The IRS issues more than 9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days. However, it's possible your tax return may require additional review and take longer.
Most refunds issued in less than 21 days; EITC refunds for many available starting February 28. The IRS anticipates most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of when they file electronically, if they choose direct deposit and there are no issues with their tax return.
The IRS issues most refunds in fewer than 21 days for taxpayers who file electronically and choose direct deposit. However, some returns have errors or need more review and may take longer to process.
"IRS Accepted Return But Not Approved" Meaning
If a taxpayer receives the status update that their tax return was accepted but not approved, this means that the IRS has received their tax return, but they have not yet evaluated the information. Therefore, the taxpayer must wait to see if more action is required.
The first thing to note is it will typically take the IRS up to 60 days to complete their review of your tax return. The IRS will also hold any refund for which you may have filed.
How long the review process takes depends on what information the IRS needs to verify. If you don't hear anything within 45 days from the date of the initial notice, however, you can follow up to see what happened to your refund.
Taxpayers whose tax returns have been flagged for possible IDT should receive one of the following letters: Letter 5071C, Potential Identity Theft during Original Processing with Online Option – Provides online and phone options and is issued most widely.
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.
Use the IRS Where's My Refund tool or the IRS2Go mobile app to check your refund online. This is the fastest and easiest way to track your refund. The systems are updated once every 24 hours.
Once accepted there is no “rejected”. Accepted/rejected simply refers to the status of an electronically filed return. Next, the IRS processes your return and either approves your refund (if you have one) as is, or makes adjustments if there are simple discrepancies.
The IRS can delay your tax refund until it completes any audits. This is most common when the IRS is conducting a mail audit on your EITC or ACTC return from a prior year. Normally, you'll receive IRS Letter CP88 indicating that your refund is frozen until the IRS completes the audit.
If you're still waiting on your tax refund, it's possible that your tax return is taking longer for the IRS to process because it requires additional review. There are several reasons why your tax return may be delayed: Errors such as an incomplete filing status. Missing information.
This means the IRS has your tax return and is processing it. Your personalized refund date will be available as soon as the IRS finishes processing your return and confirms that your refund has been approved. Most refunds are issued in less than 21 days.
Your refund may be delayed due to: Errors on the return, such as wrongly claiming a dependent or tax credit. Identify theft or fraud. Additional review being required.
One of the most common culprits is submitting a return that contains an error, such as the wrong Social Security number or incorrect direct deposit information. The IRS could also be holding up your refund if it requires additional review or was incomplete.
We continue to process tax returns that need to be manually reviewed due to errors in the order received. As the return is processed, whether it was filed electronically or on paper, it may be delayed due to: Mistakes. Missing information.
After you verify your identity and tax return information using this service, it may take up to nine weeks to complete the processing of the return. Visit Where's My Refund? or use the IRS2Go mobile app 2-3 weeks after using this service to check your refund status.
The IRS receives and processes most tax returns without further examination. However, there are a variety of factors that may attract their attention in a way that would make the return more likely to be audited through a correspondence exam or assigned to an auditor for further inquiry.
The IRS has approved your refund. The IRS is preparing to send your refund to your bank or directly to you in the mail. This status will tell you when the IRS will send the refund to your bank (if you selected the direct deposit option).
Some red flags for an audit are round numbers, missing income, excessive deductions or credits, unreported income and refundable tax credits. The best defense is proper documentation and receipts, tax experts say.
If a CID special agent contacts you by phone or unexpectedly shows up at your business, attempting to extract incriminating information without the presence of legal counsel, it is a clear sign that you are under criminal investigation.
Key Takeaways. Your tax returns can be audited even after you've been issued a refund. Only a small percentage of U.S. taxpayers' returns are audited each year. The IRS can audit returns for up to three prior tax years and, in some cases, go back even further.
Your tax return may show you're due a refund from the IRS. However, if you owe a federal tax debt from a prior tax year, or a debt to another federal agency, or certain debts under state law, the IRS may keep (offset) some or all your tax refund to pay your debt.
The IRS uses code 1242 to indicate in its system that your return was received and is under review.
If your refund status used to be your tax return is still being processed, but now the status says it is being processed, the IRS may have detected an issue in your tax return that could cause a delay in the release of your tax refund.