Has anyone actually received their tax refund yet? Mine's weirdly delayed

Thanks for the info! Quick question - I filed on January 31st and the Where's My Refund tool still says "processing." It's been well over 21 days... does that mean something's wrong with my return? Also, do you know if having a business income (Schedule C) makes delays more likely?

If it's been over 21 days and the tool still shows "processing," it doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong. It could simply be in a queue for manual review, which is happening more frequently this year. The IRS is prioritizing certain returns based on various factors. Having a Schedule C doesn't automatically trigger longer delays, but more complex returns do sometimes take longer to process. Self-employment income can occasionally flag for additional verification, especially if there are significant changes from previous years or if certain deductions were claimed.

Does this actually work? How does it get access to information that the Where's My Refund tool doesn't show? Seems sketchy that a third-party would have better info than the IRS's own tool.

I'm intrigued but worried about security. Are you uploading your actual tax docs to this site? Not sure I'm comfortable sharing all my tax info with some random AI company I've never heard of.

It definitely works - the tool accesses the same tax transcript data you can get from the IRS yourself, but instead of just showing you the raw transcript with all those confusing codes, it interprets everything in plain English. Regarding security, I was concerned about that too. You do upload your tax transcript after downloading it from the IRS website, but they don't ask for things like your SSN or other sensitive data. They just analyze the codes and cycle dates that are already in the transcript to explain what's happening with your return. I felt pretty comfortable with it after reading their privacy policy.

How exactly does this work? Does it just call the IRS for you or something? I don't understand how they can get through when nobody else can.

Yeah right. If it was that easy to get through to the IRS everyone would be doing it. I've been trying for WEEKS to reach someone. This sounds like a total scam to take advantage of desperate people waiting for their money.

It doesn't call the IRS for you - it basically holds your place in line through their system. When they reach an IRS agent, you get a call letting you know an agent is on the line, and then you take over the call. I was super skeptical too, honestly. I figured it was just going to be a waste of money. But after spending literally days trying to get through the regular IRS phone line and always getting disconnected, I was desperate. It worked exactly as advertised - I got a call back when they reached an agent, and I was able to resolve my issue in that single call. Not saying it works 100% of the time, but it definitely worked for me when nothing else did.

Did you claim any credits like EIC or child tax credit? I heard those automatically delay processing. I'm on day 25 of waiting and getting nervous...

No special credits at all, which is why I was surprised by the delay. Just a totally vanilla return with W-2 income and the standard deduction. From what I've gathered reading online, even the simplest returns seem to be taking longer this year. The IRS apparently prioritizes certain returns with credits for lower-income filers, which is understandable, but it means even simple returns can sit in the queue longer than usual.

Try calling the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040. I was stuck in "still processing" for almost a month, called them, and found out there was a simple identity verification issue they never bothered to notify me about. After verifying my identity, I got my refund in 9 days.