This entire discussion has been incredibly valuable! As someone who works in tax preparation, I see this confusion about "net taxpayer" status come up constantly with clients, especially during political seasons. What I always tell people is exactly what's been explained here so well - it's not an IRS term or official designation. Your tax return doesn't have a box that says "net taxpayer" or "net beneficiary." The IRS is concerned with whether you've paid what you legally owe based on your income and circumstances, not with some lifetime calculation of services received versus taxes paid. Hunter, your situation is completely normal. At $58k with a $2,800 refund, you're paying federal income tax, FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare), and likely state taxes too. The refund simply means your withholding exceeded your actual tax liability - you still contributed plenty to the system. I always remind clients that even when we try to quantify government benefits, we're missing huge categories like national defense, infrastructure maintenance, research and development that led to technologies we use daily, environmental protections, and the legal framework that makes our entire economy function safely. The best approach is to focus on fulfilling your actual tax obligations correctly rather than getting caught up in political concepts that have no bearing on your real tax situation. Understanding deductions, credits, and proper withholding will serve you much better than worrying about theoretical categories that don't exist in tax law.

This thread has been such a goldmine of information! As someone who's always been intimidated by tax concepts, I really appreciate how everyone broke this down so clearly. What really helped me understand this was realizing that "net taxpayer" is basically a made-up category that politicians use, not something the IRS actually cares about or tracks. I've been stressing about whether I'm "contributing enough" because I also get refunds most years, but now I see that's just normal withholding working as designed. The lifecycle explanation makes perfect sense too - we all go through phases where we use more services (childhood, education, potentially retirement) and phases where we contribute more (working years). Trying to put people into permanent categories based on one snapshot in time seems pretty pointless when you think about it that way. Hunter, your $58k salary and $2,800 refund situation sounds totally standard to me now. You're paying income taxes, payroll taxes, and getting back what you overpaid - that's exactly how the system is supposed to work! Your brother-in-law might mean well, but he's using political rhetoric rather than actual tax terminology. I think I'm going to focus on understanding my real tax obligations and opportunities going forward, rather than worrying about theoretical debates that don't actually exist in tax law. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge here - this community is amazing for making complex topics accessible!

This thread has been incredibly thorough and helpful! As someone who just went through this exact situation with MetLife disability payments, I wanted to add one more piece of advice that saved me a lot of hassle. When you contact MetLife (or use Claimyr to get through to them), ask specifically if they can email you the payment summary rather than mailing it. I requested mine by email and received it within 24 hours, whereas friends who requested mailed copies waited 2-3 weeks during tax season. Also, if you discover that your benefits are non-taxable due to post-tax premium payments, don't forget to keep the documentation showing this determination. I created a simple folder with my pay stubs showing post-tax deductions, the MetLife payment summary, and a one-page summary I wrote explaining why the benefits weren't taxable. My tax preparer said this level of documentation would make any potential IRS inquiry very straightforward to resolve. The key takeaway from all these great responses is that this situation is much more common than people realize, and it's totally manageable with the right documentation and approach. Don't let the lack of a tax form stress you out - just be proactive about getting the information you need!

This has been such an incredibly helpful thread! I'm a new parent dealing with this exact MetLife disability situation, and I was honestly panicking about how to handle the missing tax forms. Reading through everyone's experiences has completely changed my perspective from "oh no, I'm going to get in trouble with the IRS" to "this is a common issue with clear solutions." The most valuable takeaway for me is understanding that the taxability depends entirely on how the premiums were paid. I never would have thought to check my old pay stubs for that detail! I'm also impressed by how many practical tools people have mentioned - from taxr.ai for analysis to Claimyr for actually getting through to customer service reps. What strikes me most is how proactive everyone recommends being. Rather than hoping the IRS doesn't notice missing income, the consensus seems to be: document everything, get proper records from MetLife, determine the correct tax treatment, and report it properly even without receiving official forms. For anyone else new to this situation - this thread is basically a complete guide to handling disability payment taxation. The combination of professional advice from the enrolled agent, real-world experiences from people who've been through it, and practical tips for getting the documentation you need makes this incredibly comprehensive. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their knowledge!

As someone who works in tax preparation, I see this exact scenario probably 50+ times every tax season! You're absolutely on the right track thinking you can still claim him as a dependent for this final year. The key factors working in your favor: 1) He was a full-time student for 5+ months (January through May graduation), 2) He lived with you for more than half the year, and 3) You provided more than half his total support for the entire 12-month period. That $38,000 income actually doesn't matter at all for qualifying child dependents under age 24 - there's no income limit like there is for qualifying relatives. The IRS cares about support, not earnings. Just make sure when he files his own return (which he'll need to do since he earned over the filing threshold), he checks the box indicating he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return. This prevents any conflicts with the IRS systems. One last tip: if you paid any education expenses for his final semester, you might be eligible for education credits that could be worth more than the dependency exemption itself. Worth looking into!

