Filed as Single but WMR Shows Head of Household - Filing Status Discrepancy

Oh my goodness, this happened to me too! 😱 I was so confused when I saw the wrong filing status. I panicked thinking I'd somehow selected the wrong option without realizing it! Did you double-check your actual return copy to confirm what you submitted? Sometimes the WMR display doesn't match what's actually in their system.

According to the IRS.gov knowledge base, this is sometimes a display glitch in the WMR system and doesn't necessarily mean your actual tax return was processed incorrectly. I'd recommend checking your return transcript when it becomes available at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript to confirm your actual filing status. I'm a bit worried about this myself as I'm seeing more reports of WMR display issues this filing season...

I had this exact issue on February 12th this year. The WMR showed HOH when I definitely filed as Single. After waiting on hold with the IRS for nearly 2 hours on February 20th and getting disconnected, I tried Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) on February 21st and got through to an agent in about 25 minutes. The agent confirmed it was just a display glitch in WMR and my return was actually processing correctly with Single status. Saved me days of worry and redial attempts!

This is like when your bank app shows a pending transaction with the wrong amount, but the actual charge is correct. The WMR tool is just a front-end interface that sometimes displays incorrect information, while the actual processing system (the back-end) has your correct information. If you filed electronically, the system would have rejected your return immediately if there was a mismatch between your selected filing status and the information they have on file that would prevent you from using that status.

Tax professional here (though not YOUR tax professional, so this isn't formal advice). This WMR display bug has been happening for years - I call it the "HOH Ghost" because it mysteriously appears and then vanishes. 👻 The critical thing to understand is that your return is processed based on what you actually submitted, not what WMR displays. You can verify this three ways: 1. Check your return transcript once available (usually 1-2 weeks after processing completes) 2. Look at the actual refund/amount due when processed - if it matches what you calculated with Single status, you're good 3. If you received an acknowledgment from your filing software, that confirms the IRS received what you submitted The IRS systems don't arbitrarily change your filing status during processing. If there was a legitimate filing status issue, you'd receive a notice, not just see a display difference in WMR.

I work with tax software implementation and can tell you exactly what's happening from a technical perspective. The IRS uses a legacy mainframe system called MeF (Modernized e-File) to process returns, but the WMR interface connects through an API layer that sometimes misinterprets filing status codes during peak processing periods. The code "2" (HOH) sometimes displays instead of code "1" (Single) due to a data translation error between systems. If you want to verify your actual filing status in the IRS system, request a "Record of Account Transcript" after processing completes. Look for the "Filing Status" line item code 150 - it will show the actual status used for processing. Your e-file acceptance on 2/23 confirms the return was structurally valid. The "still processing" message with your filing date (2/23) and current date (updated Monday) puts you at approximately 30-35 days in processing, which is within normal timeframes for this tax season.