This delay is typical for refunds with Refund Transfer (RT) processing. When you elect to have fees withheld from your refund, your payment goes through Santa Barbara Tax Products Group (SBTPG) which serves as the Authorized IRS e-file Provider. SBTPG receives your refund, deducts authorized fees, then forwards the remainder to your designated financial account. Their processing window is contractually allowed to take up to 5 business days from the IRS Direct Deposit Date, though it's typically completed within 1-3 business days. The Emerald Advance repayment adds an additional reconciliation step to this process.

Just got my refund today after being in exactly your situation. DDD was 2/26, had fees taken out for tax prep, and used CashApp. Money hit my account this morning. This is actually faster than last year when I used a traditional bank and had a 4-day delay after my DDD. CashApp generally processes deposits as soon as they receive them, unlike some traditional banks that might hold them until morning processing cycles. Your money is probably just working its way through TPG's system to pay off your advance before sending the remainder to you.

I can confirm this timeline is consistent with current IRS processing procedures. Per Internal Revenue Manual 21.4.1.5.7, EITC claims filed early in the season should complete processing within 21 days after the February 15th PATH Act release date. My return was accepted February 3rd, held per PATH Act until February 15th, processed by February 28th, and deposited March 1st. The system is working as designed this year, which is a significant improvement over the 2021-2022 processing delays we experienced during the pandemic backlog.

Thx for sharing this! Just got my DD today too w/ EITC and CTC. Filed 2/10, accepted same day, WMR updated 2/28, DD today 3/2. Used TT and BoA. Seems like most ppl w/ EITC are getting pmts right around now. Huge relief tbh, was starting to stress bc my car payment is due Monday. Anyone know if the 2nd half of CTC comes separately or was it all included in this refund?

I went through this exact situation and needed clarity on whether amending was worth it. Called the IRS for three days straight and couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr.com (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) to connect with an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. The agent confirmed I would benefit from amending and explained exactly how to proceed. Saved me days of frustration and uncertainty. Some things you really need to hear directly from an IRS rep.

Just want to point out - if you do amend, be prepared to wait a WHILE. I filed an amended return for a similar issue last year and it took almost 4 months to process. The IRS is still catching up on backlogs.

My Bank of America deposit hit exactly 28 hours before my official DDD. My trace number started with 0903 and my deposit was $4,372. It appeared as pending at first for about 6 hours, then fully cleared. I've tracked this for 3 years now and BoA has consistently deposited 1-2 days early for me. If your DDD is 3/18, I'd expect it anytime between now and tomorrow morning at 5am.

OMG I'm with BoA too and my DDD is 3/18 but nothing yet. Srsly stressing bc I've got bills due tmrw. Last yr mine came at like 2am the day before DDD. Anyone know if BoA is experiencing delays? My WMR still says refund approved and my transcript hasn't changed. Ugh, tax season is the worst.

According to the IRS2Go app and r/IRS megathreads, most February 13th filers are seeing DDDs between March 15-22 depending on their cycle code. The IRS is actually running slightly ahead of schedule compared to last year based on the data I've been tracking. If you check https://www.irs.gov/refunds and still don't see updates by March 15th, you might want to pull your full transcript to check for any TC 570/971 combo which could indicate verification needed. The IRS processing systems typically batch updates based on cycle codes rather than acceptance dates.

It might be worth checking if you have any credits on your return that would put you under PATH Act restrictions. If you claimed Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit, the IRS is legally not allowed to issue your refund before mid-February, which could potentially delay your processing timeline a bit compared to others who filed on the same day but didn't claim those credits.