@Budman36 Here's the critical information that taxpayers need to know:
"The government staffing of the IRS is likely going to cause a lot of delays for early tax filers. The reason is simple: without contractors helping the IRS, they cannot get all of the programming done to the software to get the software live.
If you're a crook, you try to file as many tax returns as quickly as possible. You see, the IRS processes everything on a first-come, first serve basis. So, if a criminal files a tax return in your name before you do, and they steal your refund - they win the race.
For the government, they will end up paying you the proper refund, but they also lost the money that went to the criminals.
The bottom line is that they are delaying your tax refund because they don't want to lose more money. And it is serious money - the IRS estimates it paid out of $1.3 billion in fraudulent tax refunds last year.
In an effort to combat this, the IRS is now going to hold some refunds until February 15, 2020. The goal here is to see if two tax returns are filed for the same individual.
It's important to note that not ALL tax returns are being delayed because of this new law. Only tax returns that have the following tax credits are being held:
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC)"
