What is the current IRS status on processing returns?

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Last updated 2/15

Congratulations on finishing your taxes!

We know how important your tax refund is to you. Good news, the IRS started processing tax returns on January 30th.   Returns will be processed in the order they were submitted and as soon as your tax return is accepted, we will notify you by email.   This notification could take up to 48 hours.

The IRS estimates that you should receive your tax refund within 21 days of your return being accepted.  The IRS issued more than 9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days last year and expects the same results this year.

Once your tax return has been accepted by the IRS, you can track the status of your refund by logging into your MyTurboTax account or checking the IRS Where’s My Refund Tool.

IRS Update:  The IRS announced today that they are experiencing high traffic on their Where’s My Refund Tool.  As a result, there may be limited availability during busier periods. The IRS has asked the entire tax industry to remind customers to only check Where’s My Refund once a day. IRS systems are only updated once a day, usually overnight.

 

1,796 responses to “What is the current IRS status on processing returns?”

  1. I filed my taxes, and my state was accepted but my federal is still pending. Does this mean is there a possiblity my federal can be denied?

  2. I filed the Tuition and Fees credit and everywhere I read this is not effected by the delays. However I received an email from TT saying that my return was going to be delayed. Don’t understand how this can be?

  3. I efiled on the 28th of JAN and am still pending. I did not use any of the educational credits. I have used turbo tax for several years now and this is a first…any ideas?

  4. How come filing on the 25th for federal and state at the same time my state has been accepted but yet three days later my federal still has not been? When reading all the postings both have been accepted for some, and when looking at the top of the screen it says there are currently NO Delays as of January 30th? I am very confused as to why this is happening. Could someone please help?

    • I figured it out. I have never had to file the 8863 form before and that is what has me held up. No worries…it will get to me when it does. Thanks!

  5. If I submitted my return thur turbotax,,on jan 30, and its still pending, how do I remove the education portion, so i can have my taxes accepted and receive my refund faster. I’ll add the education information at a later date. i think turbotax should have informed us prior to filing. I know hr block informed my friends, and they didnt added credit, and al of there returns have been accepted. I can bet next year turbotax lose alot of business.

    • This comment is really for everyone. I get the frustration, I do. I am waiting on my return to go through as well due to the education credit. It isn’t so strange for people to complain, but the number of supposed adults that are complaining is very odd to me. If I am not mistaken HR Block had a large number of facilities to shut down in various states because their workers were providing information to taxpayers that did not belong to them. There were other issues from simply handling business badly. I do not look at the news much, but I even heard about this. Either way for all the college bound individuals out here it is obvious that Congress has a lot to do with the overall results. Checks and balance, remember no one can have too much power in one branch. It is hilarious how I do not take any medicine for my attention deficit problem and I even grabbed that piece of information and retained it. As far as the customer service reps that are saying they know nothing of the 8863 (education credit form) they just need more training. This is happening. These people sit at a desk and are not in the area where returns are being processed and most likely have no clue of what they should truly be saying. The rare vets that have been at the IRS for a while are the ones we should be speaking to, but they are not many, I assume. I can’t say calm down because I do get it, but if everyone on here wants to worry about the refund that they are getting back, small or large amount, go ahead and stress into a stroke or some other health issue if you want. I personally would not recommend it, but to each their own. The refund can cover the hospital visit. If that sounded rude just think of how you are communicating to the Turbo Tax reps that are trying to simply do their job and assist you professionally. I commend them because some of the comments on here are so rude. I get notifications on here to see if anything has come up rather than clicking on the IRS site and it’s a bit funny to read I have to admit. Not to comment specifically to your post, Andrew, but all the comments that I have read I am like wow. Especially for the people who are in school themselves. We should be the ones who really grasp the concept of this. No, it is not right on the governments’ part, but I think a few days of clarity should help you appreciate what you do have. I am one of the ones who are on the verge of starving. I have three kids and I am a single mother working full time and in school full time. Not to mention trying to watch my weight so I am frustrated too. I just don’t see the point of trying to point fingers, especially if I am not going to do anything about it. Rather you write Congress, Obama, or the IRS. Do something, be active. Don’t just sit on here and complain. Word of advice – if anyone does decide to write a letter please use proper grammar and spelling. Sound professional before writing to your government. I have my errors as we all do, but it does not help you get your point across being irate and misusing the English language. I truly do hope everyone is enjoying their day and glad that they are alive. I look at it this way, we will get it and this could be time we carefully plan out what we should be doing with it when we get it. I have found some good deals so far. Since I have moved I have been sleeping on the floor since I only get paid so much so please believe I am waiting too, but not complaining. Your situation could be a lot worse so at least try to be thankful for what you are not going through. I am. I’m just sharing my opinion.

