As someone who went through this exact same situation last year, I totally understand your concerns! Your instincts about protecting your financial information are spot on. Here's what worked for me: I created a "tax complexity summary" document that listed all my forms and schedules without any actual numbers or personal details. Something like "Form 1040 with Schedule C (freelance income), Schedule D (about 20 stock transactions), Schedule A (itemized deductions), and Form 8829 (home office)." Most CPAs were able to give me reasonable quotes based on this information alone. The few who insisted on seeing full returns before even meeting me? I considered that a red flag about how they handle client privacy and moved on. When I finally selected my CPA, I brought a physical copy of my previous return to our first meeting and took it home with me afterward. This gave them the detailed review they needed while keeping my information secure. Remember - you're interviewing them just as much as they're evaluating your tax situation. A good CPA should respect your privacy concerns and work with you to find a comfortable solution.

Another approach that worked well for me was asking potential CPAs about their data security practices upfront. I created a simple checklist of questions like: "Do you use encrypted email for sensitive documents?", "How do you store client files?", "What happens to my documents after tax season?", and "Do you have cyber liability insurance?" You'd be surprised how much this conversation revealed about each firm's professionalism and security awareness. The CPAs who took these questions seriously and had good answers made me much more comfortable sharing my information with them eventually. I also found that many established firms have secure client portals specifically designed for sharing tax documents safely. These portals typically have better security than regular email and give you more control over who can access your files and when. One last tip: if you do decide to share redacted returns, consider using a service like DocuSign or Adobe Sign that lets you track when and how many times the document has been viewed. It's a small thing, but it gave me peace of mind knowing I could monitor access to my information.

My tax preparer told me that in addition to having a qualifying person, you also need to pay more than half the costs of the home maintenance - like rent/mortgage, utilities, repairs, property taxes, etc. Just having a dependent isn't enough if you don't pay the majority of household expenses. Something to consider!

Based on your situation, you should definitely qualify for Head of Household status! You don't need formal guardianship paperwork - the IRS allows informal care arrangements as long as you meet the requirements, which it sounds like you do. Since your nephew has been living with you full-time since September and you're paying for all his expenses, you're providing more than half his support. The key things to document and keep records of are: - School enrollment showing your address - Medical bills you've paid - Receipts for clothing, food, and other necessities - Any communication with your sister confirming the arrangement Make sure you have your nephew's Social Security Number for your tax filing. Also keep records showing you paid more than half the household expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, groceries, etc.) since that's a separate requirement for HOH status. The informal arrangement is totally fine - many families have similar situations during difficult times. The IRS cares more about the actual facts (who lived where, who paid for what) than formal paperwork. Good luck with your taxes this weekend!

This happened to me twice last year! Both times it was a processing error at their mail facility. I called the Michigan Treasury Department directly (since this was from them, not the IRS) and they were actually pretty helpful. They resent the document within a week. Don't panic - it's usually just a clerical error, but definitely follow up to make sure you don't miss any important deadlines!

This is definitely frustrating but you're not alone! I had a similar issue with an empty envelope from the Michigan Treasury Department about 6 months ago. It turned out to be a notice about a small refund I was owed. The key thing is to act quickly - I called their customer service line at (517) 636-4486 and they were actually more responsive than the IRS number. They could see exactly what document was supposed to be mailed and expedited a replacement. Keep that envelope as proof you received something, and don't stress too much - these printing/stuffing errors happen more often than they should but they're usually easy to resolve!

I made the switch from a big bank to a credit union about two years ago and it was one of the best financial decisions I've made. While I didn't go with AA FCU specifically (I joined a local teacher's credit union), the experience has been night and day compared to dealing with Wells Fargo. The biggest difference for me has been the personal service - when I call, I talk to actual humans who seem to care about helping rather than just trying to upsell me on products I don't need. My loan rates have been significantly better too. Got my auto loan at 3.2% when the bank was quoting me over 5%. One thing to consider is that credit unions often have reciprocal agreements with each other, so even if AA FCU doesn't have a branch exactly where you need it, you might still be able to do banking at other credit union locations. Definitely worth looking into their shared branching network. Good luck with whatever you decide! Getting away from those monthly fees alone will probably save you hundreds per year.

I've been with American Airlines FCU for about 2 years now and can definitely echo what others have said about the customer service being excellent. What really sold me was their relationship with the Co-op shared branching network that someone mentioned - you can actually do most banking transactions at over 5,000 credit union locations nationwide, not just ATMs. This has been super helpful when I'm traveling for work. Regarding membership eligibility, I'd definitely call them directly to verify since the contractor relationship can be tricky. When I applied, they were pretty thorough about verifying employment but the process was straightforward once they confirmed I qualified. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is their financial counseling services - they offer free consultations if you're looking to improve your overall financial picture, which has been really helpful for budgeting and planning major purchases. It's a nice perk that most traditional banks don't offer without trying to sell you investment products. The mobile deposit limits are reasonable (I think it's $2,500 per day for new members, higher once you're established), and I've never had issues with deposits being held longer than necessary like I experienced with my previous bank.

Here's what's likely happening with your return based on the current processing patterns: 1. Returns first go through automated acceptance 2. Then they enter the main processing queue 3. Some returns are randomly selected for additional verification 4. Returns without tax topics are often in this verification queue 5. These verifications typically take 2-4 weeks to complete 6. Once verification is complete, most returns are approved within 48 hours 7. Direct deposits typically arrive 3-5 business days after approval The lack of a tax topic usually means your return is in a standard verification queue, not that there's a problem requiring your attention.

I'm in a very similar situation - filed on February 29th and have been stuck on "still processing" with no tax topic for 16 days now. It's reassuring to see I'm not alone in this experience. I've been checking WMR obsessively and starting to worry something was wrong with my return. Based on what everyone is sharing here, it sounds like this is unfortunately just the new normal for processing times this year. I'm going to try accessing my transcript online to see if there's any additional information there that WMR isn't showing. Thanks for posting this - sometimes just knowing others are going through the same thing helps reduce the anxiety of waiting!