California Still Says Pending - Why?

[mslatinlady]

My federal return was accepted a few days ago. But my California return still says Pending for the last several days. Why is California still pending? HOW DOES IT WORK: Who submits my California return to the state of California ? Does the IRS submit it to California? Or does Turbotax submit it to California ? (This delay in California has never happened to me before).

[LenaH]

In the past, states can take 3-5 business days or longer than the IRS to process your e-filed return. However, there are many states that are attempting to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. Doing so extremely limits staff and may delay the timeframe to process your return. 

If you e-filed your California return in TurboTax, then your state return is sent to them electronically. The IRS does not send your state return to California. 

[mslatinlady]

Let me try to understand your answer. I did e-file BOTH Federal AND State (Calif) with Turbotax (both on the same day).  But are you saying that Turbotax DID ALREADY e-file it electronically to California ?  And that California has received it, but they have not yet "Accepted" it ?  I'm trying to understand the e-filing process.  (I thought with all of today's sophisticated technology that there is little that an actual employee working for California tax board has to do with electronic filings).   If you could just quickly explain the Turbotax e-filing process, that would really help put my mind at ease.  Thank you and blessings !!!

[LenaH]

Yes. Your return has already been e-filed if you got confirmation from TurboTax that you submitted your returns. You could also sign-in to your TurboTax account and see the status of your returns. 

When you submit your return, it starts in the processing stage. Then, the IRS and the state(s) have to either accept or reject the return you submitted.

If it your state says pending, then California has received your return, but they are still working on either accepting or rejecting it. 

I have also attached the time frame from California in order to get your refund, if applicable:

@mslatinlady

[mslatinlady]

Thank you for taking the time to explain the Turbotax e-filing process to me !  I really appreciate it.  I'll just wait for Calif to accept it and not worry about it.  I know that Covid has caused so much upset...... I pray that you and your family are healthy...  God bless and have a wonderful week !!!

[mslatinlady]

One more quick question please for clarification.

Yes, I did e-file BOTH  Federal and California through Turbotax and yes I did get a confirmation email from Turbotax stating that BOTH my returns have been e-filed. A few days later I got another email from Turbotax stating that the Federal was “Accepted”.   But as of today, my California  says it’s still “Pending”.  Does the Pending mean that the State of California has actually  “Received” my return, but they have not yet accepted it? I guess I want to know if my state return was actually “RECEIVED”  by California. Thank you !!

[JotikaT2]

It means it is still being processed. The California return is not officially filed until you receive the Accepted status.

Why is my return still pending?

See the following link for more details on how to check the status of your return.

How to check your e-file status

[mslatinlady]

I guess what I'm asking, if I got the email from TurboTax that both my returns  were successfully e-filed, did Turbotax electronically send it to California ??  I just want to know if the Pending status means that TurboTax sent it to California and California RECEIVED it,   but California hasn't officially "accepted" it  yet.  (Thanks for helping me understand).  Blessings.....

[LenaH]

Yes. If you got the e-mail from TurboTax that your return was electronically sent to California, but it is still in pending status, then California did receive it, but has not been accepted yet. 

@mslatinlady

[mslatinlady]

OK, thanks so much for your clarification.  I understand it now.  You're so sweet to have so much patience !!  Have a blessed day !!!

[wmejr]

She is not the only one still pending on California accepting.  Our tax return was accepted by the IRS on Thursday Feb 11, 2021 but California is still pending today.  I hope there is not a problem going on.  In the past both IRS and State of California accepted the transaction within one day...

[mslatinlady]

The last comment made by someone else in California is absolutely correct.  Same circumstances with me.  Federal was accepted on Feb 11, 2021 and California today is STILL pending.  Last several years using Turbotax, the Federal was accepted and within a couple of hours, California was accepted.  This is the ONLY year that California is still saying PENDING after nearly a week !  Can't Turbotax check this out and ensure that there's NOT a problem going on???  Thank you so much.

[mslatinlady]

TO TURBOTAX:   Can TurboTax PLEASE find out if California is pulling California state returns from Turbotax servers yet?  Some other customer posts are stating that a Turbotax representative said that California is not yet pulling returns from Turbotax servers.  So many of us here in California are going crazy trying to figure out why our California returns are still PENDING for many days now.  So many of us have had our Federal returns Accepted, but our California returns have been PENDING for a long time.  TURBOTAX - PLEASE CHECK TO SEE IF CALIFORNIA IS PULLING OUR RETURNS FROM TURBOTAX SERVERS.  PLEASE EASE OUR MINDS.  And if California is NOT pulling them yet, once they do, will our returns be dated the date that we efiled with Turbotax ??  HELP US PLEASE ...

[wmejr]

If you check the logs you will find almost all of the customers of Turbo Tax were accepted by the IRS but the State of California says pending.  I talked to an agent last night.  Her supervisor stated to her that California has accepted my state tax forms.  Yet on Turbo Tax it still says pending.  I checked this morning on California's web site on checking the status of the return.  State of California states they have received the tax return and are now processing it.  Here is what the problem is.  The current Turbo Tax filing status says pending.  It should be saying accepted just like the IRS states.  So there is some kind of glitch in the program for Turbo Tax and California.  You might want to let "IT" know there is a glitch on Turbo Tax Side....

[HB88]

Same problem. What was the California site you checked which stated it was accepted. Every year prior they were accepted the same time usually. This is the first year it is not and if this is a TurboTax problem they need to check on their end if there is a problem. Clearly there is a lot of us having this issue.