Accepted means your tax return was received and has passed initial inspection, such as correct Social Security number and correctly claimed dependents.
It can take anywhere from a few days to three weeks for your return to go from acceptance to approval. The IRS can only help you after more than 21 calendar days have passed.
If you’re getting a refund, the IRS will take a deeper look at your return after it’s accepted. They’ll look for math errors, check if you owe back taxes or unpaid child support, and more.
If they need to make any corrections, they may offset (reduce) or increase your refund.
It can take up to 21 days after acceptance for the IRS to issue your refund, although most refunds go more quickly than that, while a small handful may take a bit longer.
