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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet - if you have a spouse and file jointly, your spouse can file an injured spouse claim (Form 8379) to get their portion of the refund protected from your debts. My husband had old student loans, and we were able to still get part of our refund by filing this form.
That's really good to know but unfortunately I'm single so that won't help in my situation. Do you know if there's anything similar for individual filers? Like some kind of hardship exception?
There is a hardship exception you can request, but it's very specific to each type of debt. For federal student loans, you'd need to contact your loan servicer directly to request a hardship exception to the offset. They'll send you paperwork to prove extreme financial hardship. For state tax debts, you'd need to contact your state tax authority directly - each state has different criteria for hardship exceptions. Just be aware that these exceptions are pretty rare and usually require documented evidence of severe financial distress. Things like pending eviction, utility shutoffs, or medical emergencies sometimes qualify.
Has anyone tried adjusting their withholding to get less of a refund? I got hit with an offset last year and my tax guy suggested changing my W-4 so I get more in each paycheck and less of a refund. That way there's less for them to take at tax time.
I did this after getting burned by an offset two years in a row. Changed my withholding so I'm just about even at tax time instead of getting a big refund. Now I put the extra amount from each paycheck into a separate savings account. Even if I still owe the debt, at least I'm controlling when and how much I pay instead of having the whole lump sum taken.
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FYI for anyone using TPG - the timing can vary depending on your bank too. For me, once the amount showed in TPG, it took exactly 2 business days to change to "funded" and then another day for the money to actually hit my checking account. My credit union seems to process ACH transfers slower than some of the bigger banks.
Any idea if there's a specific time of day TPG usually updates the status? I've been checking mine literally every hour lol.
In my experience, TPG tends to update their systems overnight, so many status changes appear first thing in the morning. I noticed my status changed from "amount showing" to "funded" around 4am when I checked (I was up with a sick kid). The actual deposit to my bank account happened mid-afternoon the following day. If you filed with a major tax preparer that partners with TPG, you might also be able to set up text or email alerts for status changes so you don't have to keep checking manually.
Does anyone know why some people get their refunds direct from IRS while others go through TPG? This is my first year seeing this TPG stuff and I'm confused why my money has to go through a middleman at all???
TPG usually handles your refund if you chose to have your tax preparation fees deducted from your refund instead of paying upfront. They're basically fronting the money for your preparation fees, then getting paid back when your refund comes.
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Have you guys ever tried running the numbers both ways? That's what I did last year. Just entered everything in TurboTax twice - once filing joint and once filing separate. Took an extra hour but I could see exactly which one gave us a better refund. For us, joint was better by about $2,100.
This is actually smart but annoying to do. Does TurboTax charge you for both calculations or just the one you end up filing?
TurboTax only charges you when you actually file, so you can run both scenarios without paying twice. You just need to save two separate files/accounts - one for each filing method. Then compare the results before deciding which one to actually submit and pay for. I found it a bit tedious but worth the peace of mind knowing I was choosing the best option. Just make sure you only file one of them!
One thing nobody mentioned - if either of you has income-based student loan payments, filing separately might save you money overall even if you pay more in taxes! My wife and I file separately because her income-based repayment plan would jump by $400/month if we filed jointly. The tax hit is about $1,800 more, but we save $4,800 on loan payments, so it's worth it for us.
Totally this! My husband and I are in the exact same boat. Our tax guy told us to file separately last year because of my IBR plan. We paid like $1,200 more in taxes but saved over $3,000 in student loan payments. Math doesn't lie!
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Don't forget to look into penalty abatement! If this is your first time having tax issues (sounds like it is), you can request what's called "First-Time Penalty Abatement" which can reduce your total by removing the failure-to-pay penalties. This won't eliminate your tax debt, but it could knock off a significant chunk of what you owe. You'll still need to pay the actual tax amount and interest, but removing penalties helps a lot. Also, make sure you've fixed your W-4 with your employer immediately so you don't keep digging a deeper hole!
I haven't heard about the penalty abatement before! That would be amazing if I could reduce the amount at all. And yes, I fixed my W-4 immediately when I discovered the issue - now they're withholding the correct amount (actually a bit extra to try to make up some ground). Is the penalty abatement something I can apply for myself or do I need to hire someone?
You can absolutely request penalty abatement yourself! Call the IRS (or use that Claimyr service someone mentioned if you're having trouble getting through) and specifically ask for "First-Time Penalty Abatement." Explain that you've had a good compliance history before this mistake, and that you've already fixed your W-4 to prevent it from happening again. Be polite and straightforward with the IRS agent. They can often approve this over the phone. If they do deny you for some reason, you can also submit a written request. Just make sure you're specific about requesting the First-Time Abatement provision - sometimes less experienced agents aren't familiar with it.
Just wanted to add that I went through almost this exact situation last year! I accidentally claimed exempt when I started a new job and ended up owing around $10K. I panicked too. I ended up calling the IRS directly and setting up a payment plan. My monthly payment is $178 for 72 months. They were actually really understanding about the whole thing. The person I spoke with explained that this happens WAY more often than you'd think. Don't waste your money on one of those tax relief companies you see advertising on TV. Most of them charge thousands of dollars to do exactly what you can do yourself for free.
Did you get hit with a lot of penalties and interest? I'm curious how much extra you ended up paying because of the mistake.
Emma Johnson
Just a heads up for everyone - I work for a tax prep company (not the IRS), and we're being told to prepare for the CTC bill passing. Our internal communications suggest it's likely to pass, but with some modifications from the original proposal. The monthly payment structure is expected to remain, but the total credit amount might be different than what was initially proposed. The July 15th date is significant because that's when they started payments during the previous CTC expansion in 2021. The IRS systems update is probably to ensure they're ready to go if/when it passes. My advice? Make sure your most recent tax return is accurate, especially regarding dependents, because that's what they'll use to determine eligibility.
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Ravi Patel
•Do you know if having a baby THIS year (after filing 2024 taxes) would still qualify us for the monthly payments? Or would we have to wait until next year's tax filing?
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Emma Johnson
•Based on how the 2021 CTC expansion worked, there would likely be a portal where you could update your information to add a new child born during 2025. During the previous expansion, the IRS created the "Child Tax Credit Update Portal" specifically for situations like yours. If they follow the same model, you wouldn't have to wait until next year's filing to benefit. Once you register your new child in the portal, the IRS would adjust your monthly payments accordingly. Of course, this all depends on the final bill language, but this is how they handled it previously.
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Astrid Bergström
Is anyone else worried about potential overpayments with these advance CTC payments? I got burned in 2021 when my income increased mid-year and I ended up having to pay back some of the advance payments. Has anyone heard if they're building in protections against that this time?
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PixelPrincess
•From what I've read, the new bill is supposed to include "safe harbor" provisions for moderate-income families, similar to 2021. If your income increases but stays below $80,000 for single filers or $120,000 for joint filers, you'd be at least partially protected from having to repay. But if you go above those thresholds, you might have to repay.
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