Because I am not sure what he said is 100% correct, and my friend who is a very experienced CPA said I need to report it as income. (BTW, this won't affect any tax credit, benefit, etc).
The refund is taxes I overpaid in past years that cannot be corrected by filing any forms, etc. Besides different opinions I heard, I also do not want risks/audits in the future as the amount is large. So paying taxes is safest per my friend.
But I have only got 2 opinions so far, totally opposite ones. What are the cons if I do report it as income?
