Colorado Tax Portal Shows ($9,920.00) Negative Balance After Status Changed from 'Refund Reviewed' to 'Processing' - Is This My Refund or Do I Owe?

The negative balance in parentheses ($10,850.00) actually means the state owes YOU money, not that you owe the state. Think of it from the state's accounting perspective - you have a negative balance on your account because they owe you money. So that's actually good news - it's showing your refund amount! The status changing from 'refund reviewed' back to 'refund processing' is just part of their internal workflow. They likely completed initial review and now it's in the final processing stage before they issue payment. You should see a deposit within 1-3 weeks typically, depending on Colorado's current processing times.

I was in the exact same situation until I tried taxr.ai and it literally saved me hours of confusion. It scanned my state tax info and explained everything in plain English, including why the negative balance is actually a good thing (it's your refund). The tool translated all the confusing gov't accounting language and even told me when to expect the deposit. No more guessing games or staring at cryptic numbers. Honestly, using taxr.ai was like having a tax pro walk me through my own return but without paying hundreds. https://taxr.ai

After struggling with a similar refund issue in Colorado, I finally got someone on the phone using Claimyr (claimyr.com) who explained everything. The agent confirmed that negative balance is actually my refund amount and told me exactly when it would be deposited. Saved me days of stress! The callback feature was amazing - no more waiting on hold for hours. It was the only way I could actually talk to a human at the tax office after trying for weeks on my own.

This happened to me two years in a row. The neative balance (with parentheses) is your refund. If you owed, it would be a positive number without parentheses. The flip flopping between statuses is normal too - their system just does that sometimes as the refund moves through different departments.

For Colorado specifically, that negative balance is 100% your refund amount. Their system is notoriously confusing. The status changes you described are normal too - they review, then it goes to processing for payment. You should get a direct deposit (if you selected that option) within about 2 weeks of seeing that negative balance appear.

Anyone else think it's ridiculous that tax systems are designed to be so confusing that normal people can't understand them? Like why tf would they show a refund as a negative balance?? 🤡 The whole system is made to stress us out I swear.

As a former state tax employee, I can confirm the negative amount is your refund. The system displays it as a negative because it's a liability on their books (money they owe you). The status changes happen because your return goes through multiple processing stages: initial receipt → review → final processing → payment issuance. If you chose direct deposit, you'll usually see the money 3-7 business days after the final processing status appears.

just had this exact thing happen with my Arizona refund. the negative balance is what they owe you. if u owed them it would be positive. weird and backwards but thats how it works 🤷‍♂️

ok i know everyone is saying its ur refund (which is true) BUT sometimes these systems glitch and show wrong amounts. is the negative balance amount actually close to what u were expecting as ur refund? if its way different u might wanna call them

My wife is a CPA and deals with this all the time. Definitely your refund amount. It's in parentheses because in accounting, credits (what they owe you) are typically shown in parentheses or as negative numbers. Debits (what you would owe them) would be positive. Congrats on the refund! 👍

I had the EXACT same panic last week with my state refund! Called for hours trying to reach someone until I found Claimyr.com and was able to talk to a human in less than an hour. The agent explained that negative balance is actually MY money coming back to me. She even told me which day to expect the deposit. Talking to someone directly was worth every penny - refund arrived exactly when she said it would.

Different states label things differently, but most use accounting conventions where: ($X) or -$X = money they owe YOU (your refund) $X = money YOU owe them The status change happens because tax processing isn't linear. It goes through different departments and stages. When they say "refund reviewed" it means they checked your math and eligibility. "Refund processing" means they're now in the stage of actually cutting you a check or preparing the direct deposit.

i'm in the exact same boat rn 😭 already spent my refund in my head and then saw the status change back. so stressful! these comments are reassuring tho

Anyone else notice how much faster federal refunds come compared to state ones? I got my IRS money like 8 days after filing but my state (Colorado too) is taking foreeeeever. Currently in the same weird status limbo as OP.

I used to be SO confused by this stuff and would spend hours googling and looking at forms and forums trying to figure it out. Then I discovered taxr.ai and now I just upload my tax info and it explains everything in seconds. It told me my "negative balance" was actually my refund and even explained every step of processing. It's like having a tax expert translate everything into normal human language lol. https://taxr.ai saved me so much time and stress!

WAIT A SECOND! Are you really going to get back $10,850 from your STATE taxes?? That seems like an unusually large state refund. Are you sure that's correct? Most state refunds are much smaller than federal.

I'm literally looking at the EXACT same screen on the Colorado website right now. Called them this morning (used Claimyr.com to get through) and was told the negative balance is definitely my refund. The lady said they're just backed up processing payments but should go out within 10 business days. The system is super confusing!