Just a warning to track everything super carefully. My cousins both tried to claim my grandma in the same year without telling each other. The IRS flagged both returns and they both got audited. Total disaster and caused a huge family fight lol.

One thing to consider that I don't see mentioned much - if your mom ever needs to apply for Medicaid or other means-tested benefits in the future, being claimed as your dependent could potentially affect her eligibility. Some programs consider the income and resources of the person claiming her as a dependent when determining benefit eligibility. This probably won't be an issue given her current situation, but it's worth keeping in mind for long-term planning. You might want to check with a benefits counselor or elder law attorney if she's likely to need additional assistance programs down the road. Also, make sure you understand the "tie-breaker rules" if anyone else in your family is also providing support. The IRS has specific rules about who gets to claim a dependent when multiple people are eligible, and it's not always the person providing the most support.

Has anyone else noticed that tax software seems to mess up these calculations a lot? I've used TurboTax, H&R Block, and FreeTaxUSA over the years and ALL of them have made mistakes with excess Social Security calculations when I have multiple W-2s.

As a CPA, I see this exact issue every tax season. The excess Social Security tax calculation is one of the most commonly botched calculations by tax software, especially when you have multiple employers with high wages. Here's what likely happened: FreeTaxUSA correctly identified that you had excess withholding based on your combined W-2s, but it may have miscalculated the actual excess amount. This often occurs when one employer made mid-year adjustments, had unusual wage types (bonuses, stock compensation, etc.), or when there are timing differences between when wages were earned versus paid. The IRS has sophisticated systems that cross-reference all your W-2s and recalculate the excess using the exact wage base limits. They're usually right when they make these adjustments. My advice: Wait for the CP12 notice which will show their math step-by-step. Then compare it against your Schedule 3, Line 11 and the Social Security wages (Box 3) and taxes (Box 4) from all your W-2s. This will help you understand exactly where the discrepancy occurred and avoid the same issue next year.

FYI - the refund advances are actually loans based on your anticipated refund amt. H&R charges prep fees for in-person (~$200+) vs online (~$50-100). They use the advances to justify higher fees. Most ppl don't realize the advance is just a small portion of their total refund anyway. If you filed a complete and accurate return with DD info, you'll prob get your $ within 21 days anyway. The IRS Where's My Refund tool can give you a better timeline once your return is accepted.

As someone who's been through this exact situation, I can confirm what others have said - H&R Block's refund advance is only available for in-person tax preparation. I learned this the hard way last year when I was in a similar financial crunch after graduation. What I ended up doing was checking the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool religiously, and my refund actually came through in about 16 days with direct deposit - faster than I expected. If you're really strapped for cash and haven't submitted yet, you could consider going to a physical H&R Block location, but factor in that you'll pay significantly more in prep fees (usually $200+ vs the online fees). Alternatively, if you've already filed online, you might want to look into other short-term options like asking family for a small loan or seeing if your bank offers any advance services on pending deposits. The refund advance marketing is definitely misleading - they should be much clearer about the online vs in-person distinction!

One thing nobody mentioned - did you check if you have any other Traditional IRA money from previous years? The Pro-Rata rule could be kicking in. If you had, say, a rollover IRA or any other traditional IRA money beyond what you contributed for the backdoor, you can't just convert the non-deductible portion tax-free. The conversion gets taxed proportionally. FreeTaxUSA might actually be calculating correctly if you have other IRA assets!

I went through this exact same frustration last year! Here's what finally worked for me with FreeTaxUSA: The key is making sure you complete these steps in order: 1. Enter your Traditional IRA contribution first and explicitly mark it as NON-DEDUCTIBLE (this is crucial) 2. Enter your 1099-R information for the conversion 3. Don't panic when your refund drops initially - this is normal 4. Complete your ENTIRE return before checking the final numbers The software doesn't update the backdoor Roth calculation until you reach the review stage. I know it's counterintuitive, but Form 8606 gets generated at the very end of the process. Also double-check that you don't have any other Traditional IRA balances from previous years (like old 401k rollovers) because the pro-rata rule would make part of your conversion taxable even if you used post-tax dollars. If you're still having issues after trying this sequence, you can always use the "Forms" view in FreeTaxUSA to manually review Form 8606 and make sure line 14 shows your non-deductible contribution amount. That's what prevents double taxation. Hang in there - the software does work correctly for backdoor Roths, it's just not very user-friendly about showing the calculations in real-time!

Did you check if both programs are correctly applying education tax credits? The American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit have different requirements and values. One program might be better at optimizing which credit works best for your situation.

This is a really frustrating situation! I went through something similar last year with different software showing wildly different refund amounts. The key thing is to focus on that $1,000 gross income discrepancy you mentioned - that's definitely not normal and is likely driving most of your refund difference. Since you're a student with scholarships exceeding tuition, here's what I'd suggest checking specifically: Look at how each program is reporting the taxable portion of your scholarship on line 1 of your 1040. TurboTax might be incorrectly including scholarship money that was actually used for required textbooks or fees, which should be tax-free. Also double-check that both programs have the exact same amounts for your qualified education expenses. Even small differences in how they categorize required vs. optional expenses can significantly impact your taxable scholarship income. If H&R Block is showing your correct W-2 gross income and TurboTax is inflating it by $1,000, that's a red flag that TurboTax is miscalculating something with your education-related income. I'd lean toward trusting H&R Block in this case, but definitely try to identify exactly where that extra $1,000 is coming from before filing.