How long did you have to wait on hold to speak with someone? I've been trying to get through for days and can't get past the automated system.

Did they say anything about people who filed in January? I filed on January 29th and I'm still stuck on processing. Starting to get worried something's wrong with my return.

I'm a former tax professional and this situation raises immediate concerns. The average tax preparation fee for a return with dependents is approximately $273, with complex returns reaching around $515. A $3,000 discrepancy is 583% higher than even the most expensive standard preparation fees. Additionally, the SSN error for a dependent typically triggers a Form 11652C verification letter within exactly 21 days of filing. You should immediately request Form 8821 (Tax Information Authorization) and Form 4506 (Request for Copy of Tax Return) to see exactly what was filed. In my 8 years of practice, I've seen similar cases result in preparer penalties under IRC Section 6694 and 6695.

Have you checked if your preparer is even properly licensed? This sounds worse than what happened to my cousin - her preparer took an extra $500 as an undisclosed "processing fee" but at least they didn't mess up any information on the return itself.

I'm on day 35 🙃 Filed Feb 1st. Called IRS twice and couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get past the hold times - got connected to an agent in about 15 minutes. Found out my return was just stuck in the verification queue and nothing was wrong. Agent manually released it and I got my DD two days later. Sometimes you just need to talk to a human to get things moving.

Check your tax year 2023 account transcript, not return transcript. Account transcript will show any holds or processing codes. If you see code 570, that's a hold. If you see 971, that's a notice being sent. 846 is the refund issued code you're waiting for.

Had this exact issue. Called TOP. Got nowhere. Tried regular IRS line. No luck. Used Claimyr instead. Got through in 15 minutes. Agent confirmed no offset taken. Worth the fee. Saved me days of worry. Here's their link: https://www.claimyr.com. Peace of mind matters.

You might want to hold off on spending that money for about 2-3 weeks, just to be safe. I've occasionally seen cases where the offset happens after the deposit in rare situations. It's probably fine since your transcript only shows 846, but it could potentially be a timing issue with the Treasury Offset Program database. Most people in your situation end up keeping the full amount, but there's always those few exceptions that end up with a surprise withdrawal later. Better safe than sorry, especially for large purchases.

Last year my mom had over $40k in medical expenses from cancer treatment. Her preparer made a mistake on how her insurance reimbursements were reported. The IRS actually caught it and INCREASED her refund by about $2,800! Sometimes errors work in your favor. The whole process took about 8 weeks to resolve, but the IRS was surprisingly helpful. They even assigned her a case worker who walked her through exactly what documentation they needed. It wasn't nearly as scary as we expected.

Keep all your medical receipts. Store them digitally. Back them up. IRS can audit up to three years back. Six years if they suspect substantial errors. Forever if they suspect fraud. Not trying to scare you. Just be prepared. Good preparers help but can miss things. Especially with complex medical situations.