I've been in a similar tight spot and understand the urgency! Based on my experience, TurboTax would be your best bet for a few reasons: First, your long history with them absolutely helps. When I applied last year, the customer service rep mentioned that returning customers with consistent filing patterns get prioritized in their approval process. Since your tax info is already in their system, there's less risk of data entry errors that could delay approval. Second, with three kids and an $8500 refund last year, you should easily qualify for their full $4000 advance. They typically approve the maximum when your expected refund is more than double the advance amount, which yours clearly is. The approval process is usually very fast - I got mine in under 4 hours on a weekday. Just make sure when you're entering your W-2 information that everything matches exactly what's on the forms. Even small typos can trigger additional verification steps. One thing to keep in mind: if you're claiming the Child Tax Credit (which it sounds like you are), that can sometimes add an extra day or two to the approval process since they verify eligibility more carefully. But with your track record of claiming it successfully in previous years, this shouldn't be an issue. The peace of mind of getting $4000 instead of $3500 when you're in an emergency situation makes the choice pretty clear. Hope everything works out for your family!

I used TurboTax's refund advance two years in a row and can share some insights that might help with your decision. With your situation - three kids and historically getting around $8500 back - you're in a strong position for approval. What worked in my favor was being upfront about my expected refund amount and making sure all my documentation was accurate. Since you've been with TurboTax for years, they have your filing pattern on record which definitely helps. I had a credit score around 580 and still got approved for $3200 out of the $4000 maximum. The timing aspect is crucial since you mentioned needing money ASAP. In my experience, TurboTax's approval was faster than expected - I applied on a Tuesday evening and had the funds via direct deposit by Thursday morning. H&R Block might be $500 less, but if you need every dollar for your family emergency, that difference matters. One thing I learned: they do verify your income information pretty thoroughly, so double-check that your W-2 amounts match exactly what you enter. Any discrepancies can trigger manual review which adds 24-48 hours to the process. Given your consistent filing history with TurboTax and the urgency of your situation, I'd stick with them for the higher advance amount. The extra $500 could make a real difference for your family right now. Best of luck getting through this tough time!

As a tax professional, I want to clarify a few key points that might help others in similar situations. The heavy SUV depreciation rules are indeed more favorable than regular passenger vehicle limits, but there are some important details to consider: 1. The $28,700 first-year deduction is specifically for SUVs over 6,000 lbs GVWR placed in service in 2025. This amount changes annually based on inflation adjustments. 2. For 100% business use claims, the IRS pays extra attention during audits. Make sure you have contemporaneous records - a simple logbook won't cut it if you're claiming zero personal use. You'll need detailed business purpose documentation for every trip. 3. Consider your state tax implications too. Some states don't conform to federal bonus depreciation rules, so you might face book-tax differences that complicate your state returns. 4. If you're considering this purchase near year-end, the timing of when you place the vehicle in service can significantly impact your depreciation schedule due to the half-year convention. The IRS has been particularly focused on heavy SUV deductions lately, so proper documentation is crucial. Better to be conservative with your business use percentage if there's any personal use at all.

I just wanted to add one more consideration that hasn't been mentioned yet - the impact of using this vehicle for client transportation. If you're in a service business where you occasionally transport clients (like real estate, consulting, or event planning), make sure you're properly covered from an insurance perspective. I learned this the hard way when my business insurance didn't initially cover client transportation in my $85k business SUV. Had to upgrade to commercial coverage that specifically included passenger liability. The additional premium was about $1,200 annually, but it's a necessary business expense that's also deductible. Also, if you do transport clients, those trips are definitely 100% business use and provide excellent documentation for IRS purposes - client meeting confirmations, appointment calendars, and even thank you emails from clients can all serve as contemporaneous records proving business purpose. Just something to keep in mind as you're setting up your documentation systems and insurance coverage for the new vehicle!

Quick question for anyone who knows - if a company sends me free products to review (like they ship me a gaming keyboard or something), do I need to report that as income? And if so, how do I determine the value?

Great question! As a fellow content creator, I've dealt with this exact situation. The key is understanding the "ordinary and necessary" test - the IRS allows deductions for expenses that are both ordinary (common in your industry) and necessary (helpful for your business). For your examples: - $2,500 gaming PC: If you're primarily using it for video editing, streaming, and content creation, this is likely deductible. Just track your business vs personal usage percentage. - $32,000 car: This gets trickier. If your channel is specifically about car reviews and this purchase directly generates content/revenue, it could be deductible. But you'll need to depreciate it over time and only deduct the business portion. - Firearms for review channels: Same principle applies - if it's genuinely for business content, it can be deductible. The critical factors are: 1) Can you prove it's for business purposes? 2) Is the expense reasonable relative to your income? 3) Do you have proper documentation? My advice: Keep detailed records of everything - receipts, content calendars showing when items appear in videos, revenue generated from that content, and logs of business vs personal use. The IRS isn't trying to stop legitimate business expenses, but they will scrutinize large purchases that could be personal.

