After you file

Ok PATH folks ... the EIC and ACTC  was never your money to start with ( you did not work for it)  and it is not yours until you receive the check from the IRS  ... it is really a type of government "welfare" payments that have  gone wild.  The only part of the refund that is really yours  is what you voluntarily had withheld from your paychecks and you have the ability to stop that from happening if you choose to. 

In the beginning the CTC was only $300-$500  and you only got it the year the child was born ... we joked about it being the "diaper" credit.

And the EIC was originally meant to help the working poor to cover all their taxes and was limited to the total of the SS & Medicare taxes one had withheld from their paychecks...it was meant to "make you whole" ...  it was never meant to be a supplemental income source that people count on to make ends meet.  As a tax preparer these last 27 years I am always amazed when a person with  2 children who earns $20K for the year can get a refund of $9K+  due to these refundable credits  and they  have the nerve to say "is that all ???"  

As a single person without children I resent your complaining that you have to wait for the credit money  that actually comes from the tax money I and other taxpayers  pay in ... and you are welcome.  A couple of years ago the PATH act was put in place so those refunds were delayed from mid January to late February/early March to combat fraud in this area. The amount of money that can be refunded  sparked an avalanche of fraudulent returns (another reason those credits need to go away) and if the price of stopping or slowing down the billions of fraudulent claims inconveniences the folks getting the government handouts then that is the price that needs to be paid. Many of us believe that the IRS needs to be taken out of the welfare administration arena ... if the working poor need help then let the government set up a better welfare system to dole out practical assistance. 

FYI ... this system will not be going away anytime soon so those that depend on this money  must plan your finances better and not expect it at all or at least not until March ... then if it comes in earlier it is a bonus and not a tragedy when it comes in late....   or  at least  stop complaining about how long the process takes. Before computers, we mailed in the return and waited for the check to show up in the mailbox ... you had no way to check on the progress minute by minute and we all survived.  The IRS has a way to check on the progress so make use of it once a day... the same way we used to check the mailbox once a day.  Worrying and fretting and wanting to know what is happening to everyone else  is futile and will only get you upset needlessly.  

Now I am not against people posting when the refunds start being released ... sharing that is fine but sharing all the intimate details of when you filed, when you were accepted, what your useless codes are on the transcript is ridiculous and confusing to many and may not mean anything in the long run. I have seen it happen  and heard of other  folks who have a DD date and they can see it in their bank account as a pending deposit just to see it pulled back by the IRS ... so never spend the money until it is a done deal at your bank or you have a check in hand. 

At the IRS forums the speakers mentioned that what happens to one person with the exact same info as another person may not be the same.  The new efile system can filter for different things on different days so you really never know what to expect on any certain day.  They did stress that the IRS is short of personnel due to budget cuts and hiring freezes so anything requiring human interaction will take more time ... and the phone support is hurting badly ... you may not get the correct answer even if you can get to someone.  So don't bother them with phone calls, the IRS will mail you a notification to respond to if needed and watch the IRS web site for the latest info on your return and refund.