I just went through this exact same situation about a month ago! Got my CP24 letter and was immediately stressed about when the money would actually arrive. Like everyone else has mentioned here, the IRS's 4-6 week estimate is definitely overly conservative. My refund hit my account in exactly 19 days from when I received the CP24 letter. The adjustment was actually in my favor - they caught that I had missed claiming the Premium Tax Credit properly, which added an extra $320 to my refund. Here's what I learned that might help: The CP24 notice means they've already completed the heavy lifting of processing your return. The August 25th date on your letter indicates they finished their review by then, so you're actually further along than it might seem. I'd strongly recommend using the IRS2Go app with notifications enabled - it updated me automatically when my status changed from "processing" to "approved" about 8 days after I got the letter. Make sure you're checking with your new adjusted refund amount from the CP24, not your original filing amount. Based on all the timelines people are sharing here, you should definitely have your car repair money well before October - probably by early to mid-September. The CP24 is actually good news since these adjustments are usually in the taxpayer's favor!

I'm also dealing with a CP24 situation right now and this thread has been incredibly reassuring! Got my notice about a week ago and was really worried about the 4-6 week timeline, but seeing everyone's actual experiences of 13-19 days is such a relief. One thing I wanted to add that I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're really anxious about the timeline like I was, you can also set up account alerts through your bank's mobile app. That way you'll get notified immediately when any deposit hits your account, even if the IRS systems haven't updated yet. I've been checking "Where's My Refund" daily with my new adjusted amount (thanks for that tip everyone!), but knowing I'll get a bank notification the moment the money arrives gives me extra peace of mind. Based on all these positive experiences, it sounds like your car repairs should definitely be covered by mid-September rather than October. The CP24 really does seem to be good news rather than something to stress about!

I just want to point out that for the 2025 filing season (for 2024 tax year), there's a slightly higher threshold for long-term capital gains tax rates. For single filers, the 0% rate applies up to $47,025 of taxable income and the 15% rate applies up to $518,900. So depending on your income level, this could affect how you fill out the Capital Gain Tax Worksheet. The Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet is critical because if you don't use it, you might massively overpay your taxes. FreeFileFillableForms won't catch this - it just takes whatever numbers you input.

Just to add another perspective here - I've been using FreeFileFillableForms for several years with investment income, and the key thing to remember is that it's really just a digital version of the paper forms. You're still responsible for all the calculations that would normally be done on supporting worksheets. For the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet specifically, I usually download the PDF from irs.gov, work through it step by step, and keep a copy with my tax records even though it doesn't get submitted. The most important thing is making sure you use the correct tax year's version - don't accidentally grab last year's worksheet since the income thresholds and rates change annually. One tip that's helped me: after completing the worksheet, I always cross-reference my final tax calculation with the tax tables to make sure everything looks reasonable. FreeFileFillableForms won't catch computational errors in your supporting worksheets, so that sanity check has saved me from mistakes more than once.

This is a bit off-topic but make sure whatever brokerage you're using actually allows non-resident aliens if that's your status! I had a friend who was on F-1, started trading with a popular app, then found out later they weren't supposed to be using it as a non-resident. Caused all kinds of headaches at tax time.

Just wanted to add another perspective here - I went through a similar visa transition (F-2 to F-1) a couple years ago. One thing that really helped me was getting a copy of my complete I-94 travel history from the CBP website before trying to figure out my residency status. The substantial presence test calculations can get really complex with visa changes, especially when you're trying to figure out which days count as "exempt" vs "non-exempt." Having the exact entry/exit dates made it much easier to work through the math. Also, since you mentioned you've been here since December 2019, you're probably still within the 5-year exempt period for F-1 students (which started when you switched to F-1 in March 2024). But the F-2 time might have different rules depending on your spouse's/parent's visa status during that period. Given the amount of money you're planning to invest, it's probably worth getting professional advice from a tax attorney or CPA who specializes in international tax issues. The wrong classification could cost you way more in taxes than the consultation fee, especially with the dividend withholding differences others mentioned.

