WMR Status Changed to "Still Processing" After Acceptance - PATH Act Delay for EITC/ACTC Claims

My return was accepted yesterday but today the WMR tool is showing still processing. Starting to get worried since this is different from what I usually see. I filed as Head of Household and claimed EITC and ACTC. When I check the IRS2Go app, I'm getting this message: "According to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, the IRS cannot issue refunds before mid-February for tax returns that claim the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. This applies to the entire refund, even the portion not associated with these credits." It also says "Check Where's My Refund in mid- to late February for your personalized refund status. It's updated once a day and remains the best way to check the status of your refund." The app is showing "Tax Topic 152, Refund Information" and a note saying "Please Note: For refund information, please continue to check here, or visit the Refunds page on IRS.gov. Updates to refund status are made no more than once a day." I've never seen this message before when filing in previous years, so I'm concerned. Anyone else having this happen or know what it means? Is this normal for those who claim EITC/ACTC? I'm worried since it was accepted yesterday but now shows processing.

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29 comments

Tristan Carpenter

•11M

Tax specialist here - this is actually pretty common to see the WMR status change from accepted to still processing overnight. The IRS systems update daily and your return goes through multiple processing stages. When it switches to 'still processing' it usually means they're doing their initial verification checks. I'd recommend checking out taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) - it's a new AI tool that can analyze your transcripts and give you a really clear picture of where things stand and when you might see that refund hit your account. Way better than refreshing WMR every 5 mins (we've all been there lol

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Statiia Aarssizan

•4M

This is totally normal! The PATH Act delay is exactly what's happening here. Since you claimed EITC and ACTC, the IRS is required by law to hold your entire refund until mid-February, even the parts not related to those credits. The status change from "accepted" to "still processing" is just their system updating to reflect that your return is in the PATH Act holding period. You'll probably see it stay this way until around February 15th when they start releasing these refunds. Nothing to worry about - just have to wait it out unfortunately! 🙄

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