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This exact same thing happened to me about three weeks ago! I got a deposit from "TPG products SBTPG LLC" and was completely baffled. Like you, the amount seemed familiar but I couldn't place where it would be coming from. I actually ignored it for a few days thinking it might have been a delayed payment from some freelance work I did months ago. It wasn't until I was organizing my finances and cross-referencing everything that I realized I was still waiting for my tax refund and the timing lined up perfectly. Sure enough, when I checked the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool and my TurboTax account, everything made sense. The amount difference from what TurboTax estimated is exactly what everyone else described - they take out all their fees before SBTPG sends you the remainder. In my case, I had paid for TurboTax Premier plus their "Audit Defense" add-on, plus the state filing fee, plus that $39.99 refund transfer fee. It all added up to about $140 in total fees, which explained why my deposit was so much less than expected. What really bothers me is that TurboTax makes it seem like such a convenient option to pay from your refund, but they don't clearly explain upfront that your refund will come from this random-sounding third party company. A little transparency would go a long way in preventing all this confusion!
I completely agree about TurboTax needing to be more transparent! I just went through this exact same confusion yesterday when I saw that mysterious SBTPG deposit. Like everyone else here, the amount seemed vaguely familiar but I had no clue where it came from. What really helped me piece it together was reading through all these comments and then checking both the IRS tool and my TurboTax account. Sure enough, when I found that refund breakdown section in TurboTax, it showed all the fees that were deducted - software fee, state filing, audit protection, and that refund transfer fee. The math worked out perfectly with what SBTPG deposited. I think you're spot on about the convenience marketing vs. reality. They make it sound like such an easy option to just "pay from your refund" but don't mention that you'll get a confusing deposit from a company you've never heard of, weeks later, for an amount that doesn't match what you expected. A simple email saying "Your refund of $X will be deposited by our partner SBTPG" would solve 90% of this confusion! Definitely paying upfront next year to avoid this whole middleman situation. Thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing their experiences - made me feel a lot less crazy for being so confused!
I'm so glad I found this thread! I literally just went through this exact same panic two days ago when I saw "TPG products SBTPG LLC" show up in my account. The amount was suspiciously close to what I usually get from my Uber Eats deliveries, so I just assumed it was a payment from them under a new system or something. It wasn't until I got my regular Uber Eats payment the next day that I realized something was off. After seeing everyone's explanations here about SBTPG being TurboTax's bank partner, I checked my TurboTax account and found that refund breakdown section. Sure enough, all the fees were deducted from my original refund amount - TurboTax Deluxe fee, state filing, and that $39.99 refund transfer fee. The IRS "Where's My Refund" tool confirmed that they had sent out my full refund amount, so the difference went to all those TurboTax fees I had forgotten about when I chose to pay from my refund instead of upfront. It's honestly ridiculous that TurboTax doesn't make this clearer during the filing process. A simple notification like "Your refund will be deposited by our processing partner SBTPG LLC" would save so many people from this confusion. Next year I'm definitely paying the preparation fees upfront to get my refund directly from the IRS and avoid this whole mystery deposit situation!
Has anyone considered the "unmarried parents" rule here? If these are both biological parents with their own kids, and they're unmarried, there might be a way to structure this. If each parent could claim they provided more than half the support for their own child, and the home is the principal place of abode for those children, there might be a path forward. The real question is whether the IRS would consider them sharing living expenses as "keeping up a single home together" or "each contributing to their own child's support.
I think you're confusing dependency rules with Head of Household requirements. You can definitely each claim your own biological children as dependents, but HOH status has the additional requirement about maintaining a household. Since they're sharing one physical home and expenses, that's where it gets complicated.
I've been through a very similar situation and want to share what I learned from my tax professional. Unfortunately, the IRS is pretty strict about the December 31st rule for Head of Household status. Even though you were legitimately separate households for most of 2024, your filing status is determined by your situation on the last day of the tax year. Since you're living together as a family unit and sharing expenses by December 31st, only one of you can claim Head of Household. The other would need to file as Single. The IRS views this as one household being maintained, regardless of how you split the expenses. However, there might be a silver lining - since you're paying 60% of the household expenses and presumably supporting your own children, you'd likely be the better candidate for Head of Household status. Your girlfriend would file as Single but could still claim her children as dependents. I know it feels unfair given that you maintained separate households for most of the year, but the tax code doesn't account for partial-year situations like this. The key is to make sure whoever claims HOH has proper documentation of paying more than half the household costs and that their qualifying dependents lived in the home for more than half the year.
This is exactly the clear explanation I was looking for! Thank you for breaking down the December 31st rule so simply. It's frustrating that the timing works against people in situations like this, but at least now I understand the logic behind it. Since Victoria is paying 60% of the expenses, it does make sense that she would be the better candidate for HOH status. Do you happen to know what kind of documentation the IRS typically wants to see to prove the "more than half" household costs requirement? I'm assuming receipts and bank statements, but wondering if there are specific records that are particularly important to keep.
This is why I stopped day trading and switched to ETFs with occasional rebalancing. The tax headaches weren't worth the small gains I was making. Now I sleep better and spend way less time on tax prep.
