Usually these placing are giving a refund anticipation loan. They give some money up front and once the IRS accepts the return that give the rest of the money. Unfortunatly the IRS is not accepting any returns till Monday, so the people that helped her file are waiting for the IRS to accept the return first.
I know they KNEW there was a delay, and should have made her aware of that upfront rather than drawing this out.

These are just LOANS.

Rapid refunds are not always rapid.

A neighbor filed in January and got her refund in June

It's a loan from a bank. If she has bad credit the loan can actually be denied. There can be all sorts of problems that prevent her from getting her check from the tax company. The tax prep company doesn't generally know the exact reasons since that's between the bank, the IRS and the tax payer.

I can not tell you how many times I have explained to people that it is a L O A N from a B A N K and their eyes glaze over and they don't pay any attention to the details at all such as what happens if you're denied.

Plus, so many people are ecstatic that they are "Getting" a big refund from the gov't, like it is a gift. It is NOT - it is YOUR money that you have been loaning to the gov't at 0% interest.
You can make adjustments to your withholding form so that they do not take out so much. Your refund will be less but you will have more of your own money throughout the year.

It's not a refund it's a loan. The actual refund comes in the normal time not faster. These preparers rely on the desperation of their customers to make a big profit. I would think your DD would have come out ahead by paying a late fee if any on her bills then paying for the rapid refund.

Probably because the tax return has not been accepted yet by the government,The government is not going to start accepting tax returns until tomorrow,When I did my returns online myself thru Turbo tax,it told me that the returns would be accepted until the 14th.My state return was accepted the next day and I have already recieved my refund
I mean that could be why,and they should have let her know this ahead of time if that is indeed the reason

It is amazing to me when I hear of people getting back thousands of dollars or even hundreds. DH and I have never received a refund from federal taxes. We got $32 one time from state.

You're doing it right!

Getting a large refund means you have been over paying at each pay period.

I e-filed my taxes the last week of January and had my refund in my bank account the fourth of February. I am sorry to hear that your family is going through this, it sucks! I do know, that if your son in law was injured at work he is entitled to Worker's Compensation, no matter what state he is in, he really needs to get ahold of his local Department of Labor. Now letting him go after getting injured is not legal! No matter what state you are in, now if it is a long term injury that will prevent him from doing the job he was doing at the time of injury then he can be let go after a doctor confirmation on that. I do this as a living. And get sooooo upset when some employer puts one over on their employees, and of course visa versa, but anyways tell him he needs to go get his entitlements.