WMR Bars Disappeared & Transcript Site Down - When's Next Update Cycle?

The IRS typically updates transcripts overnight between Thursday and Friday! I'm SO frustrated with the site being down too - I've been trying since 6AM! Missing bars on WMR usually means they're processing your return and found something that needs review, but honestly it could just be their system being glitchy as usual. Have you checked your account on the main IRS portal instead of just WMR?

Did you claim any credits like the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Credit? Last year I had the exact same situation with bars disappearing, and it was because my return got flagged for additional verification because of the CTC. Took an extra 3 weeks but eventually processed fine. I'm in the same boat again this year and really need this money for some unexpected car repairs.

After experiencing the EXACT same situation with disappeared bars and transcript site timeouts, I started using taxr.ai to monitor my transcript once it became available. The Cycle Code on my transcript was 20240805, which indicated a weekly processing pattern. The taxr.ai analysis explained that my 570 hold code was just routine processing, not an audit as I feared. Their transcript decoder function helped me understand exactly where my return was in the processing pipeline and predicted my DD date within 2 days of accuracy!

I'm kind of wondering if maybe the bars disappearing might be a good sign? I've heard sometimes it means they're preparing your deposit, but I'm not entirely sure if that's accurate information. Has anyone actually confirmed this from a reliable source?

This situation is actually much more common than last tax season. Compared to previous years, the IRS phone lines are completely overwhelmed right now. I tried calling for 3 days straight about my missing bars and couldn't get through. Finally used Claimyr (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and got connected to an agent in about 15 minutes. The agent confirmed my return was in the final stages of processing despite the missing bars. Sometimes you just need to speak to a human to get real answers instead of stressing over the automated systems.

According to Internal Revenue Manual section 21.4.1.3, transcript updates typically follow a specific pattern based on your cycle code. If your cycle code ends in 01-04, you're on daily processing. If it ends in 05, you're on weekly processing. Per IRS Publication 2043 (IRS Refund Information Guidelines), the "Where's My Refund" tool can show various statuses including the disappearing bars, which indicates a shift from "Return Received" to "Return Processing" status. This is not necessarily cause for concern.

I was in the exact same situation on March 12th. My bars disappeared and the transcript site was down for three straight days. I finally got access on March 15th, and my transcript had updated with a direct deposit date for March 19th. The IRS is just absolutely swamped right now with the April 15th deadline approaching. If you filed in February like I did, you're probably just caught in the mid-season processing backlog.