Dreaded Tax Topic 152 again

[mama0105]

Filed 2/4, accepted 2/4.  TOday I checked Where's My Refund and it's showing the dreaded topic 152.  Last year I filed with TurboTax and my refund ended up taking more like 6 weeks than 3 weeks.  I know everything with the IRS is a mess this year.  Any sense of whether Tax Topic 152 indicates a problem this year, or just that things are in progress?

[lora143]

It just going to take a little time to make sure people deducting their child tax advance that went from July to December this year. They say by march 1 people should start receiving refund if claiming unearned income or child tax credit

[AliciaP1]

You can keep yourself updated regarding any IRS refund delays or issues here:

Topic No. 152 Refund Information

[mama0105]

Honestly, the IRS tax topic 152 pages is one of the least useful pages/responses.  It says nothing.  It doesn't tell you what's going on.  The IRS explanation is vague.  Guiding people to this page is not helpful.

[mama0105]

So Lora, are you saying that it seems that everyone who got child tax credit advance is seeing tax topic 152?  That makes sense.  I certainly expect things to take time this year, but tax topic 152 last year was chaotic.

[DianeW777]

The IRS provided information about the release of the child tax credit (CTC) and the earned income credit (EIC) in advance so that taxpayers could prepare for it.  They want to put those returns through some checks and balances before releasing the refund.

• The IRS expects the earliest EIC and additional CTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards by  March 1 if they chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with their tax return. However, some taxpayers may see their refunds a few days earlier. 

[Critter-3]

Tax Topic 152 is a generic message and all it means is the return is in processing somewhere.  The path the return takes from the Received to Approved can be a long and winding road for some returns.   The IRS once again has to verify your income, the credits taken on the return (including the RRC) , the taxes withheld and a host of other things.  Some will require humans to review and as usual they are in short supply again this year so all you can to is sit and wait. 

It would be nice if the WMR? tool had more detail on what is happening with your return but alas the IRS is working with old programming and the WMR? has not been overhauled since inception.  See the roadmap that TAS puts out :   https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/get-help/roadmap/