Self-employed with CTC & EIC - Anyone gotten their refund yet?

I was in exactly the same boat and FINALLY got my refund yesterday - exactly 26 days after filing. Self-employed with 1099 income, claimed both credits. Filed on February 2nd at 9:14am and refund hit my account on February 28th at 3:27am. The WMR tool never updated beyond the first bar for me, but my transcript updated 3 days before the deposit arrived. Don't lose hope!

I think I might have some insight on what's happening. Last year I was in the same situation - self-employed with both credits. What I noticed is that returns with both self-employment income AND refundable credits seem to go through an extra verification step. My return sat in processing for about 4 weeks, then suddenly approved without any contact from the IRS. The PATH Act delays refunds with certain credits until at least mid-February, but being self-employed seems to add another layer of review.

I was pulling my hair out with the same situation until someone here recommended using https://taxr.ai to decode my transcript. It actually helped me understand that my return was in the verification queue because of the combination of credits and 1099 income. The site explained all those cryptic codes on my transcript and gave me a much clearer picture of what was happening than the useless WMR tool. Has anyone else tried looking at their transcript instead of just WMR? Why doesn't the IRS make this stuff more understandable??

For self-employed filers with CTC and EIC, here's what typically happens: • PATH Act holds refunds with these credits until mid-February (minimum) • Self-employment income often triggers additional verification • Verification process typically takes 14-21 additional days • Returns with paid-in-advance fees sometimes take longer to process • Transcript codes 570/971 are common during this process The combination of self-employment and refundable credits puts your return in a higher scrutiny category. This is normal but frustrating.

When my return was stuck like this last year, it was like being trapped in tax purgatory. After three weeks of waiting, I tried calling the IRS directly - like trying to get tickets to a sold-out concert but worse. Then I found Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 30 minutes. It's like having a fast-pass at an amusement park when everyone else is standing in the regular line. The agent confirmed my return was just waiting for final verification and it was approved two days later.

Have you checked your IRS transcript online? Sometimes it shows processing steps that WMR doesn't reveal. The combination of self-employment and credits often triggers what the IRS lovingly calls "additional review" (their euphemism for "we're going to take our sweet time"). 😂