State refund came but Fed still MIA - normal timeline?

This is actually pretty common. State refunds are like getting your food at a fast-casual restaurant while federal refunds are more like waiting for a table at a fancy steakhouse during Valentine's Day. I got my state refund about 3 weeks before federal last year, and the year before was similar. States generally have simpler returns and fewer to process compared to the IRS handling the entire country.

There's actually zero correlation between state and federal timing. They're processed by completely different agencies with different systems. It's like expecting your driver's license renewal to somehow predict when your passport will arrive. 😂 If you want to know what's actually happening with your federal return, I'd recommend checking out https://taxr.ai - it helped me understand my transcript when I was in the same boat. My state came super fast but federal was in some weird processing limbo that the tool explained better than the IRS website did.

I'm in the exact same boat right now! Filed both state and federal on February 23rd. Got my state refund on March 12th. Still waiting on federal now at day 47. I've been checking the Where's My Refund tool every morning at 6am like clockwork. It just says "still processing" with no bars. Starting to get nervous because I need that money for a car repair next week...

Being a 1099 contractor definitely adds complexity to your return processing. The IRS applies additional verification procedures to self-employment income due to the higher incidence of reporting discrepancies. If you're concerned about the delay, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to an IRS representative. I used it last tax season when my return was stuck in processing for 8+ weeks, and they connected me to an agent who confirmed there was a simple verification hold that needed manual review.

I've been tracking this pattern for years, and there's definitely no consistent relationship between state and federal refund timing. Last year my federal came first, the year before my state was 3 weeks earlier. Based on my experience with the current processing cycle, 1099 filers are seeing longer federal processing times, typically 6-8 weeks from acceptance date. The IRS is prioritizing W-2 only returns with straightforward deductions. If you filed mid-February, I'd expect your federal refund by mid-April, assuming no issues with your return.

Did you claim any tax credits like the Earned Income Credit or Child Tax Credit? According to IRS Publication 17, certain credits can trigger additional verification processes that extend processing time significantly beyond the standard 21-day window.