Anyone gotten their Colorado state tax refund yet for 2024 filing season?
I filed my Colorado state tax return on March 12th and got accepted the same day. Fast forward to now (early June) and I still haven't received my state refund. The Where's My Refund tool just says "processing" when I check it. Meanwhile my federal refund came weeks ago. Is anyone else waiting this long for Colorado? Called their tax department twice but just get the automated system telling me to be patient. Starting to wonder if something's wrong with my return.
66 comments


Marcus Marsh
The Colorado Department of Revenue has been experiencing significant delays this year. Many taxpayers who filed in March are still waiting for their refunds. The state website indicates that normal processing time is 4-6 weeks, but they've issued statements acknowledging that many returns are taking 10-12 weeks or longer this year. A few things to check: - Make sure your bank account info was entered correctly - Verify if you elected for paper check or direct deposit - Check if your return had any credits that might trigger additional review - Look for any notices from Colorado DOR in your mail If you're approaching the 12-week mark, you can request a formal status update through the Colorado taxpayer service portal. They're required to respond within 10 business days. Also, I've been using taxr.ai to track and understand all my tax situations. It's been super helpful for decoding what's happening with both state and federal returns. Worth checking out (https://taxr.ai) if you want more visibility into what's going on.
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Hailey O'Leary
•Sounds interesting. How exactly does this taxr thing work? Does it just read your transcript or does it do more?
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Marcus Marsh
•It does WAY more than just read transcripts. It analyzes everything and explains what's happening in plain English - tells you when to expect refunds, identifies issues, and gives you actual guidance. I was completely lost trying to figure out my Colorado refund delay until I used it.
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Hailey O'Leary
•Just tried taxr.ai and wow!! It explained exactly why my Colorado refund is delayed and gave me a projected timeline. I've been checking the state site for months with zero useful info!
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Cedric Chung
•i've been checking the colorado dor website every day and getting no info. might try this taxr thing. thx for sharing
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Talia Klein
•Does this work just for federal or state too? The CO website is a JOKE.
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Marcus Marsh
•Works for both! That's what makes it so useful - it gives you the complete picture of your tax situation across federal and state.
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Maxwell St. Laurent
I was in the exact same boat, waiting forever on CO refund with no updates. I finally got through to a real person at the Colorado DOR after using the Claimyr app (claimyr.com). Turns out my return got flagged for ID verification but they never sent me the notice! Once I got through and verified my identity, the refund was processed within 10 days. Talking to an actual human solved in minutes what I'd been struggling with for months.
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PaulineW
•Is this some kind of scam? Sounds too good to be true tbh
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Maxwell St. Laurent
•Not a scam at all. I was desperate after waiting 14 weeks with zero communication from Colorado. The app basically navigates the phone system for you and gets you a callback from an actual agent. Saved me literal hours of hold time and runaround. Best decision I made after weeks of frustration
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Annabel Kimball
•how much does it cost? seems weird to pay just to talk to a government agency we already fund with our taxes
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Maxwell St. Laurent
•Worth every penny to finally get my $1,400 refund released after months of waiting. I'd tried calling the normal way dozens of times and never got through. Sometimes you gotta spend money to make money 🤷♂️
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PaulineW
•Ok I just tried it and WOW it actually worked. Got a call back in 45 minutes from an actual Colorado tax agent who fixed my issue. My refund is being processed now!
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Chris Elmeda
I filed in February and just got my Colorado refund last week. Almost 16 weeks of waiting! No explanation for the delay, it just randomly showed up in my account. They're clearly backed up this year.
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Jean Claude
Check your mail carefully! I was waiting for 2 months then realized they sent me a letter requesting additional documentation. The letter looked like junk mail so I almost threw it away. Once I sent in what they needed I got the refund about 3 weeks later.
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Katherine Shultz
•Crap, I'll definitely check my mail more carefully. Did the envelope have anything specific on it?
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Jean Claude
•It just said "Official State Business" in small letters on a very plain white envelope. No big "COLORADO TAX DEPT" or anything obvious. Easy to miss!
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Charity Cohan
•this happened to me too! they wanted a copy of my w-2 or something but the letter looked like spam. by the time i realized what it was, had to restart the whole process 😤
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Josef Tearle
Colorado tax department is a MESS this year. My accountant said they're dealing with a new processing system plus they're understaffed. Apparently if there's ANY discrepancy (even a minor one) between your federal and state return, it gets flagged for manual review which is taking forever.
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Shelby Bauman
•I heard they also got hit with a ton of fraud attempts this year, so they're reviewing way more returns manually.
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Josef Tearle
•Yep, that too. My friend works there (not in returns dept tho) and says the fraud has been INSANE this year. Systems can't keep up.
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Quinn Herbert
got mine in 3 weeks 🤷♂️
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Katherine Shultz
•Lucky you... did you file early in the season?
