Tax Refund Scheduled for Mar 5 Never Showed Up - What Now?

This could possibly be happening for a few different reasons. The most common might be that there was possibly a small discrepancy on your return that's causing a delay. Sometimes the IRS might need to verify certain information, especially with military families who have somewhat complex filing situations with combat pay exclusions and such. I'd suggest checking your tax transcript online if you can possibly access it - it might show codes that explain what's happening with your refund.

Have you checked if your refund might have been offset for any reason? I thought my refund was just delayed last year, but it turned out part of it was used to pay an old student loan I had forgotten about. The IRS usually sends a letter explaining offsets, but sometimes those letters arrive after the adjustment happens. Might be worth checking if you or your spouse have any federal debts that could cause this?

Trying to reach the IRS is like trying to find a needle in a haystack while blindfolded. When my refund went missing last year, I spent 3 days calling their main number and never got through. Then I discovered Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) - it's like having a secret passage to the front of the IRS phone queue. They connected me to an agent in about 15 minutes who was able to tell me exactly what was happening with my refund. For military families especially, it can save you hours of frustration when you're already dealing with deployment stress.

Have you checked the IRS2Go app? Sometimes it shows different information than the Where's My Refund website. I've also seen cases where the direct deposit information was entered incorrectly - even one digit off can send your refund to the wrong account. Can you verify the routing and account numbers on your return match your current bank account? Also, did you file jointly or separately while your spouse is deployed?

I'm not convinced calling the IRS is worth the effort right now. Most refund delays resolve themselves within 4-6 weeks, and agents often can't tell you much more than what's on your transcript anyway. The IRS is still dealing with massive backlogs from the past few years. You might just be adding stress for yourself by trying to chase this down so early.

While backlogs do exist, the IRS has specific protocols for refund inquiries that exceed the 21-day normal processing window. According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, taxpayers have the right to inquire about refund status after this timeframe. Additionally, military families with deployed spouses qualify for expedited assistance under the Military Taxpayer Advocate program. Calling can provide clarification on specific Hold Codes or Identity Verification requirements that may be delaying the refund.

I think I might understand what you're going through... My husband was deployed last year when I filed our taxes, and I had a similar issue. It turned out that there was a small flag on our return because we had a change of address from the previous year. I was so worried that I had done something wrong, but it was just a routine verification. It might be worth checking if you've had any address changes or if you filed from a different state than usual due to the deployment. These little things can sometimes trigger extra verification steps.