I went through something very similar last year and understand your frustration! The CP74 notice is actually good news - it means you've successfully recertified for the Earned Income Credit after having it disallowed previously. This just confirms you can claim EIC going forward without filing Form 8862 again. However, this notice is completely separate from what happened to your refund. Since you mentioned having back taxes from 2022 that you're paying in installments, that's almost certainly why your $4,850 refund was taken. Even when you're on an installment plan, the IRS can still offset (take) your refund to apply toward your outstanding balance - it's typically spelled out in the installment agreement fine print. You should receive a CP49 notice explaining exactly where your refund went, but those sometimes arrive weeks later. For immediate answers, call the Treasury Offset Program at 800-304-3107. They can tell you right away which debt your refund was applied to and how much. Unfortunately, no additional refund is coming since the money was applied to your existing tax debt. But at least you're back in good standing with EIC for future years!

I've been through this exact scenario and it's incredibly frustrating! The CP74 notice is actually confirming something positive - you've successfully recertified for EIC after previously having it disallowed. This means you won't need to file Form 8862 again in future years to claim the credit. However, this notice has absolutely nothing to do with your missing refund. Since you mentioned having back taxes from 2022 with an installment agreement, that's almost certainly where your $4,850 went. The IRS can offset (take) your entire refund to apply toward existing tax debt even while you're making monthly payments - it's usually buried in the installment agreement terms. You should receive a CP49 notice explaining the offset, but these often arrive weeks after they've already taken your money. For immediate answers, call the Treasury Offset Program at 800-304-3107. They can tell you exactly which debt your refund was applied to. The hard truth is that no additional money is coming - your refund (including the EIC portion) was used to pay down your 2022 tax debt. Going forward, you might want to adjust your withholdings so you don't give the IRS an interest-free loan that they'll just take anyway.

TD Bank customer here as well! I'm in the exact same situation - WMR shows 2/28 deposit date but nothing yet. I called TD's customer service this morning and they confirmed they haven't received any pending deposits from the IRS for my account. The rep mentioned that even though today is a holiday, they do process ACH transfers if they receive them, but it sounds like the IRS batch for TD Bank customers might not have been sent out yet. Fingers crossed we see something tomorrow morning! I'm checking my account obsessively at this point.

Another TD Bank customer here checking in! I've been in the same boat - WMR shows 2/28 but still nothing in my account as of this morning. I actually called TD yesterday and they told me the same thing about processing ACH transfers on holidays if they receive them. It's frustrating because I know some other banks like Capital One and Ally seem to get refunds posted earlier than the WMR date. I think TD is just more conservative with their processing times. At least we're all in this together! I'm going to try to stop obsessively checking and just wait until tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll all wake up to our refunds finally being there.

Kind of related question - my wife was technically "employed" all year but on unpaid maternity leave for 9 months. Do we need to file joint or can we file separate since she had no income? Would save us a ton on taxes if we could file separate.

I went through this exact situation two years ago when I was on FMLA leave without pay for most of the year. I put my actual job title (accountant) in the occupation field and had zero issues with the IRS. The key thing to remember is that the occupation field is separate from your income reporting. The IRS uses W-2s, 1099s, and other income documents to determine what you actually earned - the occupation field is mainly for their statistical tracking purposes. Even though it feels weird listing an occupation you didn't actively perform that year, you were still technically employed in that role. It's similar to how someone who's retired might still list their former profession if that's their primary work background, or how students often list "student" even if they had part-time work. Don't overthink it - just put "Software Developer" and move on with the rest of your return. The IRS has seen every employment situation imaginable!

Last year I had a similar situation with Navy Federal. I set up text alerts for any deposits over $100 and that helped me know the moment it hit. I also found that logging into the mobile app was more reliable than the website for seeing pending deposits. In my experience, they don't usually do the early deposit thing for tax refunds like they do for paychecks, at least not for me over the past three years.

I'm also waiting on a Navy Federal deposit with a 2/24 DDD! Filed jointly for the first time this year too. Haven't received mine yet, but based on what others are saying, I'm planning to check my account first thing tomorrow morning. The text alert suggestion from Edward is really smart - I just set that up now so I don't have to keep obsessively checking my account. It's reassuring to hear that Navy Federal is generally reliable with posting on the actual DDD date. Fingers crossed we both see our deposits hit tomorrow!

Has anyone considered that there might be another option? If your son doesn't have enough income to benefit from taking the deduction (meaning his taxable income would be reduced to zero without using all the mileage deduction), then you might explore whether you qualify for the deduction as part of a "parental employment contract" where you're essentially working for your minor child's business. This gets complex but might be worth exploring with a professional.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation! My 16-year-old just started umpiring baseball games and I'm driving him all over the place. After reading through all these responses, it sounds like the consensus is that the minor should claim the mileage deduction on their Schedule C since they're the independent contractor, even though we parents are doing the actual driving. I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences - especially the suggestion about keeping detailed mileage logs with dates, destinations, and business purpose. That seems to be the key regardless of which approach you take. One question for those who've been through this: do you track mileage from home to the game location, or do you need to establish a separate "business location" for your kid's contractor work? I'm wondering if driving from our house counts as commuting (which isn't deductible) or if it's considered business travel since the games are at various locations.