I had almost the exact same issue last year! What I did was call Vanguard directly (waited forever) and asked for a "return of excess contributions" for 2023. The rep knew exactly what to do. They sent the money back to my bank account plus any earnings those contributions had made. Had to pay regular income tax on those earnings, but no 6% penalty since I fixed it before filing my taxes. The whole process was pretty smooth once I actually got someone on the phone. They sent me a special tax form (1099-R) showing the correction.

I went through something similar with my Vanguard Roth IRA last year and can confirm that calling them directly for a "return of excess contributions" is definitely the way to go. The process is much more straightforward than it initially seems. One thing to keep in mind - when you call, be very specific about requesting a "return of excess contributions for tax year 2023" rather than just saying you want to "withdraw money." The reps are trained to handle these requests and using the correct terminology will get you to the right department faster. Also, make sure to ask them to calculate any earnings on that $500 over-contribution period so they can return those too. You'll owe regular income tax on the earnings portion, but this is still way better than the 6% penalty that would apply if you left the excess in the account. Since you caught this before filing your taxes, you're in a great position to fix it cleanly with no penalties. The whole process should take less than a week once you get Vanguard on the phone.

One thing to consider - if you filed amended returns through a CPA, there may have been a substantial change in your reported income or deductions that triggered additional scrutiny. The certified mail could be related to that. I had this happen with my 2018 taxes when my CPA found significant deductions I'd missed. The IRS sent certified mail requesting documentation to verify those deductions. It wasn't an audit exactly, but they wanted proof before accepting all the changes.

Don't panic! Certified mail from the IRS is concerning but not necessarily catastrophic. The future date you're seeing (12/16 when today is 12/5) is actually normal - their system generates transcript entries before the physical notice is mailed. Given that this relates to your 2019 amended return and shows a $12,350 liability, this is most likely a CP2000 notice or similar correspondence about adjustments they've made based on your amendment. The $90 is probably a small penalty or interest charge. Here's what I'd recommend: First, don't stress too much until you actually receive and read the letter. Second, have all your 2019 tax documents ready along with anything your CPA filed for the amendment. Third, contact your CPA immediately when you get the letter since they're familiar with your situation. Most importantly, whatever the letter says, there are almost always options - payment plans, penalty abatements for first-time issues, or the ability to dispute if there are errors. The key is responding within the timeframe they give you (usually 30-90 days depending on the type of notice).

IRS is straight 🤡 this year tbh

Hey! I'm in the exact same situation - filed about 2 weeks ago and no cycle code yet either. From what I've been reading here and other places, it seems like this is pretty normal for early filers this year. The IRS processes returns in batches and not necessarily in the order they were received. I know it's super stressful seeing others get their codes while we're still waiting, but hang in there! Most people say once you get that cycle code, things move pretty quickly after that.

I had the exact same confusion with my graphic design business last year! The QBI deduction was actually working perfectly, but TurboTax's interface made it seem like nothing was happening. What's likely occurring is that TurboTax calculates your potential QBI deduction as soon as you enter your Schedule C information. So when you get to the specific QBI section later in the process, you're just confirming something that's already been factored into your refund calculation. Think of it this way - if your husband's photography business had $50k in qualified business income, you could potentially deduct $10k (20% of $50k) from your taxable income. But TurboTax probably already included this benefit in your running refund total based on the business income you entered earlier. To verify this is working correctly, look for Form 8995 or 8995-A in your tax documents when you're done. That's where the QBI calculation actually appears, and you should see the 20% deduction amount listed there. The QBI deduction is definitely valuable - it can save hundreds or thousands in taxes depending on your business income and tax bracket. It just doesn't show up as a dramatic "refund jump" because good tax software anticipates it!

I had this exact same experience with my consulting business! The QBI deduction was already being calculated by TurboTax from the moment I entered my Schedule C information, so when I reached the specific QBI section, confirming it didn't change the refund amount because it was already factored in. Here's what's probably happening: TurboTax is smart enough to recognize that your husband's photography business qualifies for QBI and automatically applies the 20% deduction to your qualified business income early in the process. Photography isn't considered a "specified service business" for QBI purposes, so you should get the full deduction as long as your total household income is below the phase-out thresholds. To confirm this is working, check your final tax documents for Form 8995 (or 8995-A if your situation is more complex). This form shows the actual QBI calculation. You should see your husband's business income listed there along with the 20% deduction amount. The deduction reduces your taxable income, not your tax bill directly. So if your husband's photography business had $40k in qualified income, you'd get an $8k deduction from taxable income. Depending on your tax bracket, this could save you $1,000-$3,000+ in actual taxes. Don't worry - you're not missing out on anything! The QBI deduction is one of the few tax benefits that actually works as advertised for small businesses.

Welcome to the community, Carmen! Your experience sounds incredibly familiar - I went through the exact same frustration with the "Payment Status Not Available" error for what felt like forever. The address formatting issue is definitely the most common culprit, and it's such a simple fix once you know what to look for. When you pull out your tax return copy, pay really close attention to things like whether "Street" is spelled out or abbreviated as "St", how apartment numbers are formatted, and even spacing between words. I discovered my issue was that I was typing "North" but my return had "N" abbreviated. One thing that helped me was actually typing the address exactly as it appears, character by character, rather than trying to remember it. Sometimes the IRS formatting is different from how we normally write our addresses. The reassurance about automatic processing really helped ease my anxiety too. Even though it's frustrating not being able to track the status online, knowing that the payment will still come based on your filed return takes a lot of pressure off. This community has been such a lifesaver for navigating these EIP complications - everyone's willingness to share their real experiences and solutions has made this whole process so much less isolating. Hope you get your status tool working soon, but either way, you should definitely receive your payment!

As a newcomer to this community, I want to thank everyone for this incredibly helpful thread! I've been dealing with EIP frustrations for weeks and this discussion has been more useful than any official resource I've found. I'm in a similar situation to many others here - filed my 2024 return in February, got my refund processed normally, but have been getting "Payment Status Not Available" errors ever since. After reading through all these experiences, I'm confident it's the address formatting issue that's been mentioned so frequently. What really stands out to me is how many people have found success by checking their exact tax return format rather than typing their address from memory. I definitely fall into that trap of using my "normal" address format instead of whatever the IRS has on file. Going to pull out my return copy tonight and try entering it character by character as suggested. The most reassuring thing I've learned here is that payments are processed automatically based on filed returns, even when the online tool doesn't cooperate. That takes a huge weight off knowing I won't miss out just because of website technical issues. Really appreciate everyone sharing their real experiences with both the problems and solutions - it's made this whole confusing process feel much less isolating. Looking forward to contributing back to the community once I hopefully get my own situation resolved!