Writing as a TurboTax employee, we generally don't reply to questions
such as this, where you are asking for answers to a question that only the Oregon Department of Revenue knows for certain.
However, I feel compelled to
weigh in on this particular thread, because I have a relevant
professional experience to share with you. As part of my practice as a
CPA, I prepare individual and business tax returns for a small private
group of income tax filers, in addition to my employment at TurboTax.
With
that fact understood, I had reason to prepare and file an Oregon Form
40 (full-year resident) state tax return last season (2015 tax year)
with the Oregon Department of Revenue. It was filed in late March, and
subsequently "held for manual review" as you indicate in your text. The
taxpayer at issue did not receive their state of Oregon tax refund
until mid-August, months later that same year.
There were no
adjustments made to the tax return by the Oregon Department of Revenue,
no questions ever asked of the taxpayer (by letter or otherwise), and no
other explanation ever provided by the state of Oregon, aside from the indication that it went
through a manual review process. Thus, I would be inclined to take the Oregon Department of Revenue message at face value for what it is: they see something on your tax return that they want to "manually review," although they won't tell you right now what that is, specifically (as it could, literally, be anything).
To conclude my story,
although it did take nearly 5 months from the time of original filing, the
taxpayer described here did eventually receive their state of Oregon refund, plus
interest. Indeed, to their credit, the Oregon Department of Revenue did
pay a small amount of interest (as required by Oregon law) for the
delayed refund, in addition to the amount of the original refund claimed.
Hopefully
this story will give you one indication of a successful (albeit slow to
resolve) outcome, where a manual review of a tax return is performed by
the Oregon Department of Revenue. Your own experience may differ -- it could be longer or much shorter -- as every taxpayer is unique.
Thank you.
