Wheres' my refund it's been 4 months - no notes, no letters from IRS - "just being processed message" inquiry filed w/IRS - still waiting since Feb 1st.

[bidd0724r]

been waiting 4 months now and no word on my taxes the number dont work now i need my money or i loose my house and cant pay the car i got off anymore because ive been waiting why the heck is the irs taking so long to get me my money or is there a number i can comlain about the irs because no one will give me any kind of answers and im tired of seeing payment pending on everything

[ee-ea]

@bidd0724r 

All you can do now is, wait. At least you know that the IRS has your filing. It does not matter who sent your 1040 to the IRS. The IRS is the sole destination for tax returns. No one has discovered a way to make the IRS speed up sending out refunds. No one ever will because the IRS is an overwhelmed, over worked, under funded and under staffed government bureaucracy. Eventually you will get the pay off of your no interest loan to the government.

Have you thought of paying just enough by estimates or withholding to avoid a penalty and let the government wait for your check?

[Loretta12]

I've been waiting since feb24 it's asked for 60 days over two months ago so I got a tax payer advocate 16 days ago still haven't heard from my advocate at all they opened my case and I never heard from an advocate yet I found out who it is and called her phone 3times a day now no one answered so I called her supervisor left voicemails for over a week now and still haven't heard from anyone.what is going on now the IRS sent me a letter asking for 60 more days they said my account info hasn't loaded into there system yet if that's so why does my account transcript say it has .I'm to my breaking point what do you do when you can't get ahold of your tax advocate ?

[leopanthera]

https://amynorthardcpa.com/how-do-i-reach-a-real-person-at-the-irs/

Copy and paste into your search engine. I finally used this "shortcut" after innumerable times using: Where's My Refund on IRS site.  It worked! I finally talked with an individual who was able to access my account and explain the delay. I am not certain if it was her attempt to find out that worked, but several days later I received a notice from the IRS that my 2020 Stimulus Check would be coming soon, and it arrived along with my May Social Security payment.

Follow the steps given in this search and you should be able to reach someone you can speak with at the IRS.

RAS

[jmitch422]

I have not received my tax return yet

[DoninGA]

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@jmitch422 wrote:

I have not received my tax return yet

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Did you e-file your tax return and was it accepted?
Only the IRS and your State control when and if a Federal or State tax refund is Approved and Issued.

You complete your tax return by finishing all 3 Steps in the File section. In Step 3, to e-file your tax return, you must click on the large Orange button labeled "Transmit my returns now".

After completing the File section and e-filing your tax return you will receive two emails from TurboTax. The first email when your tax return was transmitted and the second email when the tax return has either been accepted or rejected.

Note - Once a tax return has been Accepted by the IRS or a State, TurboTax receives no further information concerning the tax return or the status of any tax refund.  Only the taxpayer listed on the tax return can obtain the status of a tax refund or a tax return.

To check the status of an e-filed return, open up your desktop product or log into your TurboTax Online Account. You can find your status within the TurboTax product.
If accepted by the IRS use the federal tax refund website to check the refund status - https://www.irs.gov/refunds
If accepted by the state use this TurboTax support FAQ to check the state tax refund status - https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899433-how-do-i-track-my-state-refund

After the tax return has been Accepted by the IRS (meaning only that they received the return) it will be in the Processing mode until the tax refund has been Approved and then an Issue Date will be available on the IRS website.
See this IRS website for federal tax refund FAQ's - https://www.irs.gov/refunds/tax-season-refund-frequently-asked-questions
If over 21 days since being Accepted by the IRS and the tax refund is still Processing you can call the IRS and speak with an IRS agent concerning your tax refund.
Call the IRS: 1-800-829-1040 hours 7 AM - 7 PM local time Monday-Friday
When calling the IRS do NOT choose the first option re: "Refund", or it will send you to an automated phone line.
So after first choosing your language, then do NOT choose Option 1 (refund info). Choose option 2 for "personal income tax" instead.
Then press 1 for "form, tax history, or payment".
Then press 3 "for all other questions."
Then press 2 "for all other questions."
- When it asks you to enter your SSN or EIN to access your account information, don't enter anything.
- After it asks twice, you will get another menu.

Press 2 for personal or individual tax questions.
Then press 4 for all other inquiries
It should then transfer you to an agent.
Or you can contact your local IRS office. See this IRS website for local IRS offices - http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1 or call 1-844-545-5640 to set up an appointment

[Chrys1]

