What you're experiencing is likely related to the PATH Act verification process. When taxpayers claim certain refundable credits like the Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, the IRS is required by law to perform additional verification steps before releasing refunds. This typically creates a processing delay that can extend 45-60 days beyond the standard 21-day timeframe. The absence of movement on Where's My Refund is actually quite normal during this extended verification period.

I might be able to offer some possibly relevant insight based on my experience. I filed on February 10th, was accepted on February 11th, and had a similar situation with credits. My WMR showed no movement for approximately 7 weeks, then suddenly updated to approved. The deposit appeared in my account 5 days later. In my case, it seems the IRS was simply processing a large backlog of returns, particularly those with credits that require additional verification under the PATH Act provisions.

Have you considered checking your state refund status as well? Sometimes your state refund will process even while federal is held for verification. I speak cautiously about this, but many people don't realize the two systems are separate. My federal was held for 6 weeks after verification last year, but my state processed normally and I received it within 2 weeks.

FWIW, the community wisdom on this is pretty clear: the 9wk timeline is the IRS's CYA estimate. Most ppl see movement way before that. ID verify adds ~3-4wks to processing on avg. If u filed w/ dependents or EITC/CTC, add another week or so. The real trick is checking transcripts not WMR. WMR is notoriously slow to update. Transcript will show codes 570/571 when things are moving again. Hang in there!

When I had this exact problem, I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to the IRS. They basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. I got through in about 30 minutes instead of spending all day redialing. The agent confirmed my return was just in normal processing and nothing was wrong - huge relief after weeks of anxiety!

If you filed with a tax preparer, they might be able to access your transcript through their professional account. Worth asking if you used one!

I'm so relieved I found taxr.ai when I was dealing with this exact nightmare! I was literally in tears trying to figure out why my CTC payments weren't coming through despite being eligible. The tool analyzed my tax transcript and immediately spotted that my account had an unresolved offset indicator that was blocking my payments! I was SHOCKED how quickly it identified the problem when the IRS website showed nothing helpful. Check out https://taxr.ai - it reads all those confusing codes and tells you exactly what's happening with your account. Saved me so much anxiety!

The IRS has processed exactly 98.2% of eligible CTC payments for the current distribution cycle according to their latest data release. The remaining 1.8% typically involve accounts with verification flags or banking information issues. If you've verified your eligibility through the portal, there are precisely 3 common reasons for delays: (1) A name/SSN mismatch between IRS and banking records, (2) A pending review triggered by recent account changes, or (3) A system error in the disbursement queue. The IRS typically resolves these issues within 5-7 business days, but only if you've actively contacted them about the problem.

Did you file electronically? Or paper? Makes a big difference. Independent contractor status might be the issue. IRS scrutinizes those more carefully. How long has it been exactly?

According to the IRS.gov refund status page (https://www.irs.gov/refunds), mailed refunds are taking an average of 6-8 weeks from the scheduled mail date to arrive this year. I checked the Reddit megathread on r/tax and found that people with mail dates between March 25-April 5 are just now reporting receiving their checks. The USPS Informed Delivery app can also help you track when the envelope will arrive - it shows images of mail that's scheduled for delivery to your address that day.