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New Member
posted Jun 4, 2019 2:57:05 PM

Accepted federal refund now delayed

I am a single person with no children/dependents. I e-filed my federal return on January 14th. I received notification that my return was accepted on January 17th. I signed up for direct deposit. Today I checked the IRS "where's my refund?" and it says there is a delay in processing my refund with a 1541 reference code. What could this mean? My return is honestly very straightforward so I am not sure what could be holding it up. 

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1 Best answer
Intuit Alumni
Jun 4, 2019 2:57:06 PM

1541 is an an internal code that the IRS uses to identify returns that have been "delayed". That doesn't mean there is something wrong with your return, it could simply be because the IRS will not be processing 2017 tax returns until January 29, 2017 (unless they pull a few returns from tax preparation company servers for testing.) You can contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 for more information on the reference code, but they will likely give you a similar answer to above. You can also continue to check the IRS's Where's My Refund? site for updates.

4 Replies
Intuit Alumni
Jun 4, 2019 2:57:06 PM

1541 is an an internal code that the IRS uses to identify returns that have been "delayed". That doesn't mean there is something wrong with your return, it could simply be because the IRS will not be processing 2017 tax returns until January 29, 2017 (unless they pull a few returns from tax preparation company servers for testing.) You can contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 for more information on the reference code, but they will likely give you a similar answer to above. You can also continue to check the IRS's Where's My Refund? site for updates.

New Member
Jun 4, 2019 2:57:08 PM

I got the same message on February 7. I called the IRS and was told nothing is wrong with my taxes. However, I was selected for additional review and it could take up to 60 days.

New Member
Jun 4, 2019 2:57:09 PM

Just called IRS accepted February 15 told problem with file transmission from software provider used turbo tax. Said the return information was not programmed properly but since now fixed should get refund in two weeks.

New Member
Jun 4, 2019 2:57:12 PM

I think it’s just Becuase they have not actually started processing them yet which doesn’t happen till the 29th. I also just got the same error code and was accepted back on Jan 20th.