This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation with my son's Coverdell ESA from Fidelity - also got a 1099-Q with blank boxes 2 and 3. One thing I want to add for anyone going through this: when you're gathering all your statements, make sure to include any year-end summaries or annual statements your provider sent you. These often have helpful breakdowns of contributions vs. earnings that can serve as checkpoints for your calculations. Also, if you've ever rolled over funds from another Coverdell ESA (like when changing beneficiaries or custodians), make sure you have documentation of the basis that transferred with those funds. That basis carries over and needs to be included in your total. The IRS Form 8863 instructions actually have a worksheet for calculating the taxable portion of education savings account distributions that might be helpful as a template for organizing your calculations. It's designed for different accounts but the methodology is similar. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's reassuring to know the IRS will accept our good-faith calculations when the custodian leaves us hanging!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now with my daughter's Coverdell ESA from Vanguard! Got the dreaded 1099-Q with boxes 2 and 3 completely blank, and like you, I know I'll have some non-qualified distributions this year. What's been driving me crazy is that I've been contributing to this account for over 6 years, and now I have to become a forensic accountant just to figure out my own tax liability. I called Vanguard and got the same runaround - "we don't track basis information" but they can send me statements going back to when the account opened. One thing I learned from my CPA is that you should also look for any dividend reinvestments or capital gains distributions that happened within the account over the years. These count as earnings, not basis, even though they weren't cash you deposited. They should show up on your statements but can be easy to miss when you're trying to separate contributions from growth. The silver lining is that once you go through this exercise once and create a good tracking system, you'll never have to deal with this nightmare again. I'm definitely setting up a spreadsheet to track everything going forward so my future self doesn't have to go through this stress!

Anyone know if it matters which tax filing status to pick with a partner who isnt a spouse? Like should OP file as Head of Household since they're supporting the partner and baby, or just Single? Seems like it would make a big difference for tax brackets.

Great question about filing status! You'll definitely want to file as Head of Household rather than Single since you have a qualifying child (your baby). Head of Household has better tax brackets and a higher standard deduction than Single status. The requirements are pretty straightforward in your case: you're unmarried, you're paying more than half the household expenses, and your baby lived with you for more than half the year (even if born late in the year, newborns count). Your partner's dependency status doesn't affect your ability to file HOH - having the baby as a qualifying person is enough. The tax savings from HOH vs Single filing status can be substantial, especially combined with the Child Tax Credit. Just make sure when you're using TurboTax that you select Head of Household and not Single - it'll walk you through confirming you meet the requirements but sounds like you clearly do!

Just an additional tip about Form 2441 - make absolutely sure you have the correct Tax ID number for your provider. I made a typo on mine last year and got a notice from the IRS months later questioning my childcare credit. Had to submit additional documentation to prove the expenses were legitimate. For anyone using multiple providers or having a nanny, remember each provider needs their own line on Part I, with their individual Tax ID (SSN for individuals or EIN for businesses). And keep records of payments - bank statements, canceled checks, or receipts! The IRS loves to verify these credits.

Great thread! I went through the exact same confusion with Form 2441 last year. One thing that really helped me was understanding the income phase-out for the credit percentage. At your $115,000 income level, you'll get 20% of your qualifying expenses as mentioned, but it's worth knowing that if your income was under $15,000 you'd get the full 35% rate. Also, don't forget that both you and your wife need to have earned income for the year to qualify for the credit (or one spouse can be a full-time student). Since you mentioned you both work full-time, you're good there. The $6,000 limit for two kids can be frustrating when you're paying so much more, but remember that the FSA option (if your employers offer it) can help stretch your tax savings. You can contribute up to $5,000 pre-tax to a Dependent Care FSA AND still get the credit on remaining qualifying expenses up to the $6,000 limit. Just make sure to coordinate them properly on Part III like others mentioned!

Thanks for posting this question! I'm also a Frost customer and have been wondering about this exact scenario. Reading through everyone's responses has been incredibly helpful - especially Connor's tracking data showing Frost's 82.4% on-time rate and never releasing early. I had a similar DDD situation last year with a different bank and made the mistake of obsessively checking starting two days early. It sounds like with Frost, that energy is better spent just waiting until the actual date. The consistency everyone's reporting is actually pretty reassuring - at least you know what to expect even if it's not the early surprise deposit we're all hoping for! One follow-up question for the experienced Frost customers here: do you typically get any kind of pending transaction notification before the deposit actually posts, or does it just appear in your available balance without warning? Just trying to set my own expectations for when my refund comes through.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with Frost Bank! As someone who's been banking with them for about 3 years, I can confirm what others have said about their consistency with DDD timing. I've never gotten my refund early, but I've also never had it be late when the transcript showed a firm date. One thing I've learned from this community is to not stress about the early deposit chase - Frost may not give you that 1-2 day head start that some online banks do, but their reliability is actually pretty valuable. Last year my transcript showed 02/19 as my DDD and sure enough, it was in my account at 4:23 AM on the 19th. For what it's worth, I stopped checking my account obsessively after reading similar posts here last year. Now I just set a phone reminder for the morning of my DDD and check once. Much better for my sanity! Your 02/26 date should be solid based on everyone's tracking data here.

Yes, there are still some forms that require original signatures! Form 2848 (Power of Attorney) and Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) typically still need original signatures, not scanned copies. Also, certain international forms and some estate/trust documents may have stricter signature requirements. For most business returns like 1120S, 1065, and 1120, scanned signatures are fine. But it's always worth double-checking the specific form instructions because the IRS does make exceptions for certain specialized forms where they want to ensure authenticity. The general rule is: if it's a standard business return being filed electronically or on paper, scanned signatures are acceptable. If it's a power of attorney, authorization form, or involves international tax matters, you might need originals.

I've been dealing with this exact scenario more frequently since the pandemic, and I can confirm that scanned signatures are absolutely fine for 1120S returns. The IRS updated their policies significantly and these changes have stuck around. One thing I'd add though - since your client is already filing late, make sure you've prepared and included Form 7004 if they didn't already file for an extension. Even though it's past the deadline, filing it with the return can sometimes help minimize penalties (though it won't eliminate them entirely since it's late). Also, double-check that all required signatures are captured in the scan - sometimes the signature fields at the bottom of pages get cut off when people scan hastily. I learned this the hard way when a return got rejected for an incomplete signature page! Your stress about this situation is totally understandable, but you're good to go with the scanned signatures. File it and be done with this difficult client!