Remember that filing status affects your tax bracket, standard deduction, and eligibility for certain credits. Head of Household gets you a larger standard deduction ($20,800 for 2024) compared to Single ($13,850). Also impacts your tax brackets in a favorable way. With your income around $58k, the difference could be significant. Might be worth paying a tax pro for a consultation to run the numbers both ways before deciding.

@Sean Kelly, based on what you've described, you'll likely need to file as Single for 2024 since your children lived with you for less than half the year (5 months vs 7 months with your ex). However, there might be some options worth exploring with your ex-spouse. Since you mentioned you're both civil and want to maximize your overall refunds, I'd suggest looking into an alternating arrangement like @Carmen Ruiz mentioned. You could work out an agreement where one of you claims both children and files as Head of Household each year, then switch the following year. This would require your ex to sign Form 8332 in the years when you claim the kids. Another option is to see if your divorce decree or custody agreement has any specific language about tax filing status - sometimes there are clauses that can affect who's considered the custodial parent for tax purposes, regardless of actual time spent. Given the potential savings (@Andre Lefebvre is right about that $7,000 difference in standard deduction), it might be worth consulting with a tax professional or using one of the AI services others mentioned to analyze your specific documents and situation. The difference in tax benefits between Single and Head of Household on a $58k income could be substantial.

The rules r different if shes married btw just fyi

dont forget to claim that sweet sweet american opportunity credit for college expenses 🎓

Has anyone tried doing the taxes the old school way with the free IRS fillable forms? I know it's not as fancy but it's literally free for everyone regardless of income and they support all forms.

I've been using TaxAct's free version for the past few years and it's worked well for my situation with W2 and multiple 1099s. Unlike some of the other "free" options that force upgrades, TaxAct's free version actually includes 1099 support without any hidden fees for federal filing. The interface is pretty clean and intuitive - not as flashy as some of the bigger names, but it gets the job done without being frustrating to navigate. It walks you through each section step by step and has good error checking to catch mistakes before you file. One thing I really like is that it imports W2s electronically from most major employers, and you can easily add multiple 1099s without any upgrade prompts. It also has a decent selection of deduction categories if you're itemizing, though the standard deduction is probably better for most people anyway. The only downside is you do have to pay for state filing (around $15-20 depending on your state), but federal is completely free even with the 1099 income. Given how much time it saves compared to doing everything manually, I think it's worth considering alongside the other options mentioned here.

According to N.J.A.C. 18:35-6.1, the Division of Taxation has 90 days to process returns before they're required to pay interest on refunds. That's why they don't prioritize updating the status checker. I filed on January 20th, couldn't check status until March 1st, but received my refund on March 3rd. Their internal processing is actually efficient - it's just their public information system that's outdated. If you filed correctly, your refund will come within the statutory timeframe.

I'm dealing with something similar - filed my NJ return on February 8th and still can't check status online. What's particularly frustrating is that I got my federal refund three weeks ago, but NJ's system still shows nothing. I called yesterday and waited 2.5 hours just to be told "your return is in process" with no timeline. Since you mentioned being on a work visa, have you considered reaching out to a tax professional? They might have better insight into whether visa status affects NJ processing times or if there are additional verification steps for non-citizens. At this point I'm just hoping it processes before I need to make quarterly payments in April!

Does anyone know if the IRS is processing refunds faster or slower this year compared to last? I filed on February 1st last year and got my refund by Valentine's Day. Wondering what to expect this time.

I'm in a very similar boat to you, Connor! Filed early last year and got around $2,600 back, but this year I'm honestly not sure what to expect. I did get a small raise too (about 3%), but I also started contributing to an HSA mid-year which should help lower my taxable income. One thing I noticed when I started preparing my taxes is that the standard deduction increase is nice, but it's not as dramatic as some years. The real wildcard for me is that my employer switched payroll systems last year and I'm not 100% confident they adjusted withholdings correctly when they migrated everything over. I'm planning to file within the next week or two. Might be worth both of us comparing notes once we see our actual numbers! The uncertainty is definitely stressing me out more than usual this year.