When I won a jet ski in a charity raffle last year, I had the exact same concern! What worked for me was asking to meet someone from the organization in person at their office. I brought a cashier's check but didn't hand it over until they showed me the prize and their official documentation. They were totally fine with this arrangement. Might be worth asking if you can do something similar? Any legitimate organization should understand your concerns about sending a large check for something you haven't received yet.

I completely understand your concerns about sending such a large check - $3,200 is a significant amount! While the organization is correct that they need to handle the tax withholding directly (they're required to be the withholding agent), there are definitely ways to protect yourself. Here's what I'd recommend: First, verify the organization's legitimacy by checking their business registration or tax-exempt status online. Second, request all documentation upfront - the prize valuation, tax calculation breakdown, their EIN, and a written commitment to provide the W-2G form. Third, ask if you can arrange to make the payment when you physically receive the prize, rather than beforehand. If they insist on payment first, consider asking about using an escrow service as a compromise - you pay the escrow company, they verify the prize delivery, then release funds to the organization. Most legitimate organizations will work with reasonable security measures because they understand it's a lot of money. The key red flag would be if they refuse to provide proper documentation or won't consider any reasonable alternatives to protect your interests. A trustworthy organization should be transparent about their process and willing to accommodate your concerns within the legal requirements.

I completely understand your frustration! I went through this exact same thing with my amended 2022 return. That "completed" status is so misleading - it literally just means they finished processing your return, but doesn't tell you the actual outcome. Since it's been showing "completed" since August but you still don't know if you're getting a refund, I'd definitely recommend calling that 800-829-0582 ext 633 number. I know the hold times are brutal (I put it off for weeks for the same reason!), but it's honestly the only way to get a clear answer about whether you're getting money back. When I finally called, I was on hold for about an hour, but the rep could immediately see everything on my account and told me my exact refund amount and timeline. Make sure you have your amended return, SSN, and original return handy when you call - they'll need to verify info from your forms. Don't stress about trying to decode those transcript codes yourself. They're designed for tax professionals, not regular taxpayers, so most of us can't make sense of them anyway! Pro tip: Call right at 7am when they open for shorter wait times. Good luck - hopefully you get good news when you finally get through! 🤞

I've been in this exact situation and it's so frustrating! That "completed" status is super misleading - it just means they finished processing your amended return but doesn't actually tell you the outcome. I put off calling for months because I dreaded the hold time, but when I finally called that 800-829-0582 ext 633 number, it was totally worth it. The rep could see everything immediately and told me my exact refund amount and when to expect it. Pro tip: Call right at 7am when they open for much shorter wait times. Have your amended return, SSN, and original return ready because they'll verify details from your forms. Don't stress about trying to decode those transcript codes - they're designed for tax professionals and most regular people can't make sense of them anyway. The phone call really is the only reliable way to get a straight answer about your refund status. Fingers crossed you get good news when you call! 🤞

Has anyone dealt with the health insurance reporting when separated? My husband had me on his policy for part of last year before removing me when we separated. I have no idea what to put on my tax forms since I don't have access to his 1095-B form.

I went through this exact situation two years ago during my separation. You absolutely do NOT need your spouse's W-2 information when filing Married Filing Separately - that's the whole point of MFS! You only report your own income, deductions, and withholdings. TurboTax might be confusing you because it's programmed to ask about spousal information for joint returns, but you can skip those sections entirely when filing separately. The only information you need from your spouse is their name and Social Security Number for the basic identification section of your return. A few important things to remember: 1) Make sure you select "Married Filing Separately" as your filing status, 2) Only enter YOUR W-2s, 1099s, and other income documents, 3) Your spouse will need to file their own separate return with their information, and 4) Be prepared that MFS typically results in higher taxes than filing jointly, but given your situation it's clearly the right choice. Don't stress about this - the IRS won't reject your return for not including your spouse's income when you're filing separately. That would defeat the entire purpose of having MFS as an option!

I'm in week 4 of test batch limbo and this thread is both reassuring and terrifying 😅 Good to know the Tuesday/Thursday schedule though - I'll stop checking every single day. Has anyone had luck calling the taxpayer advocate service if you're stuck this long?

Week 5 here and honestly this community has been more helpful than the IRS website itself 😭 @Ryan Andre thanks for the Tuesday/Thursday info - that's literally the first concrete timeline I've heard anywhere. Going to try that taxr.ai thing @Lauren Zeb mentioned because the "where's my refund" tool has been useless. At least now I know I'm not alone in this waiting game!

For anybody looking for alternatives, I've been using FreeTaxUSA for the past 3 years after getting fed up with TurboTax's constant price increases. Federal filing is completely free and state is only $14.99 (way cheaper than the $49+ that TurboTax charges). Even better, they don't do that annoying thing where they make you pay more for basic tax situations like having an HSA or needing to file a Schedule D for stock sales. The interface isn't quite as polished as TurboTax but it gets the job done and saves me about $100 every year.

This is exactly why I've been telling people to avoid TurboTax for years! I used to work seasonal tax prep and saw so many people get trapped by their pricing tactics. The "free" advertising is completely misleading - they know most people won't qualify for truly free filing once they start entering real information. What really bothers me is how they target people who can least afford these fees. Your sister making $32k as a teaching assistant should absolutely be able to file for free, but they deliberately make it confusing to find the actual free options. I always recommend people start with the IRS website first at irs.gov/freefile to see what they actually qualify for before going to any commercial tax site. And if you do need to use a paid service, FreeTaxUSA is hands down the best value - I've been using them for 4 years and never had an issue. Thanks for sharing this warning - hopefully it saves other people from the same frustrating experience!