When you e-file your return, the following sequence of events occurs *AFTER* you click that big orange TRANSMIT MY RETURNS NOW button.
- You will see a message on your screen that clearly states your return has been successfully submitted. If you see anything else, your return was *NOT* transmitted to the IRS.
Now just because the return was successfully submitted/transmitted to the IRS, does not mean it was received by the IRS in any way, shape, form or fashion. It's just like if I dropped a letter in the mailbox on the corner and I watch with my own two eyes as the postman comes and gets all the mail out of that mailbox. While I can consider the letter as "mailed", I have absolutely no guarantee that the intended recipient will ever actually receive it.
- Within anywhere from 15 minutes to 72 hours you will receive an E-mail informing you if the IRS accepted or rejected your return. If the e-mail is rejected by the IRS, then it's "as if" you NEVER clicked that big orange TRANSMIT MY RETURNS NOW button. That e-mail will give you the reason the return was rejected by the IRS. Sometimes the reason for rejection provided in the e-mail is easy to understand. You just fix the problem and click that big orange TRANSMIT MY RETURNS NOW button again. Other times the reason for the IRS rejecting it will be a code of some type that may not make sense. You can just post that information here and we'll help you figure out why the IRS rejected your return.
If the e-mail indicates that your return was accepted, then you're done. TurboTax has fulfilled the obligation which you have paid them for.
Now just because the IRS has accepted your return does not mean they agree with it. It's perfectly possible the IRS may have questions you need to answer before they will complete processing of your return and pay out any refund you may be due. If the IRS does have questions they will send you a form letter via U.S. Mail informing you of what actions you need to take so they can complete your return. Follow the instructions in that letter to the *ABSOLUTE* LETTER* *OF* *PERFECTION*. No more. No less. Commonly a form letter from the IRS gives you a "drop dead" date to respond by. If you don't respond by that date, then you lose with no possibility of fixing things later. It's that simple.
REASONS WHY YOU MAY NOT RECEIVE AN E-MAIL ON STATUS OF Y OUR RETURN
- You provided an invalid or incorrect e-mail address.
- Your ISP incorrectly identified the e-mail as SPAM and moved it to your on-line SPAM folder or deleted it entirely. Typically if this is a setting on your ISP's end, there's nothing that "you" "personally" may be able to do about it, other than call your ISP for resolution.
- You have your own SPAM filters set up on your computer or in your e-mail program set up in a way that identifies the e-mail from TurboTax and the IRS as SPAM. If that's the case, then that's on you to fix.
- You did receive the e-mail, but you don't know it because someone else with access to your e-mail account deleted it. This is common when you have multiple computers set up to access the same e-mail account.
