I'm at week 20 and honestly considering reaching out to my congressman at this point. Filed my 1040X in September and still nothing but "processing" on WMR. My CPA said that's becoming the norm now - she's seeing 22-26 weeks regularly for her clients. The worst part is having zero real information about what's actually happening. At least with regular returns you get some updates, but amended returns are like throwing papers into a black hole. Really wish the IRS would be more transparent about realistic timelines instead of that misleading 16-week estimate.

Just wanted to chime in as someone who's been through this nightmare twice! My first amended return took 23 weeks and my second one (filed last year) took 19 weeks. The anxiety is absolutely brutal, especially when you need that money for bills like you mentioned. One thing that helped me was setting up direct deposit alerts so I'd know the moment anything hit my account instead of constantly checking the useless WMR tool. Also, if it makes you feel any better, I've never heard of an amended return just disappearing - they're slow as molasses but they do eventually process them. Hang in there, you're already at week 12 so you're in the home stretch even if it doesn't feel like it! 🙏

Has anyone actually been audited for doing this scholarship allocation strategy? I'm thinking about using it but worried about getting flagged.

This is a legitimate and well-established tax strategy that many families use successfully! I've helped several clients navigate this exact situation over the years. The key points to remember: Your son has the legal right to choose how to allocate his scholarship funds between qualified expenses (tuition/fees) and non-qualified expenses (room/board/personal). When scholarships exceed qualified expenses, the student can elect to treat some scholarship money as taxable income, which then frees up those education expenses for AOTC purposes. Yes, your son will need to file Form 1040-X to report the additional $4,000 as taxable income. Even though he won't owe any tax due to the standard deduction, the amended return creates the proper paper trail for your AOTC claim. One important timing note: Make sure the amended return gets filed before you file your own return claiming the AOTC. This helps avoid any processing delays or questions from the IRS about the coordination between your returns. Also, consider having your son write a brief memo explaining his allocation decision and keep it with your tax records. Something simple like "I elect to treat $4,000 of my scholarship as payment for room and board expenses rather than qualified tuition expenses." This documentation can be helpful if questions ever arise. The strategy is completely above board when done correctly with proper documentation!

Quick question - does anyone know if the Child and Dependent Care Credit is refundable for 2025? It was temporarily refundable during covid but I can't remember if that's still the case.

Just wanted to add one more thing that might be helpful - if you're using a nanny or babysitter instead of (or in addition to) the preschool, make sure you're handling the household employee tax requirements correctly. If you pay them more than $2,700 in 2025, you'll need to withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, plus provide them with a W-2. This can affect your Child and Dependent Care Credit eligibility if not done properly. Also, for your situation with the $375k AGI, you're still well within the phase-out range so you should get a decent credit. The phase-out actually starts around $15,000 AGI and gradually reduces the credit percentage, but even at higher incomes you can still claim the full $3,000/$6,000 in expenses - you just get a lower percentage back as a credit.

A lot of good info here but nobody mentioned that the timesheet might be misleading you. Your total pay is still $520 ($327 taxable wages + $193 non-taxable reimbursement). You're not losing money - the company is just separating the taxable from non-taxable portions as they should. Check your final paystub - you should see: - Gross earnings: $327 - Mileage reimbursement: $193 - Total: $520 (before tax withholding) Then taxes would only be calculated on the $327 portion.

This is a really helpful thread! I'm also a delivery driver and was confused about the same thing on my paystubs. Just to add one more perspective - make sure you're keeping good records of your actual miles driven vs. what your employer is reimbursing you for. In my case, I noticed my employer was only reimbursing me for "delivery miles" (the distance between stops) but not for the miles I drove to get to my first delivery or back home from my last one. Those "deadhead" miles can add up over time. Since the reimbursement rate is meant to cover all your vehicle costs (gas, wear and tear, depreciation, etc.), you want to make sure you're being reimbursed fairly for all business-related driving. If there's a significant gap, it might be worth discussing with your employer or at least tracking those unreimbursed miles for your own records.

Does anybody know if travel insurance would be tax deductible if it was for a business trip? I sometimes buy travel insurance when I go to conferences for work and I'm wondering if that would be different from buying it for family members.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation where I paid for my elderly aunt's travel insurance when she visited from Canada last year. Based on what everyone's shared here, it sounds like I'm out of luck for deducting the travel insurance itself since she's not my dependent. But I'm really interested in what @Malik Davis mentioned about direct medical payments. My aunt had to see a specialist while she was here for a pre-existing condition, and I paid the $800 bill directly to the doctor's office since her Canadian insurance didn't cover it in the US. If I understand correctly, this might actually be deductible even though the travel insurance isn't? I'm also curious about the tools people have mentioned - I've been struggling to find clear answers on some of my other tax questions too. The IRS website is so confusing sometimes, and like others have said, getting through on the phone is nearly impossible. Thanks for all the insights everyone!