Filed February 22, Accepted Same Day, Still No Refund - IRS Publication 2043 Says 21 Days?

I'm in exactly the same boat. Filed on February 19th, accepted within 24 hours, and I'm still waiting after exactly 43 days. Called the IRS on March 28th and waited 97 minutes to speak with someone who told me they're experiencing a 6-8 week backlog for returns with Schedule C (self-employment) income. They're apparently prioritizing W-2 only returns, which get processed in the advertised 21 days. If you claimed business expenses against your gig work, that's likely what's causing the delay. The 21-day timeframe is technically just a goal, not a guarantee, as stated in the fine print of Publication 2043, section 4.1.3.

OMG I've been calling the IRS for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT trying to get through!!! 😭😭 I'm so frustrated and worried about my refund! Finally I tried Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in like 30 minutes! The agent told me my return was flagged for a manual review because of my gig income but nothing was wrong. I'm still waiting but at least I know what's happening now. I was so skeptical it would work but honestly it saved my sanity from the constant busy signals and disconnects.

This happened to me last year too. I filed on February 15th, 2023 and didn't get my refund until April 10th. The IRS doesn't actually say ALL refunds will be processed in 21 days - they say MOST will. For gig workers like us, they often do additional verification. Last year when I finally got through to them, they said my return was in the "Error Resolution System" which sounds scary but actually just means a human needs to look at it. Nothing was wrong with my return - they just wanted to verify my expenses were legitimate since I had a lot of mileage deductions for my DoorDash work.

I might be able to provide some insight here. There's a possibility your return has been selected for additional review, which is relatively common for gig workers. You may want to check your tax transcript rather than just the WMR tool. The transcript often shows more detailed information about what's happening with your return. I've found that https://taxr.ai is quite helpful for interpreting those transcript codes - it can tell you if there's a hold, review, or just normal processing delays based on the specific codes on your account. Many people don't realize the WMR tool is quite limited compared to what the transcript shows.

I'm not buying all these "just wait" or "use this service" answers. The IRS is legally required to pay interest on late refunds after 45 days from the filing deadline (or from when you filed if after the deadline). So: • If you filed Feb 22, they have until about April 8 before interest kicks in • They know this and will likely process just before that deadline • These "services" people are pushing are just trying to make money off your anxiety • The IRS is understaffed but not incompetent - they have a system

Back in 2022, I had almost the identical situation with my gig work return. Filed in February, no movement until April. I eventually learned that gig worker returns (Schedule C filers) are flagged more frequently for manual review because of historically higher rates of claimed deductions. This isn't a conspiracy - it's just risk management on their part. When I finally got my refund, everything was exactly as I filed it. What I found most useful was checking my account transcript rather than relying on WMR. The transcript showed codes that indicated my return was in review, while WMR just showed the generic "still processing" message.