We have received your tax return and it is being processed vs still being processed

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 has created a website to provide answers for the most common refund questions. See IRS Refund FAQs for additional answers not reproduced below.

Use the IRS2Go mobile app or the Where’s My Refund? tool. You can start checking on the status of your tax return within 24 hours after the IRS has received your e-filed return or 4 weeks after you mail a paper return.

Where’s My Refund? will not give you a refund date right away. The IRS must first receive your tax return and then they have to process it and approve your refund. Where’s My Refund? will give you a personalized date once your refund is approved. 

Use the Where’s My Refund? tool to follow your tax return from receipt to issuance of your refund. While your tax return is being processed you can follow it through three states: Return Received, Refund Approved and Refund Sent.

This means the IRS has your tax return and is processing it. Your personalized refund date will be available as soon as the IRS finishes processing your return and confirms that your refund has been approved. Most refunds are issued in less than 21 days.

This means the IRS has processed your return and has approved your refund. The IRS is now preparing to send your refund to your bank or directly to you in the mail if you requested a paper check.

This means the IRS has sent your refund to your financial institution for direct deposit. It may take your financial institution 1 – 5 days to deposit the funds into your account. If you requested a paper check this means your check has been mailed. It could take several weeks for your check to arrive in the mail.

Where’s My Refund? updates are made no more than once per day, usually overnight.

Be careful not to count on getting your refund by a certain date to make major purchases or pay other financial obligations. Many different factors can affect the timing of your refund after the IRS receives it for processing. Even though the IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, it’s possible your tax return may require additional review and take longer. Also, if you are anticipating a refund, take into consideration the time it takes for your financial institution to post the refund to your account, or for mail delivery.

  • IRS Refund Status

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.

Is there a difference between still being processed and being processed?

The IRS has processed your tax return but you are not approved for a direct deposit date yet. The "Being processed"refund status usually indicates your tax return has been processed already but your tax refund has not been approved yet.

What does it mean when your tax return has been received and is being processed?

Received means your return is being processed. Approved indicates your return has been accepted and your refund amount is approved. Sent confirms that your refund is being direct-deposited into your bank account or mailed to you as a check.

What does it mean if my refund is still being processed?

If your tax return status is "Still Being Processed" your tax return could be essentially on hold until the IRS corrects any issues and/or gets the additional information from you to continue processing your return.

Why does it say your tax return is still being processed a refund date will be provided when available?

"Tax returns are opened and processed in the order received. As the return is processed, whether it was filed electronically or on paper, it may be delayed because it has a mistake including errors concerning the Recovery Rebate Credit, missing information, or suspected identity theft or fraud," said the IRS.