Pro tip: Ask your church for a year-end giving statement in January! This makes tax time so much easier if you're itemizing. Mine breaks down weekly giving by date and gives the total for the year with the church's tax ID number and everything. Also, remember that if you donate by check or credit card in late December 2024 but the church doesn't actually receive or process it until January 2025, it still counts for your 2024 taxes (the year you initiated the donation). This can be helpful if you're trying to get over the itemization threshold.

Don't forget that tithes and offerings aren't the only church-related expenses that can be deductible! If you drive as a volunteer (like delivering meals for church outreach or driving for youth events), you can deduct mileage at the charitable rate (14 cents per mile I think). Also, if you buy supplies for church activities and aren't reimbursed, those count too.

Question for anyone who's actually dealt with this: does early direct deposit affect tax withholding at all? Like if my company withholds based on what they think is my 2026 income, but it actually hits my account in 2025, am I supposed to adjust something on my tax return?

This is such a timely question! I'm dealing with this exact scenario right now. My credit union offers early direct deposit and I'm getting paid on December 30th for what should technically be my January 3rd paycheck. From everything I've researched, the IRS generally follows the "cash method" of accounting for individual taxpayers, which means income is taxable when you actually receive it, not when it's earned or when your employer processes it. So if the money hits your account in 2025, it should count as 2025 income. The tricky part is that your employer will likely report it on your 2026 W-2 since that's when they consider the payment to have been made from their payroll system. This creates a potential mismatch that you might need to document. I'd recommend keeping screenshots of your bank statements showing the actual deposit dates, along with your pay stubs showing the pay period dates. If there's ever a question from the IRS about why your reported income doesn't exactly match your W-2, you'll have the documentation to explain the early direct deposit timing difference. Has anyone here actually been audited or questioned by the IRS about this kind of discrepancy? I'm curious how they typically handle it in practice.

yall need to stop watching them transcripts like its netflix fr fr. Just set up alerts on taxr.ai and forget about it till they notify you 💅

Code 810 since March is definitely frustrating! The changing "as of" dates are normal system updates but don't indicate actual progress unfortunately. Since you haven't received any letters, I'd suggest calling the taxpayer advocate service at 877-777-4778 - they can sometimes get more specific info than the regular helpline. Also worth checking if you moved recently or if your address is correct with USPS, sometimes verification letters get returned and cause longer delays.

One thing nobody has mentioned yet - if you itemize deductions and your total itemized deductions excluding the wage repayment are already greater than your standard deduction, you might still benefit from including the repayment amount on Schedule A. True, miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% AGI floor are suspended, but it's worth checking with a tax professional about whether wage repayments might qualify under a different category that isn't suspended. The tax law is complicated, and sometimes there are exceptions to exceptions.

I had this exact issue in 2022! The simplest solution ended up being asking my employer to issue a corrected W-2 for the year I received the overpayment (which would be 2023 in your case). They were resistant at first, but after I showed them guidance from the IRS about wage corrections, they eventually did it. This approach completely avoided the repayment deduction issue because it essentially "erased" the overpayment from my prior year income, which meant I could file an amended return for 2023 to get back the taxes I paid on that money.

Has anyone used TurboTax to handle this kind of donation? I'm wondering if their software walks you through medical equipment donations properly or if I need something more specialized.

I work in medical billing and deal with DME valuations regularly. For prosthetic limbs specifically, you'll want to contact either the original manufacturer or a certified prosthetist for the appraisal. Many prosthetists are qualified to provide fair market value assessments since they understand depreciation rates and condition factors for these devices. A few things to keep in mind: prosthetics typically retain 30-60% of their original value depending on age, condition, and whether they're current generation technology. Since yours are still in good condition but older models, you're probably looking at the lower end of that range. Also, make sure Shriners can actually accept used prosthetics - some hospitals have strict policies about accepting used medical devices due to hygiene and liability concerns. I'd recommend calling them first to confirm they can use the donation before going through the appraisal process. The tax benefits are definitely worth pursuing given the original cost, but getting everything documented properly upfront will save you headaches later if the IRS has questions.