This is such a timely post - I'm experiencing the exact same thing! Topic 152 disappeared from my WMR three days ago and I've been anxiously checking multiple times per day since then. As someone who also does gig work (primarily Lyft and some food delivery), I completely understand the stress of waiting for that refund when you have vehicle expenses that can't wait much longer. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring. It sounds like Topic 152 disappearing is actually a positive sign that we're in the final stretch of processing. The consistent pattern everyone is describing - disappearance followed by DDD within 3-8 days - gives me hope that we should see movement soon. I'm definitely going to shift my focus from obsessively checking WMR to monitoring my transcript for that 846 code. It's clear that the transcript updates are much more reliable indicators of what's actually happening behind the scenes. Thanks for posting this question - it's exactly what I needed to see today to calm my nerves about the process!

I'm experiencing this exact situation right now! Filed on February 2nd and Topic 152 just disappeared from my WMR yesterday morning. As a newcomer to this community, I was honestly panicking when I saw it vanish with no explanation, but reading through all these responses has been incredibly reassuring. I'm also a gig worker (mainly Grubhub and some Uber) and have been counting on my refund to cover some essential car maintenance - my transmission has been acting up and I can't put off the repair much longer. The stress of waiting when you depend on your vehicle for income is real! Based on everyone's experiences shared here, it sounds like Topic 152 disappearing is actually a positive sign that our returns are moving through final processing. The consistent timeline of 3-8 days that people are reporting gives me hope that I should see movement soon. I'm definitely going to follow the advice about focusing on transcript updates rather than obsessing over WMR - sounds like the 846 code is what I should really be watching for. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, especially the fellow gig workers who understand the unique stress of this situation. It's such a relief to know this is normal and typically leads to good news!

Great question! As others have mentioned, just owning stocks doesn't require reporting them on your tax return. The key things to watch for are: 1. **Dividends** - Even if you don't see cash payments, check your brokerage account thoroughly. Some brokers automatically reinvest dividends, which still counts as taxable income even though you never "received" cash. 2. **Check your brokerage's tax center** - Most brokers like Fidelity, Schwab, E*Trade, etc. have a dedicated tax documents section where 1099-DIV forms appear by late January/early February if you received $10+ in dividends. 3. **Look at your transaction history** - Search for terms like "dividend," "reinvestment," or "DRIP" (Dividend Reinvestment Plan). These show up as separate line items. Since you mentioned you're not sure about dividends and don't check frequently, I'd definitely recommend logging into your brokerage account and reviewing the past year's activity. Many people are surprised to discover they had dividend income they weren't aware of. If you find any dividend payments (even small ones), you'll need to report them as income on your tax return. The good news is that if you truly didn't sell anything and have no dividends, then there's nothing stock-related to report this year!

Just wanted to add one more point that might be relevant - if you're using any tax software like TurboTax or FreeTaxUSA, they'll typically ask you about investment income even if you didn't sell anything. Don't skip over those sections! I made that mistake a few years ago thinking "I didn't sell, so I'll skip the investment section" and ended up missing about $85 in dividend income from a mutual fund. The IRS caught it because my broker had already reported the 1099-DIV with my SSN on it. Got a nice little letter asking for the additional tax plus interest. The key lesson: even if you're a buy-and-hold investor like it sounds like you are, always check the investment/dividend sections of your tax software. It's much easier to catch these things upfront than deal with IRS correspondence later!

One thing nobody mentioned yet is that you should be charging MORE as a 1099 contractor to offset the additional tax burden. General rule of thumb is to add at least 25-30% to whatever hourly rate you'd accept as a W-2 employee. For example, if you'd work for $25/hr as a W-2, you should be charging at least $31-33/hr as a 1099 to cover the additional taxes. Plus even more to cover benefits you're missing out on like health insurance, paid time off, etc.

Has anyone considered forming an S-Corporation instead of just working as a sole proprietor on 1099? That's what my accountant recommended after my first year of freelancing. You can pay yourself a "reasonable salary" which is subject to self-employment tax, but then take the rest as distributions which aren't subject to SE tax. Saved me about $6500 in taxes last year.

Don't overlook industry-specific compliance requirements too! In addition to general state filings, certain industries face additional regulatory hurdles. Our manufacturing clients have environmental compliance filings in most states, and our healthcare clients have entirely different sets of requirements. I recommend Bloomberg Industry Group's industry-specific compliance guides alongside your general state tax resources. They're expensive but worth it if you have a concentration in particular industries.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! As someone relatively new to multi-state compliance, I'm overwhelmed by all the different tools and resources mentioned. For those just starting out with multi-state clients, what would you recommend as the absolute minimum toolkit? I'm thinking we need at least one comprehensive compliance calendar system, but I'm not sure if we should start with a free solution like Noah's spreadsheet or invest in something like taxr.ai right away. Also, how do you handle the client education piece? I find that many business owners don't realize the scope of compliance requirements when they expand to new states, and then they're shocked by all the ongoing filing obligations. Any tips for setting proper expectations upfront?

Pro tip: check your transcript instead of WMR. Sometimes WMR is buggy but transcript always shows the real status

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed electronically on January 10th and had a "processing" status for weeks, then yesterday it switched to this "Status Not Available" message with Tax Topic 152. Really frustrating because you expect some kind of progress update, not to go backwards to less information. From what I've been reading, this seems to be happening to a lot of people this year. The IRS is apparently still dealing with backlogs and increased fraud detection measures, so more returns are getting flagged for additional review even when there's nothing actually wrong with them. I called the IRS yesterday (waited on hold for 2 hours 😤) and the agent basically confirmed what others are saying - this status change is normal and just means they need more time to process. She said to wait another 2-3 weeks before calling back unless I get a letter in the mail. Hang in there @Nia Davis, sounds like we're all in the same boat this tax season!