Here's another approach you might consider: 1. Try the Tax Advocate Service at 877-777-4778. They can sometimes intervene in cases of hardship. 2. Document everything - dates, times, who you spoke with, what they told you. 3. Check if your state has a local Taxpayer Advocate office you can contact directly. 4. If you have documentation proving financial hardship (like eviction notice, utility shutoff, etc.), mention this specifically. 5. Contact your Congressional representative's office - they often have staff dedicated to helping constituents with federal agencies. The key is persistence and documentation of your attempts to resolve this through normal channels.

I had exactly this problem in March 2023. Called the verification line 17 times over 3 days without getting through. Finally reached someone who told me I needed an in-person appointment that was 42 days away. I explained I was facing a mortgage approval deadline in 21 days that required my tax transcript. The agent gave me a direct number to the Taxpayer Protection Program at 800-830-5215, which is different than the standard verification line. Called at exactly 7:01am when they opened, waited 38 minutes, and was able to verify over the phone. The key was explaining the specific financial hardship and asking for the TPP department specifically.

I would... cautiously suggest... checking with each state's offset program separately. The Federal Treasury Offset Program might indicate a federal offset is coming, but it may not have complete information about state-level actions. Perhaps consider contacting each state's revenue department directly to inquire about potential offsets. While not guaranteed to be accurate, this approach might provide some clarity regarding which returns could be affected.

Last year I had NY take my entire refund for an old utility bill I didn't even know about, but my NJ refund came through fine even though I had the same address for both! My federal was partially offset - they took about 80% of it. The weird thing was that I got the NY offset notice a full month AFTER they'd already taken the money. I was budgeting based on getting all three refunds and it completely messed up my plans. Now I always assume the worst and treat any potential refund as a surprise bonus rather than counting on it for my budget.

This verification issue has been happening a lot this year. Last filing season I had a similar gut feeling about my transcript access not working properly. Called and discovered my identity verification hadn't been processed despite the confirmation screen. The agent told me they were seeing this with about 30% of online verifications during peak periods. The system gets overwhelmed and fails to transmit the final confirmation to the master database. I'm slightly worried this is happening again this year on an even larger scale.

Had this exact issue. Verified online February 28th. Waited patiently. Called April 5th. No record of verification. Verified by phone. Refund deposited April 12th. Seven weeks wasted. System is broken. Trust your instincts.

I think it's important to mention that, while most verifications do complete faster than 9 weeks, there are certain factors that might extend the timeline. If your return contains multiple credits, especially refundable ones, or if there's any mismatch between reported income and what employers submitted, the process could potentially take longer. In some cases, particularly if additional documentation is requested, the verification can extend closer to that 9-week mark. It might be prudent to prepare financially for the full timeline, while hoping for the quicker resolution that most people experience.

Quick q - did the IRS agent mention what type of verification they're doing? There's ID verify, income verify, and credit verify - each has diff timelines. ID verify is usually fastest (2-3 wks), credit verify for things like CTC or EIC can take longer (4-6 wks). Just wondering what they told u specifically?

I went through this last week! Here's what happened: • Verified in person on March 25th • Transcript updated March 29th with DD date of April 5th • Nothing showed in Chime until April 4th around 3pm • Money was available immediately when it hit Just hang in there! The IRS seems to be pretty accurate with their dates this year, but Chime's early deposit feature doesn't always work with tax refunds the same way it does with paychecks. I was checking constantly too, but it showed up right before the official date.

From what I've observed in the community this season, direct deposit dates on transcripts are generally reliable, though the actual timing can vary slightly. Santa Barbara Bank is indeed the intermediary many tax preparation services use. It appears that most Chime users are seeing deposits arrive either on the transcript date or 1 day before, rather than the 2-3 days early that some experienced in previous years. This seems to be consistent across multiple financial institutions this tax season.