Why haven't I received my tax federal refund it has been 10 weeks and 3 days since my federal return was received and accepted

[xmasbaby0]

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.   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. 

IRS phone lines supported by customer service representatives for both taxpayers and tax professionals are not staffed at this time. To check on regular tax refund status via automated phone, call 800-829-1954. (This line has no information on Economic Impact Payments.)

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

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2724106-my-return-is-accepted-but-still-not-approved-is-there-a-pr...

[kyle-day]

Thanks for the unessecary mansplantion, I went to business school I understand the Internal Revenue Service and how they operate, and yes even in this unprecedented time. None of your response answered my question. I had a simple single state 1040EZ tax return and federal 1040 with homestead credit, in the beginning my refund was received / accepted within 30 minutes of submitting it back in March, at that point where's my refund tool displayed the status bar with the three update statuses which would be accepted approved refund sent however four weeks later that status bar disappeared and no longer tells me the status it only tells me that my refund is still being processed a refund date is not available and one will be provided when it becomes available. When say my brother checks his taxes he has that status bar still I know people who filed three weeks ago complicated returns and they have got theirs I received my state return and that even went to a collection and got offset for debt I owed and then still mailed it to the all credited and then the difference mailed to me TWO WEEKS AGO all in the time I still have not received my simple federal tax return that has no debts owed so nothing needs to be offset why haven't not even seen an approved message well I guess TurboTax says it's was received then approved but that's it?

[xmasbaby0]

"well I guess TurboTax says it's was received then approved but that's it?"

"Approved" and "accepted" are not the same thing.  TurboTax can tell you that the return was received and accepted when you e-file.

That's all TurboTax CAN tell you.  TurboTax does not get updates from the IRS after you file.  TurboTax cannot intercede with the IRS for you.  TurboTax provided the software you used for a do-it-yourself tax return.  The IRS tells TT nothing after the tax return has been filed.  Sorry for your wait, sorry for your frustration.  There are many others who are also still waiting for processing, approval, and refunds--for even longer times than you have waited.  And, yes, there are others whose returns were processed within a couple of weeks.  Only the IRS is in control.  Keep watching the refund site for any messages there.

[kyle-day]

How does no one understand that I'm not asking for TurboTax to do something or for a magic cure that TurboTax can make go faster. I'm asking what reasons could be holding up the IRS from people's previous experiences do they all know what possibly could be the dilemma cuz I know people who filed returned with dependents and all sorts of different crazy forms and they've received theirs long before I have but I filed my lawn before them I know someone who filed theirs 4 weeks ago and they got it last Thursday meanwhile I filed mine now 11 weeks ago and I still don't even have the status bars that you usually get under where's my refund page where there's a line with three red dots and it goes you know if you're each step mine doesn't even have that anymore it just says your refund is being processed a date will become available once it has been processed I've never seen it say that message before So I'm asking if anyone knows if there's something possibly that could be the reason why I would get a different displayed message or any hypothesis on potentially what I did wrong or went wrong I might return?

[xmasbaby0]

We wish we could tell you why your refund is delayed.  All we can do is guess.  Returns are not processed "first in, first out"--some returns are processed quickly and some are not.  We do not have any way to know if your return went under review for some reason.  In general if it goes under review you will either receive a letter or at least see a message about it on the IRS refund site.  Reviews can be random or they can be for a reason -- like a W-2 not matching your return and the amount reported by an employer, for example.  Returns that go under review require a human to perform the review--and the IRS sent a bunch of employees home for about two months.  The clock stopped ticking on reviews.  Now they are back and working on those returns again.  The pandemic has thrown a huge monkey wrench into the IRS and many refunds are delayed.  Read through this forum for awhile and you will see all kinds of people who filed months ago who are just as confused and frantic about their refunds as you are.  Unless you get a letter or see a message displayed on the IRS site, speculating about the reason for your delayed refund does not help, nor can we offer any concrete solution other than to keep checking.  If you want to try for help from a tax advocate here is some information---but some of them are still in quarantine, etc. and it may not be simple to get help.

At the following IRS website, find the USA map and click on your state, and it will give you the number of your area's IRS Taxpayer Advocate.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-a-Local-Taxpayer-Advocate

Also see this article for more info on how the Taxpayer Advocate Service works::
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc104.html