Turbo tax removed my original post because it incriminated them. I'm reposting and will continue to do so.  ANYONE who had unemployment, EITC AND on social security got screwed due to an internal error in Turbo Tax software. This came directly from the IRS. In TT, their software accounted for the 10,200 deduction for unemployment, HOWEVER, the remaining balance was INCLUDED as income for social security. You are only taxed on social security on EARNED income. Unemployment is not considered earned income. When I filed, I followed TT instructions and even had an assistant guide me through the unemployment portion. the IRS directly told me anyone filing using TT in this situation is sitting in the errors resolution department because TT software accounted for the 10,200, however FAILED in including the remaining balance of unemployment as being earned income, which eliminated or reducing EITC and taxing my widows social security benefits for my child (and anyone else on SSI or in my situation) 50-85% of their social security income. So, i was accepted 4/13 and it is now 7/15 and I am still waiting because TT software sucks! I will continue to post this even when they delete it hoping anyone in the future that is thinking about using TT does not! I have used them since 2013 and will no longer be trusting their incompetent software program again. It was bad enough because of TT and their direct deposit crap I was delayed in getting my much needed stimulus payment, but now due to another internal error on their end I am having to wait an unfathomable amount of time waiting for a desperately needed tax return. In addition, when I manually did my taxes in comparison to the TT disasterous return, Im supposed to get back $3405 MORE than what TT said because of the numerous internal errors in their tax software! I know they will reply to this yet again with another "cut and paste" response from the IRS or another "cut and paste" instructions on how I was supposed to enter the information...wrong! I did exactly what I was supposed to do. TT needs to own up to yet another fatal error in their lame tax software!

[tiburris]

I contacted the IRS Advocate and they gave me some lame, vague statement and told me not to contact them again - that they cannot help at this time.  That's pretty bad!  

[tiburris]

Thank you so much for this heads up!

[fanfare]

The Advocate really can't do anything until IRS has processed your return completely and you dispute any changes made by the IRS and can't resolve it.

They can't speed it up.

[tiburris]

Hello there,  I was not looking for them to speed it up.  I was simply looking for a logical answer as to the hold up.

[xmasbaby0]

 @Chrys1 

You wrote:

"You are only taxed on social security on EARNED income."

You are mistaken about that,  and it is leading you to some incorrect ideas about how your tax return was calculated.   If you are getting Social Security benefits,  ANY other taxable income you are receiving can affect how much of your Social Security is taxable.   That is why other retirement income like income from pensions, investments, rental property, etc., etc. can and do affect the amount of Social Security that is taxable.  Even gambling income could make your SS taxable.    It is not just "earned"  income  from working that makes your Social Security taxable.   

(Edited to add detail)   The unemployment OVER the first $10,200 is taxable income.  So it is part of the other income that can make your SS taxable.   

TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable on your federal tax return.  There is no age limit for having to pay taxes on Social Security benefits if you have other sources of income along with the SS benefits.  When you have other income such as earnings from continuing to work, investment income, pensions, etc. up to 85% of your SS can be taxable. 

 What confuses people about this is that before you reach full retirement age, if you continue working while drawing SS, your benefits can be reduced if you earn over a certain limit. (For 2017 that limit was $16,920 —for 2018 it was $17,040—for 2019 it was $17,640— for 2020 it is $18,240; for 2021 it is $18,960)  After full retirement age, no matter how much you continue to earn, your benefits are not reduced by your earnings; your employer will still have to withhold for Social Security and Medicare.

To see how much of your Social Security was taxable, look at lines 6a and 6b of your 2020 Form 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899144-is-my-social-security-income-taxable

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/are-my-social-security-or-railroad-retirement-tier-i-benefits-taxable

You need to file a federal return if half your Social Security plus your other income is $25,000 when filing single or head of household, or $32,000 when filing married filing jointly, $0 if you are filing married filing separately.

Some additional information:  There are 13 states that tax Social Security—Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.  These states offer varying degrees of income exemptions, but four mirror the federal tax schedule: MN, ND,VT, and WV

We cannot see your tax return or your account, so we do not know if you had any errors on your return.   You may have entered your data correctly but may simply have a misunderstanding about how the calculations work since you did not understand how your SS could be taxed.    It was correct to include the unemployment over that first $10,200 as income that made your SS taxable.

[xmasbaby0]

@Chrys1 Since you do not trust TurboTax, you may find it helpful to read some information from Social Security that tells you that other income can make your Social Security taxable.

From this Social Security site:

https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/taxes.html

Income Taxes And Your Social Security Benefit

Some of you have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits. This usually happens only if you have other substantial income in addition to your benefits (such as wages, self-employment, interest, dividends and other taxable income that must be reported on your tax return).

You will pay tax on only 85 percent of your Social Security benefits, based on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. If you:

• file a federal tax return as an "individual" and your combined income* is
  • between $25,000 and $34,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits.
  • more than $34,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.
• file a joint return, and you and your spouse have a combined income* that is
  • between $32,000 and $44,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits.
  • more than $44,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.
• are married and file a separate tax return, you probably will pay taxes on your benefits.

And on this IRS site you will find an interactive tool that will help you see how much of your Social Security is taxable:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/dont-forget-social-security-benefits-may-be-taxable

[VolvoGirl]

See IRS 1040 Instructions Page 31 for Social Security worksheet

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf   fill it out yourself.

[Chrys1]

I use turbo tax so I don’t have to go through a manual or online booklet. Never have I had an issue before. TT was not prepared nor was the software. I input everything correctly. The software screwed it up.