IRS Review Message: "Tax Topic 151, Your Appeal Rights" Instead of Normal Processing - Anyone Dealt With This?
I keep checking wheres my refund tool and getting this message saying they cant provide any information about my refund. Filed early February with direct deposit and its been stuck like this for weeks. Getting worried because this is different than the usual processing message. When I check the IRS website (sa.www4.irs.gov), I'm getting a really concerning status screen. Under "Refund Status Results" it shows: Return Received: ✓ Refund Approved: ? Refund Sent: ? Then there's this message: "We have received your tax return and it is being reviewed." Under "Helpful Information" it says: "Please read the following information related to your tax situation: Tax Topic 151, Your Appeal Rights" It even has a "Contact Us" section saying I need to have: - A copy of this page - A copy of my tax return - The Social Security Number, Filing Status, and refund amount claimed This seems more serious than the normal "still processing" message. Has anyone else seen this Tax Topic 151 reference? I'm really concerned about what this "review" means and why they're mentioning appeal rights. Anyone else dealing with this or know what it means?
21 comments


Yara Abboud
Been in the game dealing with IRS returns for over 10 years now, and this message usually pops up when the IRS needs to verify some information or there's a processing delay. Instead of playing the waiting game, I'd recommend using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) - it's this new AI tool that analyzes your transcripts and tax docs to give you the real scoop on what's happening with your return. It'll tell you exactly why you're getting this message and what steps you need to take to get your refund moving.
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PixelPioneer
•fr fr this message got me stressed 😤 how long did it take for yours to update?
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Yara Abboud
•took about 2 weeks for mine but everyones different. check your transcripts using taxr.ai, itll tell you exactly whats going on
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Keisha Williams
•yo what exactly does taxr.ai do? sounds interesting but im skeptical of everything these days 🤔
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Yara Abboud
•it basically reads all your tax docs and tells you exactly whats happening with your refund. saved me hours of trying to decode irs speak lol
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Keisha Williams
•Just tried taxr.ai and wow actually helpful af. showed me exactly why i got that weird message and when ill probably get paid 💯
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Paolo Rizzo
•in the same boat. wmr been showing this message for 3 weeks now smh
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Amina Sy
•bruh that message had me PRESSED until i checked taxr. turns out its just a verification thing 🤷♂️
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Charlotte White
Tax pro here. This message usually means one of three things: 1) Identity verification needed 2) Return being reviewed for accuracy 3) System glitch. Check your tax transcript - it'll give you more detailed info than WMR ever will.
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Anthony Young
•how do i check my transcript? the irs website is so confusing 😫
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Charlotte White
•Go to IRS.gov, make an ID.me account if you haven't already, then look for 'Get Transcript Online' - but heads up the site can be buggy af sometimes
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Admin_Masters
I actually found this amazing tool called taxr.ai that analyzes your transcript and tells you exactly what's going on and when you'll likely get paid. Costs like $1 but saved me weeks of stress trying to decode all those crazy transcript codes. https://taxr.ai
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Matthew Sanchez
•Is it legit tho? kinda sketched out about putting my info anywhere rn 🤔
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Admin_Masters
•100% legit! It basically uses AI to read all those confusing codes and tells you in plain english whats happening. Shows you exact dates and everything
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Matthew Sanchez
•just tried it and holy cow this thing is amazing! wish i knew about this months ago instead of playing detective with my transcript lol
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Ella Thompson
in the same boat rn... filed Jan 29th and getting that exact message. this is straight up ridiculous fr fr
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JacksonHarris
Call the IRS directly. I had this issue and turns out they needed to verify my identity. Took forever to get through but worth it
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Jeremiah Brown
•good luck getting through those clowns never answer 🤡
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Royal_GM_Mark
Its probably cuz their systems are overloaded. My tax lady said February filers are having mad delays this year smh
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Amelia Cartwright
•fr? thats crazy i filed in march and already got mine back 💅
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Chris King
Yall need to chill fr. WMR is broken half the time anyways. I got my refund last week even tho WMR still shows processing lmaooo
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