I filed in February and the IRS refund tool still says "processing" with no other updates. I filed jointly with my wife and have kids so expect child tax credit. The only thing I got in the mail from IRS was something about the extra child credits starting in July but nothing about my status or regular refund. Why could it be taking so long?
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In normal times, the IRS says that most people will receive a Federal refund within 21 days if they efile and choose direct deposit. But these are far from normal times. With the Pandemic, IRS staffing shortages, increased duties of processing stimulus payments, and several late changes in tax laws, the IRS has been inundated for some time. There have been long delays at the IRS, especially for any returns that were filed by mail or any that needed any manual processing or further investigating. We can tell you how to check on it. Since we know nothing about what all you've done or haven't done, let's start at the beginning--a very good place to start.
If you efiled, you should double-check to be sure the Federal and state return (if applicable) were 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 that showed the Federal return was accepted, 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/Refunds
TIPS when using the IRS WMR tool:
To track a state refund:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/refund-status/help/how-do-i-track-my-state-refund/00/25571
If the IRS tool says it is still being processed, here's how to reach the IRS to inquire about the delay, but it may not be easy. Part of it is luck. Here is the normal method to reach a live IRS agent when they are operating smoothly, but things are not so smooth right now as I explained above, so they may be difficult to reach.
IRS: 800-829-1040 (7AM-7 PM local time) Monday-Friday
When calling the IRS do not choose the first choice re: "Refund", or it will send you to an automated phone line.
Thanks for the tips. I did e-file using the online software. The IRS tool has said "still processing" with no estimated date for some time. I will try to contact them.
Since they are only answering 5% of the calls plan for an extended wait ... put it on speaker while on hold so you can keep living a life.
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