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Have you checked if you maybe had any fees deducted if you filed through a tax preparer? Sometimes if you opted to have your preparation fees taken out of your refund, that might explain the difference. Also check if you had any refund advance loans that would be recouped from your actual refund.
I did use TurboTax but paid their fee with my credit card, not out of my refund. And definitely didn't take any refund advance loans. Looking at my transcript again, it clearly shows the full $4,089 as the amount that should have been refunded. So confusing!
That is strange then. One last thing to check - did you look at your tax return transcript or your account transcript? The account transcript would be more accurate for refund information as it shows all transactions on your account. Sometimes the numbers can look similar but mean different things. If the account transcript definitely shows $4,089 as the refund amount and you only got $3,717, then something's definitely off and you'll need to contact the IRS directly. Might be worth using one of those services others mentioned since the phone lines are so jammed.
Did you maybe owe any state taxes? Sometimes the feds will take money from your federal refund to pay state tax debt. Happened to me last year and I was so confused until I got a letter explaining it a week later.
This is what happened to me too. Missing $540 from my refund, turns out I had forgotten about an outstanding state tax bill from two years ago. The really annoying part is that the notice explaining it came almost 3 weeks AFTER the reduced refund hit my account!
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Something nobody's mentioned yet - even if your cousin was technically allowed to claim her for 2024 taxes, you should be documenting EVERYTHING now for your 2025 taxes. Save receipts for: - Clothing/school supplies - Medical expenses - Food costs - Portion of rent/utilities - Transportation costs - Any activities or lessons The more documentation you have showing you're providing over 50% of support, the stronger your case will be next year. Also, make sure your sister is registered at school with your address! That's a big one the IRS looks at.
Thanks for this advice! I've already started keeping receipts but I didn't think about the school registration part. Her school still has my cousin's address listed as her home address. Should I get that changed right away or wait until the start of next semester?
Definitely get the school address updated immediately. Don't wait for next semester. This is one of the strongest pieces of documentation the IRS considers when determining where a child actually lives. While you're at it, make sure any doctor's offices, dentists, and other official records have your current address too. Also, if your sister sees any kind of therapist or counselor, having them document that she lives with you can be extremely helpful. The more official records showing she's under your care, the better position you'll be in for next year's taxes.
I actually work at a tax prep office and see this kind of thing all the time. One thing to consider - if your sister is over 17, the child tax credit wouldn't apply anyway. Make sure she's actually eligible before pursuing this.
Good point. The post doesn't mention the sister's age. For 2024/2025 taxes, the child tax credit is only for kids under 17 at the end of the tax year. If she's older, this would be about the dependent exemption, not the child tax credit.
She's 14, so definitely eligible for the child tax credit. I should have mentioned that in my original post, sorry for the confusion! Good to know there's an age cutoff though.
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Make sure you also request a "Taxpayer Assistance Order" using Form 911 if your situation is causing significant financial hardship (which it sounds like it is). This is an emergency procedure through the Taxpayer Advocate Service that can expedite release of your funds when you're facing hardship. Also document EVERYTHING. Every call, every person you speak with, every reference number. The IRS system is incredibly fragmented and you often need to refer to previous conversations. Ask for confirmation numbers for any action they promise to take.
Thank you! Just looked up Form 911 and it definitely applies to my situation. Does filing this form actually speed things up significantly? And should I submit it online or take it to an IRS office in person?
Filing Form 911 can definitely accelerate resolution, especially for bank levy situations. The Taxpayer Advocate Service has authority to intervene when there's financial hardship. The fastest approach is to fax it directly to your local Taxpayer Advocate office (find the number on the IRS website), then follow up with a phone call the next day. In-person delivery to an IRS office can also work, but many offices now require appointments which could delay things. Be sure to clearly document the immediate hardship (risk of eviction, inability to buy medication, etc.) as this affects how quickly they act on your case.
One important thing no one's mentioned - immediately request a "trace" on your SSN with the IRS. I went through something similar and discovered someone had created a fraudulent connection between my SSN and their business tax issues. Call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490 specifically. They can place an identity theft marker on your account which prevents future mix-ups. Also check your credit report immediately in case this is part of a larger identity theft issue.
Would this actually help if it's just a mix-up rather than identity theft? I think OP's issue is just the IRS confusing them with their relative, not actual fraud.
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Have you checked your IRS online account? Go to irs.gov and set up an account if you don't already have one. Sometimes the online system shows more up-to-date information than what phone reps can see. You should be able to see your transcripts there and confirm if your return was processed and what payments have been applied. Also, did you file electronically or by mail? If by mail, there's still a huge backlog and your return might be sitting in a pile somewhere while your payments are being processed separately.
Thanks for this suggestion. I did try to check my online account before calling, but it shows the same thing - no 2023 return on file, but it does show the installment payments coming out. We filed electronically through our tax preparer, and I even have the acceptance confirmation she forwarded to us. That's what makes this so confusing!
That's definitely strange that you have an electronic acceptance confirmation but the return isn't showing up in their system. This sounds like it could be a case where the return was accepted for transmission but then got flagged for some reason during processing. Since you have the acceptance confirmation, that's incredibly important evidence. Make sure to have that document number ready when you call again. You might need to request that they research the specific transmission using that acceptance code, as it proves the return was at least initially received by their system.
Make sure to check if your preparer actually e-filed your return or just prepared it! I had a similar issue where I THOUGHT my return was filed, but the preparer had only prepared it and given me a copy without actually transmitting it to the IRS. Embarrassing situation but it happens more than you'd think.
This happened to my sister too! Her preparer had her sign the authorization to e-file, but then never actually submitted it. She only found out when she got a failure-to-file notice. Always get that acceptance confirmation!
I'm pretty sure our preparer did file it because I have an email with the acceptance confirmation from the IRS that she forwarded to us. It has a submission ID number and everything. That's what makes this extra confusing - if the IRS accepted it, why isn't it showing up in their system now?
Paolo Longo
HR Block software sometimes gets stuck in these loops when dealing with business asset disposal. Try this workaround: start a new Schedule C for the business with $0 income, then go to the assets/depreciation section. You should be able to select the truck and mark it as "disposed" or "converted to personal use" with a disposition date from last year. The key is telling the software explicitly that the asset has changed status rather than just not entering any business activity. This usually triggers the right forms and calculations to properly close out the depreciation tracking.
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Dmitry Smirnov
•This is really helpful! So I should create a Schedule C even with zero income just to properly handle the truck depreciation? Will this trigger any red flags with the IRS?
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Paolo Longo
•Yes, create the Schedule C with zero income. This won't trigger any red flags - it's actually the proper way to handle it and prevents problems. The IRS already knows about your truck from previous years' depreciation, so they're expecting to see what happened to it. When you mark it as converted to personal use, the software will calculate if there's any "recapture" of depreciation that might be taxable. Sometimes when you convert a business asset to personal use, a portion of the previous depreciation deductions might need to be recaptured as income, depending on the fair market value versus the depreciated value on your books.
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Amina Bah
Had the same issue with a business vehicle but in TaxAct. Here's what fixed it for me: enter the Schedule C with zero income, then go to the asset/depreciation section. Enter the truck with 0% business use for the year. This tells the software the asset is still there but wasn't used for business at all. Then next year, you can properly dispose of it if the business is permanently closed. This approach avoided me having to deal with recapture calculations since technically I didn't dispose of the asset yet, just didn't use it for business in that tax year.
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Oliver Becker
•Wouldn't that cause problems if they never plan to use the business again though? Seems like you're just kicking the can down the road.
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