In January, 2020, the IRS reported that tax return refunds which included the earned income tax credit (EITC) would not be sent until around March 2nd, 2020. Early filers would have to wait until that date until they would receive a direct deposit of their expected refund.
On February 13, 2020, the IRS announced that, on February 22nd, it expects to be able to tell taxpayers with EITC refunds when their refund will show up. Translation: the IRS “Where’s my refund?” online tool will have information about the expected date of the refund on February 22nd. The IRS has not changed it’s position that refunds should arrive on or around March 2nd.
As we reported in past posts, we likely can see these refunds show up earlier than March 2nd. Most IRS refunds by direct deposit usually show up within 10 days. EITC filers must wait for their refunds until after February 15th as a result of a law passed in 2015 to delay refunds on EITC amounts. The refund delay helps the IRS stop fraudulent refunds from being issued to identity thieves by allowing the IRS additional time to validate the return.
EITC filers who file in early February and do not get their refund by early March should check “Where’s my refund?” for more information. To use this online tool at IRS.gov, the taxpayer must have their Social Security number, filing status and the exact whole dollar amount of their refund.
If there are delays in the refund, it may be a sign of potential issues with the IRS such as prior EITC discrepancies, prior year tax debt, unfiled returns, or refunds used to pay non-tax debts that are collected through refund offsets. In these cases, the taxpayer will need to contact the IRS for more information about the refund delay or offset.
