"Accepted" is a different term than "approved." "Accepted" refers to the efile status, not the refund status.
An efiled return normally takes up to 21 days for the IRS to process after it was accepted, but it's not uncommon for it to be further delayed if the IRS has to review anything. A mailed paper return can take 6 weeks or longer to process.
Here are some things you should check before phoning the IRS:
If you efiled, double-check to be sure the return was efiled successfully and accepted.
If you used Online TurboTax, you can sign into your Online Account and check the efile status at the Tax Home. If you used desktop software, you can check from within the software.
If that showed it was accepted, (or if you mailed a paper return), you can use the "Where's My Refund" tool at the IRS website below to monitor the status of your Federal refund.
https://www.irs.gov/wheres-my-refund
See what is displayed there about your refund.
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.
