There's no reason to necessarily be concerned, so please don't worry. The bars on the IRS.gov's "Where's My Refund"
webpage (which it is believed you are asking about) change all of the
time. Not all tax returns are identical, and so they move through the IRS processing system at various speeds. As such, your friend's experience may or may not be indicative of what you can expect in terms of speed and timing. Other factors causing delays and increased refund processing times this year are several new laws and executive orders that the IRS has been charged with implementing.
If your tax return is chosen for further review, then the website
should state that clearly, and also let you know to expect an IRS
notice by mail. (You haven't observed that happen, have you?)
Taxpayers
who do have their returns held for review, and who expect to receive an
IRS notice, tell us that this message appears clearly on the Where's My Refund
website. The behavior that you observe in the graphical bars is more
likely an indicator that your tax return is moving normally through the
processing system. It could also be that the IRS is checking for
additional information on something related to your tax return . . . perhaps causing a small delay.
If
enough time passes after filing (21 days after e-file, or 6 weeks after
paper file), and there is no new information, at that time the IRS
indicates that you can call them, using the
phone number provided on their Where's My Refund website.
For
now, the best recommended course of action is patience. The IRS doesn't always
move as fast as taxpayers would like (especially when waiting for a
refund). Also, as noted above, the 2016 tax year may be particularly slow, due to factors that are outside of our control.
Thank you for asking this question.
