TurboTax states that both my federal and state were ‘Accepted’ but IRS tool only says ‘Received’ and not ‘Approved’.

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 14, 2022
5 replies
22 views

I’m just curious to know what exactly does it mean when TurboTax says it’s Accepted?
The way the TT Accepted emails are worded, it made me think they were Accepted & Approved by the IRS and the only thing I’m waiting on is the refund to be deposited.

But after visiting the IRS tool, I’m not sure if my return is Accepted and Approved by the IRS and the IRS tool is lagging behind TurboTaxs software or if Accepted just means the IRS has only received it and not necessarily means it’s Approved; therefore I’d be waiting for the approval of the IRS before Id be waiting for the refund to be deposited.

Anyone with some insight on this? If so, I would sincerely appreciate you taking the time to comment to help me get some clarification on this.

DoninGA

Level 15

After the tax return has been Accepted by the IRS (meaning only that they received the return) it will be in the Processing mode until the tax refund has been Approved and then an Issue Date will be available on the IRS website.
See this IRS website for federal tax refund FAQ's - https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

MChevy422Author

Level 2

I understand. Then why does TurboTax make it seem like it’s already approved using the term accepted? Why don’t they use both terms and have two individual emails that are sent out? One email stating the IRS has accepted your return and that we will receive another email when it is approved?

DoninGA

Level 15

@MChevy422 wrote:

I understand. Then why does TurboTax make it seem like it’s already approved using the term accepted? Why don’t they use both terms and have two individual emails that are sent out? One email stating the IRS has accepted your return and that we will receive another email when it is approved?

When you e-file the tax return, the first email you receive will report that the tax return was transmitted successfully. The second email would tell you that the IRS either Accepted or Rejected the tax return. The word Approved I believe is not used in any of the TurboTax correspondence.

Approved and Issued/Sent are used by the IRS as noted in this FAQ - https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions