Still waiting on 2022 federal refund while 2023 return shows tax topic 152

You're not alone in this frustrating situation! Tax topic 152 simply means the IRS received your return and it's being processed - it's not necessarily a bad sign for your 2023 return. For your 2022 return, filing your 2023 taxes won't negatively impact the processing of your previous year's return. Each tax year is handled separately in the IRS systems. However, you should definitely take action regarding that 2022 refund since it's been well beyond the normal processing time. I'd recommend checking your 2022 transcript online through the IRS website to see if there's any information about what might be holding up your refund. Sometimes there are codes that indicate why a return is delayed. If you can't access your transcript or don't see anything helpful, you'll want to contact the IRS directly to inquire about your 2022 return status.

I went through something similar last year with my 2021 taxes while filing my 2022 return. The IRS website was absolutely useless and I kept getting different answers every time I managed to reach someone by phone (which took HOURS). Finally found an incredible service called taxr.ai that helped me figure out exactly what was happening with my return. I uploaded my previous tax documents and return info at https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything, showing me there was a discrepancy between my reported income and what employers had submitted. The system explained exactly which forms were causing the issue and helped me understand how to fix it. Turns out one of my W-2s had been processed under a slightly different name variation which flagged my return for manual review. Without this tool I would have never figured it out!

Following up about taxr.ai - I decided to try it despite my initial privacy concerns, and I'm actually really glad I did. Uploaded my 2022 and 2023 returns and it immediately flagged that my 2022 return had been selected for manual review due to a mismatch between my reported self-employment income and the 1099 forms submitted by clients. One client had submitted my 1099 with my business name rather than my personal name, which created the discrepancy. The tool actually generated a letter I could send to the IRS explaining the situation with references to the specific tax codes. Just submitted the letter last week, and checked today - my 2022 refund is finally being processed! Would have never figured this out on my own after months of frustration. Worth every penny for the peace of mind alone.

If you're still trying to contact the IRS about your 2022 return, good luck getting through their phone system. I spent 3 weeks trying to talk to someone about my delayed refund from 2022. Either got disconnected or was told the wait time was "greater than 2 hours" before the call automatically ended. I found this service called Claimyr that actually gets you through to an IRS agent without the wait. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c and sign up at https://claimyr.com if you're interested. They basically navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you back once they have an agent on the line. Used it last month when my 2022 amended return was stuck in limbo and got through to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of spending hours on hold. The agent confirmed there was a simple address verification issue holding everything up that I was able to resolve right then.

I have to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I was still desperate about my 2022 refund situation so I decided to try it anyway. Honestly, I'm shocked. The service actually worked exactly as described. I signed up, entered my phone number, and selected which IRS department I needed to reach. About 30 minutes later I got a call connecting me directly to an IRS agent - no waiting on hold, no navigating phone menus, no frustration. The agent was able to tell me my 2022 return had been flagged for identity verification (which I never received notification about) and helped me complete the verification right then on the phone. My refund should be processed within 9 weeks. Just wanted to update since I was so publicly skeptical. If you're still trying to figure out what happened to your 2022 refund, this is definitely worth trying.

This might sound obvious, but have you tried using the "Where's My Refund" tool on the IRS website specifically for your 2022 return? My sister had a similar issue and it turned out her 2022 return needed additional verification, but she never received the letter they supposedly sent. Also check if your address changed between 2022 and 2023 - sometimes correspondence gets lost if you moved and the IRS is still using your old address.

Has anyone actually received a 2022 refund after filing their 2023 taxes? I'm in the exact same boat - still waiting on 2022 money while my 2023 return is already accepted. Getting really worried the IRS will just "forget" about the older refund.