I'm a new member here but have been following this discussion closely since I'm experiencing the exact same issue! My DDD is also 5/22 and like everyone else, there's absolutely nothing showing as pending in my Navy Fed account. This is my first year banking with Navy Federal after switching from Bank of America, so I had no idea this was their new policy. I was genuinely starting to panic thinking my direct deposit information was wrong or that my return got flagged for some reason. The complete silence from their system is so different from what I experienced with my previous bank. Reading through all these experiences has been incredibly reassuring - it's clear this is a widespread policy change and not an issue with individual accounts. I really appreciate everyone who took the time to call customer service and share the details about why they made this change. While I understand their reasoning about reducing confusion, it definitely creates more anxiety when you're counting on that refund! I'm going to follow the advice about setting up account alerts and try to be patient until Thursday morning. Thanks to this amazing community for helping me understand what's really going on behind the scenes - I would have been a nervous wreck without finding this thread!

I'm a new member here and this discussion has been incredibly helpful! I'm also dealing with a DDD of 5/22 and the same frustrating situation with Navy Fed showing absolutely nothing pending. This is my third year with them, and the change from their previous policy of showing pending deposits 2-3 days early has definitely caught me off guard. What's been particularly stressful is that I'm a single parent and was counting on this refund to cover some unexpected car repairs that came up last week. The complete lack of visibility into whether the deposit is even in their system has had me questioning everything from my return accuracy to my direct deposit information. Reading through everyone's experiences has been such a huge relief - it's clear this is a bank-wide policy change and not an issue with individual returns. I really appreciate all the members who took the time to call customer service and share what they learned about Navy Fed's reasoning behind this change. While I understand they want to reduce confusion, the uncertainty is definitely more stressful than helpful from a customer perspective. I'm going to set up those account alerts that several people mentioned and try to be patient until Thursday morning. Based on all the shared experiences here, it sounds like the deposits are still hitting reliably on the actual DDD despite the lack of advance notice. Thanks to this community for helping me stay calm - without finding this thread, I would have probably spent the next two days calling both Navy Fed and the IRS unnecessarily!

As someone who's dealt with similar cash labor situations in my construction business, I'd strongly recommend getting ahead of this before it becomes a bigger issue. The good news is that your $12,000 in labor costs are absolutely deductible business expenses - the IRS doesn't care if you paid cash, check, or cryptocurrency as long as they were legitimate business expenses. Here's what you need to do immediately: Start keeping a daily log book. Every time you pay someone, write down the date, job site address, brief description of work performed (like "tree removal" or "lawn maintenance"), number of workers, and total amount paid. Have the workers sign this log - even if they just put "Jose" or "Mike," it shows you made an effort to document. For your past payments, recreate this log as best you can remember. Look at your bank withdrawal records to help jog your memory about timing and amounts. The IRS understands that cash businesses exist, but you need to show systematic record-keeping. Most importantly, stop paying from your personal account immediately. Open a business checking account if you don't have one, or start using your existing business account for all labor payments. This separation is crucial for maintaining your business expense deductions and avoiding any appearance of mixing personal and business finances. One last tip - consider having a simple one-page work agreement template that workers can sign. It doesn't need to be fancy, just something that shows the work performed, date, and payment amount. This creates much stronger documentation than just a handwritten log.

I've been running a similar operation with my pool cleaning business for years and learned some hard lessons about documentation. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple "daily work summary" that I fill out at the end of each day, even when I can't get worker signatures. I include: date, total cash withdrawn that morning, list of job sites visited, approximate number of workers used at each site, and total paid out. Then I take a photo of this summary with my phone - creates a timestamp and backup. At the end of the week, I reconcile this against my business account withdrawals. The IRS audited me two years ago (unrelated to labor expenses) and my examiner actually complimented this system. She said it showed "reasonable business practices" for tracking cash labor costs. The key thing she emphasized was consistency - doing the same documentation process every time, even if it's simple. One more tip: if you work the same locations regularly (like weekly lawn maintenance), take before/after photos of the work sites. This creates additional evidence that legitimate work was performed on the dates you claim. Helps justify the business expense beyond just "trust me, I paid someone to work." Your $12K in labor costs are definitely deductible - just get that documentation system in place now and stick with it religiously.

