One thing nobody's mentioned - if you're over 70.5 years old, consider Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from your IRA instead of donating appreciated stock. You can donate up to $100,000 annually directly from your IRA to qualified charities, and it counts toward your Required Minimum Distribution without increasing your AGI. It's often better tax-wise than donating appreciated securities for people in this age group. But the money has to go directly from your IRA custodian to the charity - no DAFs allowed for QCDs.

Great discussion here! I've been wrestling with this same question for months. One aspect I haven't seen mentioned yet is the investment growth potential within DAFs. When you contribute appreciated stock to a charitable account, those funds can continue to be invested and potentially grow before you distribute them to charities. This means you could end up giving significantly more to your chosen causes over time compared to immediate direct donations. For example, if you donate $10,000 in appreciated stock to a DAF and it grows at 7% annually, after 5 years you'd have about $14,000 to distribute to charities - all while getting the immediate tax deduction on the original $10,000 contribution. The flip side is you're taking on investment risk, and the fees do eat into returns. But for those who want to "batch" their charitable giving in high-income years while spreading distributions over time, the growth potential can be compelling. Has anyone factored this into their decision-making process?

I wish I'd seen this thread earlier! I went with Liberty Tax's version of a refund advance this year and it was a MESS. Took over a week to hear anything, and then they only approved me for half of what I was expecting. Jackson Hewitt's process sounds much more streamlined from what everyone is saying here. Definitely switching next year. Has anyone compared the maximum advance amounts between the different tax prep companies? I'm curious if there's a big difference.

Just wanted to add my experience for Ruby and anyone else waiting - I got my Jackson Hewitt refund advance approved last month and the timeline was pretty much what Alexander mentioned. Filed on a Tuesday, got the approval text Thursday evening, and had my card activated by Friday afternoon. One tip that helped me: download the Jackson Hewitt app if you haven't already. You can track your application status there instead of just waiting for texts/emails. It updates in real-time and shows exactly where you are in the process. The advance amount they offered was about 80% of my expected refund, which seemed fair. Just make sure you really need the money now because even though it's "free," you're essentially getting your own money early at the cost of not having it available when your actual refund comes in. Good luck!

When you contact the IRS, make sure you're prepared to verify your identity six ways from Sunday. Have your previous tax returns handy, any IRS notices with the notice number, and be ready to answer questions about your filing history. If you can't verify your identity to their satisfaction, they'll refuse to discuss the issue with you, which is beyond frustrating. I learned this the hard way and wasted an hour on hold only to be told they couldn't help me because I couldn't remember the exact amount of my adjusted gross income from 2019.

This is absolutely terrifying! I can't imagine getting a notice like that out of nowhere. Thank you everyone for the detailed advice - I'm taking notes on all of this. Quick question though - should I be worried about this affecting my credit score? And when I call that IRS Identity Protection number, do I need to have specific documents ready, or can I just explain the situation first to get guidance on what they'll need from me? Also, has anyone dealt with the aftermath of this? Like, once it's resolved, do you need to do anything special when filing future tax returns to make sure it doesn't happen again?

Has anyone used TaxAct or FreeTaxUSA for reporting sublease income? TurboTax seems to be giving conflicting advice but I'm wondering if other tax software handles this situation better? I only sublet my place for about 2 months while I was away for work.

I went through this exact same situation last year with Airbnb hosting in my rented apartment. The confusion between Schedule E vs Schedule C is really common because most tax software assumes you own property when you're earning rental income. What helped me was understanding that Schedule E is specifically for "passive" rental income from property you own, while Schedule C is for "active" business income - which is what subleasing really is since you're actively providing housing services. One tip that saved me money: keep detailed records of everything during your sublease period. Beyond just rent and utilities, you can deduct things like extra cleaning supplies, any furnishings you bought specifically for the sublet, advertising costs if you used Airbnb/Craigslist, and even a portion of your internet bill if your subletter used WiFi. Also, that $150 fee you paid to your landlord for permission? That's definitely a deductible business expense since it was necessary to conduct your subletting activity. Make sure to include that on your Schedule C.

why does everyone else get their refunds processed so fast mine has been stuck since january smh

Congrats on that solid refund! Just to add to what others have said - since your return processed on 2/24 with no issues, you're looking at getting your money by around March 17th (21 business days). The IRS "Where's My Refund" tool should update in the next few days too if you want to track it. That EIC really made a difference for you!