I went through this exact same situation last year with my youngest daughter! She graduated in May and started her first "real job" in August making about $35,000 for those few months. I was so stressed about whether we could still claim her. After doing a ton of research and even calling a tax professional, I learned that the timing of graduation and job start actually works in your favor. Since your son was a full-time student for the first 5 months of the year, he still qualifies as a "qualifying child" under the IRS rules, regardless of his income. The support test is really what matters most. In our case, even though my daughter had income, we calculated that between rent (she lived at home), food, car insurance, health insurance, phone bill, and other expenses we covered, we definitely provided more than 50% of her total support for the year. One thing that helped me feel more confident was keeping a simple spreadsheet tracking major expenses we paid for her throughout the year - made it easy to show we met the support requirement if needed. The peace of mind was worth the extra record-keeping! Your son will need to file his own return and check the box saying someone else can claim him as a dependent, but you should be all set to claim him one final time. Good luck!

This whole thread has been incredibly helpful! I had the exact same confusion with my E*Trade 1099-B and was leaning toward answer (b) before reading everyone's explanations. What really clicked for me was understanding that E*Trade is essentially doing the math for you behind the scenes. When they show that $839,230 cost basis, they've already factored in all the wash sale adjustments that happened throughout the year. So that $89,700 "Wash Sale Loss Disallowed" figure represents adjustments that are already reflected in your cost basis - it's not something you need to add separately. I think the confusion comes from the fact that this column exists at all. It feels like it should be part of the calculation somehow, but really it's just there for transparency so you can see how much in losses were disallowed during the tax year. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with E*Trade support, the IRS, and tax professionals. It's reassuring to see the same answer confirmed through multiple sources. I'm definitely going with the $37,220 realized gain amount when I file!

This has been such a valuable thread! I'm dealing with the exact same E*Trade 1099-B situation and was completely lost until reading everyone's explanations. What really helped me understand this was the analogy about the receipt - the "Wash Sale Loss Disallowed" column is like documentation showing what adjustments were made, but those adjustments are already incorporated into the cost basis figure. E*Trade has done all the heavy lifting by automatically adjusting the cost basis upward to account for disallowed wash sale losses. I was initially leaning toward answer (b) and adding the $89,700 to the realized gain, but now I clearly see that would be double-counting. The $37,220 realized gain is already the correct taxable amount because it's calculated using the wash-sale-adjusted cost basis. Thanks to everyone who called E*Trade support, used the IRS callback services, and shared their experiences with tax professionals. Having multiple independent confirmations of the same answer gives me confidence to file correctly. This community really came through with practical, actionable advice!

The name change issue is definitely a major red flag here! I went through something similar after getting married - filed with my new name but SSA hadn't fully updated their records yet, which caused a 3+ month delay. The IRS basically puts your return on hold until they can verify your identity matches what's in the Social Security database. Here's what I'd recommend doing ASAP: 1) Call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 to verify your name change is properly recorded 2) Check both your return transcript AND account transcript - sometimes one updates before the other 3) Look for any mail from the IRS (sometimes verification letters get lost or look like junk mail) The "response date" is just their internal deadline but honestly means nothing - they're so backlogged they rarely meet their own deadlines anyway. A blank transcript after 6+ weeks with a recent name change almost always means identity verification issues. The good news is once they sort out the name mismatch, everything usually processes really quickly. I got my refund 4 days after they finally resolved my case. It's incredibly frustrating but hang in there - you're not alone in this mess!

I'm dealing with the exact same frustrating situation! Filed on March 8th, accepted immediately, but my transcript has been completely blank for over 7 weeks now. The "Where's My Refund" tool just keeps showing that generic "still being processed" message with no actual timeline or explanation. From everything I've researched (and I've been obsessively googling this), the "response date" is basically just an internal IRS deadline that they set for themselves - but honestly, they're so backlogged this year that those dates don't mean much. A blank transcript after this long usually indicates either your return is stuck in their massive processing queue OR something flagged it for additional review. The name change after marriage that you mentioned is probably the main culprit here! I've seen this issue come up repeatedly in forums - even after updating your name with Social Security, there can be significant delays before their database properly syncs with the IRS system. This mismatch can hold up processing for months while they try to verify your identity. I'd definitely recommend calling SSA tomorrow to confirm your name change is fully processed and showing up correctly in their records. Also make sure you're checking both your return transcript AND your account transcript - sometimes updates appear in one before the other. The waiting is absolutely brutal when you're depending on that refund money for unexpected expenses. But based on what others have shared, once the name issue gets resolved, refunds typically process very quickly. Stay strong - we'll get through this mess eventually! 🤞