Tax credit

[Palbritton]

My refund it taking well over 21 days after efiling. My research shows that I received a $500.00 tax credit. This is most likely to hold up. The issue is I think this is an error I claimed head of house hold because I have a 19living with me going to college full time. I should not be getting a tax credit for that? Should I? I think there is an error in my return

[Texas Roger]

That would not be the holdup. You are entitled to the $500 "other dependent" credit for claiming your son as a dependent.  

Unfortunately 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

[Palbritton]

Thank you. My refund show accepted. Their site says still processing with no date listed for expecting refund. Then it says please see topic 152 refund information related to your tax situation. That is where I got concerned over the tax credit. 

[Texas Roger]

Did your son file a tax return and claim himself? In order not to claim himself, he must check the box when completing his return that he can be claimed by someone else. If he did not check that box, there could be a holdup. But if both of you efiled your returns, whoever filed last would have had their tax return rejected and been forced to mail it it. 

Topic 152 simply means that your e-filed return is being processed and that the government hasn't approved or rejected it yet. Sometimes return status does not update for several days or even longer.

During this time, the government reviews your refund (processing). During the review process, they look for math errors on your return (extremely rare in TurboTax) and they also check if you owe back taxes, unpaid child support, or other debts.