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Quinn Herbert
•super early. like the first day possible. always do this and never have problems
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Salim Nasir
•early filers always get preferential treatment fr 😒
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Hazel Garcia
I was in the same boat until last week. Waited 13 weeks with no update. I used taxr.ai to analyze my situation (https://taxr.ai) and it showed my return was flagged for identity verification. Used that info to contact the right department and got it resolved in days. Highly recommend - it pointed me exactly where I needed to go instead of just blindly waiting.
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Laila Fury
•Another ad for this tax thing? 🙄 This thread is getting suspicious
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Hazel Garcia
•Not an ad - just sharing what worked for me after months of frustration. I was about to hire a tax advocate which would have cost hundreds. This was way cheaper and actually worked. But whatever, keep waiting I guess 🤷♀️
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Geoff Richards
•I actually just tried it based on these comments and it worked. Showed me exactly why my refund was stuck (had a math error I never would have caught). Already submitted the correction through the CO portal.
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Simon White
i gave up on my colorado refund last year and then it randomly showed up in october lmao. their system is garbage
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Hugo Kass
The timing seems to depend on how complicated your return is. Mine was super simple (just W-2 income) and I got it in 5 weeks. Friend who has 1099 income, rental property, etc. has been waiting 4 months now.
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Katherine Shultz
•Mine was pretty straightforward too. Just W-2 income, standard deduction. No credits or anything special. That's why I'm confused about the delay...
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Hugo Kass
•might be random audit then tbh. they do a certain percentage no matter what. had that happen to me in 2021
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Nasira Ibanez
If youre desperate to get through to a real person at Colorado tax dept, use Claimyr (claimyr.com). I tried for WEEKS to get through the normal way and kept getting disconnected. Used the app and got a callback from an agent within an hour. Found out my refund was held up because they couldn't verify my identity. Fixed it right then and my refund was direct deposited 8 days later. Talking to an actual human was the only way I got this resolved.
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Khalil Urso
•another day another scam on reddit 🤡
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Nasira Ibanez
•Not a scam. After waiting 12 weeks and getting nowhere with the automated system, I was willing to try anything. It worked and I finally got my $1,895 refund. But you do you, keep waiting on hold for hours if that's your preference 💅
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Myles Regis
•i mean the colorodo DOR literally says on their site that current wait times are 15-19 weeks so idk if we need some app lol
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Nasira Ibanez
•Except in my case, it wasn't just a normal wait. I had an actual ISSUE that needed to be resolved through a human conversation. The automated systems don't tell you that. But sure, wait another 8 weeks if you want 🤷♂️
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Brian Downey
anyone know if there's a specific number to call that actually works? i've tried the main one on their website like 50 times and can never get through
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Jacinda Yu
•The trick is to call right when they open at 8:30am. Still a wait but at least you'll get in queue before it fills up for the day. I got through after about 40 min on hold that way.
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Landon Flounder
•I tried the 'call right when they open' trick three times and still couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got a callback within an hour. Was honestly shocked it worked but finally got my refund issue sorted.
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Callum Savage
Check your Colorado DOR account online, not just the Where's My Refund tool. My refund status never updated on the WMR page but when I logged into my full account there was a message about needing to verify something. After I did that it only took about 2 weeks to get my money.
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Katherine Shultz
•Good idea, I'll try this. I've just been using the refund status tool.
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Ally Tailer
been waiting 9 weeks here. called multiple times. no help. hate this state's tax system so much ugh
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Aliyah Debovski
•Try setting up the text alerts on their website. That's how I finally found out there was an issue with my return. They never sent a letter but did send a text.
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Miranda Singer
After struggling with this EXACT problem, I can confirm that taxr.ai actually helped me understand what was going on with my stuck Colorado refund when the state website was useless. Showed me that I had a discrepancy between federal and state returns that was causing the hold up. Worth checking out (https://taxr.ai) - it made everything clear in a way the state website never did.
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Cass Green
•I'm always skeptical of these services... what makes it better than just checking the CO website?
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Miranda Singer
•The CO website just tells you status is "processing" - that's it. This gives you actual REASONS for delays, identifies specific issues, gives time estimates based on your situation, and explains what's happening in normal human language. Helped me identify exactly what the problem was so I could fix it.
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Cass Green
•Just tried taxr.ai and it's actually mind-blowing. Showed me my CO return has been flagged for manual review due to a schedule discrepancy. Nothing on the CO website indicated this! Now I know exactly what's happening instead of just blindly waiting.
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Finley Garrett
Have you checked if your bank info was entered correctly? My friend thought she was still waiting but turns out they mailed a check because she had a typo in her direct deposit info.
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Madison Tipne
THE COLORADO TAX SYSTEM IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE THIS YEAR. My refund took 18 weeks. No explanation, no updates, nothing. It just showed up eventually. Total joke.