      • THANK YOU!!!! I may have been more blunt but you said it all very well. I want my return too but there is only so much these people can do when the government wants to take there time on something. 🙂

      • T. Franklin your comment is exactly what I have been thinking since I’ve be visiting this blog. I am constantly telling myself that even though my current situation is bad with waiting extra time for my refund, there is someone out there worse off than I am. I have nothing negative to say, I am just thankful that I do have a refund coming.

  6. I also have the education credit and I filed on 1/30 do they know the exact date they will start accepting them and when i will receive my refund

  7. CT state return was “ACCEPTED” according to TT on Feb. 1.
    When I check the status of refund through state site, it is “under review”.
    was it really Accepted? is there a typical lag time?
    thanks,

  8. I keep getting emails saying that there is a delay with my refund because the IRS is not accepting returns with educational credits right now. According to the IRS website, it won’t start processing those credits until mid February!

  9. DCL said: on February 4, 2013 at 6:08 am Your comment is awaiting moderation.
    I posted a question (lengthy) post/question yest….saw that it said was awaiting moderation…now it’s gone? Was a question re: deductions and depreciation…and THOSE returns being held as well??? Please advise…
    Thanks

  10. Please help! First time TT user and so confused.
    CONFUSED! Need HELP!

    I filed and was accepted on 1-30-13 filed 6a accepted 5:57p on the 30th through TT… WMR still says “refund received and is processing etc” first orange bar since the 31st. however I called the IRS this AM 2-4-13 @ 9:00a est time, and played dumb & just said “oh I was wondering if you could tell me if my refund was submitted not sure if it went through bc my laptop shut off and the gentleman said NO The last tax return showing is 2011, your 2012 was not received or submitted for me to try and re-submit my return. WTF! How is that possible? When I have received the accepted email n text from TR efile is saying accepted TT is showing accepted and WMR is saying “refund received and is being processed” obv it’s not bc the irs mr montgomery to b excat straight up told me there’s no 2012 return there!!! What am I supposed to do?

  11. I e-filed on 1-30-13 and the IRS website still says it has no record of my return. This is alarming. TT says it was submitted but the IRS doesn’t have it… Anyone else have this problem. It’s been more than 48 hours and no sign of it.

  12. i FILED MY RETURN ON JAN 29, AND IT STILL HAS NOT BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE IRS, I AM WORRIED ABOUT WHATS GOING ON BECAUSE IT SHOULD NOT TAKE 5DAYS TO ACCEPT.

  13. I am confused. Turbo tax sent me an email stating that certain deductions like education credit Will cause a delay, but now it says there are currently no delays for TT customers. So is there a delay or not? I filed on 1/26 and the return has not been accepted yet.

  14. I posted a question (lengthy) post/question yest….saw that it said was awaiting moderation…now it’s gone? Was a question re: deductions and depreciation…and THOSE returns being held as well??? Please advise…

  15. I filed my taxes on 1/31 and they are still pending on 2/4. Why is this? I did have some mileage that I wrote off for work. Other than that everything is standard. Also, I have written off miles in the previous years and never experienced this. Can someone from turbo tax please exlain this?

  16. I did my taxes on jan 30 and federal says still pending are they still waiting on forms I had business expense and college expense

  17. My fiancé and his ex wife have 2 kids together he was suppose to claim One of them this year but she filed early and claimed both to get back more eic! My fiancé did not know til after he filed with the one child that she did hers weeks ago. He has education credits so it’s not been accepted yet but will it still go through? He talked to a guy at irs and they assured him it would but I have my doubts. I went through the same thing with my ex and got screwed over. his ex was unfortunately one of the lucky ones and was accepted early which is BS to begin with! Please help so we know what the chances are?!

  18. I uploaded my tax return on January 31, 2013. Four days later, I have yet to get a response other than pending. Should I be concerned? Is there anyone who knows a one 800 number that I can call? I want to make sure that my e-filing made it to the federal government.

    • It made it there unless it was rejected. Then the IRS or TT keeps them on hold until the Form 8863 is programmed right. I would love to know if anybody has heard any new info on the IRS and the fixing of this. Obviously the IRS does not care nor does TT otherwise it would have been fixed. I mean come on people. The middle of February is February 15 and this started on the 28 so that is 19 day or more to fix one form. What else is there to be said…

      • You are asking what more is there to say? Holy cow Paula! You’ve been whining awhile now! What more can you say?

