Posting to address some concerns voiced :
Starting 2 years ago the time frame for employers to send in W-3 to the IRS was changed to 1/31 ... the same time as they had to get W-2 forms to the employees. This allows the IRS to confirm what the taxpayer entered on the return with the info from the employer ( we tell people all the time to NOT use the last pay stub as this will often bite them in the end) and they can and will stop a return until the discrepancy can be resolved. And this is to reduce the incident of income tax fraud which costs the country billions every year.
The IRS also has things they look for which can change from year to year so you may have filed the same way every year but this time got caught for a review... no one is to blame. Also some returns are pulled totally randomly for review ... this keeps the public honest.
And a taxpayer advocate is NOT a viable alternative to seek return processing information ... they cannot "see" anything on the IRS site anymore than you can. When an advocate is allowed to intercede all they can do is request information from the IRS agents and advocate on your behalf ... they can not demand anything or force the IRS to do anything. Their job is to smooth the situation not be aggressive and aggravate it.
More info on the Taxpayer Advocate Service:
http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/About-TAS/Who-We-Are
http://www.irs.gov/Advocate/Taxpayer-Advocate-Service-6
Also see this article for more info on how the Taxpayer Advocate Service works::
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc104.html
