Refund delay

[KC_Ried925]

The IRS accepted my 2020 return on Feb. 19, 2021.  As of May 5 I have not received my refund or stimulus.  There are several issues with my refund that may cause the processing delay.  However, I am concerned that there might be an error on my return  and/or I may have been sent a notice that I did not received.  I changed my mailing address twice after I filed and some of my mail may not have been forwarded or may have been discarded if it went to the wrong address.  I have found no way at all to get through to any direct assistance that could help with this specifically or any information that says more than "your return is being processed".  Any advice?

[HelenC12]

Millions of tax payers are still waiting for their taxes to be processed by the IRS even though it's over 21 days. 

• Keep checking the IRS Where's My Refund page to see if your refund status has been updated.
• Perhaps you had a refund offset. Call the The Department of Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) at 1-800-304-3107.
• Check you IRS transcript to see if there are any notices in your account. However, your 2020 transcript won't be available until well after tax season.

Per IRS, they have around 12 million tax returns that have been caught in a processing backlog created by the pandemic, which shut down the IRS for a time. Americans should see their refunds in the coming months. "We would hope to be through this backlog by the summer," said IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig.

• The IRS also has millions of returns that have to be manually verified which is also causing a delay.
•  Keep checking the IRS Where's My Refund page to see if your refund status has been updated.

Other reasons some returns take longer to process are the following: 

• Includes errors
• Is incomplete
• Is affected by identity theft or fraud
• Includes a claim filed for an Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit. See Q&A below.
• Includes a Form 8379, which could take up to 14 weeks to process
• Needs further review in general
• The IRS will contact you by mail when we need more information to process your return.

[KC_Ried925]

Thank  you.  My main concern is whether I was sent a notice by the IRS but did not receive it.  How would I know to respond?  My issue is that I was divorced in 2020 so this was the first return that I filed as just myself.  All IRS records are from joint returns and are in my ex-husbands name.  He received his refund and stimulus right away.  Since I have no individual return from 2019 and my 2020 return is still "in Process" I also did not get my stimulus payment as well as my refund.  I would think that filing using Turbo Tax that my return would not have to be delayed for possible fraud issues.  And that the calculated amounts for EIC would be more smoothly accepted.  And Turbo has provided absolutely no help at all.  I need that money for living expenses.

[JotikaT2]

The items you mentioned above are related to the IRS and how they are processing returns. 

They have procedures in place to review returns that have claimed the Recovery Rebate Credit as well as the Earned Income Credit.  These both require an additional review of your return based upon the procedures in place by the IRS to deter fraud.

Why do some refunds take longer to process

Why is my refund taking longer than 21 days

TurboTax has no control over how the IRS chooses to process returns.  Please see the following links as well for additional information directly from the IRS.

Recovery Rebate Credit reviews by the IRS

Information letters from the IRS regarding Recovery Rebate credits

Federal refund questions

[KC_Ried925]

Thank you again for the information.  I realize that once a return is accepted that Turbo no longer takes responsibility for it unless there is an error.  I guess I did not make myself clear.  My only real concern is if an IRS letter or notice was mailed to me but I did receive it.  I have looked at my IRS online account but there is no information because 2020 was the first time my return was actually in my name as the primary tax payer.  I am fairly surprised that Turbo, being an approved IRS company, can get no more information than a mere tax payer, about one of the returns that the company processed and filed.  I was only asking if there was a way that I could find out if a notice was mailed to me and that there was an issue I needed to respond to.  The information links explain IRS policies and information but provide no information concerning how to get individual information.  I not only have not received my refund but, because I was not the primary filer in 2019, I have not received my third stimulus payment, which was supposed to provide aid to those that need it.  Being newly divorced my financial situation is tenuous at best and I just want to receive my payments as quickly as the IRS can process them, and not delayed longer by my not being able to provide anything further that they need to do so.  Sorry you could not help.  Thank you for trying.

[AmyC · Accepted solution]

If this is creating a financial difficulty for you, contact TAS, the Taxpayer Advocate Service. The taxpayer advocate was created to help individuals deal with the IRS. See Taxpayer Advocate | Internal Revenue Service

You can: contact a taxpayer advocate at Taxpayer Advocate Locator.

You may be able to Contact Your Local IRS Office | Internal Revenue Service.