IRS processing delays are longest during peak filing season, but they’re also affected by the complexity of your return. Simple returns move faster.
Ugh. I swear I stared at the online tracker so much my eyes almost dried shut—that glorious “Your return is still being processed” screen has appeared in my dreams, like some dystopian tax-themed Windows screensaver. West Coast file season started rough, worse after funding lapse reinstatements rocking intake counts back at the shelter. We were doing capacity counts in March and panicking by April because OF COURSE half the TANF-linked clients hadn’t seen a refund drop.
And that’s where I came in, with my brilliant little plan and checklist to “simplify stuff.” L O L. Watch me crash this entire thing straight into IRS hell, twice.
☑️ Step One: File early. Or so I thought.
- I e-filed at 6:03am on Jan 29. Feeling productive.
- Form 8862 attached because duh, EITC reevaluation year.
- Waited. Waited. Checked the IRS Where’s My Refund tool.
- Still processing. Whatever, maybe it’ll update at 3am on a Sunday like it sometimes does? >_<
Fast-forward: shelter’s lined with moms waiting for me to explain why their refunds haven’t hit, and I can’t even explain my own. The self-sabotage? I used the same bank routing number from the year I filed jointly with someone I haven’t spoken to since the George W. Bush administration. NOPE. Missed that correction window by seventeen seconds, apparently.
Side-by-Side Breakdown: EITC Eligibility vs. Processing Delays
| Client Type | EITC Eligible | IRS Delay Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Single w/ 1 child | Yes | Moderate (due to Form 8862 triggers) |
| Teen parent under TANF | Yes (in some cases) | High (school verification, address instability) |
| Elderly on SSI | No | Low |
☑️ Step Two: Track it like a hawk! (Except I used the wrong SSN… twice.)
- Logged in with a typo? Of course I did. “310” instead of “301”.
- Freaked out after hitting the ID.me portal and locked myself out.
- Sat on hold with IRS for 77 minutes. The call dropped as I picked up my kid’s Zoom.
- Don’t drink espresso while phone-tethering. Shaky fingers = panic reset. :/
A mom waiting three weeks said, “Maybe refunds are racist.” And honestly? Who’s to say they’re not. Our clusters in Monterey County tested 58% EITC-eligible households—only 18% had received refund confirmations by March 15. The worst part? I kept telling people, “Check every morning around 4:24am – that’s when the tool updates.” FALSE. Pure myth. I mean, who even told me that?!?
✅ Step Three: Re-File. Because that’s always SUCH a fun time.
I don’t even know if I made sense at this point—do you reset the whole return if you input the wrong routing number? Or do you summon the ghost of Ben Franklin and beg? Here’s the thing (and nobody told me this):
“If your return includes identity protection PINs and a rejected direct deposit, the IRS will default to physical check–which adds an average of 22 mailing business days.” — Analyst on IRS.gov YouTube comment from 2021
Yeah. A YouTube comment had better info than my tax prep software. That’s where we’re at as a society, folks.
☠️ Step Four: Panic. Repeating the mistake, but louder!
- Called IRS again. Got disconnected after explaining my routing issue.
- Tried the “live chat” button that led me to a chatbot describing trilobites??
- Accidentally clicked ‘amended return’ and sent myself into a 20-week audit funnel. Great.
- Began considering an all-cash lifestyle. Again.
I eventually figured out—via Facebook post from someone I HATE—that you can update refund delivery if you’re flagged for EITC delay and meet some magical conditions during funding lapse reinstatements? Kinda? I still don’t get it.
Stat You Didn’t Ask For:
According to the IRS, over 11 million returns processed late during the spring quarter due to PATH Act holdovers and staffing shortages—mostly affecting child tax credit-linked submissions.
But yeah, sure. Try telling that to an 18-year-old mom of two living couch-to-shelter who needs baby formula and thinks the IRS is run by Mario Kart graphics lag.
Final Checklist Collapse: Rage Click Mode Activated
- Used the same bank info = wrong again.
- Reloaded the tracker page 17 times = locked out message.
- Shelter director asked if TANF refunds were auto-linked. (They are not.)
- Still no refund. But I did get a random $34 deposit labeled “US TREAS 310 CHILD CTC.”
- I don’t even have minors on file?!
So, in case you’re wondering what to do—don’t do anything I did. Or maybe do it twice just to really learn nothing. Either works. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Someone said that if you call during West Coast off-hours like 3am, the IRS lines are quieter. Not true. I called once at 2:47am and it rerouted me to a fax beep. A literal fax beep.
You ever sit across from someone asking why a refund hasn’t arrived and realize you’ve lied to them three times with false hope and copy-pasted IRS gibberish? Because yeah. That’ll haunt you harder than stale cafeteria pancakes.
TANF teen parent programs have different rules and requirements than regular TANF. Age-appropriate support makes sense.
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