In my 401k I've been using a treasury fund for cash parking and it's currently yielding about 3.8% which beats most stable value funds I've seen. The advantage of treasuries in the current environment is they respond faster to rate changes. The downside is there can be some minor NAV fluctuation vs stable value funds which maintain stable principal.

Thanks for that insight! Do you see much day-to-day fluctuation in the NAV with your treasury fund? I'm pretty conservative with this portion of my savings so stability is important, but that extra 0.7% yield is pretty significant too. I'm guessing the stable value fund will eventually catch up to current rates, but seems like they lag quite a bit based on what you're saying.

Money market funds are solid for cash parking in retirement accounts. The 4.2% yield is quite good actually. The main thing to check is the expense ratio - some 401k plans offer money market funds with ridiculous fees that eat into that headline yield. Also, if you don't mind sharing, which fund is offering 4.2%? Most I've seen are in the 3.5-3.8% range.

Does this apply to other tax forms too? We're about to submit for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and I'm worried about similar delays.

Absolutely! This consistency rule applies to pretty much all tax forms and federal relief programs. For the Restaurant Revitalization Fund specifically, make sure your business name matches exactly what's on your business license, EIN documentation, and tax returns. I've seen applications get stuck in processing because the business applied as "Joe's Pizza" but their tax returns show "Joseph's Pizza LLC." The systems are often matching these entries automatically, and even minor differences can kick it out for manual review, which means significant delays.

You don't need to have fully shut down to qualify. There are two main ways to be eligible: 1) Your business operations were fully/partially suspended due to government orders limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19, OR 2) You experienced a significant decline in gross receipts during a calendar quarter compared to 2019 (specific percentage requirements depend on which quarter you're claiming). Reduced hours can definitely qualify under the first test if they were the result of government restrictions. Document everything showing how the restrictions affected your operations!

Thank you for explaining! We definitely had reduced capacity requirements from our county health department that forced us to operate at 50% for several months. I'll gather all the official orders and our schedule changes to document this properly. I appreciate the clear explanation - our accountant was being super cautious about this claim since the IRS has been scrutinizing them closely.

I've heard of FreeTaxUSA but was worried about switching since I've used TurboTax for years. Does it handle importing 1099-B forms from Wealthfront or would I have to enter all those transactions manually? And is it actually reliable/secure? TurboTax's upselling is driving me nuts but I'm nervous about trying something new.

FreeTaxUSA doesn't have direct import from brokerages like Wealthfront, so you'd need to enter the transactions manually. However, if you don't have tons of transactions, it's not too bad - just time-consuming. The software is completely legitimate and secure - I've used it for three years now with no issues. It's actually owned by TaxHawk, which has been around for 20+ years. The interface isn't as pretty as TurboTax, but it's much more straightforward and has all the same features without the constant upselling. For Schedule D specifically, it's included in their base price (around $15 for federal filing) instead of requiring an expensive upgrade.

TurboTax is looking at the detailed transaction section, not just the summary fields. Even if the summary shows zeros, each individual buy/sell transaction needs to be reported on Schedule D. The summary fields OP mentioned (lines 8-11) are actually for futures/derivatives contracts, not regular stock transactions.

Do you meet with your CPA throughout the year or just at tax time? I'm wondering if there's value in quarterly check-ins or something.

I do both - a main consultation during tax prep season but also a mid-year check-in around June/July to make sure I'm on track with estimated payments and to discuss any new business developments or investments. The mid-year meeting is actually incredibly valuable because it gives me time to implement tax-saving strategies BEFORE year-end when many opportunities disappear. For example, last July we identified that I could purchase some needed business equipment before December and fully deduct it, saving me about $1,400 in taxes. Waiting until tax season in April would have been too late.

What kinds of deductions did you miss? I'm curious because I'm in a similar situation and wondering if I'm leaving money on the table.

That's really helpful! The 2020 debt was actually from when we were already married and filing jointly, so I'm not sure if this would apply to us. But is there any similar form for requesting the bypass refund that others mentioned?

Unfortunately, there isn't a standard form for requesting an offset bypass refund. That's handled through direct communication with the IRS, usually by phone. Since you were already married and filing jointly for the 2020 debt, the injured spouse relief wouldn't apply in your situation. In your case, focusing on documenting your financial hardship is your best bet. Gather evidence of your essential expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, medical bills, etc.) and how the loss of your expected refund creates a significant burden. I'd recommend trying both approaches others have suggested: use a service to help you get through to the IRS by phone, and consider using an analysis tool to strengthen your case with specific references to IRS procedures and regulations. The combination of these approaches gives you the best chance at getting at least a partial release of your refund.

How long did it take to get help from the Taxpayer Advocate? I tried contacting them once about a different issue and never heard back.