Significant Refund Delay (with no info provided from the IRS)

[Damiano123]

I filed on 2/8/21 and was told that I should have received my refund on 3/5, which I haven't as of this writing (3/15/21). I also cannot find any info on the IRS website. My concern is that this stems from one of two, if not both, things: I had inadvertently checked that I was a dependent in 2019, which is incorrect, and thus never received any stimulus payments, eventhough I made well below the maximum for eligibility. Secondly, I collected UE benefits last year, and filed prior to the signing of the American Cares act, which would now allow the first $10,200 of benefits to be tax free and, thus, render me a larger refund. Could this be the cause of the delay.

Since the IRS website and automated line has rendered me nothing in the way of information, have you acquired any information of late as to why someone in my situation would have such a delay?   I was recently informed through an article in Century Foundation of the following:  "If you filed a return and haven’t heard anything back from the IRS, and you have unemployment insurance benefit income reported, you should expect some delay in processing your return. If you were expecting a refund, know that the refund may be delayed as a result; but the good news is the refund will likely be larger than what you originally claimed."

Please assist, as this is quite frustrating, since the IRS is not being forthcoming as to why they are withholding my refund.  Thanks very much.

[JamesG1]

The IRS issues refunds, not TurboTax. This means that we cannot say for sure why you have not received your refund if it has been longer than 21 days since you e-filed.  

You have a number of issues with your return with the dependent / nondependent issue and unemployment income.  Then we add the items listed below.

The IRS says that it will issue 9 out of 10 refunds to taxpayers in less than 21 days.  However, if:  

• You have e-filed your 2020 Federal tax return,
• You are claiming a Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) on line 30 of the 2020 1040 tax return, and
• Your tax return has been accepted by the IRS. 

We suspect that the IRS will scrutinize stimulus payments that were issued against the tax returns that claim the Recovery Rebate Credit.  We do not know how much delay that the IRS will incur in such cases. 

Implementation of the American Rescue Plan will further strain the resources of the IRS.  IRS live phone assistance is extremely limited at this time.  For stimulus payment questions, call 800-919-9835.

Follow the TurboTax COVID Tax Center and the IRS Economic Impact Payment Information Center for further developments.

The dependent / nondependent issue is what generates your stimulus payments as a Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) on line 30 of the 2020 1040 tax return.  We have no rule-of-thumb as to how long that will delay your tax return.

I would agree with much of what Century Foundation is telling you.  We do not know how the IRS will respond to this abrupt and mammoth change in tax policy half-way through the tax season with millions of tax returns already processed.  This TurboTax Help states:

The IRS will provide additional guidance about what you need to do to take advantage of this relief if you already filed your 2020 tax return. 

The Help also allows you to sign up for information as we learn it from the IRS.

I suspect that you will not have to amend your filed and accepted 2020 Federal 1040 tax return.  But that is just a guess.

As involved as the project of correcting millions of filed tax returns half-way through the season might be, the IRS likely does not want millions of paper-filed 1040x amended returns overwhelming them. 

Hope this helps.

[Damiano123]

Thanks, James.  I can only assume that, however long it takes them to issue my refund and stimulus, it stems from the issues that I noted - which is largely why I wanted to do my taxes as early as possible.  Hoping that, if there were delays, it wouldn't result in my waiting through the Spring to receive money.  I can only hope that I still won't need to wait that long.    And I know I'm one of millions who are in this position and need this money., and are not receiving any information from the overwhelmed IRS.  A perfectly annoying fiscal storm, at the moment.

[ReneeM7122]

Correct, the IRS is quite difficult to reach and it may be a challenging to track information about your refund and / or stimulus.  Here are some more links that could help. 

If you didn't receive your stimulus and it went to the form of a refund due to the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2020 tax return, please check this link for more information.

If you never received the stimulus at all and did not declare it on your tax return, please check this link.

Here is the link to see your Online Tax Account.

Here is a TurboTax article with the latest information about the third stimulus payment.

