2/8 Filers + Tax Payers General Advice

Just wanted to relay some interesting Information regarding my situation. Details:
FILED & ACCEPTED 2/8 – Head of household
EIC & Dependant credits (not ACTC)
Turbo tax, no fees taken out
Unable to check transcripts online as my credit access is frozen due to an old identity theft case I went through at 19 years old.
Unable to order transcripts with new address, only old
I use Netspend as my bank for paychecks and have every tax year for as long as I can remember.

So as some of you know, I got my deposit yesterday 2/16 at 3:39pm while WMR was still on one bar with tax topic 152. So 8 days from the time that I filed. (Last year, same sort of thing, no update on WMR before getting my deposit)

I checked WMR today just to see if it updated overnight and it did. Now my account shows 2 bars, refund approved with this message:
Your tax refund is scheduled to be sent to your bank by February 22, 2018

Never got any PATH message.

Point of this post:
1) In some cases, WMR will not update. I know how nerve wracking it is waiting on your refund, and in turn we check WMR constantly to no avail.

2) I urge tax payers to get a Netspend account. I always get my paychecks early, and always get my refunds early. Plus, you can use it as your banking institution. Granted, you don’t get credit cards and there is a $5 monthly fee, but my credit is screwed already and I have stuck with Netspend, or the Bancorp Bank, for many years and they have always been good to me when it comes to disputes or problems, and of course they release deposited funds immediately upon receiving them whereas most banks pend the transaction, delaying the deposit.

3) File after opening day for the IRS, not before. In my opinion, and from what I have read on here, a lot of early filers got stiffed and still haven’t received their refunds. What probably happens is they get re-sequenced due to it being too early to move to the next step at the IRS, moving them to the bottom of the pile. I am not sure the ratio of people who have vs haven’t received that filed early, but I really do believe it does impact how these early filers will get processed. I find that if I file within the first 7-12 days of February, obviously earlier than the 7th is better so you fall into the next week of updates, things move quicker as long as you filled out all your return information correctly. I filed on the 8th, the first day of the second week (they begin their weeks on Thursday) and I was lucky to get my deposit the second day (Friday Feb. 16) of the third week
Yes, one year I filed on January 29th and received my refund 3 days later (this was a big surprise, however, it was before PATH and similar laws were introduced)

*Edit* I deleted the original post because I was unable to edit it again. I wanted to add a few more important ideas:

1) If you file through tax software, before starting your new return, it could be helpful to download/order your previous year (even previous 2 years) return copies. I go over every page on my previous year to make sure everything that i entered through the software came out correctly on the tax forms that they submit to the IRS. These can also be a good reference tool for making sure that you are entering your new year information properly. With Turbo Tax, you can download your past years returns in the form of a PDF. Also, getting your transcripts through the IRS website could be helpful, but I am not sure as I have never referenced these for any reason.

2) This one I am not positive is legit, but I did read on a post this year that a woman used Turbo Tax to draft up this years return and also used Tax Act (or one of the many other programs) to draft up the same return. Allegedly, the amount of her refund on Turbo Tax compared to Tax Act was $600 less. If I had read that before filing using Turbo Tax like I do every year, I may have done the same thing to compare the refund amounts. You never know with these programs if they are really getting you the most money that you could be getting. So, next year I am going to do just that and before submitting to the IRS a final draft, I will shop different programs and see if there is a difference in the refund amount.

Obviously, these are just some of my opinions and facts taken from my personal experience. Take them for what you will. If anyone has any questions, feel free to reply. I am still around to help! ☺ As always, good luck to all!

Danielle from San Antonio, Tx