Refund Confusion: TurboTax Shows "Accepted 01/23" But IRS Still Only Shows "Return Received" Status
I'm getting two different messages about my refund and I'm confused. TurboTax shows my return is approved but when I go to the IRS website it only shows received status. There's no date showing either on the IRS site. Anyone know what this means? Looking at my TurboTax account right now, it clearly says: E-filed: 01/22 Accepted: 01/23 Refund delivery: [no date shown] It even shows "Return accepted 01/23" and mentions "You signed up to receive your federal refund 5 days early." I can see all my TurboTax fees were deducted, including the "Pay with your refund" fee and the "5 days early guaranteed" fee. My "Net refund" amount is displayed after all these deductions. I'm checking this on the TurboTax online portal (ast-2.turbotaxonline.intuit.com). But when I check the IRS "Where's My Refund" tool, it only shows "Return Received" status, not "Approved" or "Sent" like I was expecting. There's no estimated deposit date either. Which status should I believe? Does "Accepted" in TurboTax mean the same as "Approved" by the IRS? Why would TurboTax say one thing and the IRS say something different? How long should I expect to wait with this discrepancy?
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Eleanor Foster
Tax professional here. TurboTax and the IRS systems don't sync in real-time. The IRS Where's My Refund tool is always the most accurate source. If it shows received, that's your current status. TurboTax might be showing an outdated status or a transmission confirmation rather than actual IRS approval.
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Nathan Kim
•ty for explaining! how long does it usually take to go from received to approved?
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Eleanor Foster
•Usually 21 days, but with current backlogs could be longer. Each case is different tho 🤷♂️
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Lucas Turner
I found the best way to understand whats actually happening is using taxr.ai - it analyzes your transcript and tells you exactly where you are in the process and when to expect your refund. It costs $4.99 but saved me weeks of wondering. Check it out at https://taxr.ai
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Kai Rivera
•Does it really work? Sounds too good to be true tbh
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Anna Stewart
•How exactly does it work? Does it just read transcripts or what?
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Lucas Turner
•It uses AI to read all your transcript codes and tells you exactly whats happening. Way better than guessing or waiting on hold with IRS
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Anna Stewart
•OMG just tried it and it's amazing! Finally know exactly what's going on with my refund! 🙌 Everyone needs to use this fr fr
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Layla Sanders
same boat rn. been stuck on received for 3 weeks 😭
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Morgan Washington
the irs site is always behind turbotax dont trust either of them lol just wait it out
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Kaylee Cook
•facts 💯 its like they purposely make it confusing
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Oliver Alexander
mine did this last year took about 6 weeks to update but i got my refund b4 the website even updated lmao
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Lara Woods
Try checking your transcript instead of WMR. Sometimes it shows more info
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Nathan Kim
•how do i check my transcript?
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Lara Woods
•Go to irs.gov and make an account. You can view all your tax transcripts there
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Brady Clean
Hey Nathan! I went through this exact same situation last month. The "Accepted" status in TurboTax just means they successfully transmitted your return to the IRS, not that it's been fully processed yet. The IRS Where's My Refund tool is definitely more accurate - if it says "Return Received" that's where you actually are in the process. From my experience, it took about 2-3 weeks to move from "Received" to "Approved" status on the IRS site. Those TurboTax fees you mentioned (like the early refund guarantee) are just their marketing - they can't actually make the IRS process faster. I'd recommend checking the IRS site every few days rather than daily since it only updates once a day usually overnight. Good luck!
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Lena Müller
•Thanks Brady! That's super helpful to hear from someone who went through the same thing. I was getting worried that something was wrong since TurboTax made it sound like everything was already approved. Good to know the "early refund" thing is just marketing - I was wondering how they could guarantee faster processing from the IRS lol. I'll stick to checking the IRS site every few days instead of obsessing over it daily 😅
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Kaiya Rivera
This is exactly why I stopped trusting third-party tax software status updates! The IRS Where's My Refund tool is the only reliable source. "Accepted" in TurboTax basically just means they got confirmation that your return was successfully e-filed and received by the IRS - it's not the same as "approved" at all. The IRS still needs to actually process and review your return before approval. I'd expect it to take anywhere from 1-3 weeks to move from "Return Received" to "Approved" on the IRS site, depending on how busy they are. The transcript checker that others mentioned is also helpful since it sometimes shows processing codes before the Where's My Refund tool updates. Just be patient and ignore TurboTax's status - they have no special insight into IRS processing times despite what their marketing claims!
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Amelia Martinez
•This is such good advice! I made the same mistake of trusting TurboTax's status updates when I filed my first return a few years ago. Spent way too much time stressing about the discrepancy between what TurboTax showed and what the IRS said. Now I know to just ignore the third-party software once it's e-filed and only check the official IRS tools. The transcript thing is really useful too - sometimes you can see processing codes that give you a heads up before WMR even updates!
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Paolo Esposito
I work for a tax prep company and see this confusion all the time! What's happening is that TurboTax is showing you their internal tracking system - "Accepted" just means the IRS received your electronic filing successfully. It's basically like getting a receipt that says "we got your package" but doesn't mean they've opened it yet. The IRS Where's My Refund tool shows the actual processing status. Right now you're at step 1 of 3: Return Received. You'll need to wait for it to move to "Return Approved" (step 2) and then "Refund Sent" (step 3). Those TurboTax fees for "5 days early" and such are just their way of advancing you money against your expected refund - they can't actually speed up IRS processing. The IRS doesn't care what software you used or what promises they made. Typical timeline is 21 days from e-file date for straightforward returns, but it can be longer during busy season. Since you filed on 1/22, I'd expect movement by mid-February if everything goes smoothly. Stick with the IRS site for accurate updates!
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