Was I wrong for filing early???

[ImpatientVirtue]

I filed through Jackson Hewitt on 1/29. Was accepted 1/29. Have EIC and CTC. Been received the state a week after filing. Federal went from PATH message to “we have received your return and it is being processed” on 2/16. Many people are getting 2/22 DDD that have filed before and even after me…..so, is there a hold up with 1/29 filers?? Also, I received an email from Jackson Hewitt on 2/13 that said my tax return was complete and that it was time to check my refund. Cannot check successfully on their site and WMR is frustrating. I never want to hear the word “processing” again. Congrats to all the people who have reached the end of the suspense (DDD).

[Renmeister]

Strictly speaking, yes: if you intend to get your return back quickly from the date of file.
Unfortunately anyone with EIC or child tax credits is subject to the PATH act. This is a congressional law that prohibits the IRS from processing returns that claim those credits before the middle of February. They do this to apply an additional level of scrutiny to help prevent fraud. Refundable credits have proven most profitable for fraudsters in the past when IRS is at it’s busiest point.
If you file with your preparer or service before IRS opens the tax season (Usually end of January), your preparer will simply hold your return in a Que and submit it with hundreds of thousands (even millions) of others on opening day… or even later.
If you are “On The Path” as we watchers call it, you will be subject to a double whammy: The IRS, itself, will hold your return until the 15th or so, and ONLY then begin processing your return.
So let’s say you sit down to your taxes and filed January 15th.
Whereas you may be thinking “Gee, I’ve had my return in for a month. Where is my money!? I’m well past the 21 day mark!”… the IRS doesn’t see it that way.
Your 21 days clock starts when they start processing… not when they accept the return.
They could hold your return for that full month and THEN start processing when the PATH act lifts.
The mistake I see everyone on social media and elsewhere making is in the assumption that “accepted” means that IRS has gone to work on your return. They have not, until your return is free of those obstacles. And who knows WHERE you land in the pile of others who also filed early and have to be stuffed through?
Worse?
WMR or “Where’s My Return” feature/App on the IRS website is slow to update… if it ever updates.
So the upshot is you do a lot of agonizing for no good reason.
To avoid it, if you’re subject to the PATH act, simply submit your return after. IRS’s backlogs and bugs tend to be more worked out by then, and you won’t be “re-sequenced” (which does happen, but I’m thinking not to the degree that people assume). IRS return processing isn’t handled as a strict first come/first served proposition. So filing early may be painful for you if it’s a stressor to wait for the money and wonder if all is well with your return.
Does this help?

[SameBoat]

I have the same exact situation as you. No EIC, but I do have CTC. I did read somewhere that those of that have those credits won’t start receiving refunds until 2/27. I have also been checking sbtpg cuz usually that updates before wmr – but still nothing there either. So annoying going thru this every February!!

[Author]

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