Timeline for IRS Identity Verification After Phone Authentication?

Oh boy, welcome to the IRS time vortex where "soon" could mean anything from 2 days to 2 months! 😂 Seriously though, I went through this last year and was shocked at how variable the timeframes can be. The phone verification is supposedly faster than mail verification, but there's no guaranteed timeline. The IRS doesn't exactly operate at internet speed.

I've been in your exact situation and the waiting game is so stressful when you're counting on that refund! Have you tried calling the IRS to check on status? I spent days trying to get through their phone lines with no luck. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got connected to an agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed my verification was processed and gave me an estimated completion date. Saved me so much anxiety! Is it worth the fee? For me it was - I was losing hours of work time trying to call myself.

Based on my experience this tax season, identity verification processing times have been averaging 9-14 days. I completed my verification on March 3rd, 2024, and saw my transcript update on March 15th, 2024. The Where's My Refund tool updated on March 18th, 2024. The IRS is currently processing a high volume of returns, but if you verified on Wednesday, you should likely see movement by next Friday or the following Monday. Don't worry - once verified, your return should continue processing normally.

I had to verify my identity last month too, but I did it online instead of by phone. It took about 10 days before my refund status changed, which feels like forever compared to my state return that processed in just 3 days! I found https://taxr.ai really helpful because it analyzed my transcript once it became available and explained all those confusing codes. It was like having a translator for IRS-speak. My situation was probably similar to yours - verification is just their standard procedure for some returns.

Did they tell you anything specific about why your online verification didn't go through? I'm wondering because my sister had the same issue last year, but it turned out there was a mismatch with her address that was causing the problem. Did they mention anything about additional verification steps after the phone call?

I went through this exact process last month. It's like being stuck in airport security - you've shown your ID but you're still waiting to be cleared to proceed to your gate. My online verification failed too, so I called on February 12th. The system didn't update until February 26th - exactly 10 business days later. Then my refund was deposited 8 days after that. The IRS agent told me they're dealing with increased security measures this year, which is adding about 20% more time to the verification process compared to previous years.

The community wisdom on this is pretty consistent - most people are seeing 7-14 business days from phone verification to account update, though I've seen some possibly get through faster. It's important to note that the IRS doesn't count weekends in their processing timelines, so that Wednesday verification probably won't show movement until at least next Friday. If you're budgeting around this refund, you might want to plan for it arriving in about 3 weeks from verification, just to be safe. That's been the average timeframe reported in most of the threads here.