Accepted means your tax return is now in the government's hands and has passed the initial inspection (your verification info is correct, dependents haven't already been claimed by someone else, etc.).
- After acceptance, the next step is for the government to approve your refund.
This year, millions of refunds have been delayed due to a processing backlog created by the pandemic, which shut down the IRS for a time.
- The IRS also has millions of returns that have to be manually verified which is also causing a delay.
Keep checking the IRS Where's My Refund page to see if your refund status has been updated
