TaxSlayer said my refund was deposited Monday but my bank shows nothing - anyone else?
I filed through TaxSlayer about 3 weeks ago and got accepted right away. My refund was supposedly sent via direct deposit on Monday according to the "Where's My Refund" tool, but there's absolutely nothing in my bank account. When I called the automated IRS refund hotline it just repeated the same info - that it was already deposited. My bank says they haven't received anything at all. It's now Thursday and I'm starting to get worried. Has this happened to anyone else recently? How long should I wait before calling the IRS directly?
49 comments


Amaya Watson
This is actually pretty common right now. The IRS systems are showing the refund as issued, but there's often a delay between when they mark it as sent and when it actually hits your bank. A few things to check: - Verify the bank account number on your return is correct (double-check your tax filing) - Some banks hold IRS deposits for 1-3 business days for verification - If you had tax preparation fees taken out of your refund, it might go to a third-party account first - The IRS "Where's My Refund" tool sometimes updates incorrectly during peak season I'd wait until next Monday before getting too concerned. If it doesn't show by then, you'll need to contact the IRS directly to initiate a refund trace. They typically ask you to wait 5 business days after the scheduled deposit date before starting a trace.
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Tristan Carpenter
•Thanks for the detailed info. I did check my account # and it's definitely correct. I didn't have any fees taken out either. I guess I'll give it till Monday but it's stressful waiting when you need the money.
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Grant Vikers
•I had this EXACT problem last year. Took 8 days from when it said "sent" to actually hit my account. The IRS is just super backed up and their systems don't talk to each other properly.
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Giovanni Martello
•One other thing to check - make sure your bank doesn't have it in some kind of fraud hold. My credit union did that to me last year and I had to call them to release it.
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Savannah Weiner
I was in the same situation last month trying to figure out what happened to my refund. After hours of research and frustration I finally tried taxr.ai and it completely changed everything. It scanned all my transcript info and explained exactly where my money was and why it was delayed (turned out I had an offset I didn't know about). Saved me from calling the IRS 50 times. You should check it out at https://taxr.ai - it decoded everything instantly.
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Levi Parker
•Sounds interesting. How exactly does it work? Does it just read your transcript or does it do more?
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Savannah Weiner
•It does WAY more than just read the transcript. It actually explains all the codes in plain english, tells you exactly where in the process your refund is, identifies any problems, and gives you a timeline. Trust me I've tried everything and nothing else comes close. Literally changed my life during tax season.
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Levi Parker
•OK I just tried it and WOW. This is incredible! It showed me my refund was actually adjusted and explained exactly why. The IRS website was showing nothing useful but taxr.ai laid out my entire situation. Everyone dealing with tax issues needs to know about this tool immediately!
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Libby Hassan
•another tax service promising miracles 🙄 what's the catch?
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Savannah Weiner
•No catch - it just works. I was skeptical too but it literally saved me days of stress and confusion. Just sharing what worked for me.
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Hunter Hampton
I was stuck in limbo with my refund for weeks with the same issue. Finally used claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent. Got a callback within an hour and the agent explained there was a verification hold on my account that the website wasn't showing. They released it while I was on the phone and my deposit showed up the next day. Best money I've ever spent after wasting days trying to get through the regular IRS phone line.
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Sofia Peña
•wait - what is this claimyr thing? sounds too good to be true tbh
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Hunter Hampton
•It's a service that gets you through the IRS phone system and connects you with an agent. They somehow navigate all the busy signals and wait times. I was desperate after trying for days and it actually worked. Got my refund issue fixed in one call.
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Aaron Boston
•not another scammy "IRS helper" service 🤦♀️ these never work
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Hunter Hampton
•I get the skepticism, I felt the same way. But after being on hold for 3+ hours multiple days and getting disconnected, I was willing to try anything. The callback came exactly when they said it would and the IRS agent fixed my issue immediately. Would've paid double considering all the time I wasted trying to call myself.
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Sophia Carter
•I had good luck with claimyr too. IRS had sent my refund to wrong account (my fault, typo) and I needed to talk to someone ASAP. Got through same day after trying for 2 weeks on my own.
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Grant Vikers
Check if your bank rejected the deposit! My credit union rejected my refund last year because my married name was different than what they had on file. It went back to IRS and then they mailed me a paper check which took 3 more weeks 😫
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Levi Parker
Same thing just happened to me! Filed with FreeTaxUSA, accepted Feb 5, WMR said direct deposit was sent March 2, but nothing in my account for a full week. I finally called my bank and they said they never received anything. Had to call IRS (took forever to get through). Turns out there was a flag on my account for identity verification they never notified me about. Now I have to wait ANOTHER 9 weeks while they reprocess everything. The system is completely broken.
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Chloe Zhang
•how did u even get through to IRS? ive been calling for days and cant get past the automated system
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Levi Parker
•I called literally 23 times across 3 days. Finally got through by calling at exactly 7:00 AM when they open. Still waited on hold for 1.5 hours after that.
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Brandon Parker
•That sucks about the ID verification! The same thing happened to my brother. The most frustrating part is they never even notify you about these flags.
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Adriana Cohn
did you check the irs refund portal? sometimes it gives more info then the automated phone system
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Tristan Carpenter
•Yep, checked that too. It just says "Your refund was sent to your bank on March 4th" but there's nothing in my account.
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Giovanni Martello
Tbh the IRS direct deposit system is a jokes. Last year they told me my refund was deposited but it took 12 days to actually hit my account. Their system marks it as "sent" when it's just been approved for sending 🤡
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Libby Hassan
•This is 100% facts. They mark it as "sent" when it's actually just been cleared to be sent. Then it takes another week to actually go through ACH processing. The transparency from the IRS is non-existent.
