Does it matter that she refused to participate in the tax court case though? Seems unfair if she gets half when she thought it was a waste of time and wouldn't help.

While it seems unfair, her refusal to participate in the tax court case typically wouldn't eliminate her right to part of the refund. Courts generally look at the source of the funds used to pay the original tax bill (joint savings in your case) rather than who pursued getting it back. Think of it this way - if you had a joint debt that she paid from joint funds, and later you discovered an error and got a refund, the nature of the original payment (joint funds for a joint liability) usually determines how courts view the refund. Your efforts to secure the refund might entitle you to compensation for your time and costs, but the underlying refund typically remains jointly owned if it came from a joint return paid with joint funds.

What kind of penalty did they give you? Was it just interest or something more?

I honestly didn't think about going to my benefits coordinator, I've just been dealing with the FSA provider directly. That's a good suggestion - I'm going to reach out to our HR benefits specialist tomorrow and explain the situation. Did you have to provide any specific documentation to help your case when they fixed yours?

I provided copies of my paystubs showing the missing deductions, plus my enrollment form showing what I had elected. I also wrote up a simple timeline of events and included my receipts showing that I had legitimate expenses that should have been covered. The key was getting my benefits coordinator to acknowledge there was a payroll error. They had to work with the FSA provider's account manager (not just the regular customer service), and it took about 3 weeks to resolve. Don't give up!

Unfortunately no. Dependent care FSAs generally don't have the rollover option that healthcare FSAs have. Some plans might offer a grace period (usually 2.5 months after the plan year ends) to use leftover funds, but that's plan-specific. The $610 rollover limit only applies to healthcare FSAs, not dependent care FSAs. Dependent care accounts are strictly "use it or lose it" unless your specific plan has a grace period. Check your plan documents or ask your benefits administrator if you have a grace period to spend the remaining funds.

Do we know for sure they're expiring? I thought there was talk about making some of the changes permanent.

As the law currently stands, most of the individual tax provisions will expire after 2025. Congress would need to pass new legislation to extend them. Some of the business provisions were made permanent, but the personal income tax changes were temporary. There's always talk about extending popular tax cuts, but that requires congressional action. Given how difficult it is to get anything passed these days, I'm planning for the expiration while hoping for an extension. Best to be prepared either way.

TurboTax won't let you model future years accurately. I'm a CPA and we use professional software that can project scenarios with different tax laws. Your best bet is to consult with a tax professional for retirement planning that factors in potential law changes.

Is there an income limit for this QBI thing? My business made around $110k last year but I'm technically a single-member LLC. Would I still qualify?

Yes, there are income thresholds, but at $110k you should definitely still qualify! For 2025, the phase-out begins at $191,950 for single filers and $383,900 for married filing jointly. Below those thresholds, you can potentially take the full 20% deduction. Being a single-member LLC is actually perfect for this deduction. The IRS treats you as a sole proprietor for tax purposes, which means you report on Schedule C and can claim the QBI deduction on your personal return. Just make sure your accountant is calculating this - it's not automatic and some tax preparers miss it if they're not familiar with small business returns.

Self-employed health insurance deduction is HUGE but often misunderstood. You can deduct 100% of premiums for yourself, spouse and dependents as an adjustment to income (not itemized). BUT your business must show a profit and you can't deduct more than your business net profit. Also, if you're eligible for coverage through a spouse's employer plan, you generally can't take the deduction even if you don't use their plan.

Thanks for explaining! That makes sense why my software was confused - I had a small business loss last year but was still trying to deduct my health premiums. I'll make sure to only claim this in profitable years going forward.

Thanks for mentioning this! I've heard of the FIRE system but wasn't sure if it applied to 1098-F forms specifically. How long did the approval process take for you? We're working on a pretty tight timeline with our new reporting requirements.

The approval process took about 3 weeks for us, but that was during a slower period. If you're approaching year-end or tax season, it might take longer. I'd recommend submitting the Form 4419 application as soon as possible. One thing to note is that you'll need to create files in a very specific format for the FIRE system. The IRS has detailed specifications for each information return type. We ended up using a programmer to help create the proper file structure for our 1098-F submissions.

Totally agree with this. We had to go back and review hundreds of cases to determine which ones met the reporting threshold. The IRS guidance is a bit vague. Does anyone have a good checklist or process for determining what needs to be reported on 1098-F?