Filed mine January 31st and got my refund deposited this morning! 🎉 Took about 5 weeks total which seems to be pretty typical based on what I'm seeing here. For those still waiting - I know it's frustrating but hang in there! The processing really does seem random this year. I was checking the status obsessively too but it updated overnight from "processing" to "refund sent" without any warning. Good luck everyone!

Filed mine on January 22nd and still in processing hell! 😩 This thread is actually making me feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one waiting forever. The randomness of who gets processed when is really frustrating though - like how does someone who filed Feb 1st get theirs before someone who filed Jan 15th?? Makes no sense! At least now I know to stop obsessively checking the website multiple times a day since it seems like it just updates overnight randomly. Fingers crossed we all get some good news soon! 🤞

One thing to watch out for - if you have expenses from more than a year before your LLC actually started operating, the IRS might not allow them as startup costs. I tried deducting some costs from 15 months before my business launched and got questioned on it.

Great question! As someone who went through this same confusion with my consulting LLC last year, I can confirm you're understanding it correctly. You can indeed deduct up to $5,000 in startup costs AND up to $5,000 in organizational costs separately in your first year - so potentially $10,000 total. For your marketing consultancy, startup costs would include things like market research, initial advertising, professional development courses, business cards, website development, etc. Organizational costs are the legal costs to actually form the LLC - filing fees, attorney fees for drafting your operating agreement, etc. Just make sure to keep detailed records of what falls into each category. I used a simple spreadsheet with two columns to track them separately. Since you're filing as a sole proprietor (pass-through), these will go on your Schedule C as "Other Expenses" in Part V, but make sure to label them clearly as either startup or organizational costs. One tip: if your total costs in either category are under the $5,000 limits, you can deduct the full amount in year one. You only need to worry about the 15-year amortization if you exceed those thresholds.

The Statistical Determination System (SDS) and Discriminant Function System (DIF) that the IRS uses for audit selection doesn't include refund distribution methods in its algorithm. The correlation between advances and audits that some people perceive is likely because both are more common among early filers with EITC claims, not because one causes the other.

I completely understand your anxiety about this! As a fellow freelancer who's been through the advance process, I can share that your worry is normal but likely unfounded. The key thing to remember is that tax advances are purely a financial product between you and the lender - they have zero impact on IRS audit selection algorithms. Your meticulous record-keeping is actually your biggest asset here. The IRS audits based on red flags in your actual return data (unusual deductions, income ratios, etc.), not on how you chose to receive your refund. Since you've got your 1099s organized and business expenses tracked, you're already ahead of most taxpayers. One thing that helped ease my mind was understanding that even if you do get selected for review (which is statistically unlikely), having good documentation makes the process much smoother. The horror stories you hear are usually from people who didn't keep proper records, not from people like us who stay organized. Keep doing what you're doing with the documentation, and try not to stress about the advance - it really is just a non-factor in audit risk!

This has been such an informative thread! As someone who just moved to Australia and is dealing with my first expat tax filing, I'm grateful for all the detailed explanations about how the standard deduction and FTC work together. One additional point I'd like to add - for those of you dealing with foreign tax credits, make sure you understand the carryover rules. If your foreign taxes paid exceed the FTC limitation in any given year, you can carry the excess credit forward for up to 10 years or back 1 year. This is particularly relevant for people in high-tax countries or those with fluctuating income. Also, @Julian Paolo regarding your e-filing issues - I had similar problems and discovered that some tax software doesn't properly handle Form 1116 calculations when you have multiple types of foreign income (salary vs investment income vs rental income). You might need to paper file or use software that's specifically designed for expat situations. The complexity really does seem to ramp up quickly once you add rental properties or business income to the mix. I'm leaning toward using a specialist for my first year to establish the proper framework, then potentially switching to software once I understand the patterns.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a US citizen living in the Netherlands and have been struggling with this exact question about combining the standard deduction with FTC. What I found particularly valuable was the clarification that the standard deduction reduces your total worldwide income first, before any FTC calculations. I had been overthinking this and assumed there was some complex allocation required. For anyone else in the Netherlands dealing with this, one additional consideration is the Dutch participation exemption for dividends from substantial holdings (5%+ ownership). If you have any business interests or significant stock holdings in Dutch companies, make sure you understand how this interacts with US tax reporting requirements, especially for PFICs. Also wanted to echo what others said about keeping detailed records. The Dutch tax authority (Belastingdienst) can be quite thorough, and having good documentation for both your Dutch and US filings will save you headaches down the road. @Isaac Wright - hoping to hear how your filing worked out! Your situation sounds very similar to mine, just different countries.

You're absolutely right to be cautious about those numbers! Yes, since you don't have earned income, your standard deduction as a dependent would be limited to $1,150 for 2024. With $750 in gambling winnings, you'd have $750 - $1,150 = $0 taxable income, so you shouldn't owe any federal income tax. However, the key question is whether FanDuel withheld any taxes from your winnings. If they did withhold federal taxes (which they sometimes do for larger winnings), that's where your refund would come from - getting back taxes that were withheld but not actually owed. Check your 1099-MISC from FanDuel in box 4 to see if any federal income tax was withheld. If there's an amount there, that's likely what FreeTaxUSA is showing as your potential refund. If box 4 is blank or $0, then you probably won't get a refund but you also shouldn't owe anything either. Make sure when you're in FreeTaxUSA that you've selected "Someone can claim you as a dependent" so it calculates everything correctly with the limited standard deduction!

Perfect! It sounds like you've got everything figured out now. Just to add one more thing for peace of mind - since you and your fiancé are in this situation where he's claiming you as a dependent, you might want to keep good records of your respective tax filings in case the IRS ever has questions. It's pretty straightforward when done correctly (which it sounds like you're doing), but having documentation that shows he meets the requirements to claim you as a qualifying relative dependent, and that you filed correctly as someone who can be claimed, just helps if there are ever any questions down the road. Congrats on the FanDuel win and getting that $180 back! Sounds like you'll be filing correctly and everything will work out smoothly.