Has anyone tried requesting records directly from the Social Security Administration? They keep track of your earnings history and might be able to provide verification of your income for that year.

I went through almost the exact same situation a few years ago! My former employer was being completely unhelpful and I was panicking about my audit deadline. Here's what worked for me: First, definitely try the IRS Wage and Income Transcript that others mentioned - it's free and contains everything from your W-2. But if you're having trouble accessing it online (their identity verification can be tricky), you have another option. Contact your state's Department of Labor or Employment Security office. They often have records of wages reported by employers for unemployment insurance purposes. While this isn't a perfect substitute for a W-2, it can provide additional documentation to support your case with the auditor. Also, don't be afraid to push back a little with the auditor about your employer's non-cooperation. Document every attempt you've made to contact them (dates, methods, responses) and present this to the auditor. Sometimes they can issue a formal request to the employer on your behalf, which carries more weight than your individual requests. The key is showing good faith effort to obtain the documents. Most auditors are reasonable when they see you're genuinely trying to comply but facing obstacles beyond your control.

Has anyone tried just skipping the IP PIN entry completely? My sister said she couldn't find where to put her IP PIN either, so she just submitted without it and her return was accepted fine. Maybe it's only required in certain situations?

I had the exact same issue with TaxSlayer last year! The IP PIN field is ridiculously hard to find. In my case, I eventually found it by going to the "Interview" tab at the top, then scrolling down to find a section called "Identity Protection." It wasn't obvious at all - just a small link that said something like "Enter your IRS Identity Protection PIN here." Another thing to check: make sure you're looking for a 6-digit IP PIN field, not the 5-digit electronic filing PIN you create yourself. They look similar but are completely different. The IP PIN should be the one the IRS mailed or emailed to you earlier this year. If all else fails, try using the search function in TaxSlayer (usually a magnifying glass icon) and search for "IP PIN" or "Identity Protection PIN" - that might take you directly to the right page. Good luck!

I've been tracking TPG outages for the past three tax seasons using downdetector.com and their reddit community. This appears to be their third major outage this season, with previous ones on February 2-3 and February 28-March 1. According to several online resources, they're experiencing higher than normal volume this year due to increased e-filing rates. In my experience, their system usually updates overnight between 12am-4am EST. I've had success accessing the portal around 5:30am when most users aren't active. If you're using TurboTax, you can also check your order details page which sometimes shows refund status independent of the TPG system.

I'm dealing with the exact same issue! Been trying to access TPG since yesterday morning and getting nothing but loading screens. What's really frustrating is that my refund was supposed to be deposited this week according to the timeline my tax preparer gave me. I ended up calling my tax prep office and they said they're getting calls about this all day. Apparently TPG is having widespread system issues but hasn't posted any official notice about it. They suggested checking the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool instead, which is working fine and shows my refund is still being processed. For what it's worth, my neighbor had the same TPG outage issue two weeks ago and her money still came on the expected date even though she couldn't track it online. Seems like their tracking system goes down but the actual payment processing keeps working behind the scenes.

anyone know if they still doing the amazon gift card bonus this year?

I'm also waiting for TurboTax to announce their 2025 refund advance! From what I've seen, they usually launch it around this time but with all the IRS delays this season I wonder if they're being more cautious. Might be worth calling their customer service line to see if they have any insider info on when it'll drop.

Has anyone considered that OP might be confused about what "unearned income" means? Scholarships used for qualified expenses aren't taxable income at all. Only scholarships that exceed your education expenses or are used for room and board are taxable. It sounds like your scholarship was less than your tuition, so none of it should count as taxable unearned income. I think you're getting tripped up by the tax software.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this stressful situation, especially with the family complications involved. Based on what you've described, it sounds like you shouldn't need to file Form 8615 at all. You mentioned you're 20, worked full-time, and provided more than half of your own support. This is key - the "kiddie tax" that Form 8615 addresses doesn't apply to students who are financially independent. The fact that you paid your own rent, groceries, and utilities while working full-time clearly demonstrates you're supporting yourself. Additionally, since your $3,000 scholarship went entirely toward your $8,500 tuition (qualified education expenses), none of that scholarship money counts as taxable unearned income. The software is likely flagging this incorrectly. For your tax software issue, try these steps: 1. Double-check that you marked "Yes" when asked if you provided more than half of your own support 2. In the scholarship/education section, make sure you indicated the full $3,000 was used for qualified education expenses 3. Look for an override option - many tax programs have a way to skip forms that don't apply If the software still won't cooperate, you might need to contact their support or consider switching to a different tax program. You definitely shouldn't need your mother's SSN for this situation, and I'm sorry you're having to navigate tax issues while dealing with family estrangement.