Umm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm in the same situation and wondering how box 5 on the 1098-T (scholarships/grants) affects all this? I had a scholarship for part of my undergrad semester and it's showing in box 5. Do I need to subtract that from my qualified expenses before calculating AOTC?

Just wanted to add some clarity since I see some confusion in the comments. As a tax professional, I can confirm that you absolutely cannot claim both AOTC and LLC in the same tax year for the same student - this is a hard IRS rule. However, there's an important nuance about your situation: since your undergraduate expenses occurred in the first part of 2024 and your graduate expenses in the second part, you need to be strategic about which credit to use. If you've only used AOTC for 3 years so far, you have one year of eligibility left, but it can ONLY be applied to undergraduate expenses. Your graduate school expenses would not qualify for AOTC at all - they could only qualify for LLC. So your real choice is: use your final year of AOTC on just your $7,200 undergrad expenses, or use LLC on the combined $25,700 total expenses. Run the numbers both ways - AOTC might give you up to $2,500 (and up to $1,000 is refundable), while LLC gives you 20% of qualified expenses up to $2,000 total. Given your amounts, AOTC on just the undergrad expenses would likely be more beneficial than LLC on everything.

Just a quick warning to anyone using the automatic extension - make sure you still file Form 4868 for an extension of your actual tax return by April 18th! The FBAR automatic extension ONLY applies to the FBAR itself (FinCEN Form 114), not your tax return. I made this mistake last year thinking the automatic extension covered everything related to foreign accounts. Ended up having to explain to the IRS why my tax return was late even though my FBAR was timely filed. Don't repeat my mistake!

Something nobody has mentioned yet - if you haven't filed FBARs in previous years when you should have, look into the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures. The penalties for late/missed FBARs can be INSANE (like $10,000 per account per year), but the Streamlined program lets you catch up without penalties if your failure to file wasn't willful. I went through this last year after realizing I should have been filing FBARs for 5 years. You file your past FBARs, certify that your failure was non-willful, and you're good. Much better than waiting for them to find you!

I went through this exact same situation in February! Got denied for the TurboTax advance after about 40 hours of waiting, and I was panicking about where my refund would end up. Can confirm that it automatically switches to SBTPG - you don't need to do anything on your end. The routing info in your TurboTax account will update to show SBTPG instead of Cross River Bank. I'd recommend checking the SBTPG website directly for tracking once your refund gets approved by the IRS. Their system is pretty reliable and gives you better updates than the TurboTax tracker. My refund took about 6 days after IRS approval to hit my account through SBTPG. The whole denial process was stressful but the actual refund went smoothly once it got routed properly.

I can relate to this situation! Got denied for the TurboTax advance last year and was stressed about the same thing. The good news is that everything switches over to SBTPG automatically - no action needed from you. What helped me was logging into my TurboTax account and confirming that the refund details section showed SBTPG instead of Cross River Bank. Once that updated, I knew I was back on the standard processing track. The timeline ended up being about 10 days total from IRS acceptance to money in my account, which honestly wasn't much different than if I had just gone with the regular option from the start. The advance denial was disappointing but didn't actually delay my refund significantly.

This happened to me two years ago! Don't panic - there's a simple explanation. When I called FreeTax customer service, they explained that they use Republic Bank for all their refund transfers. The routing number ending in 7418 is from Republic Bank - they're the financial institution that processes all of FreeTax's refund transfers. The process takes about 1-2 weeks total from when the IRS approves your refund until the money shows up in your actual bank account. It's annoying that they don't explain this clearly during the filing process!

I just went through this exact same situation with FreeTax a few weeks ago! Like everyone else has mentioned, that different bank account number is completely normal when you choose to pay filing fees from your refund. What I found helpful was checking both the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool AND logging into my FreeTax account online to track the status. The FreeTax portal actually shows when they receive the refund from the IRS and when they forward it to your personal account after deducting their fees. In my case, once the IRS sent my refund (which showed as "sent" on their website), it took exactly 4 business days for the money to appear in my actual bank account. The routing number you mentioned ending in 7418 does sound like Republic Bank, which is the third-party processor FreeTax uses. One tip: make sure you have the correct bank account info saved in your FreeTax profile, since that's where they'll send the remainder after taking their fee. You can double-check this in your account settings. The whole process was nerve-wracking at first, but it worked exactly as described!

As someone who works in payroll administration, I can confirm that "FED MWT EE" is indeed federal income tax withholding - the "MWT" stands for "Mandatory Withholding Tax" and "EE" indicates it's the employee portion (as opposed to employer-paid taxes). What many people don't realize is that this amount is calculated using IRS Publication 15 tables based on your W-4 elections, pay frequency, and gross wages. If you're finding the amount too high for your budget, you absolutely can adjust it by filing a new W-4 with your employer's payroll department. Just be cautious about reducing it too much - you want to avoid owing a large sum at tax time plus potential underpayment penalties. One helpful tip: if you're struggling to understand all the deductions on your paystub, most payroll systems can generate a detailed breakdown report that explains each code. Don't hesitate to ask your HR or payroll team for this - it's a completely normal request and will help you better manage your finances going forward.

This thread has been super educational! I work in tax preparation and see this confusion constantly during tax season. One thing I'd add is that if you're really unsure about your withholding amounts, consider doing a "paycheck checkup" quarterly rather than just annually. Life changes throughout the year - you might get a raise, start a side hustle, get married, or have other income sources that affect your tax situation. I always tell my clients to review their W-4 whenever they get a significant pay change or at least twice a year to make sure they're on track. Also, for those who are visual learners, your year-end W-2 will show your total federal income tax withheld in Box 2 - that's the sum of all those "FED MWT EE" deductions from your paychecks. Comparing that number to your actual tax liability on your return will tell you if you're withholding the right amount for your situation.