This is necessary because of rampant fraud and identity theft. People who receive the EIC and Child Tax Credit are often targeted b gf schemers who will file fraudulent returns using someone else's SS#.
It's terrible and a lot of times the victim doesn't even know about this until they file their legitimate return and it's flagged as a duplicate. It takes months and sometimes years to resolve. And the majority of people claiming an EIC and Child Tax Credit are already greatly dependant on that money and then this fraud creates an enormous hardship.
So really the IRS isn't just trying to inconvenience you, they're trying to ensure you're not the victim of thieves. Two weeks isn't really going to ruin your life, but identity theft will.