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Libby Hassan
Something similar happened to me but I discovered I had accidentally transposed 2 numbers in my account number. The money bounced back to the IRS and they ended up mailing me a paper check which took another 6 weeks. Double check your account info on your return!!
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Brandon Parker
I always get a paper check even tho it takes longer cuz i've had too many issues with direct deposit in the past. The irs systems are ancient and nothing works like it should
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Sofia Peña
•paper checks are even worse tho. mine got lost in the mail last year and i had to wait 6 MONTHS for a replacement 😭
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Brandon Parker
•damn that's brutal! maybe there's just no winning with the irs lol
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Aaron Boston
If you get an advance or had your filing fees taken out of your refund, it goes through a 3rd party bank first (usually Santa Barbara Tax Products Group or Republic Bank). Sometimes that adds 2-3 days of processing time that the IRS doesn't tell you about.
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Tristan Carpenter
•I paid for the filing upfront and didn't get an advance, so don't think that's it. But good to know for future reference!
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Chloe Zhang
Any chance ur filing status changes from last year? When I got married they flagged my return for verification and my deposit was delayed by weeks with no explanation. I had to track down info on my transcript using taxr.ai (seriously saved me so much confusion https://taxr.ai) but the WMR tool was showing as deposited the whole time.
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Tristan Carpenter
•No change in filing status from last year... but how do I even check my transcript? The IRS site is so confusing
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Chloe Zhang
•You need to create an account on irs.gov to access your transcript. But honestly I couldn't make sense of all the codes myself until I used taxr.ai - it explained everything in plain english and showed me exactly what was happening with my refund and why it was delayed.
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Sophia Carter
Just happened to me too! My refund hit my account TODAY but the IRS app said it was deposited last Thursday!!! Took 5 extra days for some reason
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Tristan Carpenter
•That gives me some hope! Maybe mine will just randomly appear too
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Jace Caspullo
When you said STBG did you mean SBTPG? If so thats Santa Barbara Tax Product Group - they're the third party bank that TaxSlayer uses. You might need to call them directly to see where your $ is. Their systems are notoriously slow to update.
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Tristan Carpenter
•Yes, sorry that's what I meant! I'll try calling them directly - didn't realize they were separate from TaxSlayer.
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Melody Miles
Look, im going to save you hours of headache and confusion. I had the EXACT same problem. Your refund is probably caught in ID verification, an offset, or some other hold that's not showing on WMR. Driving myself crazy trying to figure it out until I finally used taxr.ai and it instantly explained my entire situation and what was happening with refund. Best decision ever after weeks of stress. 100% recommend. https://taxr.ai
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
After spending 4 days calling the IRS and never getting through, I finally used claimyr.com. Got connected to an agent in 45 minutes who told me my refund was held up because they needed to manually verify something on my return. They never would have notified me about this! Agent released it while I was on the phone. Talking to an actual person saved me weeks of waiting.
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Eva St. Cyr
•Does this claimyr thing actually work? I've been trying to get through to IRS for days.
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Nathaniel Mikhaylov
•Yes it actually works. I was super skeptical but desperate after wasting hours on hold only to get disconnected. They call you when an agent is available so you don't have to stay on hold. The IRS agent I talked to fixed my issue immediately which would have been delayed for months otherwise.
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Kristian Bishop
literally every year the IRS says they sent my refund days before my bank sees it. its a joke. give it a few more days before panicking.
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Kaitlyn Otto
Could be one of a million reasons honestly. Do you have any offset debts (student loans, child support, state taxes)? Sometimes they take part of your refund for that but don't tell you clearly.
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Tristan Carpenter
•No offsets that I know of... my student loans are current and I don't have any other debts they would take from.
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Axel Far
this happened to me two weeks ago!!! the IRS phone line is a joke so I used claimyr.com to get through after waiting for days. turns out they sent my direct deposit to the wrong account (typo in my return). the agent was able to cancel the wrong deposit and reissue to my correct account while i was on the phone. worth every penny to finally get answers and fix the issue.
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Mason Lopez
I'm dealing with the exact same situation right now! Filed through TurboTax about 2 weeks ago, WMR tool shows it was deposited Tuesday but my Chase account is still empty. Called my bank and they confirmed nothing was received on their end. It's so frustrating when the IRS system says one thing but reality is completely different. I'm going to wait until early next week like others suggested before calling the IRS directly. Really hoping it just shows up randomly like some people mentioned. Keep us updated on what happens with yours!
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Emily Thompson
•I'm in the exact same boat! Filed with TaxSlayer 3 weeks ago and it's been saying "deposited Monday" but nothing in my account either. It's really frustrating when you need the money and the system keeps giving you false hope. I've been reading through all these responses and it sounds like this delay is pretty common this year. Going to try calling my bank one more time to make sure they didn't put any kind of hold on it, then probably wait until Monday like others suggested. This whole process is so stressful! Definitely keep me posted on what happens with yours too.
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Ava Rodriguez
This is such a common issue during tax season! I went through the exact same thing last year with TaxSlayer. The "Where's My Refund" tool said my deposit was sent on a Wednesday, but it didn't actually hit my account until the following Tuesday - 6 days later. I called my bank multiple times and they kept saying they hadn't received anything, which made me panic. Turns out the IRS marks refunds as "sent" when they're just approved for processing, not when they're actually transmitted to your bank. The ACH system can take several more business days after that. Since you're only at Thursday and it showed as deposited Monday, I'd definitely give it until early next week before getting too worried. The timing sounds totally normal based on my experience. Hang in there!
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