Have you checked if you qualify for any tax credits instead? I was in the same boat (W-2 employee, expensive home office) but found I qualified for the Lifetime Learning Credit because some of my equipment was for online professional development courses. Worth looking into other angles!

I'm dealing with a similar situation as a remote W-2 employee, and it's frustrating how limited our options are compared to self-employed folks. One thing I discovered that might help you is to check if your employer offers any kind of remote work stipend or equipment allowance that you haven't taken advantage of yet. Even though my company initially said "laptop only," I found out through our employee handbook that there's actually a $500 annual "ergonomic equipment reimbursement" that hardly anyone knows about. It's not much, but it covered part of my chair and monitor setup. Also, definitely look into the state tax angle that others mentioned. I'm in New York and was surprised to learn we still have some deductions available for unreimbursed employee expenses that the federal government eliminated. Every state is different, so it's worth researching your specific situation. The accountable plan suggestion is brilliant too - even if your current employer won't budge, it's something to negotiate for in future job offers or performance reviews.

I've noticed that returns with refundable credits like the Child Tax Credit seem to have more volatile 'as of' dates compared to simpler returns. My brother filed a basic return with just W-2 income and his transcript barely changed at all, while mine with CTC looked like a ping-pong match of dates. Both of us got our refunds within the normal timeframe though. The complexity of your return seems to affect how many processing cycles it goes through.

The 'as of' date bouncing around is totally normal and honestly pretty common during PATH processing! I went through the same thing last year - my date changed 4 times in 10 days and I was convinced something was wrong. Turns out it's just the IRS systems running their weekly update cycles. The fact that your PATH processing shows as normal is actually the most important indicator. Those date changes are basically just the system's way of saying "hey, I'm still working on this" rather than indicating any actual issues. Try to resist the urge to check constantly (easier said than done, I know!) - the stress really isn't worth it when these fluctuations are so routine. Your refund will come through when it's ready, regardless of what the 'as of' date is doing! 😊

Ran into this exact issue last year! The W4 instructions are so confusing. The multiple jobs section isn't about jobs you HAD, it's about jobs you HAVE, if that makes sense. I work one full-time job and one weekend job, so I checked that box. But when I changed jobs mid-year like you did, I didn't check it for the new job since I was only working one place at a time.

Based on everyone's responses here, it sounds like you're definitely on the right track - you don't need to check the multiple jobs box since you're only working one job currently. One thing I'd add is that if you're worried about your withholding being accurate (especially with the salary increase from $62k to $71k), you might want to run the IRS withholding calculator in a few months once you have a couple paystubs from your new job. That way you can see if you need to adjust anything for the rest of 2025. Also, keep in mind that having that gap between jobs might actually work in your favor tax-wise since your total 2024 income was probably lower than it would have been if you'd worked the full year at either salary level.

Be extremely careful with QSBS stacking. I did this in 2020 with 11 separate trusts for family members, and we're currently under audit specifically focused on this issue. The IRS is aggressively challenging these arrangements, especially when done close to a liquidity event. If your company has a clear exit path already (like active acquisition discussions), the IRS might apply step transaction doctrine. In our case, we did the gifting 4 months before the acquisition closed, but they're arguing we had already started discussions when we made the gifts. Make sure you're working with an attorney who specializes in this area and keep meticulous documentation of your intent and timeline. And definitely do it sooner rather than later if you believe an exit is coming.

Don't overlook the basis adjustment issues with QSBS when gifting. If you gift shares to a trust, the trust takes your basis (carryover basis), but if you wait and the shares pass at death, the basis gets stepped up to fair market value. This means that if your primary goal is QSBS stacking, gifting during life makes sense. But if you expect the value to grow beyond the $10M QSBS exclusion per trust, you might be better off keeping some shares to pass at death to get the basis step-up. Also, make sure you're monitoring the "active business" requirement - if your company starts accumulating too many investments or has too much passive income, you could jeopardize the QSBS qualification altogether.

Something important to consider: when you withdraw from the 529 for scholarship amounts, remember that only the EARNINGS portion will be taxable (not your original contributions). So depending on how long the money has been invested and how it performed, only a percentage of your withdrawal will actually be subject to income tax. For example, if you contributed $50K over the years and it grew to $60K, only $10K is earnings. If you withdraw $20K, only 1/6 of that withdrawal ($3,333) would be taxable income.

Make sure you keep ALL scholarship documentation for at least 7 years! My friend got audited 3 years after making 529 withdrawals to match her son's scholarships. The IRS wanted proof of every scholarship amount and when it was received.