My IRS refund deposit date was March 15 but nothing in my account yet - bank says 2-3 days processing time?
I checked my transcript yesterday and it shows a deposit date of March 15 (thats 4 days ago) but my bank account shows nothing. I called my bank today and the representative told me that direct deposits from the IRS can take 2-3 days to actually hit my account after the scheduled date. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal or should I be worried? This is my first time filing taxes with direct deposit and im freaking out a bit because I really need that money.
32 comments


Gabrielle Dubois
Yes, this is normal. The date shown on your transcript is when the IRS released the payment, not necessarily when it will show in your account. Banks process deposits differently, and some hold government deposits for 1-3 business days. Since March 15 was a Friday, it's possible your bank won't process it until Monday or Tuesday (March 18-19). I wouldn't worry yet - wait until Wednesday before contacting the IRS. Also, check your tax return to make sure your banking information was entered correctly.
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Dmitri Volkov
•Thanks for the reassurance! I double checked my banking info and everything looks correct. Ill try to be patient til Wednesday.
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Tyrone Johnson
•This is exactly right. My refund showed a deposit date of Feb 27 but didnt hit my account until March 1. Some banks are faster than others with processing govrnment deposits.
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Ingrid Larsson
•My credit union always posts IRS deposits same day they receive them. Might be worth switching banks if yours always holds your money 🤷♂️
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Carlos Mendoza
I was in the exact same situation last month. Spent days trying to figure out what was happening with my refund and where my money was. Finally I found this tool called taxr.ai that explained everything about my transcript and showed exactly what was happening with my refund. It basically translated all the IRS codes and dates in plain English and showed me when to actually expect my deposit. Saved me so much stress! You should check it out at https://taxr.ai - seriously the best way to actually understand what's happening with your refund instead of guessing.
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Zainab Mahmoud
•Sounds interesting. How exactly does it work? Does it just read your transcript or does it do more?
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Carlos Mendoza
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Ava Williams
•another service trying to make $ off our tax problems? 🙄
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Carlos Mendoza
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Raj Gupta
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Lena Müller
•wait what? you can actually talk to a human at the IRS? i thought that was just a myth 😂
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Raj Gupta
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TechNinja
•sounds sketchy tbh. why would you need a service to call the IRS?
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Keisha Thompson
•Have you tried calling the IRS lately? It's basically impossible to get through. They hang up on you if the wait is too long. I called 17 times last month and never got a human.
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Raj Gupta
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Paolo Bianchi
Most banks take a few business days to release funds from the IRS. If march 15 was the deposit date, you should expect to see it by tomorrow at the latest. if it doesnt show up by then, call your bank again and make sure they don't see any pending deposits. also check your transcript to make sure there wasnt a refund offset.
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Yara Assad
The IRS and banks are so annoying with this! My refund date was supposed to be Feb 10 and I didn't get it until Feb 14. The stupid part is that my bank (Chase) shows all other direct deposits immediately but for some reason government deposits take forever. It's YOUR money but they still make you wait 🤬
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Olivia Clark
•Omg chase is THE WORST with government deposits. They held my stimulus payment for 5 days back in 2021.
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Javier Morales
•Same with Bank of America. They'll let you overdraft and charge you $35 in 0.2 seconds but will hold your tax refund for days 🙄 Make it make sense
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Natasha Petrov
If your bank account info was entered correctly on your return, you should be fine. Most likely explanation is just the banking system being slow. But if you want to check, you can view your account transcript on the IRS website to see the exact refund status. It will show if there were any issues or if the deposit was already sent.
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Dmitri Volkov
•I checked my transcript and it shows code 846 with the 3/15 date. Does that mean it was sent?
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Natasha Petrov
•Yep, 846 means the refund was issued. Give it a couple more business days and if you still don't see anything by Wednesday, call your bank again and ask if they see any pending deposits from the Treasury.
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Connor O'Brien
totally normal. The 846 date on transcript is when IRS releases payment, not when you get it. bank procssing takes 1-3 business days depending on your bank. Some are faster than others. Monday is probably when you'll see it.
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Amina Diallo
What bank do you use? Some banks are notorious for holding IRS deposits longer than others. I've found credit unions usually process them faster than big banks.
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Dmitri Volkov
•I use Wells Fargo. Maybe I should switch after this experience
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Amina Diallo
•Wells Fargo is definitely one of the slower ones. My credit union posts IRS deposits same day, sometimes even early. Wells held my refund for 3 days last year.
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GamerGirl99
•Wells Fargo is trash, they held my state refund for 5 business days last year 🤮
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Hiroshi Nakamura
I was so tired of this happening every year that I finally decided to use taxr.ai this tax season. It analyzed my transcript and showed me exactly when to expect my refund - down to the day! It even told me about a small adjustment the IRS made that I wouldn't have noticed. Now I understand exactly what's happening instead of guessing and stressing. https://taxr.ai saved me so much anxiety!
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Isabella Costa
•Is that the AI tool that explains all the codes? I've been hearing about it but wasn't sure if it was worth it.
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Hiroshi Nakamura
•Yes! It breaks down every single code and tells you what they mean in normal human language lol. Also shows if there are any issues with your return that might delay your refund. Honestly changed the whole experience for me.
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Malik Jenkins
check your bank account info on your tax return to make sure its correct. if one number is wrong the deposit will be rejected and the irs will mail a check which takes weeks. happened to me last year and it was a NIGHTMARE
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Dmitri Volkov
•I just checked and the info is correct. Hopefully it's just taking a few days to process like others are saying
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