@Damiano123

[Valkor73]

We’re all screwed just got off the phone with IRS verified turbo tax did mess up my taxes had an adjustment done said I’ll get a letter soon and a refund in 5 more weeks or more maybe all turbo tax fault

[Valkor73]

• We’re all screwed just got off the phone with IRS verified turbo tax did mess up my taxes had an adjustment done said I’ll get a letter soon and a refund in 5 more weeks or more maybe all turbo tax fault

[Damiano123]

Hi, Renee

I've looked at this info.  I've done everything that I needed to do.  I didn't receive any stimulus payments (in 2020 or the recent payment in 2021) and noted so when doing my taxes for 2020, which was factored into my refund.  Thankfully, even though I do my wife and Is taxes, my wife has received all stimulus payments and her refunds without issue.   For me, on the other hand, it's all a waiting game now, so there's nothing else I can do but speculate on when I'm to receive this money, unless TT has some pull with the IRS to incur something more specific.  I don't know specifically if it's because of the amendment on my 2019 taxes, which incorrectly noted my dependent status, and/or the fact that I received UE benefits and did my taxes before the American Care Act was signed.  I check "where's my refund " and "where's my stimulus" pages and am provided nothing.  As I noted previously, I can only hope this does not drag on much longer, especially for someone who did his taxes on Feb 8th.  Thanks.

[Damiano123]

Hello,

So I finally received information on the IRS's site that my refund should be deposited by next week (end of March), after weeks of not being able to find out anything.  I'm certainly grateful to know this much.  However, I have a couple of questions, which perhaps you can assist with:

1.) I assume my refund will be adjusted, since I did my taxes early (prior to the American Care Act signing) and received unemployment last year.  Would I receive any direct info from the IRS about this, or will they just deposit an adjusted amount?

2.)  Contrary to the info I obtained on the IRS's site regarding my refund, I still do not show any info regarding the recent stimulus payment.  Will there still be a further delay with this as a result of the delay with my taxes?  Last year I did not receive the stimulus payments due to an error in my being labeled a dependent, which I corrected this year, and was factored into my refund.

Since it's impossible to reach the IRS directly, I'm trying to gauge as much as I can.

Thanks again.

[fanfare]

My niece filed with exactly the situation you described at the top, and guess what, her return was processed immediately and refunded within 10 days.

Hint: she didn't file through TurboTax.

[sardella12542]

I file my tax with Turbo tax was accepted by the IRS on Feb 27 but I haven't got my refund yet an no explanation from the IRS>

[ChondelLO]

Different factors can impact the processing time of your refund, however, an IRS representative will be able to access your return and provide insight into why your return may be delaying. Please click here for IRS contact information. Also, please visit the IRS Tax Season Refund Frequently Asked Questions help article below for more information.

https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions

[Damiano123]

I actually got my returnlast week, and am expecting my stimulus this week.  No doubt, doing my taxes early (Feb 8th) helped.  Thanks.

[Damiano123]

I got my return last week, having done my taxes on Feb 8th.  I knew there would be cause for delays this year.  Given the time you did your taxes, I'd imagine you'd probably see something in the next couple of weeks, if not sooner.  Just keep checking the status of your refund on the IRS page.  Calling is fruitless.  

[Love2Fish]

Filed electronically March 13. "Tax return being processed" is only information I have. @Damiano123 I assume you mean "refund" when you say "I got my return last week".

[AmyC]

The IRS is having a hard time this year. Each return must be cross checked for the normal and now with the new laws:

• stimulus- is it correct, pay missing amounts, do they need to be added for the new stimulus
• unemployment - is it on there, was it filed with the $10,200 subtraction, does it need to be adjusted
• premium tax credit - is it on there, is there an amount due, adjust the return
• EIC - is it on, were they banned, is there a record of release to claim?
• Child credit -anybody else claim, how old are kids, what is allowed
• and so on for still more, it is a long process this year to check each return for so many things.

The IRS is also processing returns mailed in last year and handling the current stimulus. They have scheduled this summer to adjust unemployment on returns.

@Love2Fish If your return is a w2 with none of the credits, it will fly through. Each additional thing will take a little longer.