Don't touch that money for at least a month!!! My dad got an extra $2000 on his state refund in 2023, spent it, and then 3 months later got a letter saying it was an error and they wanted it back with interest. He had to set up a payment plan and it was a huge headache. Call the state tax department asap and ask them to review your return.

I'd definitely recommend not spending that money until you figure out what happened. A few things to check: 1. Look at your actual W-2 box 17 (state income tax withheld) vs what you entered in TurboTax - this is the most common source of errors 2. Check if you qualify for any state-specific credits like earned income credit, property tax credit, or education credits that might not have been in the initial estimate 3. If you made estimated quarterly payments during the year, make sure those were properly accounted for The safest approach is to contact your state's department of revenue directly. Most states have online portals where you can view your processed return and see exactly how they calculated your refund. This will show you line by line what credits and withholdings they applied. If it turns out to be legitimate, great! But if it's an error, reporting it proactively will save you from potential penalties and interest later. I've seen too many people get burned by spending erroneous refunds and then struggling to pay them back when the state comes calling.

Don't forget you still have to pay the self-employment tax of 15.3% on your net profit from doordash (after deducting mileage and expenses). The mileage deduction reduces your income tax but you still gotta pay SE tax on whatever profit is left.

This is actually a really common scenario that confuses new gig workers! Your calculation sounds about right. Here's what's happening: Your $7,300 DoorDash income minus the $2,600 mileage deduction leaves you with $4,700 in taxable profit. The self-employment tax on that would be around $664 (15.3%), plus regular income tax. But if you had taxes withheld from another job earlier in the year, those withholdings get applied against your total tax liability. So even though you owe taxes on your DoorDash income, the amount already withheld from your W-2 job might be more than your total liability, resulting in a refund. A few things to double-check: - Make sure your tax calculator is including self-employment tax (many don't) - Verify you're using the correct 2025 mileage rate (it's $0.70 per mile) - Consider other deductible expenses like phone usage, delivery bags, etc. It's totally normal to get a refund in this situation - it just means you prepaid more than you actually owe. Just make sure all your deductions are legitimate and well-documented!

Has anyone actually tried doing a check-the-box election to be treated as a foreign corporation instead? I've heard this might be simpler than maintaining a US C-Corp if you truly have no US activities.

This is a complex area where small details can have huge tax implications. I went through a similar transition from Dubai to the EU with a US entity, and there are several nuances that aren't immediately obvious. First, even if you have zero US-sourced income, you're absolutely right that Form 1120 filing is still required annually for the C-Corp. But here's what caught me off guard - the "effectively connected income" determination isn't just about where your clients are located, but also includes factors like where you're performing services, where you're making key business decisions, and even where your business bank accounts are located. For someone moving to Sweden specifically, you'll want to pay close attention to the US-Sweden tax treaty provisions. Sweden has a relatively aggressive approach to taxing foreign corporations controlled by Swedish residents, so you might end up with Swedish corporate tax obligations even on your US C-Corp's income. One thing I wish I'd understood earlier: if you're planning to take distributions from the C-Corp as a Swedish resident, you'll likely face Swedish personal income tax on those distributions regardless of whether the underlying corporate income was US-taxed or not. Have you considered whether maintaining the LLC structure might actually be simpler for your situation? The transparency for Swedish tax purposes might be easier to manage than dealing with both US corporate reporting and Swedish CFC rules.

You might be able to bypass this entirely. I believe you can create an account on the IRS website (if you haven't already) and view your tax transcript online. This might show the status of your refund without needing the trace number from H&R Block. It's probably worth trying that approach while you're still trying to get the information from them.

I went through this exact nightmare with H&R Block two months ago! What finally worked for me was asking to speak with the office manager and specifically requesting the "DCN (Document Control Number)" or "transmission confirmation receipt." Don't let them tell you they don't have it - every electronically filed return generates one. If the front desk staff can't help, insist on speaking with someone who actually prepared returns during tax season, not just seasonal customer service. Also, check any paperwork they gave you when you filed - sometimes it's buried in the fine print on page 2 or 3 of your filing receipt. The IRS requires them to provide this by law, so if they keep stonewalling you, mention that you're aware it's a legal requirement under IRS e-file regulations. That usually gets them moving pretty quickly!

Has anyone else noticed that TaxSlayer sometimes flags this issue but then doesn't actually add the excess withholding to your refund? This happened to me last year and I had to manually override something to get my money back. Just make sure you verify the final refund amount includes your excess SS tax!

This is a really common issue and you're absolutely right to pursue getting that $58 back! I had the exact same thing happen when I switched jobs mid-year. What likely happened is your second employer started withholding Social Security from your first dollar of wages without knowing how much had already been withheld by your previous employer. Since each employer calculates independently, they don't communicate with each other about your year-to-date withholdings. The good news is you don't need to contact your old employer at all - this gets resolved automatically through your tax return. When you file with TaxSlayer, it should calculate the excess and include it in your refund. Just make sure to double-check that the excess amount actually shows up on Schedule 3, Line 11 of your Form 1040 before you submit, as some people have mentioned the software sometimes flags it but doesn't always include it in the final refund calculation. You'll get every penny of that $58 back, and it should be included in whatever refund you're already expecting!