Anyone else notice the IRS is moving slower than molasses this year?🐌

Pro tip: Don't rely just on WMR (Where's My Refund) tool, it's not always accurate. Your transcript is the real source of truth once it updates. Also check your account transcript, not just return transcript.

Could you potentially categorize these expenses differently? Instead of withdrawing from your HSA, could you give your girlfriend the money personally, and then she pays for the medical expenses? That way they're being paid by the person who claims the child as a dependent. I realize it's more steps, but might avoid any potential HSA compliance issues.

Thanks everyone for the detailed responses! This has been really helpful in understanding the complexity of HSA rules for non-traditional families. Based on what I'm reading, it sounds like I have a few options to consider: 1. Keep the current arrangement where my girlfriend claims her son, and I just give her the money to pay medical expenses directly (thanks @Annabel Kimball for that suggestion) 2. Explore the "local parent" option that @PaulineW mentioned, since I do provide more than half his support when you include housing, insurance, and daily expenses 3. Get official clarification from the IRS using one of the services mentioned here I think I'm leaning toward option 1 for now since it's the simplest and avoids any potential compliance issues. The $1,200 medical bill isn't worth risking penalties over. But for future planning, I might look into whether it makes sense for us to switch who claims him as a dependent. We'd need to run the numbers on both scenarios to see what works better for our household overall. Really appreciate everyone taking the time to explain these rules - HSA dependency requirements are way more complicated than I realized!

I just went through this exact situation last month and can confirm what others have said - you absolutely need to file an amendment for your wife's separate return to avoid future headaches. Here's the key thing that saved me time: when filing your wife's "zero-out" amendment, make sure to include a copy of your joint amended return in the same envelope. The IRS processors can then see both documents together and understand the full picture immediately. Also, don't worry too much about the negative $2,600 showing on her return - that's probably her expected refund from the separate filing. Once both amendments are processed, any refund amounts will be recalculated based on your joint return. The IRS will either adjust your joint refund or send a separate notice explaining any changes. One tip: call the IRS about 6-8 weeks after mailing both amendments to confirm they were received and linked properly in their system. This saved me from a potential CP2000 notice down the road.

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now and it's been such a stressful mess! Thank you everyone for the detailed advice - I had no idea that my wife needed to file her own amendment to zero out her separate return. One question I haven't seen addressed: if we already e-filed both of our original separate returns, do the amendments need to be paper filed? I tried to e-file my joint amendment through my tax software but it kept giving me errors about conflicting returns in the system. Also, has anyone had success getting the IRS to expedite processing when you explain it's a filing status change situation? The 16-20 week wait time is terrifying when you're worried about penalties or notices showing up. I'm going to try that Claimyr service to actually talk to someone, but wondering if there are any magic words to use when explaining the urgency. Really appreciate this community - the IRS website and phone system have been absolutely useless for getting clear guidance on this situation!

Can't you just file Form 8082 "Notice of Inconsistent Treatment" with your tax return? That way you can still file using the W-2 they gave you, but notify the IRS that you believe your status should actually be partner not employee. I did this when my S-corp gave me a 1099 when they should have given me a W-2. It flags to the IRS that you're aware of the issue and aren't trying to hide anything.

I've been through a similar situation with profit interests at my LLC employer. Here's what I learned after working through it with a tax professional: First, you're absolutely right that profit interest holders are typically treated as partners for tax purposes, which means you should receive a K-1 instead of a W-2. The fact that you filed an 83(b) election actually reinforces this - that election is specifically for equity compensation that creates partnership status. For your immediate steps: 1. Don't file with just the W-2. You need to work with your employer to get this corrected first. 2. Approach your employer with documentation about profit interest tax treatment. Many small LLCs genuinely don't understand this requirement. 3. Request that they issue you a corrected K-1 for the period after you received the profit interests. 4. You'll likely need to file an amended payroll return with them to correct the withholding vs. self-employment tax issue. Regarding your 401k contributions - this is a red flag. Partners typically can't participate in employee benefit plans. Those contributions may need to be reversed and moved to a partner-appropriate retirement account. Your instinct about giving up the profit interests might be smart if they're minimal. Partnership taxation is complex, and international moves make it exponentially worse. The administrative burden often outweighs small equity stakes. One alternative to explore: ask if your company would consider restructuring using a management company approach, where you remain a W-2 employee of a management entity but hold equity in the underlying LLC. This preserves employee benefits while giving you upside. Bottom line: get professional help now before filing. This isn't something to DIY.

Has anyone successfully used the Chase offer for TurboTax this year? I'm seeing conflicting information. Some people say it's only for the online version, while others claim they got it to work for the download.

I had the same confusion last year with a similar bank promotion. From my experience, these partnership offers (Chase, Bank of America, etc.) are almost always structured for the online version only because of how the tracking and discount application works through their portals. The reason is that when you click through from Chase's website, it creates a session that TurboTax Online can recognize and apply the discount to automatically. The desktop software purchases go through a completely different system that doesn't have this integration. If you really want the desktop version, I'd recommend checking if Chase has any general "shop through our portal" cashback offers that might apply to software purchases, or look for the desktop version discounts directly from retailers like Costco or Amazon as others mentioned. Sometimes the retail discounts on desktop versions end up being comparable to or better than the online promotional offers anyway.