I'm in week 4 of test batch limbo and this thread is both reassuring and terrifying 😅 Good to know the Tuesday/Thursday schedule though - I'll stop checking every single day. Has anyone had luck calling the taxpayer advocate service if you're stuck this long?

Week 5 here and honestly this community has been more helpful than the IRS website itself 😭 @Ryan Andre thanks for the Tuesday/Thursday info - that's literally the first concrete timeline I've heard anywhere. Going to try that taxr.ai thing @Lauren Zeb mentioned because the "where's my refund" tool has been useless. At least now I know I'm not alone in this waiting game!

For anybody looking for alternatives, I've been using FreeTaxUSA for the past 3 years after getting fed up with TurboTax's constant price increases. Federal filing is completely free and state is only $14.99 (way cheaper than the $49+ that TurboTax charges). Even better, they don't do that annoying thing where they make you pay more for basic tax situations like having an HSA or needing to file a Schedule D for stock sales. The interface isn't quite as polished as TurboTax but it gets the job done and saves me about $100 every year.

This is exactly why I've been telling people to avoid TurboTax for years! I used to work seasonal tax prep and saw so many people get trapped by their pricing tactics. The "free" advertising is completely misleading - they know most people won't qualify for truly free filing once they start entering real information. What really bothers me is how they target people who can least afford these fees. Your sister making $32k as a teaching assistant should absolutely be able to file for free, but they deliberately make it confusing to find the actual free options. I always recommend people start with the IRS website first at irs.gov/freefile to see what they actually qualify for before going to any commercial tax site. And if you do need to use a paid service, FreeTaxUSA is hands down the best value - I've been using them for 4 years and never had an issue. Thanks for sharing this warning - hopefully it saves other people from the same frustrating experience!

This is such great news about your son's scholarship! I went through something similar when my daughter got a merit scholarship that covered most of her tuition. Here's what I learned: The scholarship exception is real and works exactly as described - you can withdraw up to the scholarship amount without the 10% penalty, but you'll still owe income tax on the earnings portion. Make sure to keep that official scholarship award letter! One thing I wish I'd known earlier: you can actually use 529 funds for more than you might think. Beyond the obvious tuition and fees, we were able to use it for her required course materials, a laptop for school, and even some of her off-campus housing costs (though there are limits based on the school's published room and board allowance). Also, don't feel pressured to use it all right away. We kept some in the account for potential graduate school expenses, and you can always change the beneficiary later if needed. With $87,000 saved, you have lots of flexibility to make this work to your advantage. The scholarship exception gives you a great safety net for accessing the funds without penalties if you need them for other purposes. Definitely document everything carefully - keep receipts for qualified expenses and that scholarship letter. Congratulations again on raising such a successful student!

Congratulations on your son's amazing achievement! A full ride scholarship is incredible. You're absolutely right about the scholarship exception - it's one of the most helpful provisions for families in your situation. Just to add a few practical tips from my experience: When you do make withdrawals using the scholarship exception, make sure to keep detailed records showing the correlation between withdrawal amounts and scholarship amounts for each tax year. The IRS likes to see this documented clearly. Also, consider timing your withdrawals strategically. You don't have to withdraw the full scholarship amount in the year it's awarded - you can spread it out over multiple years if that makes sense for your tax situation. This can be especially helpful if you're in a higher tax bracket some years than others, since you'll be paying income tax on the earnings portion. One last thing - if your son decides to pursue graduate school later, those 529 funds can be incredibly valuable. Graduate school scholarships are often much smaller or nonexistent compared to undergraduate merit aid. Having that $87,000 available could be a huge advantage down the road. You've done an amazing job saving for his education, and now you have the flexibility to use those funds in whatever way works best for your family's situation!

I'm brand new to this community and currently experiencing my first paper check refund delay - what a stressful introduction to tax season! My check was supposedly mailed on March 8th and I've been anxiously checking my mailbox every day since then. As someone who's never dealt with paper checks before (always did direct deposit), this whole "information void" after the IRS shows "mailed" status is genuinely nerve-wracking! 😰 Reading through all these comments has been incredibly helpful though - I had no idea that 10-14 business days was actually realistic rather than the 7-10 days mentioned everywhere online. I'm definitely signing up for USPS Informed Delivery after seeing so many people recommend it here. It's crazy how waiting for your own tax refund can be more stressful than waiting for any regular purchase! Thank you all for sharing your experiences and timelines - it's such a relief to know this level of delay is completely normal and we're all just stuck in the same postal waiting game together! 🤞

I'm completely new to this community and this is my first time dealing with a paper refund check - what a wild ride this has been! My check was supposedly mailed on March 12th and I've been checking my mailbox obsessively every single day since then. Coming from someone who gets push notifications for literally everything (even when my coffee order is ready), this complete information blackout after "mailed" status is absolutely maddening! 😩 Reading through everyone's experiences here has been such a huge comfort though. I genuinely thought something was wrong with my return when it didn't show up after a week. The fact that 10-14 business days is actually realistic (not the 7-10 mentioned everywhere) is such valuable info that I wish was more widely known! I'm definitely signing up for USPS Informed Delivery right after posting this - seems like a game-changer for managing the anxiety. It's honestly ridiculous that getting our own tax money back is more nerve-wracking than tracking a $15 impulse purchase from Amazon! But knowing we're all stuck in this postal limbo together makes it feel less isolating. Thanks to everyone for sharing your timelines and creating such a supportive space for us anxious check-waiters! 🤞 Here's hoping we all see our refunds soon!

Has anyone else noticed that state websites are COMPLETELY useless for determining your federal tax status? My state business lookup also just says "Domestic Corporation" which tells me absolutely nothing about whether I'm an S or C corp. I ended up having to dig through a box of old papers to find the IRS acceptance letter from when my accountant filed the S election. If you can't find any paperwork, definitely call the IRS - it's worth the wait time to avoid filing incorrectly!

This is such a common source of confusion! I went through the exact same panic last year. Since you mentioned you incorporated last year and don't remember filing Form 2553, you're almost certainly a C Corporation by default. This means you should be filing Form 1120 (not 1120-S) and your extension should be Form 7004. The rejection of your extension was likely because you used the wrong form - if you tried to file an S-corp extension but you're actually a C-corp, that would explain the rejection. I'd recommend calling the IRS Business Tax Line immediately at 800-829-4933 to confirm your status and get guidance on refiling the correct extension. Don't panic though - if you act quickly, you can usually resolve extension issues and avoid major penalties. The key is addressing it ASAP rather than waiting. Good luck!