Made a direct payment to IRS for 2017 I think it was applied to 2018 where's my refund app giving reference code of 151

[annettew516]

I don't owe any taxes for  2018 the IRS has applied my payment to the wrong year

[bluedeb · Accepted solution]

Tax Topic 151 means your return is under review. This can be done for various credit claims such as Earned Income Credit or any of the education tax breaks (this is not all inclusive). Your best bet it to wait until the IRS contacts you via letter which can take up to or more than 4 weeks for you to receive it.

They may simply need more information and nothing will be affected.  In addition, they could potentially make changes which you can accept or contest the changes per the IRS letter.