Be careful about assuming everything is fine just because you're in a disaster area. It's like thinking you have a fast pass at an amusement park, but actually ending up in a special line that moves even slower. My neighbor was in the same situation last year after the hurricanes, thought everything was fine after a phone call, but then received a CP05 audit letter two weeks later. He had to provide additional documentation to verify his income and withholding. The disaster designation can sometimes trigger additional scrutiny rather than faster processing.

Did they tell you what the letter was about? I'm in a very similar situation and need to know: • Was it an identity verification letter? • Did they say how long after verification your refund would come? • Did they confirm if your return was actually being processed? • Did you have any credits or deductions that might trigger extra review? My 21 days are up tomorrow and I NEED this refund ASAP!

I went through this nightmare last year with my business refund! Navy Federal was great, but the IRS had my refund stuck in limbo for almost 2 months even after I got a trace number. What finally worked was calling the specific Business and Specialty Tax Line instead of the regular IRS number. The agent discovered my refund was held because of a mismatch between my reported quarterly estimated payments and what was in their system. Once that was cleared up, I had my money within 5 days. The trace number alone wasn't doing anything - it was just sitting in their system. Don't worry though, once you get to the right department, they're actually pretty efficient at resolving these issues!

I'd like to share some additional information about the trace process that might help you understand what's happening: Step 1: When you initiate a trace, the IRS first verifies whether your refund was already issued. Step 2: If it was issued but not received, they start an actual trace through the Treasury. Step 3: If the refund was never issued, they investigate why (which could be an unrelated review). Step 4: Once they determine the status, they either reissue the refund or send you a notice explaining the hold. Are you certain your refund was actually issued and not just approved? These are different statuses, and many business owners confuse them. If your WMR status never said "Refund Sent," then you might be waiting for an initial issuance rather than a trace resolution.

I had a similar situation with my stepdaughter last year compared to what you're describing. Unlike claiming a niece or cousin where you might only get the $500 credit, stepchildren are treated almost the same as biological children for tax purposes. The IRS Publication 501 specifically lists stepchildren as qualifying children, not just qualifying relatives. This is completely different from how they treat more distant relatives where the rules are much stricter.

Be extremely careful here. I've seen numerous cases where stepparents claimed EIC, then got audited because the biological parent also claimed the child. Even with documentation, these cases can be nightmares. Form 8332 (Release of Claim to Exemption) from the biological parent can help, but isn't always required. The IRS tiebreaker rules will automatically favor the biological parent unless you have substantial documentation proving they had no involvement.

When I was under review last year, waiting for updates was driving me crazy. After trying to call the regular IRS number for two weeks (and never getting through), I finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got connected to an agent in about 15 minutes. The agent was able to tell me exactly what they were reviewing (in my case, some investment income reporting) and confirmed I didn't need to send any documentation. Just knowing what was happening reduced my stress tremendously. They also told me my review was actually ahead of schedule, which the website didn't show.

I think people sometimes misunderstand these reviews. They're not always bad news! • Many reviews are truly random (part of IRS compliance sampling) • Some are triggered by specific items but don't mean you did anything wrong • Reviews without document requests often resolve faster • The IRS actually does finish many reviews earlier than the timeline they quote My review last year finished in 3.5 weeks even though they quoted me 6 weeks. I was surprised when my deposit just showed up!

I filed for both myself and my daughter on February 12th, and we had the same experience you're describing. My transcript updated with an 846 code on March 18th, but WMR didn't update until March 21st. My daughter couldn't get through ID.me verification until March 25th, and by then her refund had already been processed. The IRS is especially backlogged this year - I spoke with an agent on April 2nd who confirmed they're running about 15-20 days behind on WMR updates compared to actual processing status.

The WMR tool is notoriously unreliable during peak processing periods due to Database Synchronization Latency between the Master File and the public-facing IRTF systems. Your 846 code is the definitive indicator - the refund is already scheduled regardless of what WMR displays. The ID.me verification system is a complete disaster this filing season. The facial recognition algorithm has a 37% failure rate for filers under 25 according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service report from February. This isn't just an inconvenience - it's actively preventing taxpayers from accessing their own information and creating unnecessary anxiety.