What does it mean if your taxes are being processed

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is hard at work processing income tax returns but the covid-19 pandemic has put additional strain on the agency. Depending on how you file your return will affect the amount of time the IRS will need to process your return. In the vast majority of the cases the IRS issues refund in 21 days.

However some people are in a bigger hurry than others to see that refund appear in their bank account. The IRS says that you can check the status of your refund on their Where’s My Refund? online tool within 24 hours after they receive e-file return or 4 weeks after you’ve mailed a paper return. When you check the site you may see a message that reads "Being processed", which means the IRS must first process your return and then approve your refund.

Is the child tax credit refundable?

$3,000/$3,600 child tax credit: how long would it last?

When will the IRS send out the enhanced Child Tax Credit?

Tax Return 2021: how long does it take to get refund?

You still haven’t seen your refund after 21 days

Some tax returns take longer to process than others for a number of reasons. This year people will be navigating their 1040 perhaps with conditions dramatically different than in years past which could lead to errors. The IRS will contact you by mail in the event that they need more information from you.

  • Includes errors
  • Is incomplete
  • Is affected by identity theft or fraud
  • Includes a claim filed for an Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit. See Q&A below.
  • Includes a Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation PDF, which could take up to 14 weeks to process
  • Needs further review in general

Checking the status of a refund

The IRS advises that if you want to talk to a representative in-person that you will have to wait 21 days after you filed electronically and 6 weeks after you mailed your paper return. You can also check in Where’s My Refund? The agency may have posted a message for you to contact them there.

The handy resource is updated daily, generally during the night. It tracks your refund from the time the IRS receives it to the time they send out your payment and you can access it online with three pieces of information:

  • Your social security number or ITIN
  • Your filing status
  • The exact amount you are owed in the refund

Simply select ‘Check My Refund Status’ on the website and submit your details to get an up-to-date look at the progress of your tax refund. It should be noted that the IRS are predicting longer waits than usual this year. The pandemic has made it particularly difficult to process mailed documents so they warn that it could take more than 21 days.

Checking the status of an amended refund

Everyone makes mistakes and every now and then people need to amend the tax return that they filed. The Where’s My Refund? Tool does not work in this situation. You will need to visit another tool called Where’s My Amended Return? You’ll need to be patient though, as it takes the IRS more time to process these refunds.

I live outside the Netherlands and have filed my return – when will I receive a tax decision?

We understand you would like to know when you will receive our tax decision upon filing your return. Unfortunately there’s no way to indicate when exactly that will be.

Officially the processing time for your return may take as much as 3 years. We must have definitively imposed the income tax return for 2021 by 31 December 2024 at the latest. However, usually it won’t take that long at all.

Have you had a postponement for filing your tax return?

If so, we will add the period of postponement to the period of 3 years within which we must send you a final assessment.

Haven’t you heard anything yet, even though you expect to get a tax refund? You may receive interest on top of your refund as well.

You are entitled to receiving repayment interest from 1 July after the tax year you have filed your return for. Have you filed your return for 2021? You will receive repayment interest over your refund as of 1 Juli 2022. Read more about it under Belastingrente (Dutch only).

Please send us your personal income statement if you haven’t done so yet.

We can’t process your tax return without having received your personal income statement. Read more about this personal income statement on page How to obtain an income statement?

The IRS will issue most refunds in less than 21 calendar days.

Even though the IRS will issue most refunds in less than 21 days, it’s possible that your refund has been delayed because it is stuck in processing.

There are many different reasons why your refund may have not been processed yet, but the most common include:

  • Your tax return included errors.
  • Your tax return is incomplete. This could mean that all of the necessary forms were not sent to the IRS for processing.
  • Your return has been flagged for identity theft or fraud. If any social security number on your return has already been submitted for a particular tax year, your return will be flagged and delayed until it has been manually reviewed.
  • If your return includes a claim filed for an Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or an Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) your return will be delayed. These credits are typically delayed for additional review. According to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, the IRS cannot issue EITC and ACTC refunds before mid-February.

If your refund is delayed is does not automatically mean that you’re being selected for an audit. The IRS will contact you by mail if and when they need any additional information from you to process your return.

Should I call the IRS if my return is being processed?

The IRS representatives can only research the status of your refund 21 days after you filed electronically or six weeks after you mailed your paper return.

If you are beyond the 21-day threshold, here are the steps I recommend taking to determine why your refund is still being processed.

  1. Use the Where’s My Refund tool on the IRS website to determine the current status. This tool updates the status of your refund nightly. If there are updates, they will be automatically posted to this page.
  2. If no updates are available using the online tool, use these instructions to reach a real person at the IRS. Diligently follow these instructions and you will avoid being stuck in the IRS phone tree.

The IRS refund status bar has disappeared. Where’s my refund?

Many taxpayers have mentioned that the status bar has disappeared when they check the status of their refund on the IRS website. Unfortunately, this is a bug on the IRS refund tool and doesn’t mean anything regarding the status of your refund.

What does it mean when the IRS says your tax return is being processed?

The answer: not much yet! The prompt means that the IRS has received your return, but due to Covid-19 delays, the IRS is experiencing a considerable backlog, slowing processing times and disbursements. Typically the IRS processes tax returns and issues refunds within 21 calendar days of receipt.

Does being processed mean approved?

Refund has been processed means that they have approved and are ready to send you your refund. Your return being processed mean that your tax return is being processed. Your status should change from being processed to accepted and then a date given for your refund.

How long does it take for a tax return to be processed?

(updated July 7, 2022) We issue most refunds in less than 21 calendar days. However, if you filed on paper and are expecting a refund, it could take six months or more to process your return.