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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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Haley Stokes
Has anyone used TurboTax for filing as a non-resident alien? I'm in the same boat as OP (just under 183 days) and wondering if the standard tax software handles these situations well?
Asher Levin
ā¢I used TurboTax last year as a non-resident and it was a disaster. It doesn't handle Form 1040NR well at all. I ended up using Sprintax which is specifically designed for non-resident tax returns.
Thais Soares
I went through this exact same situation two years ago and can confirm what others have said - the IRS does NOT round up the substantial presence test calculation. At 182.33 days, you're under the 183-day threshold and would not be considered a US tax resident. However, I'd strongly recommend double-checking your day count because being this close to the line is risky. A few things to verify: Are you counting partial days correctly? If you arrive late at night or leave early morning, those still count as full days. Also make sure you're not missing any brief trips back to the US that might push you over. One other thing - since you mentioned wanting to avoid taxation on global income from before you moved, make sure you understand the rules about when income is sourced to the US versus your home country. Even as a non-resident, you'll still owe US taxes on US-source income during the time you were physically present here. Keep very detailed records of all your travel dates with supporting documentation (flight records, passport stamps, etc.) in case the IRS ever questions your residency determination.
This is really helpful advice! I'm actually in a very similar situation and was wondering about the partial day counting. When you say arriving late at night still counts as a full day - does that apply even if I land at 11:30 PM? I have a few arrivals that were really close to midnight and I wasn't sure if those should count toward my substantial presence calculation. Also, do you know if there are any official IRS resources that spell out exactly how to count these edge cases? I want to make sure I'm being completely accurate since I'm also cutting it close on the 183-day threshold.
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I'm in a very similar situation and completely understand your frustration. We filed our ERC claim in August 2023 and are now at 8 months with virtually no communication from the IRS beyond that initial acknowledgment letter. What I've learned from talking to other business owners and our CPA is that the IRS is essentially treating every ERC claim like a potential audit case now. They're manually reviewing documentation, cross-referencing with PPP loans, and being extremely thorough because of all the fraudulent claims that flooded the system. The good news is that if you received that letter saying they need more time, it typically means your claim passed the initial fraud screening and is being reviewed by an actual person rather than being automatically rejected. The bad news is that this manual review process is what's causing these massive delays. I know it's incredibly stressful when you're counting on that money for business operations. We're in the same boat - made decisions based on expecting this credit and now we're scrambling with cash flow. But from everything I've heard, legitimate claims are eventually getting processed, it's just taking much longer than anyone anticipated. Hang in there!
Josef Tearle
ā¢Thank you so much for sharing this, Victoria. It's really helpful to hear from someone else who's been waiting almost as long as I have. The part about the letter meaning we passed initial fraud screening is actually reassuring - I hadn't thought about it that way. You're absolutely right about the cash flow issues. We also made some business decisions assuming this money would come through by now, and it's creating a real strain. I'm trying to stay patient, but 9+ months feels like an eternity when you're dealing with the day-to-day financial pressures of running a small business. Have you or your CPA found any reliable ways to get status updates, or are we all just stuck playing the waiting game? I've been hesitant to call the IRS again after getting nowhere the last few times, but maybe I should give it another shot.
Freya Larsen
I'm dealing with the exact same nightmare - filed our ERC claim in July 2023 and we're now at 9 months with just that one generic letter about needing more processing time. The silence since then has been absolutely maddening, especially when our business is struggling with cash flow issues. What really gets me is that there's no transparency in the process at all. With regular tax refunds, you can at least check the status online, but with ERC claims it's like throwing your paperwork into a black hole. I've called the IRS multiple times and the representatives either can't access ERC claim information or just give me the same "it's being processed" runaround. I'm starting to wonder if they're intentionally dragging this out hoping businesses will just give up or go under before they have to pay out these credits. The whole situation feels deliberately opaque, and it's incredibly frustrating when you're a legitimate small business that followed all the rules and desperately needs this money to keep operating. Has anyone found ANY reliable way to get actual information about where their claim stands in the process? I'm willing to try just about anything at this point.
NeonNebula
ā¢Freya, I totally feel your pain and frustration. The lack of transparency is absolutely maddening - you're right that it feels like throwing paperwork into a black hole. I'm at a similar timeline (filed in September 2023) and the complete radio silence after that one letter is driving me crazy too. From what I've gathered reading through this thread and talking to other business owners, it seems like the manual review process they're doing now is just incredibly slow. But I'm also starting to wonder if there are things we could be doing proactively rather than just waiting helplessly. Some of the services mentioned here sound potentially useful, though I'm still skeptical about paying for something when we're already cash-strapped. Have you considered reaching out to your local Taxpayer Advocate Service like Caesar mentioned earlier? I'm thinking of trying that route since the regular IRS phone lines have been completely useless. At least it's free and they're supposed to help when there are processing delays causing financial hardship.
