This is such a relief to read! I'm currently in week 3 of the 570/971 waiting game (filed Feb 15th, codes appeared March 1st and March 3rd respectively) and was starting to panic that something was seriously wrong with my return. Seeing your timeline and everyone else's experiences gives me hope that this might resolve itself soon without me having to call and wait on hold for hours. The way you described it as "tax jail" made me laugh - that's exactly how it feels! I've been obsessively checking my transcript twice daily like it's going to magically change between morning and afternoon. Thanks for sharing your success story and giving the rest of us stuck in processing limbo some much-needed optimism! 🤞

This gives me so much hope! I'm currently on day 16 of my own 570/971 journey - filed January 30th, got the 570 on February 18th and 971 on February 25th. I've been checking my transcript religiously and starting to worry that maybe my situation is different from everyone else's. What really resonates with me is your description of checking the mailbox religiously for a notice that never comes - I've been doing the exact same thing! My mail carrier probably thinks I'm stalking them at this point 😂 The "tax jail" and "processing purgatory" descriptions are spot on. It's wild how the IRS can just freeze your refund without any real explanation and then magically release it weeks later. Thanks for sharing your timeline - it helps to know that even after 3+ weeks, things can still resolve on their own. Hoping to join the "571 club" very soon!

Just to add another perspective here - I'm a tax professional who works with a lot of LLCs making S-Corp elections. The advice about skipping Form 8832 is correct for your situation. An LLC with multiple members defaults to partnership taxation, and Form 2553 effectively changes that classification directly to S-Corporation. However, I want to emphasize timing is crucial. If you've already missed the 2 months and 15 days deadline for this year, don't panic. You have two options: file for late election relief (which requires demonstrating reasonable cause) or make the election effective for next year by filing before December 31st. One thing I often see new S-Corp elections miss is ensuring all members sign the consent statement on Form 2553. Make sure everyone who has any ownership interest signs, even if they joined after formation. Also, be very careful about the tax year selection - many people accidentally select the wrong effective date. The reasonable compensation issue mentioned earlier is real and important. Plan to pay yourself at least what you'd pay an unrelated employee to do your job. Document your reasoning and keep records of comparable salaries in your industry and location.

I went through this exact same process with my consulting LLC last year and wanted to share what worked for me. The advice about skipping Form 8832 and going directly to Form 2553 is spot on - that's exactly what we did. One thing I'd add is to be really careful about the effective date you choose on Form 2553. We initially made the mistake of selecting the wrong tax year and had to file an amended election. Also, make sure you have your EIN ready before filing - you can't complete the form without it. Since you mentioned starting in March, you're likely looking at making the election effective for 2025 now. The good news is this actually gives you time to plan for the payroll requirements that come with S-Corp status. You'll need to set up payroll processing and understand the quarterly employment tax obligations before the election becomes effective. Don't underestimate the administrative burden that comes with S-Corp elections - quarterly payroll taxes, annual W-2s for yourself, and more complex bookkeeping. But the self-employment tax savings can definitely make it worthwhile if your business income is substantial enough.

Has anyone tried handling this by separating the transactions? Like paying for business travel with cash, then reimbursing yourself personally with miles for other trips? Seems like that might solve the problem.

I dealt with this exact situation when I started my consulting business! The key thing to understand is that the IRS looks at actual cash outflow, not the "value" of rewards used. Here's what I learned from my tax attorney: When you use personal miles/points for business travel, you can't deduct anything because there's no actual business expense - you're essentially using a personal asset (the miles) that you already "paid for" through past personal spending. However, don't forget about the ancillary costs! If your husband paid any booking fees, taxes, or upgrade costs when redeeming those miles, those actual cash payments can be deducted as legitimate business expenses. For future planning, consider doing what Mateo suggested - pay cash for business travel (fully deductible) and save your personal miles for vacations. This maximizes your tax benefits while keeping everything clean and audit-proof. Also keep detailed records showing the business purpose of any travel, regardless of how you paid for it. The IRS will want to see that it was genuinely business-related.

Has anyone else had their earned income credit amount change when they amended their tax return? I originally filed with just my W-2 income but then realized I needed to add my DoorDash earnings from last year, and it actually increased my EIC.

Just wanted to add that you should definitely keep good records of all your gig work expenses throughout the year! Things like phone bills (portion used for work), insulated bags for food delivery, and of course your mileage can all be deducted. Since you're getting the earned income credit, you want to make sure you're not missing out on legitimate deductions that could save you even more money. I use a simple spreadsheet to track everything monthly - makes tax time so much easier. Also, don't forget that as a student, you might qualify for education credits too if you paid tuition or had other qualifying education expenses!

Just wanted to add something that might help with your planning - since you're dealing with such a large carryforward amount, you might want to consider the timing of future equipment purchases carefully. We were in a similar situation two years ago and learned that you can actually elect OUT of Section 179 for specific assets in future years if it makes sense strategically. This way, if you have a lower equipment purchase year coming up, you could use your carryforward on those purchases while taking regular depreciation on any new equipment. Also, keep in mind that the Section 179 limits increase periodically for inflation adjustments. The $1,080,000 limit and $2,700,000 phase-out threshold you mentioned will likely be higher in future years, which could help you utilize more of that carryforward sooner than you think. One more thing - make sure you're tracking the carryforward amount properly on your books. We had to reconstruct our records when we realized we weren't maintaining the detailed asset-by-asset carryforward tracking that made year-end tax prep much more complicated than it needed to be.

This is such a comprehensive discussion! As someone who went through a similar situation with heavy equipment purchases last year, I wanted to share a few additional considerations that helped us navigate the carryforward complexity. First, don't overlook the business income limitation aspect - even if you get past the investment threshold in future years, your Section 179 deduction (including carryforwards) is still limited to your taxable business income. We found that planning around this limitation was just as important as tracking the investment ceiling. Second, consider the interplay with state taxes early in your planning. Some states conform to federal Section 179 rules, others don't, and some have their own unique limitations. This can create some interesting planning opportunities if your state has different rules. Finally, one thing that really helped us was creating a multi-year equipment purchase forecast. Since Section 179 carryforwards don't expire, we mapped out our expected equipment needs for the next 3-5 years and modeled different scenarios for when we could actually utilize the carryforward. This helped us make better decisions about financing timing and whether to accelerate or defer certain purchases. The good news is you haven't lost the deduction - it's just a matter of strategic timing to maximize its benefit!