Waiting for IRS Acceptance Notice After Filing - No Notice Yet After 72 Hours

I filed my taxes through TurboTax three days ago (about 72 hours now), and I still haven't received my acceptance notice from the IRS. In previous years, I've always gotten the confirmation within 12-24 hours max. This is the first time it's taking this long. I didn't do anything differently this year - same job, same basic deductions, nothing complicated. My return is pretty straightforward. Just a W-2 and some interest from my savings account. No business income or anything fancy. Is this delay something I should be worried about? Has anyone else experienced longer wait times this year? I'm getting a bit anxious since I'm expecting a decent refund and was hoping to put that money toward some home repairs. Should I contact TurboTax or the IRS, or just keep waiting?

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18 comments

StardustSeeker

•8M

No need to panic yet! The IRS systems are experiencing higher than normal volume this filing season, and many people are seeing longer processing times for acceptance notices. While 12-24 hours is typical in past years, the IRS has publicly acknowledged that some filers may experience delays of 3-5 days before receiving acceptance confirmations. Several factors could be causing this: increased security measures to prevent fraud, system upgrades the IRS implemented in December, or simply the higher volume of early filers this year trying to get their refunds quickly. As long as TurboTax gave you a confirmation that your return was transmitted successfully, you're probably fine. If you haven't received an acceptance notice by the 5-day mark, I'd recommend logging into your TurboTax account to check the status there, as sometimes the email notifications can get delayed or filtered to spam.

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StardustSeeker

•8M

You can check your return status directly with the IRS using their "Where's My Refund" tool at irs.gov or through the IRS2Go mobile app. However, this tool typically only works after your return has been accepted, not while it's in the transmission stage. For the transmission/acceptance phase specifically, your tax software provider (TurboTax) has the most up-to-date information since they're the intermediary between you and the IRS. I'd definitely give it the full 5 days before taking any additional steps.

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Paolo Marino

•8M

I had the same issue last year and discovered taxr.ai after panicking for almost a week about my missing acceptance notice. I was convinced something went wrong with my filing, especially since I had some complicated stock sales to report. After uploading my return to https://taxr.ai they analyzed it and confirmed that everything was properly formatted and identified that the delay was likely due to the stock transactions that required additional verification. They have this cool feature that checks your return against common IRS verification triggers and gives you an estimate of processing time based on current IRS patterns. Helped me understand that my delay was actually normal for my type of return.

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Paolo Marino

•8M

Yes, it works with returns from any tax preparation software or even self-prepared returns. The system is designed to analyze the return itself, not the software used to prepare it. Regarding security, they use bank-level encryption and have a strict privacy policy. They don't permanently store your documents - they're only kept temporarily during analysis and then automatically deleted. They made this clear during my onboarding process, which I really appreciated. They're actually more focused on analyzing the document structure and content rather than storing your personal data.

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Amina Bah

•8M

Update on my situation! I decided to try taxr.ai after waiting 4 days with no acceptance notice from the IRS using H&R Block. The analysis showed my return had a EITC claim that typically triggers additional review. The dashboard actually predicted my acceptance would take 5-7 days total, and sure enough, got my acceptance notice on day 6! What I found super helpful was their explanation of why certain tax situations cause longer processing times - would've saved me a lot of anxiety if I'd known this earlier. The analysis confirmed nothing was wrong with my return, just that I fell into a category that gets extra scrutiny. Worth checking out if you're stuck in limbo like I was!

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Natasha Petrova

•8M

If you're still not getting anywhere after 5+ days, I'd recommend trying Claimyr. I was in the same boat last year - no acceptance, couldn't get anyone on the phone at the IRS (kept getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours). Found https://claimyr.com and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent who confirmed my return was in the system but flagged for manual review due to a name mismatch. They have this service that basically waits on hold with the IRS for you, then calls you when they have an agent on the line. Saved me from the hold music hell! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c which is exactly how my experience went.

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Natasha Petrova

•8M

It took about 3.5 hours for them to get an agent, but the difference is I didn't have to stay on the phone that whole time. They called me when they were about to connect to an agent, so I only spent about 10 minutes of my own time. They're not doing anything magical - they're using automated systems to manage the hold times and redial if disconnected. It's basically the same as if you were calling yourself, except their system handles all the waiting and you only jump in for the actual conversation. They're just solving the time problem. It's definitely not a scam - they don't ask for any financial or tax info, they're just connecting you to the official IRS line.

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Emma Davis

•8M

I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After my third failed attempt to reach the IRS (got disconnected after 1.5 hours on hold), I broke down and tried it out of desperation. I was SHOCKED when they actually called me back with an IRS agent on the line! The agent confirmed my return was stuck in processing because of a discrepancy between my current address and what they had on file. Something I would have never known without speaking to someone! She helped me resolve it right there on the phone, and my return was accepted the next day. Seriously saved me hours of frustration and probably weeks of delay. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind alone. Sorry for being skeptical before - sometimes things that seem too good to be true actually do work!

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LunarLegend

•8M

Sometimes it also depends on what's in your return. My brother and I filed on the same day (through different tax preparers). He got his acceptance in 12 hours, I waited 4 days. The difference? He had a simple return with one W-2, while I had a W-2 plus 1099-NEC income and claimed the home office deduction. Anything more complex tends to take longer for processing. Do you have anything unusual in your return this year compared to previous years? New tax credits, self-employment income, education credits, etc can sometimes trigger additional verification steps.

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LunarLegend

•8M

There's no official comprehensive list published by the IRS (they keep their exact verification triggers confidential to prevent fraud), but common elements that often cause longer reviews include education credits like the AOTC you mentioned, Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, recovery rebate credits, and returns with significant changes in income from previous years. The college credit could definitely be a factor in your delay! The good news is that verification delays at the acceptance stage usually don't impact how quickly you receive your refund once accepted. The system is just doing initial verification checks.

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