Could you possibly take public transit instead? Many employers offer pre-tax transit benefits that are easier to access than parking benefits. I switched from driving to taking the bus and now get a pre-tax transit pass that saves me about $40/month in taxes.

I feel your pain on this! $109/month is brutal on a $15/hour wage. While the direct tax deduction isn't available anymore as others mentioned, definitely push your HR department hard on the pre-tax parking benefit. Many hospitals have this but don't advertise it well to employees. Also, if your hospital is part of a larger health system, they might have employee assistance programs that offer parking subsidies for lower-wage workers. I've seen some hospitals offer sliding scale parking fees based on income level. It's worth asking specifically about hardship parking assistance programs - the worst they can say is no, but you might be surprised what's available that they don't publicize widely. Another angle: if you're in a union or there's talk of unionizing, parking costs are often a major bargaining issue that gets addressed in contracts.

This thread has been incredibly eye-opening! I had no idea penalty abatement was even an option. I've been struggling with about $1,200 in failure-to-file penalties from my 2023 return because I was caring for my elderly father who had a stroke. I filed about 5 months late after getting his affairs sorted out. Reading through everyone's experiences, it sounds like I might have a good case for reasonable cause abatement. I have hospital records, power of attorney documents, and documentation showing when I was managing his care versus when I was finally able to get back to my own tax obligations. I'm torn between trying to handle this myself with a written request or using one of the services mentioned here to get connected with the IRS directly. For those who've been successful with reasonable cause requests, how detailed did you get in your letters? Did you include a timeline of events or just focus on the key facts? Also wondering - if I qualify for reasonable cause for 2023, would that affect my ability to use First Time Abatement for any future issues, or are those completely separate? Thanks to everyone sharing their knowledge here - this community is amazing!

This is such valuable information! I wish I had known about these penalty abatement options years ago. I've been dealing with IRS penalties on and off for the past few years, mostly due to being self-employed and struggling with estimated tax payments during some rough financial periods. Reading through all these success stories is really encouraging. I had no idea that the IRS actually has formal programs for penalty relief - I always assumed once you got hit with penalties, you were stuck with them. The First Time Abatement option sounds particularly helpful since I've generally been compliant except for a couple of difficult years. One question for the community: if someone has penalties across multiple tax years (say 2022 and 2023), is it better to request abatement for all of them at once or handle them separately? Also, does the order matter in terms of which abatement method you use for which year? Thanks to everyone sharing their experiences and expertise here. As someone new to this community, I'm amazed by how helpful and detailed all the advice is. Definitely gives me hope that I can get some of these financial burdens resolved!

This is such a helpful thread! I'm 22 and was in the exact same boat - qualified for EIC last year but my tax software said no this year. After reading through all these comments, I realized I should check if I qualify as a "specified student" since I'm enrolled full-time at my local university. Sure enough, when I went back into my tax software and specifically indicated my full-time student status in the EIC section (not just the education credits section), it recognized the exception and I qualified! Apparently being enrolled full-time for at least 5 months during the tax year creates an exception to the normal age 25 minimum. It's frustrating that the software doesn't always ask the right questions upfront to catch these exceptions. For anyone else under 25 who thinks they don't qualify - definitely double-check if you're a full-time student, former foster youth, or experienced homelessness, as these can all be qualifying exceptions even if you're under the normal age threshold.

Great question! As someone who works in tax preparation, I can confirm that the EIC rules have been particularly confusing the past few years due to temporary expansions that have since expired. For the 2024 tax year (filing in 2025), the standard age requirement is 25-64 for taxpayers without qualifying children. However, you may still qualify under the "specified student" exception if you were enrolled full-time at an eligible educational institution for at least 5 months during 2024. This exception allows students as young as 19 to claim the EIC. Since you mentioned you're 23 and live in Minneapolis, if you were a full-time student for at least 5 months in 2024, you should definitely explore this exception. Many tax software programs don't automatically connect your student status to EIC eligibility, so you may need to specifically indicate this when the software asks about EIC qualifications. I'd recommend double-checking your student enrollment status for 2024 and making sure your tax software knows about it in the context of the EIC, not just for education credits. If you're still unsure, IRS Publication 596 has the complete details on all EIC exceptions for your tax year.

Per IRM 21.4.1.3 (Refund Inquiry Response Procedures), the IRS is not obligated to provide specific information about the status of a refund until 21 days after e-filing or 6 weeks after paper filing. Based on my experience as a tax professional, I've observed the following pattern for 2023 returns (2024 filing season): 1. Simple returns (W-2 only, standard deduction): 14-21 days 2. Returns with dividend/interest income: 17-24 days 3. Returns with Schedule C/E but no credits: 21-30 days The "Return Accepted" status simply means the return has passed the initial validation checks. Your return is likely in batch processing and should move to approved status within the next 3-5 days based on current patterns.

I'm in a similar situation and completely understand your frustration about needing to plan for medical procedures. Filed my simple return (just W-2, standard deduction) on March 15th and still waiting at the 20-day mark. One thing that's helped my anxiety is setting up text alerts through the IRS2Go mobile app - sometimes it updates faster than the website. Also, I've noticed from reading other forums that once your transcript shows a cycle code 20240XX (where XX is the week), your refund typically processes within 2-3 business days. For what it's worth, I called the Practitioner Priority Service line (even though I'm not a practitioner, they sometimes help regular taxpayers after 21 days) and was told that simple returns filed in mid-March are currently taking 22-25 days this year due to increased verification procedures, even for basic returns. Have you considered checking if your bank account information on file is correct? Sometimes returns get delayed if there's a mismatch with previous year's banking details, even if everything looks right on your end.

Filed my return on March 1st as a first-time e-filer with just W-2 income and standard deduction. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been so reassuring! I was getting worried seeing different timelines everywhere, but it sounds like 21-30 days is realistic for most situations. Already set up direct deposit and planning to check my transcript this weekend based on all the recommendations here. The batch processing explanation really helps explain why timing seems so unpredictable. Thanks to everyone for sharing their real experiences - it's way more helpful than the vague official estimates!

I filed on February 22nd with a straightforward W-2 return and just got my refund deposited this morning - exactly 21 days! What really helped manage my expectations was following the advice in this thread about checking transcripts instead of obsessively refreshing WMR. For anyone still waiting, I noticed my transcript showed code 846 (refund issued) about 3 days before the money actually hit my account. The batch processing explanation makes so much sense now looking back - my transcript updated on a Thursday night and the deposit appeared the following Tuesday. For future reference, I'm definitely bookmarking this thread because the real-world timelines shared here are way more accurate than the generic IRS estimates. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences!