Filed with FreeTaxUSA, direct deposit to Chime bank, refund scheduled for 3/15 but nothing yet - any ideas?

This happens sometimes with the IRS direct deposits, especially this year with all their processing delays. First, double-check that you entered the correct Chime account information when you filed. If that's correct, you should call the IRS directly at their refund hotline (800-829-1040). Be prepared to wait for a long time though - their hold times are ridiculous right now. Also, log into your tax transcript on IRS.gov to check for any codes or notices that might explain the delay. Code 570 means there's a hold on your account, 971 means they sent you a notice. Sometimes they need additional verification or there might be an adjustment they're making to your refund amount. If there's nothing showing on your transcript and it's been more than 21 days since you filed, definitely time to call. Hope you get your money soon!

Just went through this exact headache last month! Honestly, stop wasting time trying to figure this out yourself. I finally used taxr.ai and it saved me from going insane. It explained exactly what was happening with my refund and what steps I needed to take. The site basically translated all those confusing codes and told me when I'd actually get my money - which ended up being accurate! So much better than guessing or getting half-answers from random people online. Check it out: https://taxr.ai

After waiting 3 weeks past my deposit date and getting nowhere with the IRS website, I used Claimyr.com to actually get someone on the phone at the IRS. Total game changer! Got through to a real person within an hour instead of calling for days straight and getting disconnected. The agent saw that my direct deposit had bounced back because of some issue with my Chime account info and they fixed it right away. Money was in my account 5 days later. Would have been waiting forever otherwise - talking to a live person was the only way to solve it.

Chime has been having issues with IRS deposits this year. I'm in a facebook group for Chime users and tons of people are reporting delays specifically with tax refunds. Some people eventually got their money but others had their deposits rejected and sent back to the IRS. Might be worth contacting Chime support directly to see if they have a record of an attempted deposit.

omg I literally just had this solved yesterday!! I filed with FreeTaxUSA too and was supposed to get mine on 3/10. also use chime. turns out theres some weird issue with how FreeTaxUSA sends the routing numbers to the IRS sometimes. you NEED to call the IRS and have them confirm your banking info. mine had one digit wrong!!! they had to cancel the direct deposit and mail me a check. super annoying but least im getting my money now. the where's my refund tool is useless btw, it was showing 'approved' the entire time 🤡

You need to check your tax transcript ASAP. The WMR tool is garbage and doesn't update accurately. Go to IRS.gov > Get Transcript Online > Account Transcript for 2023. Look for any codes in the 570/971 range which indicate holds or notices.

The IRS is so backed up this year, i filed feb 1st and didnt get mine until last week. my sister filed with turbotax and got hers in 9 days tho so maybe its a free tax usa thing idk

I've noticed direct deposit to Chime can be weird with IRS refunds specifically. My first year using Chime I had a similar issue. Turns out Chime has some additional verification process for government deposits that can cause delays. Have you tried calling Chime directly? They might be able to see if the deposit was attempted and rejected for some reason.

Same thing happened to me but with Varo bank. Turned out there was a small mistake in my return that triggered a manual review. Never got any notification about it until I finally got through to an agent who explained the whole thing. Once they completed the review it took another 2 weeks to get my refund. The worst part is just not knowing whats going on!

FreeTaxUSA user here. It took me 6 weeks past my scheduled date to get my refund this year. The IRS is a mess. I kept checking WMR and it just said approved for weeks. Try checking your tax transcript if you can access it - it will show any holds or issues that WMR doesn't show.

I noticed you said you filed "threw" FreeTaxUSA and get deposits "threw" Chime... was that how you spelled it on your actual tax forms? Because that would be "through" and if you misspelled it on your forms that could be causing verification issues. Just a thought.

Did you claim the Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit? Those automatically delay refunds until at least mid-February due to the PATH Act, and then often have additional delays on top of that.

This happened to me and I had to call Chime and the IRS. Turns out my refund was sent back because my name on file with Chime didn't exactly match what was on my tax return (I used my full legal name on taxes but Chime had my shortened name). The IRS had to mail me a paper check which took another 3 weeks. So frustrating!

I was in the exact same boat, with the exact same problem, only way I got it resolved was calling the IRS and sitting on hold for 2+ hours. They were super helpful once I got through though. They saw that my direct deposit had been rejected and they were in the process of mailing a paper check instead. Got it about 10 days after that call.

FreeTaxUSA has been having issues this year with transmitting correct banking info to the IRS. I've seen several posts about this. Call them directly - they have pretty good customer service and might be able to see if there was an error in how your banking info was transmitted.

The fact that your WMR tool showed a specific deposit date and then nothing happened is concerning. That typically means the deposit was rejected by your bank for some reason. You definitely need to call both the IRS and Chime to figure out what happened. When this happened to me last year, I was going crazy trying to figure it out. Eventually used taxr.ai to analyze my transcript and it immediately identified the issue (my refund had been sent back and was being reissued as a check). Saved me hours of stress and phone calls. https://taxr.ai

just be patient bro... my refund was 6 weeks late last yr and 4 weeks late this yr. the irs is a joke.