According to 11 U.S.C. § 541(a)(5), tax refunds can be considered property of the bankruptcy estate, but exemptions vary by jurisdiction. Per In re Nunez, 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 1287, courts have consistently held that properly documented exclusions in confirmed Chapter 13 plans are binding on trustees. If your attorney included this protection, your refund should process normally, though it may be subject to additional review per IRS Manual 5.9.17.4.2 regarding bankruptcy flagged returns. Most importantly, keep documentation of all communications with your attorney and trustee regarding this matter.

I went through Chapter 13 a few years back and had a similar situation with tax refund protection. One thing that really helped me was staying proactive about monitoring the process. Since you mentioned your attorney included provisions to protect your refund, that's great - but I'd recommend getting a copy of those specific provisions if you don't already have them. In my case, the refund did come directly to me as expected, but it took about 6-8 weeks longer than usual because of additional IRS verification steps. The key is making sure your trustee has been properly notified and that there are no conflicting interpretations of your plan terms. Have you received any communication from your trustee's office about the refund handling process? Sometimes they send out standard letters explaining their procedures, which can give you a better timeline expectation.

Has anyone tried just ignoring the error and continuing anyway? I had a similar "required field missing" error with TaxAct last year but when I clicked "File Anyway" it still went through fine. Sometimes these tax programs have non-critical errors that don't actually stop your filing.

I just went through this exact same nightmare with H&R Block! After reading through all these suggestions, I found my county field hiding in the most ridiculous place - under "State and Local" taxes, then "Locality Information." What's crazy is that H&R Block's system knew my county from my zip code for the federal return, but somehow couldn't carry that over to the state section. I had to manually select it from a dropdown that only appeared after I clicked "Edit" next to my address in that specific section. The error message is completely misleading because it says "add your County Name" but doesn't specify it's looking for it in the state tax locality section, not your personal information. Spent 3 hours going in circles before I found it buried in there. For anyone still stuck - check every single section that mentions "local" or "locality" in your state return. The field location seems to vary by state but it's almost never where you'd logically expect it to be!

Have you considered alternating years? That's what my ex and I do - I take odd years, he takes even years. No Form 8332 needed if you follow the tie-breaker rules and have it specified in your custody agreement. Saves a lot of paperwork and potential disputes. We just make sure our custody agreement clearly states which parent claims the child in which years, and then we each take the exemption, Child Tax Credit, and any medical expenses we personally paid in our designated years. Much simpler than dealing with Form 8332 every year.

As someone who went through a similar situation with significant medical expenses for my child, I can share what I learned from both my tax preparer and direct experience with the IRS. The key insight that helped me was understanding that Form 8332 creates a very specific split of benefits - it ONLY transfers the dependency exemption and Child Tax Credit to the non-custodial parent. Everything else stays with whoever is entitled to it under normal rules. For your medical expenses specifically, you can deduct them if YOU paid them, period. The IRS doesn't care who claims the dependency exemption when it comes to medical expense deductions - they only care who actually wrote the checks or used their credit card. I claimed $3,200 in medical expenses for my daughter even though my ex claimed her as a dependent that same year. No issues whatsoever. Just make sure you have solid documentation (receipts, insurance statements, etc.) showing you were the one who paid. One tip: if you're close to the 7.5% AGI threshold for medical deductions, run the numbers both ways to see if it makes more sense for you or your ex to claim the medical expenses, assuming you both contributed to the costs.

I learned the hard way about CD interest last year. Even though my CD hadn't matured, the bank had been adding interest to my account monthly (though I couldn't withdraw it), and they reported it all to the IRS. Got a CP2000 notice about unreported income months after filing! For your W-4, there's a specific worksheet for "other income" where you can add your expected CD interest. This helps you avoid owing a bunch at tax time. The IRS calculator should have a field for this under non-wage income. One thing nobody mentioned - if your CD is in a tax-advantaged account like an IRA, then different rules apply and you don't report the interest annually. But for regular taxable accounts, interest is taxable when earned, not when the CD matures.

I went through almost the exact same situation last year! Had a CD that matured in 2024 but earned interest throughout 2023. The key thing to understand is that CD interest is taxable when it's credited to your account, not when you can actually access it. Here's what I learned: Even though your CD hasn't matured, the bank should have been crediting interest to your account periodically (monthly, quarterly, etc.). That interest is considered "constructively received" for tax purposes, meaning you owe taxes on it even if you can't withdraw the money yet. Since you didn't receive a 1099-INT, the interest was likely under $10 for the year, but you should still report it. Log into your Bank of America account and look for detailed statements or transaction history from 2023 - this will show exactly how much interest was credited. For your W-4 situation, yes, include your expected 2024 CD interest when calculating withholding. The IRS wants to know about all income you'll receive during the tax year, regardless of when you physically get the money. Don't panic about your filed 2023 return - if the interest amount is small (under $25-50), many tax pros say it's not worth amending. But technically, you should report all income. Check your account statements first to see the actual amount before deciding whether to file an amended return.

Has anyone used TurboTax to amend a return with a 1099-R code 8/J? I'm in a very similar situation and wondering if it handles these special codes correctly or if I need to go to a tax professional.

One thing I'd add about your situation - since you're planning to make that additional $1,800 contribution before the April deadline, make sure you have accurate documentation of your final 2024 income. The Roth IRA contribution limits are based on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), and if your income was indeed lower than expected, you want to be certain you're not accidentally creating another excess contribution situation. The phase-out ranges for 2024 are $138,000-$153,000 for single filers and $218,000-$228,000 for married filing jointly. If you're close to these thresholds, double-check your final AGI calculation before making that contribution. Also, when you file Form 1040-X for the amendment, you'll want to include a brief explanation in Part III about why you're amending - something like "Adding 1099-R for return of excess Roth IRA contribution" keeps it simple and clear for the IRS processor.