Do you know if there's any way to check if you already received the payments? It's been so long I honestly can't remember if we got those monthly deposits or not.

Yes, you can check if you received the advance payments by creating or logging into your online account at IRS.gov. Look for the "Child Tax Credit Update Portal" or check your account for 2021 payments. You can also request a 2021 account transcript from the IRS which will show all transactions, including any advance Child Tax Credit payments that were sent to you. If you can't access the online system, you can call the IRS or file Form 4506-T to request the transcript by mail.

How long did your amendment take to process? I heard the IRS is super backed up with processing amended returns.

Is recording IRS calls legal everywhere? I'm worried about getting in trouble for that. Also, do agents actually give you their ID numbers if you ask?

Recording laws vary by state - some require two-party consent (both you and the agent) while others only require one-party consent (just you). Always check your local laws or inform the agent you're recording. IRS agents absolutely should provide their ID numbers when asked. It's typically a badge number or employee ID. I always politely say something like, "For my records, could I please have your name and ID number?" and note the date and time of the call. I've never had an agent refuse this information. If they do, that would be a red flag and worth asking to speak to a supervisor.

I've heard similar stories. The real issue is that IRS pay isn't competitive with private sector accounting jobs, so there's always temptation. Maybe if we properly funded the agency and paid people what they're worth, we wouldn't have these ethical problems.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! That's really helpful. Did you guys use any specific software to compare both options? I'm worried about making a mistake if I try to calculate everything manually.

We used TurboTax and just ran through the process twice - once for joint and once for separate. It was tedious but worth it. I'd definitely recommend using some kind of tax software that lets you save different scenarios. The student loan part was trickier - had to use the loan servicer's calculator separately to figure out how much payments would change under each filing status.

This is such an important point! We got hit with this last year and had to file an amendment. Cost us extra in prep fees and delayed our refund by months.

Yep, it's one of those weird tax rules that nobody tells you about until you make the mistake! The other thing that surprised us was that if you file separately, you often can't contribute to a Roth IRA if your income is over a certain threshold, which is much lower for separate filers than joint.

I second this! My closing agent was super helpful when I had a similar question. Sometimes the simplest solution is best.

I didn't even think of that! I just emailed my agent and she got back to me right away. You're right - she had everything on file and sent me the state withholding form with the ID number clearly printed at the top. I was definitely overthinking this whole thing. Thanks for suggesting the obvious solution that I completely missed! Just finished my taxes and everything went through perfectly.

I had the opposite problem! TurboTax kept rejecting my entry when I included the dashes, but accepted it when I removed them. Seems like it might vary by state.

That's so strange! Must definitely depend on the state then. I'm in Illinois - where are you located? Maybe we should specify which states have which requirements when sharing advice like this. I guess the safest approach is to try both with and without special characters if the first attempt gets rejected. TurboTax isn't always clear about the exact format they want for these state-specific entries.

Can you explain more about how this might affect Social Security? I'm planning to sell a rental property next year and I'm already receiving Social Security benefits.

For Social Security, if your combined income (your adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of your Social Security benefits) exceeds certain thresholds, more of your Social Security benefits become taxable. For 2025, if you're filing single and this combined income exceeds $25,000, up to 50% of your benefits may be taxable. Above $34,000, up to 85% can be taxable. For married filing jointly, those thresholds are $32,000 and $44,000 respectively. So a large capital gain could definitely push you over these thresholds, causing more of your Social Security to be taxed.

The tax rate would be the same whether you sell one property or multiple properties in the same year. However, selling multiple properties might give you more flexibility with timing - you could spread the sales across different tax years to potentially keep yourself in a lower capital gains bracket each year.