The IRS, every year, does not start accepting tax return until later in January. For tax year 2016 the IRS will not be accepting any type of 2016 tax return until January 23, 2017. Your tax return is being held on the e-file servers until the IRS starts accepting tax returns.
If your 2016 tax return has a tax refund which includes EIC and/or the Additional Child Tax Credit the IRS will hold the tax return until February 15. The IRS will start disbursing these tax refunds during the week of February 27.
