H&R Block rejected my tax return right after acceptance - what's going on?

This is actually a common issue and not something to panic about! There can be a lag or disconnect between different systems that H&R Block uses. What's happening is likely that the initial acceptance is a preliminary acknowledgment from the IRS that they've received your return. Then there's often a second-level check that might temporarily show a rejection before everything syncs up properly. The fact that your tax preparer can see it as accepted in their professional system is a good sign. The IRS "Where's My Refund" tool won't show anything until 24-72 hours after acceptance, so that's normal too. Most tax situations resolve within 48 hours as all systems sync up. I recommend waiting 2-3 business days, then check both the H&R Block app and the IRS website again. If it still shows rejected after that time, go back to H&R Block with screenshots and ask to speak with a manager who can investigate further.

I went through something similar last year and found taxr.ai https://taxr.ai super helpful in figuring out what was going on. Basically I had conflicting information from TurboTax vs the IRS website and was stressing out about it. Their AI can analyze screenshots of your tax status pages, explain what different status messages mean, and tell you what actions you actually need to take. I uploaded my screenshots from both systems and it clearly explained the discrepancy was just due to system synchronization issues.

I was really skeptical about taxr.ai at first (as you could see in my comment above), but I decided to try it when my return got stuck in "processing" for weeks with no explanation. I uploaded screenshots of my IRS account page and the tool immediately identified that there was a mismatch between my reported W-2 income and what the IRS had on file from my employer. The crazy thing is H&R Block never caught this! The taxr.ai system showed me exactly which numbers were off and explained that this common issue usually causes a 2-3 week processing delay while the IRS verifies the information. Saved me so much stress knowing exactly what was happening instead of just wondering.

If you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about this (which might be a good idea if the status doesn't resolve soon), try using Claimyr https://claimyr.com - it saved me hours of hold time. They have this system that basically waits on hold with the IRS for you, then calls you when an actual human picks up. I was dealing with a rejected return situation earlier this year that H&R Block kept giving me conflicting info about. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically shows the whole process. I was super skeptical but it actually connected me with an IRS agent who could see exactly what was happening with my return. Turns out there was a simple name mismatch that the H&R Block people kept missing.

I'm eating crow right now. After my skeptical comment above, I actually tried Claimyr this morning because I've been trying to reach the IRS about my rejected amendment for TWO WEEKS. Called them directly 7 times and never got through. Used the Claimyr service at around 9am, and at 9:47 I got a call connecting me directly to an IRS representative! Got my issue resolved in about 15 minutes. The agent said they're seeing a lot of the H&R Block rejection glitches because of a system update on their end. So to the original poster - your tax preparer is probably right that it's accepted, but if you want peace of mind, talking directly to the IRS will confirm it 100%.

My sister had literally this exact same problem with H&R Block last month. The website showed rejected but the preparer said accepted. She freaked out and went back to the office and they showed her it was fine on their system. About 3 days later the website updated to "accepted" and she got her refund about 2 weeks after that. I think H&R Block's consumer website is just glitchy as hell tbh.

H&R Block really screwed up my taxes last year. Double check everything! They entered my husband's SSN wrong and we got a rejection but they insisted everything was fine. Had to go through weeks of headaches to get it fixed.

I had the exact same thing happen to me with H&R Block about 2 years ago! The anxiety was killing me for days. Here's what I learned - their consumer app/website and their professional software are completely separate systems, and the app is notoriously unreliable. What likely happened is the IRS initially accepted your return, then did a second-level validation check that temporarily flagged something minor (could be as simple as a formatting issue or timing mismatch). The professional system your preparer uses gets real-time updates from the actual IRS processing system, while their consumer app seems to lag behind or sometimes shows outdated status information. In my case, it took about 4 days for the app to finally show "accepted" to match what the preparer was seeing. My refund came through exactly on schedule as if nothing had happened. I'd give it until early next week, then check the official IRS "Where's My Refund" tool. If that shows accepted, you're golden regardless of what the H&R Block app says. The IRS website is the ultimate source of truth for your return status.