used taxr.ai last year and it was spot on with my refund date. Already used it this year too and its showing Feb 20 deposit for me lets gooooo

This is so helpful! I filed early January with H&R Block and claimed both EITC and ACTC. Been stressing about when I'll actually see my refund. The February 17th update date and Feb 19-20 batch releases give me something concrete to look forward to instead of just "sometime after Feb 14th." Really appreciate you sharing the Jackson Hewitt breakdown - makes it way clearer than the confusing IRS language. Still think it's ridiculous that families have to wait this long when we need the money for bills and expenses, but at least now I know exactly what to expect and when. Gonna mark my calendar for Feb 17th to check WMR!

I've been a flight attendant for 14 years and can tell you from the airline side - we issue 1099s for cash compensation over $600 but not for vouchers or miles. Technically all compensation is taxable, but in practice, the IRS isn't coming after you for voucher compensation that wasn't reported on a 1099. Most passengers don't report vouchers, only cash payments.

This has been such an informative thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation but with a twist - I got bumped from an international flight and received compensation in Euros (about €1,800, which was roughly $1,950 USD at the time). Does anyone know how currency exchange affects the tax reporting? Do I report the USD equivalent value from the day I received it, or do I need to use some other exchange rate? Also, since it was an EU airline operating under different compensation rules, I'm wondering if that changes anything from a US tax perspective. The compensation was required by EU law rather than voluntary like most US airline situations. I assume I still need to report it as taxable income regardless of the foreign regulations that required the payment, but wanted to double-check before filing. Has anyone dealt with foreign airline compensation before?

Does your daughter qualify as your dependent? The tuition and fees deduction expired after 2020, but if she qualifies as your dependent, you might be eligible for the Lifetime Learning Credit which covers graduate education.

Based on what you've shared, since your daughter earned $42K this year, she likely doesn't qualify as your dependent due to the income limit (around $4,400 for 2022). This means you can't claim education credits on your return. However, there's good news! Even though you paid the tuition directly, your daughter can still claim the Lifetime Learning Credit on her own tax return. The IRS treats your payment as a gift to her, and then she's considered to have paid the tuition herself for tax purposes. The Lifetime Learning Credit is specifically available for graduate students and is worth 20% of qualified education expenses up to $10,000 (so a maximum credit of $2,000). Since you paid $15,000 for her fall semester, she could potentially claim the full $2,000 credit on her return. Make sure she gets a Form 1098-T from the university showing the tuition payments. She'll need this to claim the credit. This arrangement often works out better tax-wise anyway since students are typically in lower tax brackets than their parents. You might want to coordinate with her to make sure she knows about this opportunity - many graduate students don't realize they can claim education credits even when their parents paid the tuition!

Has anyone used the option to attach a statement instead of filling out all the 8949 lines? My tax software mentioned I could do this but wasn't sure if it would cause issues.

I've been through this exact situation! My tax preparer was doing something similar - lumping everything together and not properly separating short-term vs long-term gains. What really helped me was getting a second opinion from another CPA before filing. The IRS is pretty clear that Form 8949 transactions need to be properly categorized by their holding period, even when summarizing. The fact that your brother-in-law put long-term transactions in the short-term section could definitely cost you money since long-term capital gains typically get better tax treatment. Since this is family and he's doing it for free, maybe approach it as "I want to make sure I understand how this works" rather than "you did this wrong." You could even mention that you heard summarizing was okay but that the long/short-term split still needs to be maintained. That way you're not directly criticizing his work but still getting the issue addressed. Bottom line though - don't sign a return you're not comfortable with, even if it's family. The IRS doesn't care who prepared it, you're the one responsible for what's on there.

Former DOR employee here. One thing to clarify - "net income" definitions vary slightly between states. Most want Line 21 from 1120S, but some states (like CA and NY) have their own calculation that starts with Line 21 and adds back certain items. Call your specific DOR office and ask exactly which line they use for "net income" on THEIR form. Will save you tons of headache.

Just went through this exact situation last month! The confusion is totally understandable because different agencies sometimes use "net income" differently. For most state DOR payment plans, you'll want Line 21 (ordinary business income/loss) from your Form 1120S - this shows your actual business profit after all deductible expenses. However, I'd strongly recommend calling your specific state's DOR payment plan department to confirm. Some states have their own modifications to this number. When I called, they told me exactly which line to use and even emailed me a worksheet showing the calculation. It's worth the phone call to avoid having your payment plan delayed or rejected for using the wrong figure. Also, make sure you have your most recent filed return - sounds like that would be your 2023 Form 1120S in your case. Good luck getting it sorted out!