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Holly Lascelles
•can confirm. pure garbage. but hey at least its not California 🤣
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Malia Ponder
File an official inquiry through the taxpayer advocate service! That's what finally got mine moving after 14 weeks of nothing.
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Katherine Shultz
•Thanks for the suggestion! How do I contact the taxpayer advocate for Colorado specifically?
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Malia Ponder
•Here's the link: https://tax.colorado.gov/contact-us and select "Taxpayer Advocate Service" from the dropdown. They're required to respond within 10 business days. Much more effective than the general help line.
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Kyle Wallace
My accountant told me the Colorado processing system had some major crash in april that caused massive backlog. theyre still working through it. lots of returns from march-april period are taking 3-4 months this year
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Ryder Ross
Fwiw I've been using taxr.ai for the last few months to monitor all my tax stuff and it's been incredibly helpful for decoding what's happening with both my federal and state taxes. It actually explained my CO refund delay when the state website was useless. I recommend giving it a try - https://taxr.ai
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Gianni Serpent
•Seems like everyone on this thread is pushing this taxr thing...
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Ryder Ross
•Probably because it actually works? I was skeptical too but after months of frustration I tried it and finally understood what was happening with my return. The CO website is literally useless - just says "processing" for months with no details.
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Gianni Serpent
•Alright, I broke down and tried it. And... I gotta admit you're right. It identified that my return was flagged for a manual review due to a discrepancy in my reported state withholding amount (which I had no idea about). Really helpful tool.
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Amara Nnamani
•Same experience here - was stuck for months with zero info from the CO website. Taxr.ai actually showed me my return was held up because of an AGI mismatch between federal and state. Fixed it through the state portal and got my refund 2 weeks later. Sometimes you need tools that actually explain what's going on instead of just "processing" status updates.
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StarSailor}
I'm going through the exact same thing! Filed my Colorado return on March 15th, got accepted immediately, but still waiting on my refund while my federal came back weeks ago. The "processing" status on their website is beyond frustrating - it tells you absolutely nothing useful. Based on what everyone's saying here, it sounds like Colorado is having major issues this year with their processing system. The delays seem to be hitting a lot of people, not just us. I'm going to try some of the suggestions mentioned - checking my full DOR account online instead of just the refund tool, and making sure I haven't missed any mail from them. Really hoping this gets resolved soon. It's crazy that we have to jump through hoops just to get basic information about our own tax refunds!
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Keisha Brown
•I'm in the exact same situation! Filed March 18th and still nothing. It's so frustrating seeing the federal refund come through quickly while Colorado just says "processing" forever. I've been checking my mail more carefully after reading about those easy-to-miss letters, and I'm definitely going to log into my full DOR account instead of just using the refund tracker. Thanks for sharing - at least we know we're not alone in this mess!
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Lena Schultz
I'm dealing with the exact same frustration! Filed my Colorado return on March 8th and it's been over 3 months now with just that useless "processing" status. My federal refund arrived in February while Colorado is still radio silent. After reading through all these comments, I'm definitely going to check my full DOR account online instead of just relying on the refund tracker - sounds like there might be messages or requests buried in there that the basic tool doesn't show. Also going to be extra careful checking my mail for any official notices that might look like junk mail. The fact that so many people are experiencing 12-16 week delays (or longer!) is really concerning. It seems like Colorado's tax department is completely overwhelmed this year. At least knowing it's not just me makes me feel slightly better, but still incredibly frustrating that we have to play detective just to get basic information about our own money! Has anyone had success with calling early in the morning right when they open? Might try that before exploring some of the other tools people have mentioned here.
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Lara Woods
•I'm in the same boat - filed March 10th and still waiting! The "processing" status is absolutely maddening when you have no idea what's actually happening. I tried calling right when they opened at 8:30am last week and actually got through after about 35 minutes on hold. The agent told me my return is in manual review but couldn't give me a timeline beyond "several more weeks." At least I know it's not lost in the system, but still incredibly frustrating. Definitely check your full DOR account like others suggested - apparently there can be messages there that don't show up in the basic refund tracker.
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Anastasia Ivanova
Same exact situation here! Filed my Colorado return on March 14th and it's been radio silence ever since. The federal refund came through in early April but Colorado is still showing "processing" with zero useful details. After reading through all these experiences, I'm definitely going to log into my full DOR account instead of just checking the basic refund tool. Sounds like there could be important messages or requests hiding in there that the simple tracker doesn't display. Also going to go through my mail more carefully - apparently they send notices that look like junk mail which is ridiculous. It's somewhat reassuring to know this isn't just affecting me, but absolutely maddening that Colorado's system is this broken. 12-16+ week delays with no communication is completely unacceptable. We shouldn't have to become tax detectives just to get our own money back! Going to try calling right when they open at 8:30am tomorrow and see if I can actually get through to a human. If that doesn't work, I might look into some of the other solutions people have mentioned here. This is beyond frustrating.
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