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Zara Shah

Why Does My IRS Transcript Show Response Date 02-16 Before Request Date 02-17-2025?

Just checked my transcript and noticed something weird. I'm looking at the exact dates on my IRS transcript - the request date shows 02-18-2025, but the response date is 02-15-2025. How can the response come before the request? The dates are literally showing that they responded a day before I even made the request. It makes absolutely no sense. Here's what I'm seeing on my screen right now: Request Date: 02-18-2025 Response Date: 02-15-2025 So according to this, they somehow processed and responded to my request THREE DAYS before I even submitted it! Is the IRS using time travel now? This has to be some kind of system glitch, right? Anyone else seeing dates with this kind of impossible timeline where the response predates the request? Makes me wonder if there's some kind of system error going on with the transcript system. I'm worried this might cause problems with my refund processing or that something is wrong with my account. Should I call the IRS about this discrepancy or just ignore it? Has anyone else experienced this kind of date inconsistency on their transcript? It's really confusing me.

The timestamp discrepancy you're seeing is actually a normal part of the IRS transcript system. Your Request Date (02-17-2025) represents when you actively pulled or accessed the transcript, while the Response Date (02-16-2025) shows the most recent update or processing of your account information by the IRS systems. This earlier response date is expected - it's essentially showing you the "as of" date for your account data, which naturally occurred before you requested to view it. Think of it like checking your bank statement - the statement data (response date) is always from a previous point in time before you look at it (request date). This isn't a system error but rather the standard way the IRS timestamps their transcript information to show both when the data was last updated and when it was accessed.

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Zara Shah

ohhhh that makes so much sense! thx for explaining it like that

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learned something new today 👀 been wondering about this too

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Hey guys instead of trying to decode these transcripts like a detective, I started using taxr.ai and it's been a game changer. For $1 it analyzes everything and tells you exactly what's happening with dates and codes. Way better than guessing https://taxr.ai

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its literally saved me hours of research. gives you exact dates and explains everything in normal english

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just tried it and OMG WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE?! 🙌 literally told me exactly when to expect my refund and explained all the weird codes

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Aisha Ali

lol irs and their time traveling response dates 🤣

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fr fr they living in 3025 while were stuck here trying to figure out these dates 💀

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in the same boat. my dates are all kinds of messed up but apparently its normal

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these transcripts are like trying to read hieroglyphics istg

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fr tho 😭 need a PHD in IRSology to understand this stuff

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The IRS system updates overnight, so sometimes youll see funky date combinations. Nothing to worry about tbh

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This is actually pretty common with IRS transcripts! The system processes updates in batches overnight, so you'll often see the "response date" (when your account data was last updated) appearing before your "request date" (when you actually accessed the transcript). It's not a glitch - just the way their system timestamps work. Your refund processing won't be affected by this at all, so no need to call the IRS about it.

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Thanks for the clear explanation! This really helps put things in perspective. I was getting worried there was something wrong with my account but knowing it's just how their batch processing works makes me feel much better about it.

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Yeah I had the exact same thing happen to me last month! Freaked out thinking there was some glitch with my account but turns out it's totally normal. The IRS processes account updates on their own schedule (usually overnight) and that creates the "response date", then when you actually log in to check your transcript that becomes the "request date". So the response date being earlier just means your account info was already processed and waiting for you to view it. Nothing to stress about!

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This happened to me too! I spent like an hour googling "IRS time travel" before I realized it was just their system being weird 😅 Thanks for explaining the overnight processing thing - that actually makes total sense now

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I see you've got your dates mixed up in the original post - you mentioned 02-16 and 02-17-2025 in the title, then 02-18 and 02-15 in the content. But regardless of the exact dates, everyone's right that this is totally normal! The IRS runs their batch updates usually between midnight and 6 AM, so your account data gets refreshed automatically. When you check your transcript later that day (or days later), you're seeing data that was already processed before you requested it. It's like checking yesterday's news today - the news (response date) happened before you read it (request date). No need to call the IRS, this won't affect your refund timeline at all.

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Good catch on the date mix-up! I was so confused by what I was seeing that I probably typed it wrong 🤦‍♀️ But your explanation about the batch processing makes perfect sense - like checking yesterday's news today is a great analogy. Really appreciate everyone taking the time to explain this, I was genuinely worried something was broken with my account!

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Don't feel bad about the date confusion - I think we've all been there with IRS transcripts at some point! 😅 The whole system is honestly pretty counterintuitive when you first encounter it. Like everyone said, those "backwards" dates are completely normal - the IRS basically pre-processes your account info during their overnight batch runs, then stamps it with a response date. When you actually log in to view it later, that becomes your request date. So you're essentially viewing pre-processed data, hence why the response date comes before the request date. It's like the IRS prepared your transcript before you even knew you wanted it! Your refund processing will be totally unaffected by this timestamp quirk.

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