topic What's the difference in accepted and approved in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

What's the difference in accepted and approved

jbaugus36 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:09:30 GMT

What's the difference in accepted and approved

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 02:37:05 GMT

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2840013-does-accepted-mean-my-refund-is-approved

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

fanfare — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 03:02:31 GMT

ACCEPTED means now in IRS's hands, no longer in TurboTax's hands.

nothing more.

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

jbaugus36 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 13:49:15 GMT

So it's not on its way to my account until the irs approves it correct?

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 13:57:22 GMT

@jbaugus36 No it is not on its way to your account until the IRS approves it and issues the refund.

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

jbaugus36 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 14:14:35 GMT

Thank you

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

jbaugus36 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 14:20:49 GMT

How longs that normally take

Re: What's the difference in accepted and approved

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 14:24:52 GMT

@jbaugus36

Once your federal return has been accepted by the IRS, only the IRS has any control. TurboTax does not receive any updates from the IRS. Your ONLY source of information about your refund now is the IRS.

You need your filing status, your Social Security number and the exact amount (line 35a of your 2021 Form 1040) of your federal refund to track your Federal refund:

https://www.irs.gov/refunds

To track your state refund:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899433-how-do-i-track-my-state-refund

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901548-why-do-some-refunds-take-longer-than-others

If you chose to have your TurboTax fees deducted from your federal refund, that will take some extra time, while the third party bank handles the refund processing.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2840013-does-accepted-mean-my-refund-is-approved

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2724106-my-return-is-accepted-but-still-not-approved-is-there-a-problem-should-i-be-worried

OR——if you filed by mail, expect a long wait. It is taking the very backlogged IRS six to nine months to process mailed returns. Until a human opens your envelope and enters the data into the system, nothing will even show up on the refund site, so you will have to be very patient.

If you are getting earned income credit on line 27 or additional child tax credit on line 28 You are subject to the delay required by the PATH act. Do not expect your refund earlier than late February.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3397970-path-act-delayed-refunds-for-some-filers