Has anyone dealt with the "contemporaneous" record-keeping requirement for real estate professional status? I learned this the hard way - you need to track hours AS YOU GO, not retroactively. The IRS rejected my claim because I created my hour logs at tax time.

This is such a complex situation! I went through something similar when I was trying to qualify as a real estate professional while my husband had rental properties managed by a company. One thing that might help - since you're getting married in April, you'll want to be extra careful about documentation starting January 1st of this year. Even though you won't be married until April, if you're filing jointly for the tax year, ALL your hours from January 1st will count toward the 750+ requirement. For your farmhouse renovation, the key is proving business intent vs. personal use. Since you plan to sell it, keep detailed records showing this was always the business plan - purchase documents, renovation budget focused on profit maximization, maybe even get a before/after appraisal to show the business value you're adding. Regarding your fiancé's rental property - the beauty of the election to treat all rental activities as one is that you don't need to materially participate in EACH property individually. Your combined hours across all real estate activities (including your renovation work) can satisfy the material participation test for the entire portfolio. Just make sure you're tracking everything contemporaneously - date, time, specific activity. I learned that lesson the hard way! Also consider whether you might qualify under the "more than half your working time" test since you're a SAHM - that could actually work in your favor here.

Has anyone figured out if this issue exists in TaxSlayer or H&R Block software too? I've been using FreeTaxUSA for personal returns but was planning to use TaxSlayer for my S-Corp this year.

This is a really helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar SEHI deduction issue as an S-Corp owner. Just to clarify - when you manually entered the APTC repayment amount in the S Corp Health Insurance Premiums field, did you enter the full APTC repayment amount, or did you have to calculate some percentage of it? I'm trying to figure out if the entire APTC repayment becomes eligible for SEHI deduction, or if there's additional calculation needed based on the number of months covered or income levels. My APTC repayment was about $1,800 but I want to make sure I'm not claiming more SEHI deduction than I'm actually entitled to. Also, for anyone who's been through an audit - do you know if the IRS typically scrutinizes SEHI deductions heavily when they're manually entered like this instead of being automatically calculated by the software?

careful with those tax prep websites that say 'accepted'. That just means they transmitted it, not that IRS processed it yet

Filed mine about the same time as you! The transcript route is definitely your best bet for getting the real status. WMR can be pretty vague with just "processing" but your transcript will show specific codes that tell you exactly where things stand. Usually takes 24-48 hours after filing to show up in the system. Don't stress too much - if you got a confirmation from your filing software, you're probably good to go!

This is my 3rd year as a tax preparer and this question comes up all the time. Here's the deal: The IRS processes refunds and sends them out basically 24/7. But if you chose to have your tax preparation fees taken out of your refund, you added a middleman (usually SBTPG). They receive your refund from the IRS, deduct the fees you owe, and then forward the rest to you. SBTPG only processes these transfers once per day at 2:30 PM Pacific. This is purely their business decision and has nothing to do with the IRS.

This is so frustrating! I had the exact same experience with SBTPG last year. What made it worse is that I could see on the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool that my refund had already been sent out, but then I had to wait another full day for SBTPG to process it at their arbitrary 2:30 PM cutoff time. It's like they're holding your own money hostage! The worst part is realizing you're paying extra fees for this "convenience" when direct deposit would have been faster and free. I'm definitely paying my tax prep fees upfront next year and skipping all these third-party processors. The 1-2 hour processing delay they mention can easily turn into 24+ hours if the IRS sends your refund after their daily cutoff time. Hang in there - once SBTPG processes it, the money should hit your account pretty quickly after that!

According to IRS Publication 5136 (Electronic Return Filing Guidelines), third-party processors like Santa Barbara are required to display accurate information but are not considered official sources of refund status. Per IRS Directive 2023-17, taxpayers should rely on official IRS channels for definitive status information. I recommend checking your refund status through the official IRS 'Where's My Refund' tool or by accessing your transcript directly. These official sources supersede any third-party information and are the legally binding indicators of your refund status.

I'm experiencing the exact same issue! My direct deposit is scheduled for 2/24 (same as yours) and Santa Barbara has been showing "account not found" for the past 4 days. I was getting really worried until I read these responses. I just checked the official IRS Where's My Refund tool and it shows my refund is still processing normally with the expected deposit date. Based on what others are saying here, it seems like Santa Barbara's system just has sync issues during peak season. I'm going to stop obsessively checking their site and trust the official IRS tools instead. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it's really reassuring to know this is a common glitch and not an actual problem with our refunds!