I've been following this discussion and wanted to add a few additional considerations that might help with your situation: 1. **Documentation timing**: Make sure you request detailed statements from your LTD carrier showing exactly what periods each payment covered. Sometimes these payments don't align perfectly with calendar years, which can complicate the tax credit calculation. 2. **SSDI taxation going forward**: Since you mentioned ongoing SSDI payments, be aware that these may also become partially taxable depending on your total income (including pension and capital gains). The provisional income test could push some of your SSDI into taxable territory, so factor this into your overall tax planning. 3. **Medicare implications**: With the substantial income changes you're experiencing, make sure to consider how this affects your Medicare premiums if you're enrolled. The Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) could apply based on your modified adjusted gross income. 4. **Record retention**: Keep all documentation related to this repayment situation for at least 7 years. The IRS may have questions about the claim of right credit calculation, especially given the large amount involved. The complexity of your situation really does warrant professional help, but armed with all the great information in this thread, you'll be well-prepared for those conversations. Good luck with getting this sorted out!

This is such a helpful and comprehensive thread! As someone who works in disability benefits administration, I wanted to add one more angle that might be relevant to your situation. Since you mentioned this was employer-sponsored LTD insurance, you should also verify whether your employer reported the LTD benefits correctly on your W-2s for 2023/2024. Sometimes employers mistakenly include LTD benefits in Box 1 (wages) when they should be reported separately, or vice versa. This can affect both your original tax liability and the claim of right credit calculation. Also, given that you're dealing with both SSDI backpay and LTD repayment in the same general timeframe, make sure your tax professional understands the full timeline. Sometimes there can be beneficial timing strategies around when to make the LTD repayment relative to other income events. One practical tip: If you haven't already, request a detailed calculation from your LTD carrier showing exactly how they determined the $76k offset amount. Sometimes there are errors in these calculations, and catching them early can save you from overpaying. I've seen cases where LTD companies failed to account for attorney fees paid from SSDI backpay, or miscalculated the offset periods. The fact that you got such great advice here about the Section 1341 credit and documentation requirements puts you in a much better position to handle this correctly. Best of luck with everything!

As someone who went through this exact decision last year, I'd strongly recommend talking to a tax professional before making this choice. The LLC route seems appealing but can get you into hot water if the IRS determines the work is primarily personal rather than business-related. Here's what I learned: If you go the household employee route, make sure you're prepared for the administrative burden. You'll need to: - Get an EIN for household employment - File Schedule H with your tax return - Pay quarterly estimated taxes for the employer portion of Social Security/Medicare - Provide W-2s and handle year-end reporting - Potentially get workers' comp insurance (varies by state) The Child and Dependent Care Credit can be substantial though - up to 35% of qualifying expenses depending on your income, with a maximum of $3,000 for one child or $6,000 for two or more. One thing that helped me decide: I calculated the total cost of each option including all taxes, insurance, and administrative costs. The household employee route ended up being more expensive upfront but provided better long-term tax benefits and fewer audit risks. Whatever you choose, keep meticulous records. The IRS scrutinizes both household employment and business expense deductions involving childcare very carefully.

Great question about the EIN! Yes, you'll need a separate EIN specifically for household employment - it's different from your business EIN. You can apply for it online at the IRS website and it's free (don't pay third-party services for this). For payroll services, there are several that specialize in household employees and can handle all the administrative headaches: - HomePay by Care.com - probably the most well-known, handles everything from payroll to tax filings - Poppins Payroll - focuses specifically on nannies and household staff - Breedlove & Associates - been around forever, very thorough - SurePayroll - has a specific household employee service These services typically cost $200-500 per year but can save you tons of time and stress with quarterly filings, W-2s, and making sure you're compliant with all the employment tax requirements. They'll also calculate exactly what you need to pay in estimated taxes each quarter. The peace of mind is worth it IMO - one mistake on Schedule H or missing a quarterly payment can result in penalties that quickly exceed what you'd pay for a service. Plus they stay updated on changing regulations so you don't have to.

Its wild how everyone in the same batch gets different timeline. feels like playing the lottery at this point smh

Same boat here - batch 05 with codes showing for almost 3 weeks now. The inconsistency is frustrating but at least we're not alone in this. Hoping tomorrow brings some good news for all of us! 🤞

I'm using TurboTax this year and it keeps asking me what the code in box 14 means. If I put in just a backslash character is that going to cause problems with my filing? Should I just leave it blank instead?

I had the exact same issue with a backslash in box 14 on my W2! I ended up calling my former employer's payroll department and they confirmed it was just a system glitch from when they exported the W2 data. The payroll person told me their software sometimes puts placeholder characters in empty fields instead of leaving them truly blank. She said I could either file with it as-is (since it doesn't affect the actual tax calculations) or they could issue a corrected W2 if I preferred. I chose to just file with it since all my wage and withholding information was correct. My return was accepted without any issues and I got my refund on schedule. If you're using tax software that's asking about the code, you can usually just skip that section or mark it as "other/miscellaneous" since it's clearly not a legitimate tax code. The important thing is that your actual income and tax withholding amounts are accurate.

I can definitely understand your concern! I went through this exact same worry pattern last year. Here's what I learned from my experience and talking to IRS representatives: The "pending" status in TurboTax generally means your return has been transmitted to the IRS but they haven't yet sent back the official acknowledgment. This is completely normal and expected during the first 24-48 hours after e-filing. Regarding your amended return concerns from last year - those delays were likely due to the complexity of Form 1040-X processing, which requires manual review. Regular returns (Form 1040) go through automated systems first, so the timeline is much more predictable. A few things to keep in mind: • WMR often lags behind TurboTax status updates by 24-72 hours • Filing time matters - returns submitted on weekends may take longer for initial processing • Peak filing season (late February through April) can cause slight delays in status updates If you're still seeing "pending" in TurboTax after 72 hours, then I'd recommend contacting their support. But given that you mentioned checking "multiple times today," you're likely still well within the normal processing window. Your return is almost certainly in the IRS queue and progressing normally.

I had this exact same issue two weeks ago and want to share what I learned from calling TurboTax support directly. The rep explained that "pending" specifically means your return has been successfully transmitted to the IRS Electronic Filing system, but they're waiting for the official acknowledgment response from the IRS servers. Here's the timeline I experienced: • Filed Sunday evening - TurboTax showed "pending" • Monday afternoon - Still "pending" in TurboTax, nothing in WMR • Tuesday morning - TurboTax updated to "accepted," WMR still blank • Wednesday evening - WMR finally showed "Return Received" The key thing the TurboTax rep told me was that "pending" is actually a good sign - it means there were no immediate rejection codes (like wrong SSN, math errors, etc.). If the IRS was going to reject your return, you'd typically see that within 2-4 hours of filing. Since you mentioned your amended return delays last year, I totally understand the anxiety. But regular 1040 returns go through a completely different automated processing pipeline than Form 1040-X. You're comparing apples to oranges in terms of processing speed. Give it until Wednesday if you filed over the weekend, or 48 business hours if you filed on a weekday. The systems will sync up!