I've been following this thread closely because I'm dealing with the same frustrating situation - mailed my return to the Philadelphia processing center on January 15th and still nothing showing up in the IRS system. After reading everyone's experiences, I decided to try Claimyr yesterday and I'm happy to report it actually worked! Got connected to an IRS agent after about 35 minutes of waiting. The agent confirmed they received my return on January 20th but said Philadelphia is currently running 8-10 weeks just to enter paper returns into their computer system. She explained that even though they physically have my return, it won't show up on "Where's My Refund" until it's been digitally processed. The relief of just knowing it's not lost somewhere was incredible. The agent also mentioned that sending a duplicate return would actually slow things down further because they'd have to manually resolve the duplication. So glad I found this thread before making that mistake! For anyone still waiting - hang in there. The paper filing system is definitely broken, but your returns are likely just sitting in processing queues, not lost. Getting that confirmation from an actual IRS person made all the difference for my peace of mind.

I'm in a very similar situation and this thread has been incredibly helpful! Mailed my return to the Kansas City processing center on February 8th and have been anxiously checking the IRS website daily with no results. Reading about everyone's experiences with both taxr.ai and Claimyr, I think I'm going to try Claimyr first to get confirmation that my return was actually received. The peace of mind aspect that several people mentioned is exactly what I need right now - the not knowing is causing me way more stress than just waiting would if I had a timeline. It's really eye-opening to learn about the different processing speeds between IRS centers. I had no idea Kansas City was potentially faster than Austin or Philadelphia. Does anyone know if there's a comprehensive list somewhere of current processing times by center? It would be helpful for planning purposes and managing expectations. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - this community thread has been more informative than hours of trying to navigate the official IRS resources!

I'm a tax attorney who specializes in small business compliance, and I want to emphasize something that hasn't been fully addressed: the legal distinction between information reporting and income reporting. Your obligation to issue 1099-NECs stems from IRC Section 6041, which requires businesses to report payments of $600+ for services regardless of payment method. This is information reporting - you're telling the IRS "I paid this person this amount." How you paid them (Venmo, check, cash, cryptocurrency) is legally irrelevant. The 1099-K that Venmo might issue is under IRC Section 6050W, which reports payment card and third-party network transactions. This serves a completely different purpose and doesn't replace your Section 6041 obligation. Here's what many people miss: your contractor's tax liability doesn't change based on which forms they receive. They owe tax on income received, period. Whether they get a 1099-NEC from you, a 1099-K from Venmo, both, or neither doesn't change their underlying tax obligation. The forms are just information reports to help the IRS match income. For your resistant contractor, send a formal backup withholding notice citing Treas. Reg. 31.3406(d)-5. If they continue refusing after proper notice, you're required to withhold 24% under IRC Section 3406. Document everything - the regulation provides safe harbor if you can demonstrate reasonable efforts to obtain the TIN. With $145k in contractor payments, non-compliance isn't worth the risk. The penalties under IRC Section 6721 can reach $290 per missing form, and that's before considering potential audit exposure on your expense deductions.

This has been an incredibly thorough discussion that really cleared up my confusion about Venmo payments and 1099 requirements. As a newcomer to this community dealing with my first year managing contractors, I was getting completely overwhelmed by conflicting advice online. The key insight that finally clicked for me was understanding that my obligation as a business paying for services is completely separate from whatever reporting Venmo might do. Whether I pay by check, wire transfer, or Venmo doesn't change the fundamental requirement to issue 1099-NECs for services over $600. For anyone else in a similar situation, I found the combination of tools mentioned here really helpful - taxr.ai for analyzing my payment obligations and Claimyr for getting direct IRS confirmation when I had specific questions. Having that official guidance documented gave me confidence to move forward despite pushback from contractors. The backup withholding approach for resistant contractors also makes complete sense now. I was being too accommodating when I should have been protecting my business interests. A formal notice explaining 24% withholding on future payments tends to resolve W9 issues quickly. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences and expertise. The consensus is crystal clear - issue those 1099-NECs regardless of payment method and protect your business!