Has anyone received their trace number faster by calling them directly instead of waiting? I've heard some people say calling makes no difference while others claim it speeds things up.

Based on everyone's experiences here, it sounds like Santa Barbara TPG is definitely running behind their normal processing times. I'm in a similar situation - got funded last Tuesday with a 02/27 DDD and still waiting for my trace number. What's frustrating is the lack of transparency from TPG about these delays. They should be proactively communicating with customers about extended processing times instead of leaving everyone in the dark. I've been checking my bank account obsessively, which isn't helping my stress levels. For those mentioning calling - I tried their customer service line yesterday and after a 2-hour wait, they basically just confirmed what we already know: they're backed up and processing in batches. The rep couldn't give me a specific timeframe for my trace number. At this point, I'm just planning for the worst-case scenario timeline mentioned here (3-5 business days) and hoping for the best. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - it's reassuring to know this is a widespread issue and not something specific to my return.

Last year I got my trace number on March 5th with a pending date of March 7th. The money showed up in my account at 12:01 AM on March 7th - I literally stayed up to watch for it because I needed it for my car payment! Every bank is different though. My sister has the same pending date through Chase and didn't get hers until almost noon. I'd say once you have that trace number, you're in the home stretch. The anxiety of waiting for tax refunds is something we all go through every year!

Congrats on getting your trace number! That's definitely a relief when you finally have that confirmation. I went through the same thing last year - had to call TurboTax because their app wasn't showing the trace number either. It's frustrating when the technology doesn't work as expected, but at least their phone support was able to help. In my experience, once you have that trace number and pending date, you're pretty much guaranteed to get your refund. The 2/24 date they gave you should be accurate. I'd expect to see it either late on 2/23 (some banks process overnight) or early morning on 2/24. My credit union usually posts these around 6 AM on the scheduled date. The hardest part is just the waiting now! But you're so close. Having that trace number means all the processing is done and it's just a matter of the money moving through the system. Good luck!

Is this your first time filing with this bank account? I've noticed that first-time direct deposits to accounts seem to take longer than deposits to accounts you've used with the IRS before. Also, did you get your refund through a tax preparer who takes their fees out of your refund? Those sometimes go through a third-party bank first which adds extra time.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Had my 846 code with today's date (3/21) on my transcript, got my trace number yesterday, but my bank account is still showing zero pending deposits. I've been checking obsessively every few hours and starting to wonder if something went wrong. Reading through all these responses is actually really reassuring - sounds like this 24-48 hour delay between IRS sending and bank posting is pretty normal. I'm going to try to be patient and check again tomorrow morning. Has anyone else with a 3/21 deposit date actually received their funds yet today?

I'm still confused - so we WANT to pay taxes on Pell grants?? My financial aid office told me grants are usually tax-free. Does this only work if you have kids/dependents?

This is exactly the kind of confusing tax situation that trips up so many people! I went through the same thing last year with my two kids and Pell grants. The key thing to understand is that you're essentially "electing" to treat part of your grants as taxable income because it can trigger bigger refundable credits. When you have dependents and low earned income, sometimes paying a little extra tax on grants gets you WAY more back in Earned Income Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. In your tax software, don't look for this in the income section at all - that's where I got stuck too. Go straight to the education section first, enter your 1098-T, then when it asks about qualified vs non-qualified expenses, that's where you make the magic happen. You can choose to "allocate" some grant money to non-qualified expenses (like room/board), which makes it taxable. The software should show you the impact on your refund before you finalize anything. In my case, making $6,000 of my grants taxable increased my tax by about $600 but boosted my EIC by $1,800 - so I came out $1,200 ahead! Don't feel bad about being confused - the IRS could definitely make this clearer in their guidance.

Anyone know if weight loss programs are HSA eligible? I've heard conflicting things. My doctor told me to lose weight but didn't write an official prescription for a program.

As someone who's dealt with similar HSA frustrations, I completely understand your anger about this backwards system! What helped me was learning that while we can't change the current rules overnight, there ARE some strategies to maximize what we can use HSA funds for within the existing framework. Beyond the great advice already shared about Letters of Medical Necessity, here are a few other things that might help: Many people don't realize that things like air purifiers, ergonomic equipment for work-related injuries, and even certain mattresses can be HSA-eligible with proper documentation. Also, if you're doing all this preventative work and still end up with any health issues, keep detailed records of how your healthy lifestyle has helped - this documentation could be valuable if rules ever do change. For advocacy, the HSA Coalition and similar organizations are actively working to expand eligible expenses. Following their work and supporting their efforts might be more effective than individual petitions. The fact that over-the-counter medications were recently added shows the system can evolve, even if slowly.