Transcript Update Tonight? May 5th Cycle

Yes, the May 5th cycle update typically begins processing in the IRS system on May 4th (tonight) around 9pm Eastern Time. Your cycle code 20241805 indicates you're on the weekly update schedule, with "05" representing Thursday night/Friday morning updates. Based on the April 21st last update, you're due for another update in this cycle. I received my update on April 28th from the previous cycle after waiting 32 days for my amended return.

If you're planning to call the IRS about this, save yourself the frustration. I spent 3 hours on hold last week trying to get info about my amended return. Finally used Claimyr (https://www.claimyr.com) and got connected to an IRS agent in about 18 minutes. Back in 2022 I tried calling for weeks with no luck, but this time the agent confirmed my amended return was in process and gave me the exact timeline. Worth every penny when you need actual answers instead of the WMR tool's vague status.

I believe I might be on the same cycle as you. My transcript has been showing 20241805 as well. I've noticed that, at least in my experience, the updates sometimes appear very late Thursday night, but occasionally don't show until early Friday morning. I'm trying not to check too frequently, but it's difficult not to look when you're waiting for an amended return to process.

Your cycle code 20241805 breaks down as: 2024 = tax year, 18 = processing week, 05 = Thursday update. The IRS typically processes these between 12:00am-6:00am EST on Friday, with transcript updates appearing between 3:00am-8:00am. I found https://taxr.ai extremely helpful for decoding these cycle patterns. It analyzed my transcript with exact processing predictions for both my original and amended returns. My original was off by only 2 days (predicted April 4, received April 6) and it correctly identified my amended return would take exactly 16 weeks due to specific codes on my transcript.

According to the IRS.gov weekly processing schedule (https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions), the 05 cycle updates happen overnight between Thursday and Friday. I'd recommend checking your transcript tomorrow morning after 6am EST. The Where's My Amended Return tool on IRS.gov typically updates on Saturdays, so don't be alarmed if your transcript updates but WMAR doesn't immediately reflect the change. I'm a bit concerned my amended return from February 28th still shows as received but not processed.

You could also try the IRS2Go app instead of the website. Sometimes it updates faster than the web portal (though I swear they designed that app in 1997 and never updated it 😂). I've been refreshing mine like it's social media during this tax season. One trick I found: if you check between 3-4am EST, you sometimes catch the updates as they're happening in real-time rather than waiting for the full batch to complete.

The May 5th cycle should potentially update tonight, though in my experience, amended returns sometimes follow a slightly different pattern than regular returns. I had an amended return last year with cycle code 20231805, and while my transcript technically updated on the Thursday night/Friday morning schedule, the actual amended return processing seemed to operate on its own timeline. It might be worth checking both tonight and tomorrow morning, as I've seen cases where the update appears at various times throughout the 24-hour window.

My amended return had the exact same cycle code as yours last month! I was obsessively checking every night until I finally saw movement. The transcript updated at 2:17am on Friday morning (I was up with my newborn and decided to check). My refund hit my bank account exactly 6 days later. The relief was incredible - I had been waiting to pay for some car repairs. Just hang in there, the 05 cycle is definitely tonight/tomorrow morning and you should see something soon!