I've been through this exact nightmare and completely understand your frustration! After months of dealing with IRS phone hell, I finally cracked the code and want to share what worked for me. **The Tuesday 7:00 AM Eastern strategy is absolutely real** - but here's the key detail that made it work: I literally set my alarm for 6:55 AM, got my coffee ready, and started dialing at exactly 6:58 AM so I'd connect right when their system opens at 7:00. This precision timing was crucial. **My bulletproof preparation checklist:** - Night before: Layout SSN card, tax return copy, any IRS notices in one folder - Write SSN, exact refund amount, and filing status on sticky note by phone - Charge phone overnight and position myself in strongest signal area - Have a glass of water ready (you might be talking for a while!) **The breakthrough moment:** When I got the "high call volume" message for the 15th time, I almost hung up as usual. Instead, I stayed on the line and waited. After 2 hours and 35 minutes of hold music (during which I meal prepped and did laundry), I finally connected to an agent who solved my 3-month refund delay in 8 minutes! **Critical tip:** When the automated system asks for your SSN, speak each digit slowly with clear pauses: "1... 2... 3..." This prevents getting bounced to wrong departments. The system is 100% designed to make you give up, but don't let them win! That Tuesday morning persistence strategy works - I've used it successfully 4 times now. You've absolutely got this!

I've been lurking in this community for a while but had to create an account just to share my recent success story with the IRS phone system nightmare. After reading through all the incredible advice here, I finally got through yesterday and want to add a few things that made the difference for me. **The Tuesday 7:00 AM Eastern strategy is absolutely legit** - I followed it exactly as described by multiple people here. Set my alarm for 6:55 AM, started dialing at 6:58 AM, and connected right at 7:00 when their system refreshed. **What I did differently based on this thread:** - Used the preparation checklist approach - had everything laid out the night before - When I got the "high call volume" message, I stayed on the line instead of hanging up (this was key!) - Spoke my SSN digits slowly with pauses during automated verification - Asked the agent for a reference number and summary email at the end of the call After 2 hours and 15 minutes on hold (during which I cleaned my entire kitchen thanks to the multitasking tips here), I finally reached an agent who resolved my 6-week refund delay in just 12 minutes. She even sent me a secure message through my IRS online account confirming everything we discussed. The most important thing I learned from this community is that the "high call volume" message doesn't mean give up - it often means you're actually in the queue! I probably would have hung up like I did dozens of times before if I hadn't read that advice here. Thank you to everyone who shared their strategies and success stories. This community literally saved my sanity and got me the help I desperately needed!

I had a very similar situation last year! Got a completely blank W-2C from my former employer about a month after I'd already filed using my original W-2. It was so confusing because like yours, it only had the basic identifying information filled in. I ended up calling their HR department and they told me it was generated automatically by their payroll system when they were trying to correct someone else's W-2 in their system, but somehow my information got pulled into the batch by mistake. They confirmed that no correction was actually needed for my taxes and that I should ignore the blank form. Since you haven't filed yet, I'd definitely recommend reaching out to your former employer first to confirm it was sent in error. If they confirm there's no actual correction needed, then you can proceed with filing using your original W-2 information from the portal without checking the "corrected" box in FreeTaxUSA. The key thing is that a W-2C should show what's being corrected - if it's completely blank, there's literally nothing to correct! Save yourself the headache and just get confirmation from them that it was a mistake.

This is definitely a frustrating situation! I've seen this happen before - it's usually a payroll system error where the W-2C gets generated automatically but doesn't actually contain any corrections. Here's what I'd recommend: First, definitely contact your former employer's payroll or HR department to confirm this was sent in error. Get that confirmation in writing (email is fine) for your records. In the meantime, you should be safe to file using the W-2 information you downloaded from their portal. Don't check the "corrected" box in FreeTaxUSA since you're not actually using corrected information - you're using the original data. The general rule is that a W-2C should show both the original incorrect amounts and the corrected amounts. If it's completely blank except for identifying info, there's literally nothing being "corrected" so it shouldn't affect your filing. Just make sure to keep both the original W-2 and the blank W-2C in your tax records along with any confirmation from your employer that it was sent in error. This way you're covered if any questions come up later.