Does anyone know if this affects financial aid for next year? I'm worried reporting this income might decrease my aid package.

I'm dealing with something similar right now! Got a 1099-MISC from my bank's student rewards program and was totally confused at first. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like I need to report it as "Other Income" under prizes/awards. Quick question though - does the timing matter? I received the cash reward in December 2024 but just got the 1099-MISC now. Should I report it for 2024 taxes or wait until next year? The form shows 2024 as the tax year, so I'm assuming it goes on this year's return even though I'm filing a bit late. Also appreciate all the tool recommendations! Might try that taxr.ai thing since I have a few other confusing forms this year too.

Can anyone recommend a good tax software that lets you play around with different withholding scenarios? The IRS calculator is so clunky and I need to figure out how changing my 401k contributions will affect my withholding needs.

This is exactly the kind of confusion that trips up a lot of people! The withholding estimator is actually working correctly - it's designed to calculate based on your current point in the tax year, not the full year ahead. When you select "twice monthly," you're right that means 24 paychecks for a full year. But if you're running the calculator after you've already received some paychecks in 2025, it shows the remaining paychecks left in the year where you can still make withholding adjustments. So if you see 23 paychecks, that likely means you've already gotten one paycheck this year. The calculator takes into account what's already happened (which should be entered in the "year to date" income and withholding sections) and focuses on the remaining pay periods where changes can take effect. Don't manually adjust to 24 - trust the calculator's paycheck count but make sure you're accurately entering any year-to-date income and withholding amounts you've already received. That's the key to getting accurate recommendations!

Just to clarify something others haven't mentioned - when the bank rejects the deposit, you might see a temporary hold or pending transaction in your Where's My Refund status. This doesn't mean there's a problem with your return, just that the system is processing the rejection and converting to a paper check. The status will update again once the check is scheduled to be mailed.

I've been through this exact situation twice now (2021 and 2023) and can confirm what others are saying. The process is actually pretty streamlined once you understand it: The bank rejection happens within 1-3 business days of the IRS sending the deposit. Then it takes about 10-14 days for the IRS system to process the rejection and generate a paper check. The check itself takes another 7-10 days to arrive by mail. One thing I learned the hard way - if you use a tax prep service like H&R Block or TurboTax, they sometimes use temporary accounts for direct deposits, which can complicate things. But in your case with a regular investment account, it should be straightforward. The Where's My Refund tool will show "refund sent" when they attempt the direct deposit, then change to "check mailed" once they convert it. Don't panic if you see the first status for a week or so - that's normal processing time. Pro tip: Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery so you can see when the check is actually coming to your mailbox. Makes the waiting much less stressful!

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed through H&R Block about 10 days ago, got my DDD for March 4th, and my Cash App is showing absolutely nothing. I was starting to panic thinking I messed up my routing number or something. Reading through these comments is actually really reassuring - sounds like Cash App just doesn't show pending deposits the way traditional banks do. I've been obsessively checking the app like 15 times a day which is probably pointless. One thing I'm wondering though - for those who got their refunds on their DDD date, did it hit early in the morning or later in the day? I'm hoping to use mine for rent that's due on the 4th, so timing matters for me.

For Cash App deposits, I've noticed they typically hit between 12:01 AM and 6:00 AM on the DDD date, but it can vary. Since your rent is due on the 4th (same as your DDD), you should be fine - just maybe don't cut it too close if you need to transfer the money elsewhere. I'd recommend setting up notifications in Cash App so you get alerted the moment it hits rather than constantly checking. Go to your Cash App settings and make sure "Payment Notifications" are turned on. That way you'll know immediately when it arrives instead of driving yourself crazy refreshing the app. Also, just to ease your mind about the routing number - if the IRS accepted your return and gave you a DDD, that means your banking info was correct. If there was an issue with your account details, you would have gotten an error message or your refund would have been converted to a paper check by now.

hey has anyone had turbotax reject their return when trying to deduct phone? mine keeps giving me some error about "business assets under $2500" and i don't know what to click???

As someone who's been doing delivery driving for a while, I'd suggest starting simple for your first year. Track your phone usage for a typical week or two to establish a baseline business percentage - don't just guess. For a $1350 iPhone used part-time for deliveries, you're probably looking at somewhere between 20-40% business use realistically. The key is being able to defend your percentage if questioned. Keep records of your delivery hours, and consider that business use includes not just active delivery time but also time spent checking for orders, navigating, and communicating with customers. For TurboTax, you'll enter this on Schedule C under "Other expenses" and create a line item for "Cell phone (business portion)". The software will walk you through whether to depreciate or take the immediate deduction based on your usage percentage. One tip: don't forget you can also deduct things like a phone mount for your car, charging cables you use while driving, and even a portion of your phone case if you bought it specifically for delivery work protection. These smaller items add up!