IRS has been holding my refund since January. I have gotten 2 letters stating they are reviewing my taxes but ZERO EXPLANATION as to why. I am a single mom $ needed!!

[mesquitebean]

There are a couple of options.  You can phone the IRS to see if they can give you any info on the delay.  If you are having an economic hardship, you could also try to enlist the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service.   See both pathways below:

To phone the IRS for info:

IRS:  800-829-1040 (7AM-7 PM local time) Monday-Friday

When calling the IRS do not choose the first choice re: "Refund", or it will send you to an automated phone line.

• First choose your language.  Then listen to each menu before making the selection.
• Then press 2 for "personal income tax".
• Then press 1 for "form, tax history, or payment".  
• Then press 3 "for all other questions."
• Then press 2 "for all other questions." 
• It may then ask for your SSN, but do not enter it.  Just wait.   If it asks for SSN a second time, still do not enter it. 
• Then it will get "tired", and you'll get another menu.  Choose 2 for "personal".
• Then in the next menu choose 4 for "all other inquiries", and it should transfer you to an agent but expect a long wait.
• I usually use a speakerphone so I can work on something else while waiting. 

If you are having an economic hardship, you may be able to expedite things through the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service.  The advocate service (which is free and provided by the IRS) is especially prone to help if you have a financial hardship as you suggested above, and if you have had continued delays from the IRS as you mention as well.  Stress both of those circumstances if you phone them.

If the Taxpayer Advocate can't/won't help you, ask them to transfer you to an IRS agent while you're on the phone.  A couple of users reported that at least for them, that was a backdoor route to the IRS.

At the following IRS page,  read the info on the page, then scroll down and choose your state from the dropdown list of states and click the Search button, and it will provide you the phone number of your Taxpayer Advocate Service

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-a-Local-Taxpayer-Advocate

Also see this article for more info on how the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service works::
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc104.html

[mesquitebean]

If the above methods are unsuccessful, another option is to see if the local office of your US Congressman (Representative) will assist you in finding out what the problem is.