IRS holding refund with 570/971 codes after missing W2s were found - will 60-day review resolve automatically once wages updated from $27,450 to $30,100?
I filed my taxes back in February and have been checking my transcript every week. At first I was confused because my wages weren't showing correctly on the IRS website. I called my employer who said they'd resubmit my W2s. Recently my wages on the IRS website finally updated, but now I have 570 and 971 codes on my transcript. When I check my IRS account, I can see a notice dated 03/03/2025 saying they're holding my refund for review. The IRS website shows a notice with the heading "We're Holding Your Refund" and it specifically states "We're holding your refund until we finish reviewing your tax return. We need to verify one or more of the following: income, income tax withholding, tax credits, or business income." The notice has a "View notice [PDF]" option, and there's also information that says "Get answers to your questions" and "View Understanding Your IRS Notice or Letter or call the number on the PDF notice." There's also a section that says "To Report an Error with Your Notice" followed by "View the Online Account Frequently Asked." Apparently I'm on a 60 day review now. I just realized I forgot to include 2 W2s when I filed - I reported $27,450 but the IRS now shows $30,100. Will everything fix itself now that the correct wages are showing? Will they just give me the difference for the extra withholding on those W2s I forgot? Not sure what to do next. Should I call the number on the PDF notice as mentioned on the IRS website? Has anyone dealt with this "We're Holding Your Refund" notice before when they had missing W2s? I'm worried because this notice is specifically saying they need to verify income, which is exactly my issue.
44 comments
Nia Thompson
You're dealing with a couple issues here. Let me break it down: • The 570 code means your refund is on hold (refund freeze) - this is expected since they found discrepancies with your reported income • The 971 code indicates a notice was issued - which matches the 60-day review letter you received • The IRS found those missing W2s through their automated matching system, which is why your wage amount increased Here's what happens next: 1. The IRS will recalculate your tax liability based on the correct income amount 2. If you were eligible for additional withholding credit from those missing W2s, they'll adjust your refund amount accordingly 3. You'll either receive the adjusted refund automatically after the review is complete OR they might request additional information Nothing you need to do right now except wait. If you want a better understanding of your specific transcript situation and to see when your refund might be released, I've been using taxr.ai to analyze my transcript and it explains everything in simple language. Saved me hours of confusion.
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Mateo Rodriguez
what happens if they find less withholding than expected? will they take away from the original refund amount? im in a similar situation 😬
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Nia Thompson
Yes, if they find less withholding than you claimed, they'll reduce your refund accordingly. They might even assess penalties if the error is significant. The IRS computers automatically cross-reference all reported W2s with what employers submit.
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Aisha Abdullah
This happened to me last year. They reduced my refund by about $400 cause I forgot a 1099 from a side gig. They recalculated everything and just sent the corrected amount.
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Mateo Rodriguez
thx for the info. i just wish the whole process was more transparent. its like they WANT us to be confused sometimes 🙄
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Ethan Wilson
I had almost the exact same situation last tax season! Was freakin out trying to understand those codes and what was happening with my refund. I spent hours watching YouTube videos and reading forums. Nothing was clear. Then someone recommended taxr.ai and it was a game changer. It reads your transcript and explains everything in plain english - showed me exactly why my refund was delayed and when I could expect it based on similar cases. Gave me peace of mind instead of constant anxiety checking WMR every day. Seriously check it out at https://taxr.ai - would have saved me so much time if I'd found it earlier.
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NeonNova
Sounds interesting. How exactly does it work? Does it just read your transcript or does it do more?
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Ethan Wilson
It's amazing! You upload your transcript and it breaks down every code, explains what's happening with your specific case, and even gives you a timeline for resolution based on similar cases. It also tells you exactly what's causing your delay. For me, it showed I had an income verification issue and estimated I'd receive my refund in 45 days which was spot on! Wish I'd found it months earlier instead of constantly stressing.
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Yuki Tanaka
Does it handle complicated situations? I've got business income plus some weird credits this year
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Ethan Wilson
YES! That's actually where it shines. My situation had self-employment, education credits, AND a retirement distribution. The tool explained exactly how each affected my refund timeline. I cannot recommend it enough 🙌 These transcript codes are like hieroglyphics without a translator!
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Carmen Diaz
I was in limbo with the IRS for 90+ days trying to figure out why my refund was held and couldn't get anyone on the phone. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent who explained everything. Turns out I had a similar issue with missing W2s. The agent released my refund right there on the phone! Best decision ever after wasting hours on hold getting nowhere.
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Andre Laurent
Really? How does that work? Been trying to reach someone at the IRS for weeks...
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Carmen Diaz
It's this service that basically navigates the IRS phone tree for you and calls you back when they get a human agent on the line. Then you just pick up and talk to the agent. Saved me hours of hold music and frustration. Just go to claimyr.com - honestly worth every penny when you need answers fast.
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Emily Jackson
sounds too good to be true tbh. did u actually get to talk to a real person?
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Carmen Diaz
100% real. Got a call back in about 25 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. She explained my transcript codes and even processed my refund while we were on the phone. My deposit hit my account 8 days later. After months of waiting and getting nowhere, it was the best money I've ever spent.
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Andre Laurent
Just tried it and it worked! Got an agent in 35 minutes who explained my 570/971 codes and gave me actual answers instead of the vague info on the IRS site. Thx for the recommendation!
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Liam Mendez
The IRS is so incompetent. You file your taxes correctly and they still find a way to delay your refund. Why couldnt they just automatically add the W2s to your return and process it normally? instead they hold ur money for 60 days 🤬
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Sophia Nguyen
Because then they couldn't collect interest on YOUR money while they 'review' it. The whole system is designed to be confusing.
