Based on your situation with 3 kids, one income of $95k, and a recent home purchase, getting married in December would very likely provide significant tax advantages! Here's why: The marriage bonus kicks in when there's a large income disparity between partners (like your situation with one working, one stay-at-home parent). You'd benefit from: 1. **Higher standard deduction**: $27,700 for married filing jointly vs. $20,800 for head of household 2. **Better tax bracket treatment**: Your $95k income gets spread across more favorable joint brackets 3. **Child Tax Credit optimization**: Up to $2,000 per child remains the same, but income thresholds are higher for joint filers 4. **Homeowner benefits**: Mortgage interest and property tax deductions often work better on joint returns The December timing is perfect - being married by Dec 31st means you're considered married for the entire tax year. With your income level and family situation, you're looking at potentially $2,000-$4,000 in tax savings by filing jointly versus your partner filing as head of household. Given the complexity though, I'd definitely recommend running the actual numbers with a tax professional or reliable tax software to confirm the exact savings in your specific situation!

This is such a timely question! I went through the exact same decision process last year with my partner and our 2 kids. Based on your situation - one income at $95k, stay-at-home parent, 3 kids, and a recent home purchase - getting married in December would almost certainly save you money on taxes. The key factors working in your favor are the higher standard deduction for married filing jointly ($27,700 vs $20,800 for head of household), better tax bracket treatment when there's only one income, and the fact that your income level won't trigger any phase-outs for child tax credits. The mortgage interest deduction will also likely be more beneficial on a joint return. We ended up saving about $2,800 by getting married before the end of the tax year in our similar situation. The December timing is perfect since the IRS considers you married for the entire year if you're married by December 31st. That said, everyone's situation is unique, so I'd definitely recommend getting the actual numbers run for your specific circumstances before making the final decision. But based on what you've shared, the tax math strongly favors getting married sooner rather than later!

I had this exact same situation happen to me last year! Bank rejected my refund due to a closed account and I was freaking out about when I'd get my money. From my experience, it took about 6 weeks from the rejection date to receiving the paper check in my mailbox. The key thing is to keep checking your transcript on the IRS website - you'll see a code 841 (refund cancelled) first, then later a new code 846 with the date they're mailing your check. Once you see that 846 code with the new date, you can pretty much count on getting your check within a week of that date. I know it's frustrating having to wait, especially when you need the money for something important like car repairs. The IRS definitely doesn't move fast, but the check will come eventually. Just make sure your mailing address is current with them. Hang in there!

I went through this same situation about 8 months ago - bank rejected my refund because I had switched banks after filing and forgot to update my direct deposit info. The waiting was honestly the worst part because you have no control and just have to sit there wondering when it'll show up. From rejection to getting my paper check took exactly 5 weeks and 3 days. What helped me track it was checking my transcript every few days on the IRS website. First I saw the code 841 showing the refund was cancelled, then about 10 days later a new code 846 appeared with a future date - that's when they scheduled my paper check to be mailed. The check arrived almost exactly on the date shown in that 846 code. I'd recommend setting up a routine to check your transcript maybe twice a week so you can see when that new 846 code appears. It'll give you a much better idea of timing than just guessing. Hope you get your check soon and can get those car repairs done! The waiting really sucks but it will come through.

Quick tip about those missing 1099s - check if you have any settings in your account that might be directing the forms elsewhere. On Twitch especially, the tax documents often go to whatever email/address was set in your payment settings section, not your main account email. Also worth checking if either platform has a tax document portal in your account settings. Sometimes they don't email the forms but expect you to download them from your dashboard.

Hey CosmicCowboy! Congrats on the amazing streaming year - that's incredible income! I went through something similar last year with missing 1099s from multiple platforms. Here's what I learned: You absolutely need to report all that income on Schedule C regardless of whether you get the forms. The platforms are still reporting to the IRS what they paid you. For your mortgage application, you'll want to gather everything now - bank statements showing the deposits, screenshots of your earnings dashboards from both platforms, and any payment processor records (PayPal, etc.). Most lenders will accept these along with your tax returns, but they may want to see 2 years of consistent self-employment income. One thing that really helped me was setting up a dedicated business checking account for all streaming income going forward. Makes tracking so much easier and looks more professional to lenders. Also, make sure you're tracking business expenses! Equipment, software subscriptions, internet portion, home office space - these can really add up and reduce your tax burden significantly. With income at your level, proper expense tracking could save you thousands. Good luck with both the taxes and the mortgage application!

Just a quick tip - if you're using TurboTax to file back taxes for a partnership, make sure you buy the BUSINESS version, not just Self-Employed. I made this mistake and had to repurchase the correct software.

I went through almost the exact same situation last year with my consulting partnership. The key thing to remember is that you're not the first people to fall behind on partnership filings - the IRS sees this regularly with small businesses. Here's what worked for me: I found a local CPA who specializes in small business tax issues rather than trying to DIY it with software. Yes, it cost more upfront (around $800 for both the late 1065 and help with our personal returns), but they knew exactly how to handle the penalty abatement requests and got us set up properly going forward. The CPA was also able to file everything electronically, which was faster than paper filing, and they included a letter explaining our situation as first-time filers who were unaware of the partnership requirements. We ended up getting most of the penalties waived under the First Time Abatement program. Don't panic - just act quickly. The longer you wait, the more penalties accumulate. And once you get caught up, set up quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid this situation in the future.

I've gone down this rabbit hole before! Spent weeks tracking cycle codes across multiple years and multiple family members. What I discovered is that while there are patterns, they don't really tell you much that's useful. The codes are mostly for IRS internal tracking. My sister and I filed on the same day last year and got completely different cycle codes but received our refunds within 24 hours of each other. Don't let your ADHD hyperfocus on this too much (speaking from experience!) - it's interesting but won't help predict your refund timing.

I'm totally new to understanding these transcript codes, but reading through all these explanations has been super helpful! I've been obsessing over my blank transcript too, and now I'm curious to go back and check if my previous years show any patterns. It sounds like the cycle codes are basically just internal filing cabinet numbers for the IRS rather than anything that actually affects when we get our money. Thanks everyone for breaking this down - definitely going to stop overthinking those numbers and focus on the actual transaction codes instead!