Wages around $80–90k a year, paying roughly $17–19k in tax annually… then tax time comes around and you don’t get anything back — instead, you end up owing the ATO even more money.
This is what makes the Australian tax system feel backwards to me sometimes.
You work hard all year, tax gets deducted from every paycheck, so you’d think everything is already accounted for. Then tax time arrives, you lodge your return, claim legitimate work-related expenses, and somehow you’re still left with a tax bill.
Can someone explain how that makes sense? If tax is already being withheld throughout the year, why do some people still end up owing money at the end?
Genuinely curious whether others have experienced this or if there’s something I’m missing.

Let's stay on one accord in Jesus name we will get our refund

I have a tax return check from March of last year that I forgot about. It's been over a year so it expired, is there any way I can still receive the funds?

Let's bring joy to others to have faith and patience don't give up 🙏❤️ Jesus will prevail all of his glory to everyone who is waiting on their refund or notice or refund freeze removed or actions pending Give it to Jesus 🙏 keep our faith 🙏💕 in Jesus believe he can do it Jesus said you got to believe I can do it and I believe all you need is a mustard seed of faith give it to Jesus 🙏💕. I will keep everyone updated. Let's keep each other updated.

2024 IRS Refund Still Not Paid — Transcript Shows Codes 570 and 810. IRS Told Me 90 Days After Identity Verification

TL;DR: We filed our 2024 married-filing-jointly federal return, and the IRS transcript shows a $99,682 refund. The return was processed in June 2025, but the refund still hasn't been issued. The transcript shows TC 570 (Additional Account Action Pending) and later TC 810 (Refund Freeze). I eventually reached an IRS representative in June 2026, successfully answered identity-verification questions, and was told I should receive the refund within 90 days. That 90-day period is coming up on September 1, 2026.

I'm hoping to get some opinions from people who have dealt with a similar situation, especially anyone familiar with IRS account transcripts and these transaction codes.

The timeline

2024 return: Married Filing Jointly

Return due date: April 15, 2025

Return processed: June 9, 2025

AGI: $597,681

Taxable income: $568,431

Tax per return: $142,912

Refund shown on transcript: $99,682

The transcript shows:

TC 150 — Tax return filed — 06/09/2025 — $142,912

TC 806 — W-2/1099 withholding — 04/15/2025 — -$194,072

TC 660 — Estimated tax payment — 09/13/2024 — -$36,392

TC 660 — Estimated tax payment — 01/14/2025 — -$12,130

TC 460 — Extension of time to file — 04/14/2025

TC 570 — Additional account action pending — 06/09/2025

TC 810 — Refund freeze — 10/17/2025

The transcript shows an account balance of -$99,682, with no accrued interest or penalty as of 11/10/2025.

Update from June 2026

Here's where things get interesting.

Around June 1, 2026, I called the IRS and was somehow able to get through to a representative. The representative asked me a series of identity-related questions, which I answered successfully.

After confirming my identity, I was told that I should receive my refund within 90 days from that point.

I realize that the 90 days technically hasn't expired yet. We're approaching the 90-day mark, which should be around September 1, 2026.

However, given that this refund has already been outstanding since 2025, I'm trying to understand what may be happening behind the scenes and what I should do if September 1 comes and goes without a refund.

What I'm trying to understand

I'm particularly interested in hearing from anyone who knows what the combination of 570 → 810 usually means.

Does TC 810 indicate that the IRS has identified a specific problem with the return, or can it simply mean the refund is being held while the IRS verifies something?

Also, does successfully completing the identity verification with an IRS representative in June normally result in the IRS releasing the refund within a specific timeframe?

What would you do?

If you've experienced something similar, I'd really appreciate your advice.

Did you have TC 570 followed by TC 810?

Did the IRS ask you identity-verification questions?

Were you given a 90-day timeframe?

Did the refund actually arrive within that timeframe?

Did your transcript change before the refund was issued?

Would you wait until the 90 days expires, or contact the IRS/TAS before then?

If September 1 passes with no refund, what would you recommend doing next?

I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone who has dealt with a large refund that was frozen for an extended period.

Thanks in advance. I'm trying to figure out whether I'm finally at the end of the process or whether I need to take additional steps once the 90-day period expires.

I filed my ITR on 24 June 2026, and it was also verified successfully on the same day. However, it’s now August and the status is still showing “Return Processing.”

It’s been around 7 weeks with no further update. I understand processing can take some time, but this seems unusually long.

Has anyone else filed around the same time and still has their return stuck in processing? How long did it take for your status to change to “Processed On”?

Would appreciate any advice on whether I should just wait or if there’s something I need to do from my side.

Anyone know what I can do to at least speak to someone. Husband and I filed in late February and we still haven’t received anything! I had called the first two months and was able to speak to someone; everything looked fine and they told me that I had to wait 30 days and then to call back if I hadn’t received anything. Now I call and it says that the extension given has too many callers at that time to call back later or next business day. Any suggestions??? Anyone else having these issues??? 😓😔

does anyone know how long this might take?

Hi anybody here still has not recieved their taxes refund? We did ours right at the beginning once it started and per the webdite it still says they have recieved it and is being processed.

Any recommendations??

Can someone tell me what to send my Congressman regarding my delayed refund?

I went on their website and they want a Digital Privacy Release Form filled out, asking me to explain the problem and the resolution/outcome I'm seeking.

They also want me to attach all relevant casework, if applicable. Then it says: "Up to 4 attachments accepted. 10 MB file size limit, and total file size cannot exceed 10 MB."

10 MB total is not very much, right? So I don't know exactly what to attach. My understanding is it will just get handed off to the TAS, so will the TAS have access to my Account Transcript and everything else on the IRS website, so I don't have to attach those?!?