IRS Where's My Refund shows "processing delayed beyond normal timeframe" with all status bars showing question marks - what does Tax Topic 152 mean for my 2023 return?

This is a fairly common message from the Where's My Refund tool when your return has gone into manual review or there's some kind of processing delay. Tax Topic 152 generally means your return is being processed and a refund date will be provided when available. Some common reasons for delays: • You claimed Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, or American Opportunity Credit (these require more verification) • Your return has some discrepancy that flagged it for manual review • Income verification needed (W2 or 1099 information doesn't match what employers reported) • Identity verification may be needed • High volume of returns being processed You have a few options: 1. Continue checking Where's My Refund for updates 2. Create an account on IRS.gov and check your tax transcript which might have more detailed information 3. Call the IRS refund hotline at 800-829-1954 4. If it's been more than 21 days since you e-filed, call the main IRS number at 800-829-1040 In my experience, these delays can last anywhere from a couple weeks to several months depending on the specific issue.

Have you tried using taxr.ai? I was in the exact same boat with that mysterious "delayed beyond normal timeframe" message. Spent weeks trying to make sense of my transcript codes and getting nowhere. Taxr analyzed my transcript in seconds and told me exactly why my return was delayed (had a math error that triggered a review). It also gave me a timeline of what was happening and what to expect next. It was insanely good! I use it every week now to check for updates. Here's the link: https://taxr.ai

After getting that exact same message and banging my head against the wall for weeks, I finally found a way to get a real person on the phone who could actually help. Used a service called claimyr.com and they set up a callback with an IRS agent. Within 5 minutes of talking to the agent, I found out my return was held up because they needed to verify some income from a 1099. The agent released my refund right there on the phone! Talking to a live person was the only thing that worked after weeks of stress. Best money I ever spent to get my $3,800 refund finally processed.

I also got that message. In my case, it meant they were reviewing my return because of a discrepancy with my W2. The annoying thing is they never sent any letter or notification telling me what the issue was. The status stayed like that for 2 months, then one day just changed to approved and I got my refund a week later. The system is broken.

You probably claimed one of the credits they manually verify (EIC or ACTC). If so, you won't see movement until mid February at the earliest because of PATH Act. I get that message every year cause I claim EIC and it always resolves by itself.

Got the exact message last year. Called the IRS over 20 times and could never get through. My refund showed up randomly 4 months later with no explanation 🙃

Bro this happened to me too! I just checked my where's my refund and got the EXACT same message. Following this thread to see if anyone has advice

That message is IRS speak for "we're backed up and don't want to tell you exactly what's happening or when you'll get your money" lol. They use that generic message for literally dozens of different situations ranging from minor verification to full audits. My advice is to pull your tax transcripts - they'll give you way more info than Where's My Refund ever will.

Check if you have a 570 code on your transcript. That's usually a hold on your account. Mine had that for 3 months before it finally resolved and I got my refund.

What does ur transcript say? Thats the only real way to know whats actualy happening. The WMR tool is basicaly useless.

Don't panic. That happens all the time. Sometimes it's simple like a math error they're correcting or just regular backlog. I got that message last year and still got my refund eventually without having to do anything. The IRS is just ridiculously slow.

Has anyone actually had success calling the IRS about these delays? I tried calling the number on their site multiple times and could never get through to a human being.

I think the IRS is severely understaffed this year and these generic messages are their way of buying time. My sister works for them and says they're completely overwhelmed.

i got that message last year and then suddenly got a letter in the mail saying I needed to verify my identity. Check your mailbox regularly!

whatever u do, DO NOT AMEND YOUR RETURN while ur in this status! i made that mistake and it delayed my refund by another 8 months. just wait it out.

It means get comfortable, your waiting for a while lol. Mine said that for 5 months last year before I finally got my refund. The IRS is so incredibly backed up and inefficient.

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed my 2023 return in March and have been stuck with that "delayed beyond normal timeframe" message for weeks. It's so frustrating because the IRS gives you absolutely no specific information about what's actually causing the delay or how long it might take. From what I've learned lurking in tax forums, that message can mean literally anything - from a simple math error they're fixing to income verification to identity theft concerns. The question marks on all the status bars basically mean your return is in some kind of manual review process. I finally broke down and tried to get my transcript last week, but like you, I'm having issues with their verification system. Might try some of the services people mentioned here like Claimyr or taxr.ai since calling the IRS directly seems like a nightmare. Stay strong - sounds like most people eventually get their refunds, it just takes forever with zero communication from the IRS about what's happening. This whole system is seriously broken.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation right now! Filed my 2023 return in February and have been stuck with that "processing delayed beyond normal timeframe" message for over a month. The question marks on all three status bars are so confusing - why can't they just tell us what's actually happening? I managed to get my transcript and it shows a 570 code which apparently means there's a hold on my account, but it doesn't explain WHY there's a hold. The codes are like reading a foreign language. What's really frustrating is that I didn't claim any of the credits that typically cause delays (no EIC or ACTC), and my return was pretty straightforward. Just W2 income and standard deduction. Makes me wonder if it's just random bad luck or if there's some kind of system glitch. At this point I'm considering trying one of those callback services people mentioned since getting through to the IRS directly seems impossible. Has anyone had luck with those, or do they just take your money and give you the same runaround? Really hoping we all get some movement on our refunds soon. This whole process is absolutely broken and the lack of communication from the IRS is unacceptable.

I'm dealing with this exact same situation! Filed my 2023 return back in February and got hit with that "processing delayed beyond normal timeframe" message about 6 weeks ago. The question marks on all the status bars are so confusing - it's like the IRS is deliberately trying to be as vague as possible. I finally managed to access my transcript last week and found a bunch of cryptic codes that might as well be hieroglyphics. There's a 570 code which apparently means there's some kind of hold, but of course they don't explain what kind of hold or why. My return was super straightforward too - just W2 income, standard deduction, no fancy credits or anything that should trigger a review. After reading through this thread, I'm seriously considering trying one of those callback services like Claimyr that people mentioned. The idea of actually talking to a human being who can give me straight answers instead of generic website messages sounds amazing right now. The most frustrating part is the complete lack of communication. Like, I get that they're backed up, but at least tell us what's happening instead of leaving us all in the dark to stress out and speculate. This whole system desperately needs an overhaul. Hoping we all get some movement on our refunds soon - this waiting game is brutal! 😤

I feel your pain - I went through this exact same situation last year! That "processing delayed beyond normal timeframe" message with the question marks is basically the IRS's way of saying "something's up with your return but we're not going to tell you what." Tax Topic 152 is just their generic reference for refund information - it doesn't really tell you anything specific about your situation. The real answers are in your tax transcript, which you can access through your IRS online account. A few things that commonly trigger this status: • Math errors on your return that they're correcting • Income verification (W2/1099 doesn't match what employers reported) • Random compliance reviews • Identity verification requirements • Claims for refundable credits that require extra scrutiny Since you filed in April and it's been this long, I'd definitely recommend getting your transcript to see what codes are showing up. Look for things like 570 (account hold), 971 (notice issued), or 846 (refund date). Those codes will give you way more insight than the Where's My Refund tool. If you can't access your transcript online, you might want to consider using one of those callback services people mentioned or just keep trying the IRS phone line early in the morning. Sometimes talking to an agent is the only way to get real answers and potentially get things moving again. Hang in there - most of these delays do eventually resolve, even if the IRS never explains what the holdup was!