Does anyone know if books count toward the Lifetime Learning Credit? My school doesn't include them as required fees but I had to buy them for my classes.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who went through this exact same confusion last year! The $48 you're seeing for the Lifetime Learning Credit is likely due to income phase-out rules that others have mentioned, but here's something else to check: make sure you're only including qualified expenses. From your post, you mentioned $25,670 in "total qualified expenses" - that seems quite high for tuition and fees alone. If you accidentally included things like room, board, transportation, or living expenses (which don't qualify), that could throw off your calculations and make the tax software behave weirdly. Also, the reason the American Opportunity Credit is showing $1,325 versus the LLC's $48 is because the AOTC has different (often more generous) income phase-out ranges and calculation methods. The software is probably detecting that you qualify for more money with the AOTC based on your specific income level and student status. I'd double-check what expenses you included and maybe try one of the tools others mentioned to get a clearer breakdown of why there's such a big difference!

Has anyone used the Section 179 deduction for purchasing business vehicles? I heard SUVs and trucks over 6,000 lbs qualify differently than regular cars.

Just to add some clarity on the current situation - as of April 2024, there's still no finalized legislation that has restored bonus depreciation back to 100%. The House did pass some tax provisions earlier this year, but they stalled in the Senate. What I'm seeing from my CPA contacts is that most businesses are planning with the current rules (60% bonus depreciation for 2024) while keeping an eye on any late-year developments. The reality is that even if something passes, it might not be retroactive to January 1, 2024. For anyone making major equipment purchases, I'd echo the advice about working with current known figures. You can always amend your return if better provisions get passed later. The Section 179 deduction limits are still quite generous at $1.16M, so that might be sufficient for many small businesses anyway.

Don't forget to check if your state has a tax relief program too! I owed the feds $21k and my state another $7k. I qualified for my state's Hardship Program which actually forgave about half of what I owed them. The federal payment plan was still rough but that state relief made a huge difference. Just google "[your state] tax relief program" and see what comes up.

I'm sorry you're going through this - the stress of owing that much to the IRS is overwhelming, but you do have options. First, definitely don't ignore this or let it spiral further. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is requesting penalty abatement for reasonable cause. Since you mentioned you lost your job 6 months ago and are struggling financially, you might qualify to have some of the penalties removed if you can show the failure to file/pay was due to circumstances beyond your control. Also, make sure you're getting proper representation. The IRS has a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) program that provides free or low-cost assistance to people who can't afford professional help. You can find one in your area on the IRS website. These clinics have attorneys and CPAs who specialize in tax debt resolution. Given your current income situation, you'll likely qualify for Currently Not Collectible status while you get back on your feet. Yes, interest still accrues, but it stops the immediate collection pressure and gives you breathing room to stabilize your finances. Document everything about your financial hardship - job loss, medical bills, basic living expenses. This will be crucial for any hardship-based relief programs you apply for.

I had almost the exact same situation with my 2021 return! The "Return Not Present" message with an 810 freeze code is actually more common than you'd think during heavy processing periods. What's happening is your return was received and assigned the freeze code, but it hasn't been fully processed into their main database yet - that's why it shows as "not present" even though they clearly have some record of it (hence the freeze). The 810 code usually means they're doing additional verification or your return got flagged for manual review. Since you e-filed through TurboTax in February, the good news is it's definitely in their system somewhere. I'd recommend calling the practitioner priority line if you have access, or try calling early morning (7-8 AM) for shorter wait times. In my case, it took about 6 weeks after the 810 appeared for everything to update properly and show my actual return info. Keep checking weekly - once it processes fully, all those blank fields will populate with your actual tax info and the freeze should lift automatically.

I'm dealing with something very similar right now with my 2022 return! Filed in late January through FreeTaxUSA and my transcript has been showing the exact same thing - "RETURN NOT PRESENT" but with an 810 freeze code from February 28th. It's so frustrating because you know you filed but the system acts like it doesn't exist. From what I've researched, the 810 code often gets applied when they need to do manual verification of certain items on your return - things like the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Credit, or if you claimed any recovery rebate credits. The "not present" status just means it hasn't been fully processed through their main system yet, but the freeze code proves they definitely have it. I've been checking my transcript every Monday and it's been the same for about 6 weeks now. Planning to call this week since it's been so long. Have you tried using the "Where's My Refund" tool to see if it gives you any different information than the transcript?

This has been such a helpful discussion! As someone who works in benefits administration, I wanted to add one more potential source of confusion. Sometimes when companies switch payroll providers or accounting firms, the new provider will flag "missing" pre-tax elections and make it sound urgent or required. If your company recently changed payroll companies or got a new accountant, they might have noticed that employee health insurance premiums are being processed as post-tax deductions when they should be pre-tax. From their perspective, this looks like a compliance issue that needs immediate attention - hence the stressed tone about "requirements" and potential penalties. The reality is that while you're not breaking any laws by processing premiums post-tax, you and your employees are missing out on tax savings that most people expect. A simple Premium Only Plan would fix this, but it's more of an optimization than a legal requirement. Definitely worth getting clarification on exactly what the accountant meant - but at least now you know it's not some mysterious IRS mandate hanging over your heads!

Thank you all for this incredibly thorough discussion! As a newcomer to this community, I'm amazed at how helpful everyone has been in breaking down what seemed like a confusing situation. Reading through all these responses, it's clear that @LunarLegend's boss likely received advice that got lost in translation somewhere between the accountant and the meeting. The most probable scenarios seem to be: 1. The accountant was recommending a Premium Only Plan for upcoming health insurance benefits (as @Diego Flores and others suggested) 2. There might be COBRA compliance requirements that got mixed up with Cafeteria Plan requirements (@Sean Flanagan's point) 3. A new payroll provider or accounting review flagged the missing pre-tax benefit elections (@Gianni Serpent's excellent insight) What I find most reassuring is the consensus that there are NO IRS requirements for small businesses to offer Cafeteria Plans - they're purely optional tax-saving tools. The stress and confusion could have been avoided with clearer communication, but at least now there's a clear path forward. For anyone else facing similar confusion, this thread is a perfect example of why it's worth getting multiple perspectives and asking for clarification when something doesn't sound quite right. The resources people shared (like the IRS connection services) also seem genuinely helpful for getting authoritative answers directly from the source. Great community discussion - exactly what I hoped to find when I joined this group!