PATH Act Delays - When Will Transcripts Update? Also Confused About State Refund

The PATH Act is like a traffic jam on the tax highway - everyone with certain credits has to wait at the checkpoint until after February 15th. Your transcripts aren't updating because they're essentially in a holding pattern until the IRS gives the green light. Think of it as a dam that will suddenly release - many PATH Act returns start flowing through the system next week. As for your state question - that's a completely separate vehicle on a different road! State and federal returns are processed independently by different agencies. Your state refund will come separately from your federal refund, and you need to check your specific state's department of revenue website for tracking. This is URGENT to know because waiting for them together could mean missing when your state refund arrives!

I need to clarify some information to help you better: 1. First, which state are you in? Each state has different processing times and systems. 2. When exactly did you file your federal return? PATH Act holds typically release in batches starting February 15th. 3. Did you claim Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit? These are the primary credits affected by PATH Act verification. 4. What specific transcript are you checking? Account transcript will show different information than Return transcript. To answer your state question, here's how it works: Step 1: Federal and state returns are processed completely separately Step 2: Filing one before the other generally doesn't affect processing Step 3: Each state has its own "Where's My Refund" tool on their tax department website Step 4: You need to check both systems independently

Thank you all for the helpful responses. I'm in Arizona, and I filed my federal return on January 25th with both the Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credit for my grandchild who lives with me. I've been checking the Account transcript, which still shows N/A for 2024. I remember now that back in 2019, I filed both returns together through the same tax software, which probably made it seem like they came together, but they were actually separate deposits that just arrived close to each other. I found the Arizona Department of Revenue has their own refund status page, so I'll check there for my state refund. I appreciate all the clarification about the PATH Act timeline. Patience isn't always my strong suit when it comes to finances, but at least now I understand what's happening.

I was in exactly the same situation last year with PATH Act delays. After weeks of frustration trying to get through to the IRS, I finally used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) to connect with an agent. While most people were waiting hours on hold, I got through in about 15 minutes. The agent confirmed my return was just in the normal PATH Act processing queue with no issues. Compared to my neighbor who kept trying the regular IRS number for days, I saved so much time and stress. If your transcripts don't update by next week, it might be worth using Claimyr just to confirm everything's still on track. Isn't it better to know for sure than to keep wondering if something's wrong?

I'm possibly missing something here, but did you file your state and federal returns through different software systems? It seems unusual that filing state first would cause any issues, as they're processed by completely separate agencies. In my experience, which may or may not apply to your situation, the order of filing shouldn't matter at all. Is it possible there were other factors that made you feel the state-first approach was problematic? I'm curious about the specific difficulties you encountered that made you say you'll "NEVER" do it that way again.

Just a word of caution from someone who's been through this: make sure you're checking the official state website for your refund status. According to the IRS.gov site, there are several scam websites that mimic state tax department sites and try to collect your personal information. For Arizona specifically, you'll want to use https://www.aztaxes.gov and look for their "Where's My Refund" tool. You'll need your SSN, filing status, and refund amount to check. Also, be aware that many state systems only update once per day (usually overnight), so checking multiple times per day won't show different results. This is different from the federal system which can sometimes update throughout the day.

I actually just went through this exact PATH Act situation and got my refund last week! Filed January 18th, transcript showed nothing until February 21st, then suddenly everything updated at once. My refund was deposited exactly 8 days after my transcript updated. My state (California) processed completely separately and actually came through about 10 days before my federal refund. The systems are totally independent - I had to check two different websites to track each one. Have you checked your state tax agency's website yet? They should have their own tracker similar to the IRS Where's My Refund tool.