Another option for your FAFSA situation - if your parents absolutely cannot file their taxes in time, you can file the FAFSA as a "provisional independent student" in certain circumstances. This is rare but possible if you can document that you have no contact with your parents or there are other extreme circumstances. You'd need to work directly with your school's financial aid office and provide documentation. It's not easy to qualify for this, but worth asking about if your parents' tax situation won't be resolved soon.

Just to add some clarity on the dependent vs independent status: The key tests for dependency include whether your parents provide more than half your support, whether you're a full-time student under 24, and whether you live with them (temporarily living away for school still counts as living with them). Each tax year stands alone. So you absolutely can be independent in 2023 and dependent in 2024 if your circumstances changed. The IRS only cares about the facts for each specific tax year.

Did you claim any pandemic credits? Those are taking forever to process rn

The 846 code dated 03-13-2024 means your refund was officially issued on that date, but it can take 5-10 business days to actually hit your account depending on your bank. The 766/768 credits dated 04-15 are just IRS accounting entries - they don't affect when you get your money. Since it's been a while since 03-13, I'd definitely call your bank first to see if they received and processed a deposit from "IRS TREAS". Sometimes banks hold IRS deposits for verification or there could have been an issue with your account info. If your bank says no deposit was attempted, then call the IRS refund hotline at 1-800-829-1954. Your transcript looks normal otherwise - the processing date of 03-25 and all the codes check out for a standard EIC refund. Hang in there! 🤞

check if ur bank info was entered correctly on the return. Had similar situation last year and turned out I typed one number wrong in my account number smh

Don't panic yet! March 13th was only about a week ago, and refunds can take up to 21 days to hit your account even after the 846 code shows. Banks sometimes hold deposits for a few extra days too, especially larger amounts. Since you've already confirmed your bank info is correct, I'd give it another week before getting worried. The IRS systems have been running slower this year with all the processing changes. Your transcript looks normal - that 846 code on 3/13 is definitely your refund being sent out. If nothing shows up by March 27th (2 weeks from issue date), then definitely call the IRS refund hotline at 1-800-829-1954. But honestly, I bet it'll show up in the next few days! 🤞

Make sure you also consider depreciation recapture down the road! When you're deducting depreciation on the rental portion of your house (which you should definitely do), remember that when you eventually sell the house, you'll face depreciation recapture taxes on the portion you depreciated. For example, if you depreciate 30% of your house for rental use over several years, when you sell, you'll need to recapture that depreciation at a 25% tax rate, even if you qualify for the primary residence capital gains exclusion on the rest of the profit.

Great question! I've been dealing with this exact situation for the past few years. One thing I'd add to the excellent advice already given is to be really careful about how you calculate your allocation percentage. The IRS prefers methods that reflect actual usage rather than just simple room counts. I learned this the hard way during an audit. Initially, I was using 2/3 (like you mentioned) since I rented 2 out of 3 bedrooms. But the IRS agent pointed out that this didn't account for shared spaces properly. We ended up using square footage of rented bedrooms plus a proportional share of common areas (kitchen, living room, bathrooms) based on occupancy. Also, keep detailed records of everything - not just the big expenses like mortgage interest, but smaller items too. I track cleaning supplies for common areas, repairs that benefit the rental portions, even a portion of my internet bill since my tenants use the WiFi. These smaller deductions really add up over the year. One last tip: consider getting a separate business checking account for rental-related expenses. It makes tracking so much easier come tax time, and the IRS loves clear separation between personal and business expenses.

these codes are starting to feel like hieroglyphics fr fr... irs needs to speak english 💀

I had the same codes last year and it turned out to be an identity verification issue. The IRS wanted to make sure I was really me before releasing my refund. Got a CP05A notice asking me to verify my identity online through ID.me. Once I completed that, my refund was released within 2 weeks. Don't panic - these codes are super common and usually resolve quickly once you respond to whatever they're asking for.