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Jacob Smithson
Actually they do often auto-correct returns. But missing W2s can trigger fraud alerts since they need to verify you're not claiming credits you don't qualify for with the additional income. The system isn't perfect but there are reasons for the checks.
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Liam Mendez
i just want my damn money without having to decode hieroglyphics and wait months. is that too much to ask? 🙃
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Isabella Brown
OP - im going through the EXACT same thing rn. I forgot a 1099 and now have 570/971. They told me 60 day review too but im on day 74 with no movement. Based on my research, they'll adjust your return with the missing W2s, recalculate your tax, and eventually release the hold. If you had more withholding on those W2s, you'll get a larger refund, if less, they'll reduce it. Nothing you can do now but wait... or try to get someone on the phone (good luck with that lmao
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Maya Patel
Did you mail in your return or e-file? If you e-filed, the system should have flagged those missing W2s right away. Seems weird that they let you submit with missing forms they already had on file. Their systems are so broken.
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Luca Esposito
I e-filed. I honestly didnt realize I was missing the W2s until all this happened. One was from a job I had for like 3 weeks in January and the other was a small gig I forgot about. The system accepted my return just fine and I got the acceptance confirmation right away.
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Maya Patel
That makes sense. The initial acceptance just means your return passed the basic formatting checks. The actual verification against their records happens later. That's when they caught the discrepancy.
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Aiden Rodríguez
just be patient. both those codes are normal when they find inconsistencies. the good news is 971 just means they sent u a notice which u already got. once the 60 day review is done, you'll probably see code 846 with a refund date. took mine 52 days to clear up when this happened.
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Emma Garcia
If you want to check if the IRS has calculated your refund correctly with the additional W2s, you can create an account on IRS.gov and view your wage and income transcript. It shows all W2s and 1099s they have on file for you. Then recalculate your taxes with the complete information and see if their numbers match up.
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Ava Kim
Adding to this: When you're logged in, you can also check your Account Transcript which will show the updated refund amount after their adjustments. Look for code 150 for your tax liability and 806 for withholding credit.
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Ethan Anderson
check your transcript for TC 290. This is a key code that will tell you if they've adjusted your tax based on the new w2 info. it usually comes after the 570/971 combo. TC 571 would mean they removed the freeze. After that you should see 846 which is your refund issued code.
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Luca Esposito
I don't see a 290 code yet - still just the 570 and 971 from my most recent transcript. I'm assuming that means they haven't processed the adjustment yet? I'll keep checking weekly.
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Ethan Anderson
Yep, they're probably still in the review phase. The IRS moves at the speed of molasses. Keep an eye out for new codes appearing over the next few weeks. Hopefully you'll see movement soon!
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Layla Mendes
FYI those "60 day reviews" almost never take the full 60 days. Don't be surprised if you get your refund much sooner. Mine said 60 days but the adjustment was made after about 3 weeks.
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Lucas Notre-Dame
CALL THEM! Don't listen to people saying just wait. The IRS is a disaster and things get lost in their system all the time. I had a similar issue and waited the full 60 days just to find out they needed additional info from me but never sent the letter. wasted 2 months for nothing. Also use taxr.ai to check your transcript - it's way easier than trying to decode those codes yourself. Worth every penny to understand what's actually going on.
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Aria Park
this 100% - never assume the irs is working on your case. half the time things fall thru the cracks and you end up waiting for nothing
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Noah Ali
Those missing W2s triggered an income verification. The 60 day review is standard procedure. Back in 2023 this happened to me and they actually ended up increasing my refund because of the extra withholding on the W2s they found. Just sit tight, the system usually works itself out.
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Chloe Boulanger
Dont count on them "giving you the difference." When this happened to me, they recalculated everything and my refund went DOWN because the extra income pushed me into a higher tax bracket. And they charged me interest for the underpayment. The IRS is NOT your friend.
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James Martinez
That's not how tax brackets work. Only the income in the higher bracket gets taxed at the higher rate, not all your income. So while your refund might go down, it's not because "all your income" suddenly got taxed higher.
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Chloe Boulanger
whatever man, all i know is i got less money back than i was expecting. maybe it was the additional self-employment tax, idk. just warning OP that it might not work out in their favor.
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James Martinez
Fair enough, just trying to correct a common misconception about how tax brackets work. You're right that additional income can change other calculations like credits and deductions which might reduce a refund.
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Olivia Harris
has anybody else noticed the IRS seems to be doing these "reviews" wayyyy more often this year? feels like a sneaky way to hold onto our money longer. my sister, my coworker, and now you all with the same issue. hmmmm 🤔
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Alexander Zeus
It's because they got more funding to do compliance checks. They're being more thorough across the board. Even small discrepancies are getting flagged now.
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Alicia Stern
You should file an amended return (1040X) to correctly report those missing W2s. Even though the IRS has the information, it's still technically your responsibility to report everything accurately. This might speed up the process rather than waiting for their review.
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Gabriel Graham
DO NOT do this! Filing an amended return while they're already reviewing your original return will cause more delays and confusion. When they have a 570/971 situation, let them finish their process first.
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Alicia Stern
Oh you're right - didn't realize they had already started the review process. In that case definitely wait it out.
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Drake
those transcript codes are driving me crazy too! i've been stuck with 570/971 for 4 months!!!! tried calling 37 times but never got through. finally used claimyr.com and talked to someone who explained everything and fixed my issue on the spot. never would have gotten my refund without it. save yourself weeks of stress!
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