Normally it takes 24-48 hours. Also, the identity-protection safeguards implemented by the IRS in recent years may account for longer wait times. Eventually, you will receive an email letting you know whether or not your return has been accepted or rejected.
TurboTax FAQ "What does Pending mean? "states, "Pending simply means that your e-filed return is on its way and that the government hasn't accepted or rejected it yet. If you e-filed your return in January, it'll stay in Pending status until the IRS starts processing the backlog of returns. After January, e-filed returns generally sit in Pending status for 24-48 hours before coming back as either Accepted or Rejected. Sometimes state returns stay in Pending for several days or even longer. If you contact the government or try to look up your refund status while your return is still pending, don't be surprised if they tell you "no record found." This is normal; until the government starts reviewing and processing your return, they won't have any record of it."
What does "Pending" mean?
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/return-status/help/what-does-pending-mean/00/26331
Miranda,
This is getting ridiculous I used Turbo Tax and I filed my returns on 1/26/2021 and they are still pending. I have a friend who used H&R Block after 1/26/21 and she has already received IRS acceptance. What gives?
@DCowboys002 wrote:
Miranda,
This is getting ridiculous I used Turbo Tax and I filed my returns on 1/26/2021 and they are still pending. I have a friend who used H&R Block after 1/26/21 and she has already received IRS acceptance. What gives?
Not unusual. The IRS every single tax year will pull small batches of tax returns from the servers to test out the IRS systems. The vast majority of tax returns will not be pulled until on and after the IRS officially opens to receive 2020 tax returns on February 12, 2021.
@DCowboys002 wrote:
Miranda,
This is getting ridiculous I used Turbo Tax and I filed my returns on 1/26/2021 and they are still pending. I have a friend who used H&R Block after 1/26/21 and she has already received IRS acceptance. What gives?
The IRS does not officially open e-filing this year until Feb 12. They may take early test batches, but this is unannounced, unofficial, and we never know who, when or how many. And, even if the IRS processes your return early in one of these test batches, they don't pay refunds early, the refund payment goes in the same cycle as everyone else.