I filed on February 3rd and my deposit date was March 15th. It didn't show up until March 17th at 3pm. Called my bank on March 16th and they said they could see it pending but their policy is to hold tax refunds for 24-48 hours. By April 1st, I had completely forgotten about the delay. Your money will likely be there tomorrow morning when they do their overnight processing.

The IRS-to-bank pipeline is like mailing a letter across town - it has to go through a sorting facility first. Your money is likely sitting in ACH processing limbo between the Treasury and your bank. If you're really concerned, check the IRS Get My Payment tool for status updates. If it says refund sent, then it's a bank issue, not an IRS problem. Like watching water boil, staring at your account won't make it deposit any faster.

I had this exact issue last year and it turned out to be serious. According to IRM 21.2.3-4, "verification of non-filing" can indicate your return was rejected at a deeper processing level after the initial acceptance. In my case, my return had been flagged for identity verification due to suspected fraud, but the notification letter got lost in the mail. I ended up waiting 5 months for a refund that should have taken 3 weeks because I didn't know I needed to call and verify my identity. Don't wait - check if you have any notices coming by creating an online account on IRS.gov if you haven't already.

This happens when the Return Processing Pipeline (RPP) and the Transcript Database System (TDS) haven't synchronized yet. The IRS actually has multiple databases that don't update simultaneously. Your e-file acceptance means your return made it to the initial processing stage, but transcript updates typically lag by 2-3 weeks during peak season. I understand your frustration completely - it's nerve-wracking when systems show contradictory information, especially when you're counting on that money for business expenses.

Try checking your account transcript instead of your return transcript! On January 29th I had zeros on my return transcript but my account transcript showed processing activity. By February 12th my return was fully processed. The account transcript updates first with codes 971/570 before the return transcript shows anything. I needed my refund by March 1st for property taxes, so I was checking multiple times daily and noticed this pattern.

Have you checked if your return was actually accepted by the IRS and not just by the transmitter? There's a difference between the initial acknowledgment and the IRS actually accepting it for processing. Did you receive a specific acceptance code? And have you checked exactly 21 days from your filing date to see if there's any update?

According to the IRS Operations Status page (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-operations), they're currently experiencing higher than normal processing delays for early filers. The TaxPro Forum at r/taxpros has multiple threads about this exact issue where tax professionals confirm that many early February filers are seeing only prior year information. It's definitely concerning but doesn't automatically mean something is wrong. The non-filer form is likely just the last return that was processed for you.

It might be worth checking if your identity verification is complete... I would suggest possibly creating an ID.me account if you haven't already, as this could potentially help resolve access issues. Also, perhaps consider requesting a tax record of account transcript by mail if the online system isn't showing your current year information. This might take 5-10 business days to arrive, but it could provide more insight than what you're currently seeing online.

Have you tried the IRS2Go app instead of the website? Sometimes it updates faster than the browser version of WMR. 😉 I've noticed the app sometimes shows updates a few hours before the website does. Not always, but worth having both options during the PATH waiting game. The transcript is still your most reliable source though - it's like having the answer key while WMR is still taking the test!

Last year my transcript updated on Friday 2/17 with code 846 and DDD of 2/22. WMR didn't update until Sunday 2/19. Isn't it strange how the official tool for checking refunds is always the last to know? My bank (Capital One) actually posted the deposit a day early on 2/21. Have you checked if your bank processes IRS deposits early? Some do, some don't.