60 Day Review Extended Another 60 Days - Small Simple Refund Nowhere in Sight

Did you check if there were any specific codes on your transcript that might indicate why they're doing this review? Sometimes a 570 code appears before these review letters go out. Also, have you checked if there's a specific department handling your review? Sometimes that can tell you what they're looking at. Did you claim any credits that might trigger extra scrutiny?

According to the IRS operations page (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations), they're still dealing with a backlog from previous years. You might want to check the IRS2Go app which sometimes shows different status info than the website. I've seen several posts on r/IRS where people got their refunds during the second review period without any notification. The system is completely overwhelmed right now.

I went through this exact same situation in March! • First 60-day review letter came January 30th • Second 60-day extension letter arrived March 15th • Refund suddenly appeared in my account April 22nd The most frustrating part was that my transcript never updated until AFTER the money was in my account. No explanation, no warning, just suddenly there. I understand how frustrating this waiting game is, especially when you know your return is straightforward. Hang in there - there's hope!

I noticed your first letter was dated March 11th, and now they're extending on April 28th - that's barely 48 days later, not even the full 60 days they initially claimed! This is concerning because they're supposed to complete the review within the timeframe they provide. When I was in a similar situation last February, I wasted hours trying to reach an IRS representative to explain what was happening. After 9 failed attempts, I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through. The agent confirmed my review was actually complete but hadn't been processed in their system. Without that call, I might have waited months longer. Might be worth checking if your review is actually still ongoing or just stuck in processing.

Last year when this happened to me, I filed a case with the Taxpayer Advocate Service. Unlike waiting on hold with the regular IRS line, TAS actually assigned someone to my case. It still took about 3 weeks, but they found that my return was stuck in a review queue with no actual issues flagged. Sometimes these systems just need someone to manually push them through. The small refunds often get the worst treatment because they prioritize the bigger cases.

I had the exact same thing happen last year! First letter in February, second letter in April, and I didn't see my refund until JUNE. The funny thing was, I called after getting the second letter (spent 3 hours on hold) and the agent told me there was literally nothing flagged on my account that needed review. It was just stuck in some automated queue. The way I eventually got it unstuck was contacting my congressional representative's office. They have liaisons who work directly with the IRS. Within 10 days of contacting them, my refund was processed. Might be worth trying if you don't see movement soon.

OMG I'm in the EXACT same boat rn. First letter came in Feb, second one in April. My WMR still says "being processed" but nothing has changed in like 3 months. I tried checking my transcripts but they're still showing N/A for 2023. Tbh I think they're just using these reviews to buy time bc they're understaffed. My refund is only like $700 so prob not a priority for them. Have u tried calling? I gave up after waiting 2hrs and getting disconnected.

I went through this exact review cycle last year with a similarly small refund. After the second 60-day letter, I filed Form 911 (Application for Taxpayer Advocate Service) citing financial hardship. Within 3 weeks, my return was processed and the refund was direct deposited. The advocate explained that my return had been flagged by an automated system but never actually assigned to a human reviewer. Once they manually reviewed it, everything was cleared immediately.

This is incredibly frustrating but unfortunately pretty common this year. I'm dealing with something similar - got my first review letter in February and just received the second extension last week. What's really annoying is that I can see on my transcript that there are no actual issues flagged, just a generic 570 code. I've been tracking posts about this on various forums and it seems like the IRS is using these extensions as a way to manage their workload rather than actually reviewing returns. The fact that your extension letter doesn't even show on your transcript is a red flag that this might be an automated system issue rather than a real review. One thing that might help - try calling the Practitioner Priority Service line if you know anyone who's a tax professional. They seem to get through faster and can sometimes get better information about what's actually happening with your return. Regular taxpayer lines are basically useless right now. Hang in there - from what I've seen, most of these second extensions resolve within 30-45 days, not the full 60 they claim.