Since your bf's whole refund went to offset, he needs to talk to the agency that claimed the debt ASAP. Sometimes you can challenge it or set up a payment plan for the remaining balance. But don't wait - some agencies have strict timelines for appeals. Without a notice, your only option is calling TOP at 800-304-3107 to find out who took it.

I went through this exact same situation last year with my husband's refund. Code 898 means the Treasury Offset Program intercepted the entire refund for a government debt. The confusing part about the dates (refund issued 02-26 but offset 03-10) is normal - the IRS systems don't always sync up perfectly, so it shows as "issued" but gets caught before actually hitting your bank account. Definitely call the TOP hotline at 800-304-3107 ASAP to find out which agency claimed the debt. In our case, it was an old student loan that had gone into default without us realizing it. The agency that took the money should have sent advance notice, but those letters often get lost or look like junk mail. Once you know which agency has the money, you can contact them directly to dispute it if needed or work out a payment plan for any remaining balance. Don't wait too long though - many agencies have strict deadlines for appeals. Good luck!

Has anyone had problems with the foreign tax credit affecting other parts of your return? Last year I claimed about $200 in foreign tax credit from my Betterment account, and it somehow messed up my qualified business income deduction calculation. TurboTax kept giving me an error about "modified taxable income" being affected.

I had this exact same issue with my Schwab account last year! The Box 6-d confusion is super common because most investment platforms don't make the country information easily accessible on their standard 1099-DIV forms. One thing that helped me was logging into my Schwab account and looking for "Tax Center" or "Tax Documents" section - they often have more detailed breakdowns there that show which specific countries withheld taxes. For your $127 amount, you're definitely under the $300 threshold for the simplified foreign tax credit, so you might not even need to specify each country. If you can't find the detailed breakdown and don't want to spend time on hold with Betterment, you could also just proceed with the simplified credit option in TurboTax. The IRS allows this for smaller amounts and it's much less complicated than filing Form 1116. Just make sure to select that you're claiming the credit for taxes under $300 when TurboTax asks.

Has anyone used both TaxBandits and one of the specialized ERC filing services? Curious about the price difference and if it's worth paying more for help with the eligibility and calculations part.

I went through this exact same decision process for my restaurant's ERC claims just a few months ago. After reading through all the comments here, I can share my experience using TaxBandits combined with some of the tools mentioned. I initially tried to go the pure DIY route with TaxBandits, but quickly realized I was in over my head with the eligibility calculations and documentation requirements. The platform itself is solid for actually filing the 941-X forms, but like others mentioned, it doesn't provide any guidance on the complex ERC rules. What worked for me was using one of the preparation services (similar to what @Arjun mentioned with taxr.ai) to handle the analysis and calculations, then filing through TaxBandits myself. This gave me confidence in my numbers while keeping costs reasonable - ended up paying about $800 for the preparation service plus TaxBandits' filing fees, versus the $4,500+ quotes I got from full-service providers. For your bakery with 8 employees and potential $42k in credits, I'd definitely recommend getting some professional help with at least the eligibility determination and calculations. The documentation requirements are pretty strict, and getting it wrong could delay your refund by months or trigger an audit. The peace of mind is worth the extra cost compared to going completely solo.

Have you checked for any specific transaction codes on your transcript? Certain codes like 570 or 971 might indicate whether you're likely to need verification or not.

I went through this exact situation last year! My transcript updated in early March, and I was so hopeful that meant I was done dealing with the IRS for the year. Unfortunately, I still got the verification letter about 10 days later. What I learned from calling the IRS (after waiting on hold for 2+ hours) is that the transcript update just means they've received and initially processed your return, but the identity verification system runs separately and can flag your return at any point. The agent told me that factors like claiming certain credits, changes in income, or even just random selection can trigger verification regardless of transcript status. My advice? Don't count on avoiding it, but also don't stress too much - if you do get selected, the verification process itself isn't too bad once you get through it.

This is such valuable information from everyone who's been through the OIC process! I'm in a similar situation with about $42k in available credit limits and was losing sleep over whether to close some accounts before filing. Dylan's point about not closing accounts right before filing makes total sense - I can see how that would raise red flags. One question I haven't seen addressed: did anyone here have to provide bank statements showing credit card payments as part of their OIC documentation? I'm wondering if the IRS looks at your payment history to see if you've been making only minimum payments (which might support a hardship claim) or if you've been paying more than the minimums (which might suggest you have more available funds than claimed). Also, for those whose OICs were accepted - how long did the whole process take from submission to final approval? I know it varies, but trying to get a realistic timeline since my attorney mentioned it could take 6-12 months.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm currently preparing my OIC application and was really worried about my $28k in available credit limits. Reading everyone's experiences has given me a much clearer picture of how to approach this. A few additional points that might help others in similar situations: My tax attorney emphasized that the IRS wants to see that you're not just trying to avoid paying what you legitimately owe, but that you genuinely cannot pay the full amount without creating severe financial hardship. Having high credit limits doesn't automatically disqualify you, but you need to demonstrate why using that credit isn't a reasonable solution. I'm also documenting that most of my available credit is already being used for essential expenses like medical bills and home repairs that aren't fully covered under IRS allowable expenses. This helps show that the "available" credit isn't really available for tax payments. One thing I'm curious about - has anyone dealt with business credit cards that were used for personal expenses during financial hardship? I have about $8k in business credit that I had to use for living expenses when my business income dropped, and I'm not sure how to present that in the OIC application.