Those negative signs are actually a good thing! They represent credits on your account. Code 766 shows your tax withholdings (like what was taken from your paychecks) and 768 is your earned income credit if you qualify. The minus signs mean these amounts are working IN YOUR FAVOR to either reduce what you owe or increase your refund. So don't stress - negative is positive when it comes to IRS transcript codes! 😊

Just want to add that you can also check your "as of date" on the transcript to see when it was last updated. Sometimes those negative amounts take a few days to fully process through the system, but like everyone else said - those minus signs are definitely working in your favor! The IRS accounting system is weird but once you get the hang of reading these codes it becomes much clearer.

Your real estate friends are missing something huge: opportunity cost. When you don't have a mortgage, you have all that cash flow to invest elsewhere. If we assume a $300k mortgage at 4%, you're paying about $12k/year in interest initially. The tax savings might be $2-3k depending on your bracket. So you're spending $12k to save $3k... meanwhile the mortgage-free person has an extra $24k+ (principal + interest) to invest every year! I paid my house off 3 years ago and have put the equivalent of my old mortgage payment into index funds. The growth has far exceeded any tax benefit I would've received.

You're absolutely right to trust your instincts here! The mortgage interest deduction is one of the most persistent financial myths out there, and it's frustrating how confidently people repeat it. The math is simple: if you're paying $15,000 in mortgage interest and you're in the 22% tax bracket, you save about $3,300 in taxes. But you still paid $15,000! You're net negative $11,700 compared to paying no interest at all. What makes this even worse is that many people don't even benefit from the mortgage interest deduction anymore. With the standard deduction at $27,700 for married filing jointly in 2023, your total itemized deductions (mortgage interest + state taxes + charitable donations + medical expenses) need to exceed that amount for itemizing to even make sense. I see this misconception all the time in tax season - people genuinely believe they're "making money" on their mortgage interest. Your brother-in-law probably means well, but remember that real estate professionals have a vested interest in people having mortgages. Congratulations on paying off your home! That's a huge accomplishment and you're in a much stronger financial position than people carrying mortgage debt just for a partial tax break.

I've been running into this too! What's been working for me is trying different devices - sometimes my phone gets through when my laptop can't. Also noticed that weekends seem to have less traffic if you can wait. The system updates they're doing for tax season are definitely causing chaos but it should stabilize in a few weeks once they work out the bugs.

Yeah this has been happening to me too! Super frustrating when you're trying to get your tax stuff sorted early. I found that clearing cookies and trying again in a few hours usually works. The IRS systems always get overloaded this time of year with everyone checking their refund status and getting transcripts ready for filing. Hang in there - it should get better once they finish their maintenance updates!

One thing nobody has mentioned yet is that you should also check if Sweden has special provisions for artists and entertainers in their US tax treaty. Many countries have what's called an "Artistes and Sportsmen" article (usually Article 16 or 17) that can override the royalty provisions for certain types of income. Also, make sure you're actually considered a tax resident of Sweden and not Denmark as you mentioned being from Denmark in your post. You need to claim treaty benefits based on where you're a tax resident, not your citizenship.

I just want to clarify something from the original post - you mentioned being "based in Sweden" but there might be some confusion about your tax residency status. For the W-8BEN form, what matters is where you're considered a tax resident for treaty purposes, not just where you're currently living. If you're genuinely a Swedish tax resident, then Article 12 of the US-Sweden treaty should apply to your royalties with a 0% withholding rate. However, you need to make sure you meet Sweden's tax residency requirements and that you're actually liable to tax there on your worldwide income. For Part II, line 10, you would write something like "Article 12 - Royalties - 0%" assuming your producer advance and future royalties qualify under this article. One additional tip: keep documentation showing your Swedish tax residency status (like a tax residency certificate from Skatteverket) in case the record label or IRS requests proof later. This is especially important if your residency situation is complex or if you've moved recently. The advance payment structure you described (advance + future royalties) is pretty standard in the music industry and typically qualifies as royalty income under most tax treaties.

I'm going through the exact same thing! Filed my Illinois return in February and I'm still stuck in processing limbo. The most frustrating part is that their website gives you absolutely no useful information - just that generic "still being processed" message that tells you nothing. From reading through all these comments, it sounds like there are several potential issues that could be causing the delay: - Address discrepancies (especially if you moved recently) - Identity verification requirements that they don't notify you about - Random manual reviews they're doing this year - Issues with credits or deductions triggering additional screening I'm going to try a few of the suggestions here - calling first thing in the morning at 8 AM, checking from a desktop computer instead of mobile, and looking more carefully through my mail for any notices that might have looked like junk mail. Has anyone had success with the taxpayer advocate service? I'm wondering if that might be worth trying since we're well past the normal processing timeframes at this point. It's ridiculous that we have to become private investigators just to get our own money back from the state!

I'm dealing with the exact same issue! Filed my Illinois return in late February and have been stuck in that "still being processed" purgatory for months now. It's incredibly frustrating when you can't get any real information about what's actually happening with your return. After reading through all these experiences, I'm going to try several approaches: 1. Calling right at 8 AM tomorrow using that 1-800-732-8866 number 2. Double-checking my mail for any plain envelopes that might have looked like junk mail 3. Verifying my address information is correct in their system 4. Considering reaching out to my state representative's office if the phone calls don't work The most infuriating part is how they expect us to file on time and pay penalties for any delays, but then they can sit on our refunds for months with zero accountability. The lack of transparency in their system is unacceptable. For what it's worth, I've been documenting every attempt to contact them with dates and times. If this drags on much longer, I'm definitely going to file a complaint and escalate through whatever channels are available. Thanks to everyone sharing their experiences and solutions - it's helpful to know we're not alone in dealing with this broken system!