Decode your 8-digit IRS cycle code, look up transcript codes like 846 and 570, and check your state refund timeline — free, instant, no signup.
Enter your 8-digit cycle code from your tax transcript
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Most refund trackers only repeat the IRS "Where's My Refund" stages — this one decodes the data behind them
No other free tool interactively decodes your 8-digit cycle code into a tax year, week, and estimated date.
Instantly search codes like 846, 570, 971, and 810 instead of scrolling through long articles.
Processing time, portal link, and identity-risk rating for every state, including no-income-tax states.
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Reflects the 2026 PATH Act release date, updated state processing times, and the paper-check phase-out.
Built for anyone trying to make sense of their IRS transcript
Anyone who pulled their IRS transcript and doesn't understand the codes on it.
Families needing to know exactly when the PATH Act hold lifts for their cycle.
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Anyone planning expenses around a precise refund date rather than a broad window.
Filers who moved states and need to track two separate refund timelines.
Cycle codes, transcript codes, and state refunds explained
Every year, millions of taxpayers check "Where's My Refund" and see nothing but a static status bar — while their own IRS tax transcript, sitting quietly in their online account, actually contains a far more precise answer. That answer comes down to two things: your cycle code and your transaction codes. Once you understand both, you can often pinpoint your deposit date days before Where's My Refund updates.
Your cycle code is an 8-digit number that appears on your account transcript, usually near the top, in the format YYYYWWDD. The first four digits are the tax processing year. The next two digits are the cycle week — essentially, which numbered week of IRS processing your return fell into. The final two digits indicate the processing day, where 01 through 05 correspond to Monday through Friday.
For example, a cycle code of 20260605 breaks down as: tax year 2026, cycle week 06, processed on day 05 (Friday). This single code tells the IRS — and you — exactly which weekly processing batch handled your return.
Not all cycle codes behave the same way. Accounts are either "daily" or "weekly," and this distinction affects both your processing speed and which transaction codes you'll see:
If your cycle code ends in 05, don't panic — it doesn't mean something is wrong. It simply means your account updates on a weekly rather than daily schedule.
Alongside your cycle code, your transcript lists transaction codes (TC) that describe every action taken on your account. Below is a quick-reference table of the most common ones:
| Code | Meaning | What It Usually Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| 150 | Return Filed & Tax Liability Assessed | Your return has been accepted and processed into the system. |
| 152 | General Refund Information | Standard processing message shown on Where's My Refund; not a delay indicator by itself. |
| 570 | Additional Account Action Pending | Refund is temporarily frozen for review; not necessarily an audit. |
| 571 | Resolved Additional Account Action | The 570 hold has been lifted; processing resumes. |
| 846 | Refund Issued | Your refund has been approved and a deposit date is scheduled. |
| 898 | Refund Applied to Non-IRS Debt | Part or all of your refund was redirected to an outstanding debt via Treasury Offset. |
| 810 | Refund Freeze | A more serious hold, often tied to identity verification or a compliance review. |
| 971 | Notice Issued | The IRS has sent you a letter — check your mail and IRS Online Account promptly. |
| 420 | Examination Indicator | Your return has been selected for examination (audit) review. |
| 977 | Amended Return Filed | Your 1040-X has been received and entered into the system. |
💡 Pro tip: Seeing 570 followed later by 571 and then 846 is a completely normal sequence — it usually just means a routine review delayed your refund by a few weeks, not that anything is wrong.
If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), the PATH Act legally requires the IRS to hold your entire refund until mid-February, regardless of your cycle code. In 2026, that hold lifted February 16, with most affected refunds beginning to show transaction code 846 shortly after, and deposits arriving by early March.
Cycle codes and transcripts are an IRS-only concept — your state return is processed independently, on a completely separate timeline, by your state's Department of Revenue. Some states, like Michigan and Oregon, process e-filed refunds in as little as two weeks. Others, like Kansas and Hawaii, can take well over two months. States such as Texas, Florida, and Wyoming have no state income tax at all, meaning residents only track a federal refund.
Use the state selector in the tracker above to see e-file and paper processing times, portal links, and identity-verification risk ratings for all 50 states.
Select your state to see processing time, portal link, and identity-risk rating
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