Heads up - the verification process might be diff than u expect. My letter had a QR code that took me to ID.me but others get sent to the IRS portal directly. IME the avg wait was ~5 wks but that was b4 the April rush. Rn the IRS is slammed w/ returns so prob longer. Def call if it goes past 6 wks. Also check ur transcripts not WMR - transcripts update 1st and WMR is often behind by days.

I went through identity verification in January and can share some specifics that might help with your timeline planning. After completing verification on ID.me (took about 20 minutes), my transcript showed the 971 notice code within 3 days, then had to wait for the 571 release code. Total time from verification to refund deposit was 5 weeks and 2 days. For medical expense planning, I'd honestly budget for 6-8 weeks to be safe. The IRS customer service rep I spoke to (week 4 of waiting) mentioned that verified returns don't get priority processing - they just rejoin the regular queue. My advice: set up transcript monitoring through the IRS app and don't check WMR daily - it'll drive you crazy and the transcript updates first anyway.

Something important no one mentioned - check if your family member qualifies for an exception to the passport restrictions! In my experience, there are several situations where the IRS can't revoke passport privileges even with seriously delinquent tax debt: 1. If they're in bankruptcy 2. If they're a victim of tax-related identity theft 3. If they're in a federally declared disaster area 4. If their account is currently not collectible due to hardship 5. If they have an innocent spouse claim pending My passport restriction was reversed when I proved hardship status, even though my debt was still on the books. Worth looking into these options rather than just waiting for the CSED!

Just want to add a practical tip from my own experience with passport restrictions and CSED timing - make sure to get everything in writing from the IRS once that CSED date hits in 2027. When my debt reached its expiration date, the IRS systems didn't automatically update right away. Even though the debt was legally uncollectible, the passport restriction stayed in place for about 6 weeks because their internal systems hadn't communicated the change to the State Department yet. I had to call and specifically request a letter stating that the debt had reached its Collection Statute Expiration Date and that the certification for "seriously delinquent tax debt" had been reversed. Once I had that letter, I was able to apply for my passport without any issues. The lesson: don't just assume everything will update automatically on the CSED date. Be proactive and get written confirmation that the restriction has been lifted. This will save you from any surprises when you actually go to apply for the passport renewal. Also, keep detailed records of all those small payments your family member has been making, along with the original assessment date. You'll want this documentation handy when you call the IRS in 2027 to confirm the CSED and request removal of the passport restriction.

As someone who's been implementing tax strategies for my consulting business over the past year, I'd recommend starting with the fundamentals before diving into any paid programs. The biggest wins often come from proper bookkeeping and understanding which expenses you can legitimately deduct. That said, if you're serious about tax optimization, consider getting a comprehensive analysis of your current situation first. I used an AI tax analysis tool that showed me I was missing about $8k in deductions annually just from poor categorization of business expenses. Sometimes the low-hanging fruit saves you more than complex strategies. For a 30% growth year like yours, focus on quarterly estimated taxes and cash flow planning too - that growth might put you in a higher bracket and create estimated payment penalties if you're not careful. The strategies are only valuable if you have the foundation right first.

I've been working with various tax strategy approaches for my small manufacturing business over the past few years, and I think the key insight here is that there's no one-size-fits-all solution. Wealthability's strategies are solid, but they work best when you have the right business structure and cash flow to support them. What I'd suggest is starting with a comprehensive review of your current tax situation before committing to any paid program. Get a clear picture of what you're actually missing - whether it's basic deduction optimization, entity structure issues, or more advanced strategies. I made the mistake of jumping into complex tax strategies before fixing fundamental issues with my bookkeeping and expense categorization. For a business experiencing 30% growth, you're also going to want to focus heavily on cash flow management and quarterly estimated payments. That growth spike can create some nasty surprises at tax time if you're not planning ahead. Sometimes the biggest "strategy" is just staying current with your obligations and avoiding penalties. Once you have those fundamentals locked down, then you can evaluate whether Wealthability's approach makes sense for your specific situation and business model.