Turbo Tax filing - when does IRS start accepting federal and state taxes?

Just submitted both my federal and state taxes through Turbo Tax today. Super quick and easy this year with their new interface. I'm wondering though - does the IRS actually start accepting these electronically on January 29th? Or are they just sitting in some digital queue until then? This is my first time filing so early and wasn't sure if I should expect any kind of confirmation before that date or if I just need to wait. Anyone know how this works?

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18 comments

Kaiya Rivera

•8M

The IRS has announced they're starting the official tax season and accepting returns on January 29th this year. What happens when you submit early through TurboTax is that your return gets transmitted to them but sits in a queue until they officially begin processing. You should have received a confirmation from TurboTax that your return was submitted successfully, but you won't get an acceptance confirmation from the IRS until after the 29th when they start processing returns. State acceptance timelines vary depending on which state you're in, as some states open their filing season on different dates. Once the IRS begins processing, they'll send a notification (usually through TurboTax) confirming your return was accepted or rejected. Typically this happens within 24-48 hours after they start accepting returns.

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Kaiya Rivera

•8M

Filing early does have some advantages. You'll likely get your refund faster than those who file closer to the deadline since you'll be at the front of the processing queue once the IRS starts accepting returns on January 29th. It also gives you time to correct any issues if your return happens to get rejected for some reason. Additionally, filing early can help protect against tax identity theft since you're submitting your legitimate return before a potential scammer could file a fraudulent one in your name.

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Noah Irving

•8M

It definitely works with state returns too! It analyzes both and can find state-specific deductions and credits that might have been missed. The way it checks for errors goes beyond just math - it actually uses AI to review your entire tax situation and compares it against tax law to find deductions or credits you qualify for that might have been missed. TurboTax is good, but it's limited by the information you actively input. Sometimes you don't know what to tell it, so you can't answer its questions correctly. taxr.ai approaches it differently by looking at your complete financial picture.

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Madison King

•8M

Just tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and I'm honestly shocked. I was pretty confident in my TurboTax return but decided to double-check before the IRS starts accepting on the 29th. Good thing I did! It found a home office deduction I qualified for that I had no idea about since I started freelancing last year. TurboTax never even asked me about it the way I was answering their questions. Fixed it in TurboTax and now I'm getting an extra $430 back! Plus it confirmed exactly when the IRS would accept my return. Definitely worth the time.

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Julian Paolo

•8M

If you're worried about getting your refund quickly, you might want to know that calling the IRS directly to check status can save you weeks of waiting. I discovered https://claimyr.com last year and it was life-changing. After filing through TurboTax, my refund got stuck in "processing" for over a month. Used Claimyr to get through to an actual IRS agent (not the automated system) and found out there was a simple verification issue. Fixed it over the phone and got my refund the next week. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - definitely bookmarking this for this year's taxes too.

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Julian Paolo

•8M

It works by using technology to navigate the IRS phone system and wait in the queue for you. When an agent is about to pick up, it calls you and connects you directly. It's like having someone wait on hold for you so you don't have to sit there for hours. I completely understand the skepticism! I felt the same way. But it's not about "skipping" the queue - you still wait your turn, just not personally on the phone. The IRS phone system is deliberately designed to be difficult to navigate and has extremely long wait times (often 2+ hours). This service just handles that painful part for you. I was also worried it might be a scam at first, but it truly did work exactly as advertised.

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William Schwarz

•8M

Alright I need to apologize to profile 12. I was the skeptic about Claimyr and I actually tried it yesterday because my TurboTax return from last year still shows "processing" despite filing in February 2024. I was at my wit's end after trying to call IRS literally 9 times and giving up after waiting 40+ minutes each time. Claimyr actually got me through to a real human at the IRS in about 45 minutes (while I was doing other things). Turns out there was an ID verification issue they never notified me about! The agent helped me clear it up in minutes. Can't believe I waited almost a year when I could have fixed this in minutes.

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