How much longer?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
May 8, 2020
2 replies
2 views

I efiled on March 18, 2020. My return was accepted within a day and I have now been waiting for about 7 weeks for my refund via direct deposit. When I log in to the irs.gov website it just says that my return is still processing and that the refund date will be provided when available.

The irs website goes on to say to call if it has been more than 21 days, but they are not taking phone calls due to Covid.

What can I do to find out what the problem is? I know several people who have filed and received their refunds within a normal amount of time. I have received my stimulus payment, by the way, although I had to update my info and they actually sent mine and my ex wife's payment to the same account based on 2018 return instead of 2019.

xmasbaby0

Level 15

You are always going to find someone else whose refund arrived faster, and someone who waited even longer than you. That is the way it goes. Returns are not processed “first in — first out.” as it is,

Waiting is frustrating—refunds are taking longer in many cases. These are not normal times. It is not possible for TurboTax to speed up the IRS for you. It seems to be taking longer than usual for them to process returns. They are short staffed; and they are processing millions of tax returns at the same time that they have been burdened with the task of processing millions of stimulus checks. The IRS is not taking calls right now.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/efile-status-lookup/

TurboTax gives you an estimated date for receiving your refund based on a 21 day average from your date of acceptance, but it can take longer. Many refunds are taking longer during the pandemic.

Once your federal return has been accepted by the IRS, only the IRS has any control. TurboTax does not receive any updates from the IRS. Your ONLY source of information about your refund now is the IRS.

You need your filing status, your Social Security number and the exact amount (line 20 of your Form 1040) of your federal refund to track your Federal refund:

https://www.irs.gov/refunds

To track your state refund:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899433-how-do-i-track-my-state-refund

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901548-why-do-some-refunds-take-longer-than-others

If you chose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your federal refund, that will take some extra time, while the third party bank handles the refund processing.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2840013-does-accepted-mean-my-refund-is-approved

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

XimeLexi2013

Level 2

My refund has not arrived and after 21 days, now 25 days have passed with my refund

Texas Roger

Level 15

Unfortunately there is no way to find out what the problem is.

TurboTax gets no information about the status of your refund.
In normal times, the IRS says that most filers get their refunds within 21 days from the time their tax return is accepted.
Many returns are taking longer now since the IRS did not process returns for a while and there is now a big backlog of unprocessed returns.
The IRS is currently not processing any mailed returns and is not taking any phone calls.

If you efiled your return, have you confirmed that the return was submitted by TurboTax and accepted by the IRS?
https://shop.turbotax.intuit.com/efile/efile_status_lookup.jsp

If accepted, what does the IRS tracking web site say about the status of your refund?
https://www.irs.gov/refunds

Here is an IRS Q&A with information about refunds:
https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions