Federal & State accepted (CA) but havent been refunded

[lucassankey]

Hey all,

I filed through turbo tax, both my Feder and State were accepted, however its been well over 21 days. So when I went to check the IRS page it says the following:

I am wondering if anyone else has had this issue and how they resolved it?

Thanks for the help!

Kindly, Lucas

[mesquitebean]

That's not uncommon.  That tool has frequently been quirky this year.  The IRS "Where's My Refund" tool has been known to sometimes produce that result even when correct info has been entered.  At one point, the IRS even had a notice up on it's website telling people it might not find their information.

Of course, you do need to be sure you are entering everything correctly.  Here are some tips when using the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool:

https://www.irs.gov/Refunds

• Be sure you have waited at least 24 hours after acceptance before using the IRS WMR tool.
• Be sure you enter the correct SSN and filing status.
• Be sure you are using only the Federal refund amount.   Do not include any state refund or any total refund or net refund (Fed and State) that TurboTax may have provided on a screen.  
• Also be sure you are using the Federal amount before any TurboTax fees are taken out (if you chose that option.)
• Look at your actual Federal return to get the Federal refund amount, i.e., your Form 1040, Line 35a.

• You can also try phoning the IRS refund hotline.  I've seen it work for some users when the WMR tool didn't.  800-829-1954

Since you said it's been longer than 21 days, you can phone the IRS if you wish to speak to a live IRS agent, but it won't be easy.

IRS:  800-829-1040 (7AM-7 PM local time) Monday-Friday

When calling the IRS do not choose the first choice re: "Refund", or it will send you to an automated phone line.

• First choose your language.  Then listen to each menu before making the selection.
• Then press 2 for "personal income tax".
• Then press 1 for "form, tax history, or payment".  
• Then press 3 "for all other questions."
• Then press 2 "for all other questions." 
• It may then ask for your SSN, but do not enter it.  Just wait.    If it asks for SSN a second time, still do not enter it.
• Then it will get "tired", and you'll get another menu.  Choose 2 for "personal".
• Then in the next menu choose 4 for "all other inquiries", and it should transfer you to an agent but expect a long wait.
• I usually use a speakerphone so I can work on something else while waiting.

[mesquitebean]

@lucassankey 

ADDENDUM:

Here's how to check on the California refund:

To track a state refund:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refund-status/help/how-do-i-track-my-state-refund/00/25571

By the way, you said your efiled Federal and State returns were "accepted."   You should double-check that.

  If you used Online TurboTax, log in to your Online account and look at the Tax Home to make sure.

  If you used desktop TurboTax, you can check the efile status through your installed software.

[lucassankey]

@mesquitebean, 

ive checked this quite a few times! It’s all been accepted (it was in fact accepted with in 24 hours!) 

but I just haven’t received anything and it hit the suggested amount of days so I was trying to sort out my next best option! 

[mesquitebean]

---

@ lucassankey wrote:

ive checked this quite a few times! It’s all been accepted (it was in fact accepted with in 24 hours!) 

but I just haven’t received anything and it hit the suggested amount of days so I was trying to sort out my next best option! 

---

Unfortunately, only the IRS will know what all they are doing with your return, and they may be hard to reach, but I left the steps in my first answer to try to reach a live IRS agent.    I assume you also tried phoning the IRS Refund Hotline I provided and the other tips.

  Other users have reported that their info eventually started showing up in the IRS tool.  I'd check the IRS WMR tool occasionally, since they might provide a message at some point. 

If the IRS tool finds your info at some point and uses the term"still" being processed, then that's often a sign that they are having to do a manual review of something.  Anything manual takes longer, due to staff shortages during the Pandemic, increased duties from stimulus payments, tax season, etc.  In some less common cases, they might be sending a letter asking for more info, such as as if someone has to ID verify, etc.