I'm a bit worried that I might have made the same mistake... I just filed through TurboTax last week and I think I may have clicked on this option without fully understanding what it was. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it said something about getting my refund faster if I paid extra? Should I be concerned that this might delay my actual refund? I'm really counting on getting it as soon as possible.

OMG this exact thing happened to me last yr! TT charged me $25 for "5 days early" but my refund came ON THE EXACT SAME DAY the IRS said it would. Total waste of $$. Called cust svc and they gave me the runaround about "processing times" and "up to 5 days" language. Basically impossible to get refunded. FWIW I filed w/ FreeTaxUSA this yr and got my refund in 8 days w/ no extra fees. TT is getting worse every yr imho.

I'm so tired of the IRS and their mysterious cycle codes! 😡 The whole system is deliberately confusing. Technically speaking, cycle code 0605 means your account is processed on the 5th day of the week (Wednesday) in the 2024 processing year. BUT that doesn't mean your transcript updates that day. You should be checking your transcript Thursday mornings (after midnight Wednesday) and your WMR Saturday mornings. The disconnect between different IRS systems is why everyone gets confused.

Tax professional here. Cycle codes are interesting but not as predictive as people think. Last year I tracked 50+ clients' cycle codes and actual deposit dates, and found only about 60% correlation between cycle day and when updates actually appeared. For 2024 returns, I'm seeing 26-32 days as the average processing time for straightforward returns. My client who filed 2/22 with cycle 0605 just got their DDD yesterday. The IRS is working through a backlog from February, so I'd expect your update within the next 7-10 days based on current patterns.

Have you noticed if this pattern applies to all types of returns, or is it more common with certain tax situations? For example, does it seem to affect W-2 only filers differently than those with self-employment income? What about returns with dependents versus those without? I'm wondering if we can narrow down exactly what combination of factors makes early filing more likely to trigger verification. This could be incredibly helpful for everyone planning their filing strategy for next year.

I've tracked my filing dates and refund timelines for exactly 7 years now. January filings averaged 42 days to receive refund. February filings averaged 19 days. Last 3 years I've filed between February 7-12 and received refunds within 21 days consistently. The data supports your theory. 63% of early filers in my tax group reported verification letters vs only 17% of February filers. Thank you for sharing this insight!

Be careful with this situation. My transcript looked exactly like yours last year. Blank with only the 'as of' date changing. Turned out there was an identity verification issue. The IRS never contacted me. Six months went by. Finally called them directly. Had to verify my identity. Refund came three weeks later. Could have been resolved months earlier. Don't just wait indefinitely. Check for letters in mail. Consider proactive identity verification through ID.me. Better safe than sorry.

Have you tried checking the Where's My Refund tool instead of just the transcript? I filed exactly 27 days ago with 2 dependents, and my transcript was completely blank until yesterday. The WMR tool updated 3 days before my transcript did, showing the progress bar moving to the second stage. My refund was deposited exactly 29 days after filing, even though my transcript only updated completely the day before the deposit came through.

Oh my goodness, I remember being in your EXACT situation during my husband's deployment! It's so stressful handling everything while they're away! I found that transcript availability follows this general pattern: - Simple returns: 7-14 days after acceptance - Returns with credits: 14-21 days - Military returns with special situations: 14-30 days The waiting is absolutely agonizing when you're trying to manage everything alone during deployment. Hang in there! The transcript will update, I promise. Just make sure you're checking the right tax year in the dropdown menu - that tripped me up at first!

Have you checked if you're looking at the right tax year? The dropdown defaults to 2023 right now. You need to specifically select 2024. Also, are you checking for the Return Transcript or Account Transcript? Account Transcripts update first and show processing status codes.