Lucas, I can definitely relate to the stress of waiting for a refund when you have home repairs planned! Your cycle code 20250705 is actually great news - it means your return is actively being processed. Here's the breakdown: - 2025 = Processing fiscal year (Oct 2024-Sept 2025) - 07 = 7th cycle week of processing - 05 = Thursday (IRS counts Monday=01, Tuesday=02, etc.) So your return was processed on Thursday of the 7th cycle week, which is right on schedule for filing two weeks ago electronically. The important thing is that having a cycle code means you're past the initial review stage and into active processing. For most taxpayers with standard deductions like mortgage interest, refunds typically arrive 5-10 business days after the cycle code date appears on the transcript. Since you're planning home repairs, I'd suggest checking your bank account daily and monitoring the "Where's My Refund" tool. Barring any unexpected hold codes appearing on your transcript, you should have your refund in the next week or so - plenty of time to get those repairs scheduled! The waiting is definitely the hardest part, but you're in the home stretch now.

I totally get the anxiety about cycle codes - I was in your exact situation last year when I needed my refund for some urgent plumbing repairs! Your cycle code 20250705 breaks down like this: - 2025 = IRS processing year (fiscal year 2025, which runs Oct 2024-Sept 2025) - 07 = 7th cycle week of processing - 05 = Thursday (IRS uses 01=Monday through 05=Friday) So your return was processed on Thursday of the 7th cycle week, which is actually perfect timing for filing electronically two weeks ago. The really good news is that having a cycle code appear means your return has moved from the waiting queue into active processing - that's honestly the biggest milestone! For homeowners with standard deductions like mortgage interest, most refunds arrive within 5-10 business days after the cycle code date shows up on your transcript. I'd suggest checking "Where's My Refund" daily and keeping an eye on your bank account. Based on your timeline, you should definitely have your refund in time for those home repairs. The waiting is nerve-wracking, but you're basically in the final stretch now!

does anyone know if there's a statue of limitations on these CP2000 things? i got one for my 2021 taxes but it just arrived last month. feels kinda ridiculous they can come after u years later when i dont even have those documents anymore

@Aisha Ali, I went through almost the exact same situation when I was doing my master's here! The housing scholarship tax issue catches so many international students off guard because it really isn't intuitive coming from other countries where scholarships are completely tax-free. A few things that helped me when I got my CP2000: 1. Don't panic about the 30-day deadline - if you need more time, you can call and request an extension, especially as an international student still learning the system. 2. The IRS calculation might not account for any applicable tax treaty benefits. Depending on your home country, you might qualify for reduced tax rates or exemptions under the tax treaty. 3. When you respond, include a brief letter explaining that you're an international student new to US tax laws and made an honest mistake. This can help with penalty abatement. 4. Check if your university's international student services office has any tax clinics or partnerships with local tax preparers - many do, especially around tax season and for situations like this. The good news is that this is super common and the IRS deals with it all the time. As long as you respond promptly and pay what you legitimately owe, it shouldn't be a big deal. You've got this!

Check if your state has a whistleblower program for tax issues! In my state, if you report property tax evasion and they end up collecting, you can actually get a percentage of the recovered taxes. I learned about this when reporting a similar situation with a "nonprofit" that was renting out multiple houses.

This is a really important issue that affects property tax fairness for everyone in the community. From what you've described, it sounds like these properties should definitely be paying taxes since they're being used for commercial rental purposes rather than religious activities. One thing to keep in mind is that even if the church is legitimate in other ways, they might not realize they're supposed to pay taxes on these rental properties. Sometimes religious organizations get bad advice or misunderstand the rules. The tax assessor's office can help clarify whether this is an honest mistake or something more problematic. I'd recommend documenting what you can see publicly - like the rental listings, addresses, and any other evidence that these are regular rental properties. The more specific information you can provide to the tax assessor, the better they can investigate. Thanks for looking out for tax fairness in your community!

Has anyone used TurboTax to report a business sale? I'm trying to figure out if the self-employed version can handle this or if I need to upgrade to their business version?

I just went through this exact same situation when I sold my consulting firm last year. The key thing that helped me was understanding that you need to treat this as an asset sale, not a stock sale, which means each component of your business gets reported differently. For your client list and goodwill (the intangible value you built up over 8 years), these qualify as Section 197 intangibles and should be reported on Form 4797 Part I since you held them for more than a year. This gives you long-term capital gains treatment, which is much better than ordinary income rates. The installment sale aspect is important too - you'll definitely need Form 6252 to report the payments you'll receive over the next two years. This lets you spread out the tax liability rather than paying it all upfront on the 70% you received. One thing that caught me off guard was Form 8594 (Asset Acquisition Statement) - both you and the buyer need to file this with consistent asset allocations. Make sure your purchase agreement specifies how the sale price is allocated across different asset categories, or you might run into issues later. I'd strongly recommend getting professional help for this if you can. The classification of assets can make a huge difference in your tax bill, and there are specific rules about what qualifies for capital gains vs ordinary income treatment that aren't always intuitive.

Anyone know how the amortization works for the amounts above $5,000? My startup costs were about $8,200 and organizational were about $2,800. I understand I can deduct $5k of startup costs immediately, but how do I handle amortizing the remaining $3,200?

This is such a helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation with my new single-member LLC and had been stressing about these deductions. One thing I want to add - make sure you keep really detailed records of what you spent and when. I created a spreadsheet categorizing each expense as either startup or organizational from day one, which made tax prep so much easier. Also, for anyone wondering about timing - the IRS considers your business to have "begun" when you start offering goods/services to customers, not when you filed your LLC paperwork. So expenses before that date are typically startup/organizational, while expenses after are regular business deductions. This distinction was crucial for me since I had some overlap expenses right around my launch date. The election statement requirement that @Manny mentioned is super important - I almost forgot to include it and caught it at the last minute. Better to be safe than sorry with the IRS!