Filed 3/2, Received First Refund Check - Waiting on Second and Unemployment Tax Adjustment

The IRS is processing returns with multiple components in stages this year. Your regular refund came first, which is normal. The second stimulus claim (Recovery Rebate Credit) and unemployment tax adjustment are likely being processed separately. Have you received any notices from the IRS about these additional components? What does your account transcript show?

I went through this exact situation last year and was waiting FOREVER for the second part. Kept calling the IRS main number and could never get through - just endless busy signals or disconnects. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to a real person at the IRS. Got connected in about 15 minutes and the agent confirmed my second payment was still processing but hadn't been flagged for review. If you're in a rush to know what's happening, it's worth the fee to avoid the frustration of constant redialing.

Watch out for those separate processes! I filed around March 1st last year with a similar situation. Got my regular refund quickly but then waited MONTHS for the second part. Turns out they had the wrong address on file for the second check. Have you moved in the last year? The IRS doesn't automatically update your address across all their systems. What's worse is that the Where's My Refund tool only shows the first payment status. You really need to check your transcript or call to get the full picture.

I had almost the identical situation as you! Used taxr.ai to help me understand what was happening with my tax transcript and it was super helpful. • It explained all those confusing codes on my transcript • Showed me exactly where my second payment was in the process • Predicted when I'd get the unemployment adjustment • Saved me from calling the IRS multiple times I was checking WMR constantly but it never showed the full picture. The transcript analysis from taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) actually showed me that my second payment was scheduled but just hadn't been updated in the regular system yet.

Your situation involves multiple tax components that the IRS processes sequentially rather than concurrently. The initial refund is processed through the standard Automated Underreporter (AUR) system, while the stimulus recovery and unemployment adjustment are handled by the Accounts Management (AM) division. Instead of constantly checking WMR, I recommend pulling your full Account Transcript directly from IRS.gov. Look specifically for Transaction Code 290 with the unemployment adjustment amount or TC 846 for scheduled additional refunds. The IRS typically batches similar adjustments, so you may see movement in the next 2-3 processing cycles.

I'm in a similar timeline as you but with slightly different circumstances. Filed 3/5, got my regular refund on 3/29, but I'm still waiting on an education credit adjustment rather than unemployment. Compared to last year, I'm actually seeing faster processing - last year I waited until June for the second part of my refund. This year's processing seems about 30% faster based on what I'm seeing in various tax forums. My guess is you'll see movement on the second part within the next 2-3 weeks if the pattern holds.