I'm dealing with a very similar situation and wanted to share what I learned after consulting with a tax professional. The key insight is that when your disallowed wash sales exceed your realized losses, you're essentially "prepaying" taxes on losses that will benefit you in future years. Here's what helped me understand it: Think of the excess disallowed wash sale amount as an "investment" in higher cost basis for your replacement shares. When you eventually sell those shares (hopefully for a gain), your tax liability will be lower because of that higher basis. For your specific situation with $17,850 disallowed vs $14,200 realized loss, you'll report both amounts exactly as shown on your 1099B using the aggregation method. The $3,650 difference ($17,850 - $14,200) represents basis adjustments that are sitting in your current positions, waiting to reduce future gains or increase future losses when you sell. One practical tip: if you're planning to continue active trading, consider opening a separate account specifically for longer-term holds to avoid inadvertently triggering wash sales on positions you want to keep. This has helped me avoid some of the cascading wash sale issues others have mentioned.
This is incredibly helpful, thank you! The "prepaying taxes" analogy really makes it click for me. I've been so focused on the immediate tax impact that I wasn't thinking about the future benefit. Your suggestion about opening a separate account for longer-term holds is brilliant - I never thought about how my day trading could accidentally trigger wash sales on positions I actually want to keep. I'm definitely going to set that up before I start trading again next year. One quick question: when you say "report both amounts exactly as shown on your 1099B," do you mean I should enter them as separate line items in my tax software, or will the aggregation method automatically handle the calculation when I input the summary figures?
My tax guy told me the key is having a completely separate business entity for the 1099 work. If its just you getting paid both ways, the IRS tends to view it as one job. But if you have an LLC or S-Corp for your freelance work that contracts with the company, that creates clearer separation.
This is 100% the right approach! I have an S-Corp that bills for my consulting work while I'm also a W2 employee somewhere else. Creates a clean separation that makes deductions much easier to justify. Worth the setup costs in my experience.
The advice about having a separate business entity is solid, but you don't necessarily need to set up an LLC or S-Corp to make legitimate deductions work. What matters most is being able to clearly demonstrate that your 1099 work is genuinely separate from your W2 duties. I'd focus on three key documentation strategies: 1) Keep separate calendars/logs showing when you're doing W2 vs 1099 work, 2) Maintain records of any different clients, projects, or deliverables for your 1099 work, and 3) Track your mileage with specific business purposes noted (not just "went to office"). The IRS will scrutinize situations like yours more closely, but as long as you can show legitimate business separation and aren't just trying to convert regular commuting expenses into deductions, you should be fine. Consider consulting with a tax professional who specializes in mixed employment situations - the upfront cost is usually worth avoiding potential audit issues down the road.
This is excellent practical advice! I'm dealing with a similar mixed W2/1099 situation and have been worried about how to properly document everything. The separate calendar idea is brilliant - I never thought about maintaining completely separate logs to show the distinction between my different types of work. Quick question though - when you say "specific business purposes" for mileage tracking, would something like "Meeting with 1099 client at Company X office to review project deliverables" be detailed enough? I want to make sure I'm not being too vague but also not overthinking the documentation requirements. Also, do you have any recommendations for finding tax professionals who specialize in these mixed employment situations? My current CPA seems to just default to "you probably can't deduct any of it" which doesn't feel like the right answer.
Julian Paolo
25 Has anyone here dealt with filing a final 1120 when you still had ongoing litigation against the corporation? My situation is similar to the original poster, but we have a pending lawsuit that might not be resolved for another year or more.
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Julian Paolo
ā¢9 You should definitely consult with a tax attorney on this one. When I was in a similar situation, we had to create a liquidating trust to handle the ongoing litigation. The corporation still filed its final 1120, but we had to transfer sufficient assets to the trust to cover potential litigation costs and settlements. We used my home address for all the final corporate filings and subsequent correspondence. The liquidating trust had its own tax filing requirements (Form 1041), but it allowed us to properly dissolve the corporation while still addressing the ongoing legal issues.
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Leeann Blackstein
Just went through this exact situation last year with my dissolved S-Corp. Definitely use your personal address on the final Form 1120 - the IRS needs to be able to reach you for any follow-up questions or notices, and using an inaccessible business address will only create headaches later. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure you also file Form 966 (Corporate Dissolution or Liquidation) within 30 days of adopting the plan of dissolution if you haven't already. Since you dissolved in December 2023, you may have missed this deadline, but it's still worth filing even if late to properly notify the IRS of the dissolution. Also, keep copies of your state dissolution paperwork with your tax records. The IRS sometimes requests this documentation to verify the dissolution date and process. Using your home address ensures you'll actually receive any such requests.
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Keisha Brown
ā¢Great point about Form 966! I had no idea about the 30-day requirement. Since my dissolution was in December 2023, I'm definitely past that deadline. Will there be penalties for filing it late, or is it better to file it late than not at all? Also, when you mention keeping state dissolution paperwork - are you referring to the Articles of Dissolution filed with the Secretary of State? I want to make sure I have everything properly documented in case the IRS comes asking questions later.
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