        People, the form isn’t currently being accepted by the IRS. It’s not TurboTax’s fault. Stop blaming them for not emailing you every ten minutes with an update. The IRS says it will start accepting returns with the form in mid February. They have until August to process them and issue refunds.

        Paul, its ok for you to have freedom of speech, but not me. You must be a democrat.

      • Paul – any word on your refund. I am still pending…Did you see my post about my conversation with HR Block? They advised me NOT to refile and she told me the IRS has advised them 2-15-13 to start processing those returns with 8863.

      • Cynthia,

        I just want to know where my return is now and what will happen when they start processing the returns with Form 8863. I do not know if mine is with Turbo Tax still or does the IRS have it. I am waiting on Turbo Tax Chat and there are 400 ahead of me.

        Paul

  19. Is it safe to say my refund wasn’t rejected,when I check the status on Turbo Tax it says Pending,this is my first time with Turbo Tax,I did claim the education credit,just wondering

  20. I filed on Jan 27 but it is still pending, i thought IRS started processing on the 1/30 and take up to 48hrs to accept or reject, the refund is ok but im more concerned about it being accepted or rejected. I filed a 1099 though.

  21. why does my refund status says it is lined up for processing and awaiting for irs to set up returns like mines. why wasnt mine sent to irs on 30th like everyone else. my e file status has been pending for days now.

  22. I filed a w2g tax form for gambling and lottery through turbotax and submitted it January 30 2013 and at first it said accepted and i went to wheres my refund and it said, your return was accepted and is processing and you should receive your return yadayadayada. But now when i go to wheres my refund nothing comes up at all. But when i call the 1800 number it still says processing. Why is everyone else getting their refund. What is going on

  23. My federal is on hold cause of the education credit but my state was accepted on the 2nd…..how long will it take my refund to be deposited into my account

  24. i wanna no why are return still being recived by the irs if we got accepted by turbotax like i got accepted on 01/24/2013 an still dont have a date i wanna no if i got accepted dont that mean im approved whats the differnt from accepted by turbo tax an being approved by irs.

  25. I filed through TT on jan 28 and I am being delayed because of the education credit. I understand that there is nothing we can do but wait but what makes me so frustrated is the fact that a lot of us that have these education credits need to file FASFA online. The priority deadline for financial aid filing is March 3 but we won’t even know if our taxes will be finished by then so we can order our IRS transcripts. just wanted to vent because of all the IRS problems and congress issues with the fiscal cliff it may result in some students financial aid being held up for next year. Both are federal government run but no one is looking at any bigger picture here!

    • College Mom,
      You are correct at nobody looking at the bigger picture. The fiscal cliff issues were known on January 2nd and everything was “allegedly” fixed for the IRS to start accepting returns on the 30th. On January 28th the IRS said there is a issue with Form 8863 and these returns will have to be delayed until the middle of february. It is a programming issue and 9 days later and we have no information on it. TT will not tell us anything. When you call into the IRS who have many, many people that work there they tell you they do not know anything about Form 8863. Then people wonder why us college students are mad. We have till March to fill out our new FAFSA and it cannot be done until our 2012 tax return is completed and accepted by the government. So somebody tell me if they have been able to find anything out. Also these couple of people who have been making fun of us complaining “walk a mile in another person’s shoes” and then you will see why and what.
      Thanks and if anybody gets any new information hopefully they will put it on here. The one bad thing was that Turbo Tax knew about the problem on January 28 but all of us did not receive a email until January 30th. HMMMM go figure.

  26. did my taxes on 1/31 still no results if they are accepted. Just says pending. Thought it took 24 to 48 hours. Is it business hours?

  27. Thank you for freebie. I appreciate it. You have my business.
    Can the state tax return be held from the state refund?

  28. I understand the delay in filing federal tax returns due to educational credits. However my question refers to the state return. When finishing out turbo tax it stated unable to efile state returns due to some attachements. is this due to the form 8863 or is it due to the this is the first time I have added the interest for paying student loans? I am looking for clarification so I know what I need to send to the state tax office.

  29. i recieved a new mortgage interest statement my taxes are filed state is accepted and due to educational credits this is pendind do I wait and file amended

  30. Y doesn’t TT just put our returns through, let the IRS reject them so that way we can take the credit off and send it back through? Is that an option?

  31. I filed on jan-23-2013 and I haven’t received nothing no email cofirmation or anything I would like to know what’s going on I filed with swift refund

  32. Y does this say there are no processing delays as if some of us are not waiting on the Form 8863 to be updated?! This whole tax season is horrible!

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