We received Your Tax Return and It’s Being Processed
Taxpayers that check the status of their tax refunds through the Where’s My Refund tool may get several notifications. One of the commonly seen updates is the “we have received your tax return and it is being processed,” and this tells the taxpayers to wait for further updates.
The Internal Revenue Service has a simple process to go over tax returns and issue refunds. Once the IRS receives your tax return, the agency will go over your income, adjustments, deductions, and credits you claimed, then either agree with everything, ask for more information, or amend the return. If everything’s appropriate on your tax return, the IRS will approve your refund.
IRS processing times
In most cases, especially if you filed your return electronically, the IRS will approve your refund in no time. This shouldn’t take any more than three weeks. For mailed-in returns, this can take a little more time.
Nonetheless, it mainly comes down to the complexity of your return. The majority of taxpayers have a very simple tax return. They report their income with a most recent W-2, claim the standard deduction, get the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, and that’s it. Taxpayers with these kinds of returns can expect for the IRS to process their returns in a matter of days.
On the other hand, taxpayers that itemize and claim credits that require them to make multi-step calculations can expect to get updates from the IRS between two and three weeks. Supposedly your return is quite complex, and you mailed it to the IRS. On top of that, you chose to get a paper check. A return and refund like this can have you waiting for more than a month.
To get your refund as fast as possible – can’t stress this enough – always e-file and get your refund direct deposited.
Status doesn’t change
If the we have received your tax return and it is being processed status doesn’t change, how long it has been is very vital. If the status on the online look-up tool remains this way for more than a few weeks, call the IRS and ask about your refund. Get the IRS phone numbers here.
Delays due to EITC and ACTC
Additionally, if you claimed the earned income tax credit or the additional child tax credit, your refund won’t be issued to you until March 1. This isn’t anything special to you or the taxpayers alike. By federal law, the IRS is required to hold the tax refunds of taxpayers that claim these credits on their federal income tax returns.
If these apply to your return, you’re likely to see the status unchanged as refund approved until March 1, whether you filed recently or at the start of the tax season.
