the "Where's My Refund" tool and will show if they have any record of your return. Sometimes returns show up there weeks before they appear anywhere else. Keep that tracking number and your mailing receipt! If you do get hit with penalties later, you can file Form 843 for penalty abatement and cite "reasonable cause" due to postal service delays. The IRS is usually pretty understanding about mail issues if you can document that you mailed it on time. You're going to be fine - this happens to thousands of people every year and the IRS has processes to deal with it!

Something nobody's mentioned yet - you should check if Spain has an exit tax that applies when you move your investments out of the country. Some European countries impose taxes when residents leave with their investments. I got hit with this when leaving Portugal and wasn't prepared for it. Also, if your Spanish funds are similar to US ETFs, you might want to look into whether your new US broker can accept a transfer-in-kind rather than selling and rebuying. Some global brokers like Interactive Brokers can sometimes handle this for certain securities.

Just a warning from my experience - if your Spanish investments are mutual funds or ETFs (sounds like they are), they'll almost certainly be classified as PFICs, which the IRS treats very harshly. When I moved from France with my investments, I didn't know about PFIC rules and kept my foreign funds for 2 years. The tax calculation was a nightmare and I ended up paying much higher rates than if I'd invested in equivalent US funds. I would strongly consider selling everything and rebuying similar US-based funds, despite the one-time tax hit.

Just FYI, I made a mistake my freshman year by not keeping receipts for my textbooks and required materials. Make sure you're saving ALL receipts for anything education-related, and get documentation from your department that the laptop and software were required for your program. That documentation can make a huge difference if there's ever a question about whether those were qualified education expenses!

Great advice from everyone here! One additional tip that helped me as a student - if you're taking student loans, make sure to track your loan origination fees. These are considered qualified education expenses and can be used toward education credits even though they're not something you directly pay to the school. Also, @Zoe Papanikolaou, since you mentioned this is your first time filing independently, don't forget that you'll need to file a return for your work income from the campus bookstore even if your parents claim you as a dependent. You'll likely get back most or all of any federal taxes withheld from your paychecks since your income is probably pretty low. And definitely take @Dmitry Popov's advice about documentation seriously - I've seen students lose out on legitimate deductions because they couldn't prove the expenses were required by their program.

Code 766 is definitely a step in the right direction! 🎉 It means they've applied a credit to your account (your refund amount), but you're still waiting for the magic 846 code that actually means "refund issued." I totally get the frustration after waiting since February - that's way beyond reasonable! I've been seeing everyone mention taxr.ai and honestly it sounds like a game changer. For $4.99 you get a full breakdown of what every code means and a timeline for when to expect your money. After months of staring at those cryptic numbers and getting nowhere with WMR, it seems worth it for the peace of mind alone. Hang in there - seeing that 766 means you're finally in their system and moving forward! Hopefully that 846 shows up soon! 🤞💰

Code 766 is definitely good news! 🎉 It means the IRS has applied a credit to your account - essentially they've calculated your refund amount. But I totally understand your frustration after waiting since February, that's absolutely ridiculous timing on their part. The key thing to watch for next is code 846, which means your refund is actually being issued with a specific date. There can sometimes be a gap of a few days to a couple weeks between these codes appearing. After 5+ months of this stress, I'd honestly recommend trying taxr.ai like so many people here are suggesting. For $4.99 it analyzes your entire transcript and gives you a clear timeline instead of playing the guessing game with all these codes. Way better than that useless "Where's My Refund" tool that just keeps saying "processing" forever! You're finally making progress though - hang in there! 🤞

Filed February 9th here and STILL waiting - this thread has been such a lifesaver! I moved to the US in late 2023 and had no idea what I was getting into with my first tax filing. Like so many others here, I've been religiously checking "Where's My Refund" and getting that same generic "still processing" message for months. The international filer review queue explanation finally makes sense of why this is taking so long! I was starting to panic that I'd made some critical error on my return. Just downloaded the IRS2Go app and I'm planning to try Claimyr this week - can't believe I didn't know about these resources earlier. It's both comforting and frustrating to see we're all in the same boat. Really hoping we're part of that February batch that's supposedly getting processed soon. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - knowing I'm not alone in this waiting game has seriously reduced my stress levels! 🤞

Filed February 5th and FINALLY got my refund yesterday! 🎉 As another newcomer to the US tax system (moved here in 2023), I totally understand everyone's frustration. Reading through this thread, it's clear that international filers are definitely getting caught up in extended processing times this year. What helped me stay sane was realizing that "still processing" doesn't mean there's a problem - it just means we're in that secondary review queue that @Kaitlyn Jenkins mentioned. I also used the Claimyr service about 3 weeks ago and the agent confirmed my return was just waiting in the international filer backlog with no issues. For everyone still waiting - hang in there! It seems like they really are working through the February batch now. The actual deposit happened within 24 hours of my status changing from "processing" to "refund sent," so once it moves, it moves fast! 🤞