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Gavin King
I've been following this thread closely since I'm in a very similar situation with chronic lower back pain. What really strikes me is how much the documentation and approach matter - it seems like the difference between getting approved and denied often comes down to having the right medical language in your prescription. One thing I'm curious about that I haven't seen mentioned yet: has anyone dealt with this if you have a high-deductible health plan where your HSA is also your primary way of paying for medical expenses? I'm wondering if HSA administrators are more or less strict when they know you're using the funds for other medical expenses too, or if each claim is evaluated completely independently. Also, for those who successfully used their HSA for mattresses - did you find that having this documented medical purchase helped establish credibility for other borderline HSA expenses later on? I'm thinking things like ergonomic office furniture or other items that could be medically necessary but aren't obviously medical expenses. The success stories here are really encouraging, but I want to make sure I understand the full picture before I start this process with my doctor. Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences - this is exactly the kind of real-world information that's hard to find elsewhere!
Great questions! I can speak to the high-deductible health plan aspect since that's exactly my situation. In my experience, HSA administrators evaluate each claim independently regardless of your plan type or other medical expenses. Having a HDHP actually worked in my favor because I was already used to keeping detailed medical documentation for everything, so the mattress claim was just another well-documented expense in my file. Regarding your second question about credibility - yes, absolutely! Having that successful mattress claim with proper documentation definitely helped when I later submitted claims for an ergonomic desk chair and standing desk converter that my physical therapist recommended. The HSA administrator seemed to process those claims more smoothly, probably because they could see I had a history of legitimate medical purchases with proper documentation. The key is consistency in your documentation approach. I now treat every potentially borderline HSA expense like it might be audited, keeping the same level of medical documentation (prescriptions, medical necessity letters, itemized receipts) for everything. It's a bit more work upfront, but it gives you confidence that you're using your HSA correctly and builds a solid paper trail if you ever need it. One tip: start a digital folder system early to organize all your HSA documentation by year and expense type. It makes tax season much easier!
Hugo Kass
This has been such an informative thread! I'm dealing with chronic neck pain from a car accident and have been sleeping terribly on my old mattress. Reading everyone's experiences gives me hope that I might be able to use my HSA for a proper cervical support mattress. One question I haven't seen addressed - has anyone successfully used their HSA for a mattress when the primary issue is neck/cervical spine problems rather than lower back? I'm wondering if the documentation requirements are similar, or if neck issues are treated differently by HSA administrators. Also, for those who worked with medical supply companies - do you have any specific recommendations? I'd love to find one that's experienced with HSA documentation and can provide the detailed receipts that seem so important for approval. Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories and advice. The detail about getting a "prescription" rather than just a recommendation was particularly eye-opening - I definitely would have made that mistake otherwise!
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Yuki Tanaka
22 Have you looked into whether you qualify for income averaging? In some cases, you can spread the tax impact of certain lump-sum distributions over multiple years. It won't help with what you've already filed, but might be good to know for the future if you have more distributions coming.
Yuki Tanaka
ā¢14 Is income averaging still available? I thought that was eliminated years ago except for very specific situations like fishing income and farmers?
Yuki Tanaka
ā¢22 You're right that general income averaging was eliminated years ago. There is a special provision for lump-sum distributions from qualified retirement plans called the "10-year tax option" but it only applies in very limited circumstances - typically for people born before 1936, so it wouldn't apply to most beneficiaries today. For inherited retirement accounts, the current rules generally require beneficiaries to withdraw the entire balance within 10 years (with exceptions for certain eligible designated beneficiaries). So while you can't technically average the income across multiple tax years, you might be able to strategically withdraw amounts each year to minimize the tax impact if you haven't taken the full distribution yet.
Yuki Tanaka
4 The same thing happened to me with an inherited 403(b). The 20% withholding is just the mandatory minimum for direct distributions, not what you actually owe based on your tax bracket. One thing to check - did you take the standard deduction or itemize? With that income jump, sometimes itemizing might have been better for that particular year.
Yuki Tanaka
ā¢17 Would it help to increase withholding on the regular W-2 job to offset the tax hit from the distribution? I'm about to get an inherited IRA and trying to avoid owing a ton next year.
Yes, adjusting your W-4 withholding can definitely help! You can increase withholding on your regular job or make quarterly estimated tax payments to cover the extra tax liability from the inherited IRA distributions. The key is calculating roughly how much additional tax you'll owe based on the distribution amount and your total expected income. You might also want to consider spreading the IRA distributions across multiple years if possible, rather than taking it all at once - this can help keep you in lower tax brackets each year. Just make sure you comply with the 10-year distribution rule for inherited IRAs.
Ethan Anderson
ya'll need to chill and stop checking so much. it'll come when it comes
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Layla Mendes
ā¢easy to say when its not ur money ur waiting for š
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Savannah Weiner
Filed mine on 1/28 and been in the same boat checking constantly! The waiting is brutal especially when you need that refund. From what I've learned lurking here, transcripts usually update Friday mornings around 6am EST and WMR updates daily around 3-6am EST. But honestly the IRS system is so inconsistent during tax season. Maybe try checking just once in the morning instead of throughout the day? That's what I'm trying to do to stay sane lol
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