How/When will I know that my Taxes were filed correctly, does "Accepted" mean that everything is alright? Or do I need to wait till a later moment to know if it is fine?

@ jonahmalefason

  asked:  "How/When will I know that my Taxes were filed correctly, does "Accepted" mean that everything is alright? Or do I need to wait till a later moment to know if it is fine?

 

No, that's not how the term "accepted" is used.   After efiling, if the return is "accepted", that means it was in the right format and met certain criteria such that the IRS can begin processing it.   It has nothing to do with the final outcome; i.e., nothing to do with the merits of the return.   It means "accepted for processing."  It does not mean it was approved.

 

If your efiled Federal return was accepted, then if you are due a refund, you can monitor your Federal refund  at the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool.

https://www.irs.gov/wheres-my-refund

 

The tool has 3 major stages:

Return received

Return approved

Refund sent

 

Here are some tips when using the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool:

 

• If you efiled, be sure you have waited at least 24 hours after acceptance before using the IRS WMR tool.   If you mailed a paper return, it won't show up in the tool for at least 4 weeks or longer.
• Be sure you enter the correct tax year, 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.  
• Look at your actual Federal return to get the Federal refund amount, i.e., your Form 1040, Line 35a.